Basic characteristics of an active thrust magnetic bearing with a cylindrical rotor core

Magnetic bearings, which can suspend rotor shafts by electromagnetic force without mechanical contacts and lubrication, have been developed and commercialized. In the various types of magnetic bearings, thrust magnetic bearings with thrust disks are generally used for active suspension control of thrust direction. However, the large thrust disks of the thrust magnetic bearings have caused various problems. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel structure of an active thrust magnetic bearing using a cylindrical rotor core without the large thrust disk, and it is shown with 3-D-FEA and experiment that the proposed thrust magnetic bearing with the cylindrical rotor core is effective in producing thrust force. Index Terms--Active suspension control, magnetic bearings (MBs), magnetic suspension, thrust magnetic bearings (TMBs).