Superconducting coil bearings for rotor load

摘要

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.