Lateral vibration control in attractive magnetic suspension system

Abstract

A switching stiffness control and a modified variable stiffness control were applied to reduce vibration in the lateral directions in active magnetic suspension system with electromagnets operated in the differential mode. The magnetic suspension system using the attractive force between magnetized bodies is inherently unstable in the normal direction so that feedback control is necessary to achieve stable suspension. In contrast, it is usually stable in the lateral directions because of the edge effects in the magnetic circuits. However, damping in the lateral directions is poor so that vibration is easily induced. In this work, a switching stiffness control was applied to attenuate such vibration. The effectiveness of the switching stiffness control was confirmed experimentally. In addition, a modified control method that varies stiffness continuously was proposed to overcome problems occurring in switching. The efficacy of the modified control method was also confirmed experimentally.