Analytical Model of Current-Force Characteristics of a Combined Radial-Axial Magnetic Bearing

In today’s industry high-speed and high-power-density drives are attracting much interest, e.g. for applications with mesoscale gas turbine generator systems or turbocompressors for fuel cells. In all high-speed drive systems the bearing technology is a key component. Therefore, this paper presents the analysis of an active magnetic bearing suitable for a permanent magnet machine, being part of a high-speed electrical drive system. The analysis has its focus on the detailed characterization of the magnetic forces, the coupling between the different axes and the verification of the theoretical considerations by means of 3D-FEM simulations. To understand the behavior of the bearing forces is needed to implement the position control to the prototype of the bearing system, which already has been built.