Active Magnetic Bearings project for mechanical engineering

A magnetic bearing is a bearing which supports a load using magnetic levitation. Magnetic bearings support moving machinery without physical contact, for example, they can levitate a rotating shaft and permit relative motion without friction or wear. In active magnetic bearings (AMB) a stable equilibrium is achieved by means of one or more control loops.

The use of control loop  for  maintaining  the  gap  between  the  shaft     and bearing differentiate the active magnetic bearings (AMB) from passive ones. They are in service in such industrial applications as electric power generation, petroleum refining, machine tool operation and natural gas pipelines The typical AMB system diagram is illustrated in above figure.

Besides the controller,  the general control system also includes the sensor, A/D and D/A conversion and power amplifier. The rotor’s displacement along one of the axes is detected by the position sensors and converted into signals of standard voltage. Then compared with the setting value, the error signal enters the controller. After A/D conversion, the controller  processes this digital signal according to a given regulating rule (control arithmetic) and generates a signal of current setting. After D/A conversion, this current signal enters the power amplifier, whose function is to maintain the current value in the electric magnet winding at the current level set by the controller. Therefore, if the rotor leaves its center position, the control system will change the electromagnet current in order to change its attraction force and, respectively, draws the rotor back to its balance position.

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