ECS-9619785 Dawson The active magnetic bearing (AMB) is a non-contact means of supporting a rotating member such as a motor or pump shaft. That is, an AMB system can be used as a substitute for standard mechanical contact supports, such as rollers or ball bearings. The AMB offers several important advantages over conventional mechanical bearings which can lead to improvements in a large variety of devices (e.g., possible rotating machine systems include electric motors, electric generators, gasoline or diesel engines, jet engines and turbines, fan, blowers, etc.). Specifically, AMBs: I) are not subject to frictional losses, ii) can be used to compensate for rotor unbalanced, iii) can operate in both high and low temperature environments, and iv) eliminate contamination associated with lubricants and friction wear. The project will be mathematical modeling and control algorithms and the associated software and hardware modules for high precision control of large gap AMBs and for the demonstration of their corresponding applications. Specifically, the proposed research will bring recent advances in nonlinear theory to an emerging technical area which could spawn a potentially large export market for U.S. manufactures.
