INTRODUCTION

Active magnetic bearings (AMB) have been designed to overcome the deficiencies of
conventional journal or ball bearings. They have the ability to work in vacuum with no
lubrication and no contamination, or to run at high speed. Today, magnetic bearings have
been introduced into the industrial world as a very valuable machine element with quite a
number of novel features, and with a vast range of diverse applications. Let us discuss key
features such as load, size, stiffness, temperature, precision, speed, losses and dynamics.
PRINCIPLE
An Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) consists of an electromagnet assembly, a set of power
amplifiers which supply current to the electromagnets, a controller, and gap sensors with
associated electronics to provide the feedback required to control the position of the rotor
within the gap. The power amplifiers supply equal bias current to two pairs of electromagnets
on opposite sides of a rotor. This constant tug-of-war is mediated by the controller due to
control current as the rotor deviates by a small amount from its center position.
Schematic Diagram of AMB
LOAD
The term load touches upon basic} properties of magnetic bearings. The load capacity
depends on the arrangement and geometry of the electromagnets, the magnetic properties
of the material, and of the control laws.
The load carrying capacity of an AMB depends on the} magnetomotive force i.e., the
product of the maximum current imax and winding number n.
The load that can be carried depends on possible heat} dissipation. Therefore, one limitation
for a high static load is the adequate dissipation of the heat generated by the coil current due
to the Ohm resistance of the windings.
This is called soft limitation on load.}
When the} current imax reaches a value where the flux generated will cause saturation then
the carrying force has reached its maximal value. Any overload beyond that will cause the
rotor to break away from its centre position and touch down on its retainer bearings.
This is hard limitation}
It has been found that the} maximum specific carrying force of 32 N/cm2 (or 0.32 MPa) can
be generated which is considerably lower than that for oil lubricated bearings, which is about
four times as high.
Using expensive cobalt-alloys with a saturation flux density} of over 2 Tesla, from which a
specific carrying force of up to 60 N/cm2 will result
Geometry of a radial bearing}
d Inner diameter (bearing} diameter)
da Outer diameter}
dr Rotor diameter}
c Leg width}
di Shaft diameter}
l Bearing length}
h Winding head height}
} b Bearing width (magnetically active part)
An Slot cross section (winding} space)
p Pole shoe width}
s0 Nominal air gap}
STIFFNESS
The stiffness of a bearing is} the ratio of the supported load with respect to the resulting
displacement of that load
High stiffness can be obtained by using PID controller}
The} PID controller brings the position the shaft to the same position after the load and thus
the rotor shows a behavior that cannot be obtained with classical bearings
SPEED
It can be} discussed under 3 categories
Rotational speedϖ
Circumferentialϖ speed
Supercritical speedϖ
Rotational speed
In today’s industrial applications rotational speed range of} about 3kHz to 5kHz has
reached. Problems arise from eddy current and hysteresis losses in the magnetic material,
air losses, and the related requirements for power generation and adequate heat dissipation
if the rotor runs in vacuum.
Circumferential Speed
} The circumferential speed is a measure for the centrifugal load and leads to specific
requirements on design and material. The centrifugal load leads to tangential and radial
stresses in the rotor.
The tangential stress is the} most critical one. Highest stress values occur at the inner
boundaries of a rotor disc
Rotor speeds of up to 340 m/s in the bearing area can be} reached with iron sheets from
amorphous metal (metallic glass), having good magnetic and mechanical properties.
Supercritical Speed
A rotor may well have} to pass one or more critical bending speeds in order to reach its
operational rotation speed. In classical rotor dynamics this task is difficult to achieve. In AMB
technology it is the controller that has to be designed carefully to enable a stable and well-
damped rotor behaviour.
SIZE
In principle, there appears to be no} upper limit for the bearing size, it can be adapted to any
