Conical bearingless motor-generators

Article By:

Kascak, Peter Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio.

Dever, Timothy Glenn Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, Ohio.

Jansen, Ralph Glenn Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, Ohio.

Last reviewed:2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB100203

A motor-generator consists of a component that spins, called the rotor, and a stationary component, called the stator. The rotor is usually suspended from the stator by a mechanical bearing, such as a ball bearing, roller bearing, or journal bearing. This method of suspension makes sense for most applications, as it is very economical. However, certain high-performance applications either require or can be greatly enhanced by a noncontacting suspension system. In applications where the rotor moves at an extremely high speed (and the friction losses of a mechanical system would be prohibitively large), where access for bearing maintenance (for example, lubrication) is limited, or where long life is required (mechanical bearings are a wear item, and have a limited lifetime), a noncontacting suspension might be preferred. This article describes a noncontacting system in which the rotor is suspended on a magnetic field, allowing five-axis levitation with a new type of bearingless motor-generator.

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