IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 32, NO.

2 , MARCH 1996 329

Analysis of Self-sensing Active Magnetic Bearings

Working on Inductance Measurement Principle
K. K. Sivadasan

Abstract-Various methods have been proposed in the past to

realize self-sensing or sensorless Active Magnetic Bearings
(AMB’s). In this paper, the inductance-sensing method is dis-
cussed, its basics are derived, and a test-signal injection method
to implement this scheme is presented. In order to identify and
quantize the limiting factors affecting the inductance measure-
ment, a real AMB under working conditions is simulated using
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) techniques. By doing so, con-
ditions are brought out for the successful implementation of
inductance-sensing schemes in AMB’s. It is concluded that the
scheme proposed saves complicated and costly hardlsoftwares
for its implementation.

INTRODUCTION

P OSITION or rate sensors are essential constituents of

Active Magnetic Bearings (AMB’s). By far, various
forms of inductive, eddy current, capacitive, and optical
sensors are used in servo loops of AMB’s. They are cho-
sen by weighing factors such as cost, precision demanded
by the application, and nature of the working environ-
ment. Irrespective of the choice made, the sensors are ex-
pensive, and generally it is difficult to maintain their
alignments in the bearing gap. Some of the sensors also
require sophisticated electronics for excitation, and hence
separate power sources. It is desirable to possibly elimi-
nate the sensor and the associated hardware from the AMB
servo loop. This is especially so in the context of appli-
cations (like aerospace) where mass, volume, and power
are at a premium and reliability is very important.
Much groundwork has been done in the field of sensor-
less bearings. Earlier, researchers proposed and patented
methods to indirectly measure the bearing gap by sensing
the AMB-coil inductance [ 11-[3]. It has been reported that
due to certain problems, these could not be evolved be-
yond their experimental stages. Recently, Vischer et al.
proposed, implemented, and patented a new concept of
self-sensing by observing the AMB from current mea-
surements along [4], [ 5 ] . This paper addresses the prob-
lem of self-sensing by inductance measurement of the
AMB coil.
/ \
Electromagnet
All dimensions are in mm
Fig. 1. Schematic of the AMB geometry.
ature. The underlying principle is that inductance of an
AMB coil is inversely proportional to the bearing gap.
This can be derived with the help of one-dimensional ap-
proximations as described in the Appendix.
In Fig. 1 , a schematic of the AMB geometry is shown.
Let N be the total number of turns of wires on the two
limbs, i the current through each turn, L the total induc-
tance of the coils, 4 the net flux linking them, and x the
radial distance between the electromagnet and the rotor.
Now, as shown by (8) in the Appendix,
x = -K 1
L