load. Small bearings are of special interest to micro-techniques. Potential applications are
video heads, medical instruments, hard disk drives, and optical scanners. The challenge lies
in simplifying the design and in the manufacturing process.
HIGH TEMPERATURE AMB
In order} to utilize the full advantages of active magnetic bearings, operation in gas turbine
and aircraft engines requires that the magnetic bearing should work properly at high
temperatures
Challenges in designing such bearings consist} in material evaluation, manufacturing
process and high temperature displacement sensor development.
Operating temperatures of up to 550º C have been} reached, at rotor speeds of 30,000 rpm.
Such a performance cannot be reached by any other kind of bearing.
Experimental tests were quite successful, but} the long-term exposure to high temperature
needs further research, as the actual results are not yet convincing
Test Rig For High Temperature AMB}
LOSSES
With contact-free rotors there is} no friction in the magnetic bearings. The operation of active
magnetic bearings causes much less losses than operating conventional ball or journal
bearings
Losses can be grouped into losses in}
Stator partϖ
Rotorϖ part
Stator Loss
Stator losses} are mainly from copper losses in the windings of the stator and from losses in
the amplifiers. The copper losses are a heat source, and, if no sufficient cooling is provided,
can limit the control current and hence the maximal achievable carrying force
Rotor Loss
These losses comprise iron losses caused by hysteresis and eddy} currents, and air drag
losses. The losses heat up the rotor, cause a breaking torque on the rotor, and have to be
compensated by the drive power of the motor
In general, the eddy current losses are the largest ones.}
The} iron losses depend on the rotor speed, the material used for the bearing bushes
The iron losses in the rotor can limit operations, as in particular} in vacuum applications it
can be difficult to dissipate the generated heat.
} The hysteresis losses arise if the B-H-curve travels along a hysteresis loop
The eddy-current losses arise when the flux density within the iron} core changes. A
compact core acts like a short circuit winding and generates large eddy currents. The eddy-
current losses can be reduced by dividing the iron core in insulated sheets or in particles
(sinter cores). The smaller these divisions, the smaller the eddy-current losses.
a) Iron Core b)} Sheet
PRECISION
Precision in} rotating machinery means most often how precise can the position of the rotor
axis be guaranteed
Active magnetic bearings levitate an object, with} feedback control of measured
displacement sensor signal. The performance of AMB systems is therefore directly affected
by the quality of a sensor signal
MATERIALS
Common AMB materials are
Silicon alloys
Cobalt alloys such as Hiperco
ADVANTAGES OF AMB
Lubrication free}
} Reliability
Operation in vacuum}
Reduced energy consumption}
} Condition monitoring
High speed capability}
No oil contamination}
} Precision
DISADVANTAGES
} Requires auxiliary bearing
Load carrying capacity is limited}
Requires} continuous power supply
APPLICATIONS
Refineries and petrochemical plants}
Offshore and under sea gas} extraction
Cryogenic pumps, compressor and expanders}
Industrial} refrigeration and air conditioning
Turbo blowers, Turbo booster pumps,} Turbo molecular pumps etc
CONCLUSIONS
The maximal load depends on design}
The specific load depends} on the available ferromagnetic material and its saturation
properties, and is therefore limited to 32 to 60 N/cm2
Circumferential speeds, causing} centrifugal loads, are limited by the strength of material.
Values of about 250 to 300 m/s have been realized with actual design
Supercritical speed means} that one or more critical speeds can be passed by the elastic
rotor. It appears to be difficult to pass more than two or three
High temperature bearings} have been realized, running in experiments at an operating
temperature of 550º C.
The losses of magnetic bearings at operating speed are much smaller} than that of classical
bearings. Eddy current losses will limit the rotation frequency of massive rotors, the air drag
will be crucial at high circumferential speeds
A high precision of the position of the rotor axis} (in the range of mm) requires high
resolution sensors and adequate signal processing to separate disturbance signals from the
desired ones

