Superconducting coil bearings for rotor load
AssigneeMechanical Technology Incorporated
InventorDantam K. Rao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Supercurrent bearings make use of high temperature superconducting coils to support a loaded rotor against radial or thrust loads. One such bearing is an electrodynamic bearing in which superconducting coils are used on both the stator and the rotor to develop a repulsive force. Current is induced in the rotor coils by current supplied to stator coil. Another bearing is an active magnetic bearing in which both superconducting and non-superconducting coils are used on the stator, while the rotor has a laminated secondary to develop attractive forces. The superconducting coils are used for biasing or static loads while the standard (non-superconducting) coils are used for balancing dynamic loads. The high current density of superconductors translates to higher load capacity, smaller bearing size and a lighter bearing.
Claims11
An active magnetic bearing comprising:
- a stator;
- primary coil disposed on said stator, said primary coil means including a first and a second superconducting coil and a non-superconducting coil, said superconducting coil coupled to an external source for generating a stator current;
- a rotor under a load including a static load component and a dynamic load component, said rotor being rotatable with respect to said stator;
- and
- secondary means axially symmetrically attached to said rotor and cooperating with said second superconducting coil to generate a biasing force on said rotor;
- said secondary means cooperating with said superconducting coil to generate a static force substantially symmetric about a longitudinal axis of said rotor for substantially counteracting said static load;
- said secondary means cooperating with said non-superconducting coil to generate a dynamic force to counteract said dynamic load;
- said secondary means including means for generating a rotor current in response to said stator current.
A bearing structure comprising:
- an excitation source;
- a stator with a superconducting stator coil coupled to said external excitation source to generate a stator current;
- and
- a rotor with a superconducting rotor coil, said rotor coil being arranged to produce a rotor current circulating in said rotor coil in response to said stator current;
- wherein said superconducting rotor coil is symmetric about a longitudinal axis of said rotor;
- wherein said stator and said superconducting rotor coil cooperate to generate a force therewithin substantially symmetric about a longitudinal axis of said rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.