INDUCTANCE MEASUREMENT FOR SELF-SENSING where K , is a constant given by

As mentioned earlier, various inductance measurement Pdv2A
schemes for self-sensing have been reported in the liter- K1 ____
2 .
Manuscript received March 2, 1994; revised June 26, 1995.
The author was with the Indian Space Research Organisation, Trivan- This means that x is a function of L alone and has an
drum, India when this work was performed. Currently he works for the inverse relationship with L . Strictly speaking, L is a func-
Magnetics Technology Centre, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent
Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260. tion of x as well as the nonlinear, finite, working point
Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-9464(96)00873-4. permeability of iron parts which, in turn, depends on
0018-9464/96$05.00 0 1996 IEEE
330
magnetization or i and the leakagelfringing reluctances.
Thus, the above statement is true only under certain ideal-
ized conditions. Validity of using the above expression
for estimation of the bearing gap under varying opera-
tional conditions of gap geometry, bearing current, and
flux-leakage will be checked in another section.
REALIZATION OF INDUCTANCE MEASURING SCHEME
Many ways can be conceived for the measurement of
inverse inductance of the coils. The easiest of them all
could either be a Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) carrier
frequency separation method or a test-signal injection
method. Basically, both of these methods consist of mea-
suring the high-frequency admittance of the AMB coil.
At high frequencies, the coil reactance is much larger than
its resistance. Exciting the coil with an alternating voltage
source of high frequency and known amplitude, the re-
sulting current will be measured. The ratio of their am-
plitudes (i.e. , currentlvoltage ratio) will give admittance
of the circuit which directly gives inverse of the coil in-
ductance.
The PWM carrier frequency component method [3] is
well suited to AMB’s driven by PWM amplifiers. It is
comprised of detecting the ratio of amplitudes of current
and voltage of the high-frequency PWM carrier compo-
nent, flowing through the AMB. A difficulty with this
method is that it calls for additional hardware (or soft-
ware) for computing the first harmonics of voltage and
current from the duty ratio of the modulator (in real time)
[ 3 ] .This increases the requirement of system components
significantly.
A simpler method is the test-signal injection method,
which is depicted in Fig. 2. This method is suited for
bearings which are driven by linear amplifiers. (It may be
noted here that for space applications requiring small cur-
rents, linear amplifiers are preferred to drive the AMB’s
due to their low-noise performance.) In this method, a test
voltage signal V sin w t , having a small but constant am-
plitude (say, 1 mV,.&, and high frequency well above the
system bandwidth (say, 20 kHz), is injected into the input
of the unity gain power amplifier as shown in Fig. 2.
Super-position of this voltage at the coil terminal over the
controller output voltage causes a high-frequency current
to flow through the coil. Since this current is of a low
magnitude, it does not in any manner affect the perfor-
mance or stability of the system. However, its amplitude
is inversely proportional to the coil inductance, as shown
below.
Considering the test-signal excitation alone, from Fig.
2,
V sin w t = ( R + r + jwL)Z, sin ( a t - 8)
where R is the coil resistance, Y is the resistance of the
current-sensing resistor connected in series with the coil,
I, is the amplitude of test current flowing through the coil
(which is a function of the rotor position), and I9 is the lag
angle of the test current.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL 32, NO 2 , MARCH 1996
For a large value of w, W L>> ( R + r ) . Then,
where K2 (= V l w ) is to be kept constant by the experi-
menta1 setup.
From (I) and (2) we get
Here, K3 is a constant given by
Equation (3) reveals that, by measuring the amplitude of
Zp alone, the bearing gap x can be determined. In Fig. 2 ,
a simple scheme has been depicted to detect the magni-
tude of I, . As shown, a voltage proportional to the high-
frequency component of the servo current (i.e., the test
current) is obtained using a high-pass filter. The filter
stage is preceded by a buffer and a preamplifier. A pre-
cision full-wave rectifier with filter rectifies this signal.
The output voltage of the left-side chain of electronics is
a dc signal v(x) proportional to x, the left bearing gap
(refer to Fig. 2). This voltage, when subtracted from the
signal coming from the right-side channel v(n’)(which is
proportional to the right bearing gap x ’ ) , gives the differ-
ential bearing gap information required to control the
translational Degree Of Freedom (DOF) of the rotor along
the X-axis. It may be noted here that “null setting” of the
position signal is automatically taken care of by means of
this subtraction process. The “differential measurement
strategy” helps to minimize the effects of environmental
changes and component degradation commonly affecting
the left and right channels of servo electronics. A point
worth mentioning here is that, for liftoff of the rotor, the
test signal has to be applied first before closing the servo
loop.
ANALYSISAND VALIDATION OF THE PROPOSED METHOD
Several assumptions have been made while formulating
this approach. The major assumptions are related to ne-
glecting the geometric and material nonlinearities of the
AMB. They are consolidated below.
1) Bearing gap varies linearly with rotor translation
along the X- or Y-axis.
2) MMF drop across the iron parts is negligible.
3) Variation in iron permeability with changes in the
bearing gap is negligible.
4) Servo currents flowing through the AMB do not
cause significant changes in iron permeability.
Iron permeability and air-gap geometry in the AMB
play an important role in controlling the coil inductance.
The assumptions listed above are results of “one-dimen-
sional’ ’ approximations wherein nonlinearities in the
magnetic property of iron and the gap geometry are not
SIVADASAN. SELF-SENSING ACTIVE MAGNETIC BEARINGS
KTUATOR COIL
Fig. 2. Schematic of the test-slgnal injection method.
taken into account. Also, it must be noted that perme-
ability of iron cannot be infinity in practical situations.
To validate the proposed method, it becomes necessary
to study the changes in coil inductance, with regard to the
actual variations in gap geometry, as the rotor moves.
Also, it is necessary to account for the finite and nonlinear
magnetic property of iron, as well as the influence of servo
currents on the coil inductance.
It may be noted here that building of an AMB and ac-
tual measurement of all the relevant parameters is not an
easy task. One cannot detect the effects of nonlinearities,
33 I
ACTUATOR COIL
such as magnetic saturation, by probing the air-gap flux
alone. Besides all these, flux-probing by means of a Hall
effect probe may, by itself, distort the measured field.
Hence, a two-dimensional nonlinear, Finite Element
Analysis (FEA) of the AMB using the multifield capable,
software-package ANSYS was thought to be appropriate
for this purpose. For two-dimensional magneto-static
analysis, this package makes use of a vector potential for-
mulation of Maxwell’s equations. A typical analysis run
is comprised of modeling the geometry, meshing, input-
ting the material properties and current loadings, setting
332 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 32, NO. 2, MARCH 1996