Reference: http://www.seminarprojects.com/Thread-magnetic-bearing--4413?
pid=43324#ixzz1Icq7O122
Introduction

A magnetic bearing is a bearing which supports a load using magnetic levitation.

Magnetic bearings support moving machinery without physical contact, for example, they
can levitate a rotating shaft and permit relative motion without friction or wear. They are
in service in such industrial applications as electric power generation, petroleum refining,
machine tool operation and natural gas pipelines. They are also used in the Zippe-type
centrifuge used for uranium enrichment. Magnetic bearings support the highest speeds of
any kind of bearing; they have no known maximum relative speed.

History

The evolution of active magnetic bearings may be traced through the patents issued in
this field. The table below lists several early patents for active magnetic bearings. Earlier
patents for magnetic suspensions can be found but are excluded here because they consist
of assemblies of permanent magnets of problematic stability per Earnshaw's Theorem.

Early active magnetic bearing patents were assigned to Jesse Beams at the University of
Virginia during World War II and are concerned with ultracentrifuges for purification of
the isotopes of various elements for the manufacture of the first nuclear bombs, but the
technology did not mature until the advances of solid-state electronics and modern
computer-based control technology with the work of Habermann and Schweitzer.
Extensive modern work in magnetic bearings has continued at the University of Virginia
in the Rotating Machinery and Controls Industrial Research Program. The first
international symposium for active magnetic bearing technology was held in 1988 with
the founding of the International Society of Magnetic Bearings by Prof. Schweitzer, Prof.
Allaire (University of Virginia), and Prof. Okada (Ibaraki University). Since then there
have been nine succeeding symposia. Kasarda reviews the history of AMB in depth. She
notes that the first commercial application of AMB’s was with turbomachinery. The
AMB allowed the elimination of oil reservoirs on compressors for the NOVA Gas
Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) gas pipelines in Alberta, Canada. This reduced the fire hazard
allowing a substantial reduction in insurance costs. The success of these magnetic bearing
installations led NGTL to pioneer the research and development of a digital magnetic
bearing control system as a replacement for the analog control systems supplied by the
American company Magnetic Bearings Inc. (MBI). In 1992, NGTL's magnetic bearing
research group formed the company Revolve Technologies Inc. to commercialize the
digital magnetic bearing technology. This firm was later purchased by SKF of Sweden.
The French company S2M, founded in 1976, was the first to commercially market
AMB’s. Extensive research on magnetic bearings continues at the University of Virginia
in the Rotating Machinery and Controls Industrial Research Program.

Description

It is difficult to build a magnetic bearing using permanent magnets due to the limitations
imposed by Earnshaw's theorem, and techniques using diamagnetic materials are
relatively undeveloped. As a result, most magnetic bearings require continuous power
input and an active control system to hold the load stable. Because of this complexity, the
magnetic bearings also typically require some kind of back-up bearing in case of power
or control system failure.

Two sorts of instabilities are very typically present with magnetic bearings. Firstly
attractive magnets give an unstable static force, decreasing with greater distance, and
increasing at close distances. Secondly since magnetism is a conservative force, in and of
itself it gives little if any damping, and oscillations will cause loss of successful
suspension if any driving forces are present, which they very typically are.

With the use of an induction-based levitation system present in cutting-edge MAGLEV

technologies such as the Inductrack system, magnetic bearings could do away with
complex control systems by using Halbach arrays and simple closed loop coils.

Basic Operation

Basic Operation for a Single AxisAn active magnetic bearing (AMB) consists of an
electromagnet assembly, a set of power amplifiers which supply current to the
electromagnets, a controller, and gap sensors with associated electronics to provide the
feedback required to control the position of the rotor within the gap. These elements are
shown in the diagram. The power amplifiers supply equal bias current to two pairs of
electromagnets on opposite sides of a rotor. This constant tug-of-war is mediated by the
controller which offsets the bias current by equal but opposite perturbations of current as
the rotor deviates by a small amount from its center position.

The gap sensors are usually inductive in nature and sense in a differential mode. The
power amplifiers in a modern commercial application are solid state devices which
operate in a pulse width modulation (PWM) configuration. The controller is usually a
microprocessor or DSP.

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Applications

Magnetic bearing advantages include very low and predictable friction, ability to run
without lubrication and in a vacuum. Magnetic bearings are increasingly used in
industrial machines such as compressors, turbines, pumps, motors and generators.
Magnetic bearings are commonly used in watt-hour meters by electric utilities to measure
home power consumption. Magnetic bearings are also used in high-precision instruments
and to support equipment in a vacuum, for example in flywheel energy storage systems.
A flywheel in a vacuum has very low windage losses, but conventional bearings usually
fail quickly in a vacuum due to poor lubrication. Magnetic bearings are also used to
support maglev trains in order to get low noise and smooth ride by eliminating physical
contact surfaces. Disadvantages include high cost, and relatively large size.

A very interesting new application of magnetic bearings is their use in artificial hearts.
The use of magnetic suspension in ventricular assist devices was pioneered by Prof. Paul
Allaire and Prof. Houston Wood at the University of Virginia culminating in the first
magnetically suspended ventricular assist centrifugal pump (VAD) in 1999