State of the Art of Magnetic Bearings : Overview of Magnetic Bearing Research and Applications

Abstract

Magnetic bearings levitate, suspend and guide rotors by magnetic forces without physical contact. The non-contact support offers many advantages and opportunities for a wide variety of applications. Since the First International Symposium on Magnetic Bearings was held in Zurich in 1988, this field of research has expanded, and competition in research and development has been very keen. This review presents the recent trends in applications, control methodologies, sensorless controls, bearingless motors, unbalance control, problems of flexible rotors, eddy current properties and power amplifiers.