Fig. 3 . AMB geometry modeled using ANSYS.’ Fig. 4. Finite element model of the AMB and the surrounding air with
boundary conditions imposed.

up the boundary conditions, and solving the problem for

nodal and elemental stresses. In the postprocessing ses- B (Tesla)
sion of ANSYS, parameters such as inductance of the coil,
terminal voltage, or any user-defined entity can be cal-
culated using special routines.
2J
The analysis of the AMB was planned to be carried out
in two parts. The objective of the first part was to deter-
mine the exact relationship between the coil inductance
and the varying bearing gap, when the coil is excited by
a constant current source, like the test-current signal. In
the second part, the influence of direct currents of rela-
tively large magnitude on the coil inductance was to be
studied for the “normal” (fixed) bearing gap. This be-
came necessary because in the working condition of the
AMB, servo currents pass through the coil, which will
affect the measurement of coil inductance.
One-quarter of the AMB modeled using ANSYS is
shown in Fig. 3. This serves the purpose of analysis, since
the bearing geometry and the magnetic loadings are sym-
metrical in each quarter. For the ease of modeling, all the
bearing parts (including limbs and coils) are taken to have I I I I I I

sectoral cross sections. An assumption made here is that 0 5 IO 15 20 25 30 35

the electromagnets function independently. Also, the
bearing is assumed to have an infinite thickness (along the
Z-axis).
Fig. 4 shows the finite element model of the AMB with
boundary conditions and current loadings imposed. Tri-
angular elements have been used for meshing. Care was
taken to have the bearing gap as well as the electromagnet
pole face areas finely meshed. A total of 2941 elements
were used to generate this model, out of which 457 air
elements were in the bearing gap alone. Boundary con-
ditions were imposed by setting the nodal potentials equal
to zero, at a radial distance from the yoke. The distance
was chosen by several iterations. The normal bearing gap
width was taken as a variable parameter (G) while mod-
eling the AMB, for the ease of changing it from run to
run. Similarly, the current density in electromagnet coils
and displacement of rotor from the normal position were
H (AT/m,Thousands)
Fig. 5. The nonlinear B-H property of the core material used for analysis.
also taken as variables. In Fig. 5 , the nonlinear magnetic
( B versus H ) property of the core material (mild steel)
inputted is shown.
RESULTSOF THE ANALYSISAND DISCUSSION
In the first part of the analysis, the AMB depicted in
Fig. 1 was analyzed for three values of the normal gap
width (x = G ) , viz. 0.6 mm, 0.8 mm, and 1.0 mm. In
each case of analysis, the rotor was moved along the
X-axis to 9 different locations, the displacement being in
the range of 0.4 mm about its normal position. Thus,
a total of 27 solution runs were made, during which the
current density in the coils were held constant. Results are
SIVADASAN: SELF-SENSING ACTIVE MAGNETIC BEARINGS
/ G=l.Omm
/
/f /G=O.8mm
//
-
0.6”
/
/ 4 W * E Z T 0 f ?
I I
-600 -400 -200 0200 400 600
lmicronsl -
ROTOR DISPLACEMENT FROM NULL POINT
Fig. 6 . Relationship between rotor displacement and inverse of coil in-
ductance (scaled), for coil current = 1 A, as the normal bearing gap ( G )
varies.
plotted in Fig. 6. It may be seen that, for a given range
of excursion of the rotor about its normal position, lin-
earity of the relationship depicted in Fig. 6 (i.e., relation-
ship between rotor displacement and inverse of the coil
inductance) improves as G increases. This is because, in
AMB’s having large air gaps, the linear magnetic prop-
erty of air dominates the nonlinearity of iron. In our ex-
ample, the nonlinearity associated with the relationship
( 5 ) (over a rotor excursion range of f 0.4 mm), decreased
from 0.15 to 0.102% as G increased from 0.6 to 1.0 mm.
It may, however, be noted here that a large bearing gap
warrants larger operating currents, as force-gain of the
coil decreases with an increase in G. Anyway, this limi-
tation will be severely felt only at the rotor liftoff time,
as the force demand is then maximum. By reducing the
mechanical (or touch-down) gap width of the AMB, the
peak current demand can be reduced. For example, in the
AMB discussed above (with a 1 mm gap), the “unbal-
ance-stiffness’’ of the rotor, when a bias current of 1.O A
passes through the two opposite electromagnets, is cal-
culated (from the variations occurring in air gap flux den-
sity, as the rotor is displaced about its normal position) to
be around 17 368 N/m per bearing. Correspondingly, the
coil force gain, computed from modulations in air gap flux
density, is 14.35 N/A. Now, if the “lift-off gap” of the
bearing can be reduced to 0.2 mm, the peak demand on
the coil will be only 0.122 A. Our next task will be to
ensure that such peak currents do not affect the inductance
of bearing coils significantly.
In the second part of the validation process, the same
333
COIL INDUCTANCE (HI
2
COIL CURRENT (A)
Fig. 7 Relationship between coil current and coil inductance for a fixed
bearing gap of 1 mm.
AMB with a 1.0 mm gap is analyzed for values of coil
current varying from 0.1 to 5 .O A. The rotor displacement
from the null (or normal) position is kept zero for each
solution run. The results obtained are graphically shown
in Fig. 7. It was noted that, for this particular design of
the AMB, variation in the coil inductance is not more than
0.006% for currents less than 1.5 A.
CONCLUSION
The inductance-measurement scheme of self-sensing,
described in this paper, has the advantage of not requiring
complex digital hardware or computationally intensive
software for its implementation. Design of a self-sensing
AMB working on inductance measurement principle can
be improved by realizing a linear relationship between in-
verse of coil inductance and the bearing gap. To realize
the linear relationship, the bearing gap has to be made
“large” and operational currents “small.” For AMB’s
working in space environment, say in a magnetically sus-
pended Momentum Wheel on board a geostationary sat-
ellite, this scheme would be well-suited. (The steady load
operational currents in such applications can virtually be
reduced to mere electromagnet bias current levels, by in-
troducing minor-loop integrators in the servo system.)
As a concluding remark, it may also be mentioned that
the effect of rotor-induced eddy currents on coil induc-
tance is yet to be analyzed. However, it is generally felt
that, by choice of highly permeable materials and lami-
nating the ferromagnetic compounds, such effects can be
made negligible or, at worst, predictable.
APPENDIX
In Fig. 1, a schematic of the AMB geometry is shown.
Let N be the total number of turns of wires on the two
334 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 32, NO. 2, MARCH 1996

