Development Of A Low Cost Permanent Magnet Biased Bearing

The design of an active magnetic bearing ( AMB ) for industrial applications requires in addition to the technical characteristics the consideration of attributes like complexity, reliability, acquisition and running costs. Besides the AMB itself, the electronics, especially the power amplifiers have to be regarded. In this paper a novel design of an AMB with low power consumption combined with an uncomplex mechanical construction is introduced. Rare earth permanent magnets are implemented to impress a constant bias flux whereas coils generate the control flux to stabilise the bearing. The flux of the permanent magnets and the flux of the coils lie in the same plane that is to say the introduced magnetic bearing is a heteropolar type. Besides the mechanical construction and the functionality, the characteristic curves of the AMB determined by simulation and by measurements on a prototype, are presented.