Permanent magnet bearings for heavy highspeed rotors
During recent years, magnetic bearings replaced conventional bearings in many applications. Examples include compressors and vacuum equipment. This results in an increasing demand for magnetic bearing solutions. A complete magnetic bearing system has been developed in cooperation with the Central Technology Division of Forschungszentrum Jülich. It is aimed at rotors up to masses of 50 kg and rotational frequencies of 1000 Hz. Two homopolar radial magnetic bearings (see left figure) are combined with a novel passive axial bearing (see right figure). Integration of the position sensors into the radial bearings makes compact functional units and simplifies system control.