Losses in magnetic bearings

Abstract

Active magnetic bearings generally have much lower losses than roller bearings or fluid film bearings. However, since AMBs are complex mechatronic systems, there are many potential power loss mechanisms. Consequently, the minimizing of losses is the sum of various measures and depends very much on the requirements of the application. Whereas for turbomachinery, minimizing of the overall losses to increase the efficiency is most important, in vacuum applications like turbomolecular pumps, the focus lies on minimizing the losses in the rotor to avoid heating of the rotor since cooling is not effective. Figure ref fig:5.power-flow shows the flow of energy necessary to cover the losses from the sources (drive-electronics and AMB-electronics) to the power loss mechanisms. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.