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Title: Passive magnetic bearing for a horizontal shaft

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1174605

A passive magnetic bearing is composed of a levitation element and a restorative element. The levitation element is composed of a pair of stationary arcuate ferromagnetic segments located within an annular radial-field magnet array. The magnet array is attached to the inner circumference of a hollow shaft end. An attractive force between the arcuate segments and the magnet array acts vertically to levitate the shaft, and also in a horizontal transverse direction to center the shaft. The restorative element is comprised of an annular Halbach array of magnets and a stationary annular circuit array located within the Halbach array. The Halbach array is attached to the inner circumference of the hollow shaft end. A repulsive force between the Halbach array and the circuit array increases inversely to the radial space between them, and thus acts to restore the shaft to its equilibrium axis of rotation when it is displaced therefrom.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
Assignee:
The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, CA)
Patent Number(s):
6,657,344
Application Number:
09/946,257
OSTI ID:
1174605
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (1)

Application of permanent magnets in accelerators and electron storage rings (invited) journal April 1985

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