Topology and performance of superconducting magnetic bearings

The paper presents different topologies of inherent stable magnetic support systems consisting of monolithic high temperature superconductors (HTSC) a nd permanent magnets (PM). They may be used as contactless magnetic bearing s for high speed rotating machines. Depending on the application, cylindric , conic or disk shaped HTSC-PM arrangements with increased both radial and/ or axial forces and stiffnesses are proposed. The dependencies of optimal p ole pitch on the air gap are given including the effects of limited current densities associated with the behaviour of real monolithic superconductors . Furthermore, the effect of zero field and maximum field frozen HTSCs on t he performance of magnetic HTSC bearings are represented. To compute the ma gnetic HTSC-PM interaction a new extended finite element (EFEM) program is applied.