limbs, i the current through each turn, L the total induc-

+
tance of the coils, the net flux linking them, and x the (7)
radial distance between the electromagnet and the rotor.
Let us assume that iron is infinitely more permeable
than air. Also let us assume that the bearing gap does not
change its regular shape when the rotor moves back and
forth. For the sake of simplicity of analysis, leakage and Substituting (8) in (7), (8) and (7) in ( 6 ) , and (6) in the
fringing can be neglected. voltage expression, we get
The total number of flux turns linking the coils will be Li di
U = iR - -x
x
+ L -dt’ (9)
1c/ = N+.
If reluctance of the iron path can be taken as zero, then This expression is generally applicable to any magneto-
dynamic circuit with a translational or rotational degree

’ = 2
Ni
* (Gap reluctance)
- -NiPoA
2x
of freedom.

REFERENCES
which means that
[l] F. T. Bakers, “Ein Magnetisches Lager,” Philips Tech. Rev., 1961.
[2] J. L. Sitomer and M. D. Leis, “Time sharing pulsed rebalancing sys-
tem,” U.S. Patent 3 508 444, 1970.
[3] Y. Okada et al., “Sensorless magnetic levitation control by measuring
If U is the voltage applied across the coils having a resis- the PWM carrier frequency component,” in Proc. 3rd Int. Symp.
tance of R SI, then Magn. Bearings, VA, July 1992.
[4] D. Vischer and H. Bleuler, “Self-sensing active magnetic levitation,”
IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 29, Mar. 1993.
U = iR + -.d$
dt
[5] -, “A new approach to sensorless and voltage controlled AMBs
based on network theory concepts,” in Proc. 2nd Int. Symp. Magn.
Bearings, Tokyo, Japan, July 1990.
Again, when iron is infinitely permeable, then it can be
written that
rl/ = $(x, i )
. _ a$ _
d$ -- _ ax a$ ai
* . dt ax at + -ai- at (5)
K. K. Sivadasan was born near Palakkad, Kerala, India, in 1964 He grad-
uated from the Regional Engineenng College, Calicut, India with a degree
in electncal engineenng in 1986
From 1987 until 1995, he worked with the Indian Space Research Or-
ganisation, where he played the key role in developing magnetic bearings
where i is the translational velocity of the rotor. for space applications In July 1995, he joined the Magnetics Technology
Centre, Singapore as a research engineer Currently he researches in the
Differentiating expression (4), partially with respect to the field of servo-related problems associated with magnetic recording for
x and i , we get the following expressions: computer data storage