Experimental Tests and Simulations to the Design of an Electrodynamic Bearing

This paper describes an electrodynamic suspension system built with permanent magnets and aluminum plates. Initially, a simple case was studied to demonstrate the behavior of the levitation and drag forces for different conditions, such as air gap, angular velocity and thickness of the aluminum target. In the second part, numerical and experimental tests were performed to design an homopolar electrodynamic bearing (EDB). Forces obtained with eccentric operation as well as different rotor radial velocities are presented.