Development of hybrid bearing system with thrust superconducting magnetic hearing and radial active electromagnetic bearing

A superconducting/electromagnetic hybrid bearing system is currently under development and test. This system consists of a thrust superconducting magn etic bearing and a double radial active electromagnetic bearing/motor devic es. The thrust bearing has been designed using NdFeB permanent magnets levi tating on a set of superconducting monoliths of YBCO, prepared by top seede d melt texturing technique, which supports the weight of the rotor. The bea ring/motor devices were conceived as 4-pole a-phase induction machine using stator windings for delivering torque and radial positioning simultaneousl y. Using this superconducting axial bearing and the active bearings for the rotor radial positioning,;a fully levitating vertical-shaft inductive mach ine has been tested. The tests were successful in reaching a controlled lev itation up to 6,300 rpm.