Internal Rotor Actuation and Magnetic Bearings for the Active Control of Rotating Machines

Passive rotors are often limited in rotational speed due to bearing constraints, stability and excessive vibration levels. To address the vibration issue, Active Magnetic Bearings (AMBs) levitating the rotor with a magnetic field can be used. They offer a clearance and variable stiffness and damping to the rotor support, which help to mitigate greatly the vibration issue. However, they are also limited at large rotational speed because of the high frequency control force required to levitate the rotor safely. To overcome the frequency limitation, a dual AMBs/internal bending control concept is investigated with associated modelling and control algorithms. This approach is examined in simulation with a 19 kg rotor running up to 10,000 RPM, where three resonance frequencies are present at 2700, 5300, and 9300 RPM, with the first resonant frequency being the most strongly excited. Using internal rotor bending control, a maximum radial displacement of 15 μm for the rotor mid-point is achieved, which gives a reduction in vibration amplitude of 45% compared to the case of no control. Variations of the algorithm are presented and discussed, showing the potential of the proposed approach.