HIGH PERFORMANCE SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC BEARING

A NEED EXISTS FOR INNOVATIVE BEARING CONCEPTS THAT MAY BE EMPLOYED IN TURBINE ENGINES AND OTHER LARGE ROTATING EQUIPMENT. THESE BEARING CONCEPTS WILL ALLOW HIGHER ROTATIONAL SPEED, HIGHER RELIABILITY, BETTER CONTROL OF MACHINE DYNAMICS AND A GENERAL IMPROVEMENT IN THE MACHINE PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY. MAGNETIC BEARINGS HAVE FOUND APPLICATION IN MANY AREAS REQUIRING MODEST PERFORMANCE LEVELS. SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC BEARINGS OFFER THE POTENTIAL FOR VASTLY IMPROVED PERFORMANCE TOGETHER WITH SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT REDUCTION. THESE MAGNETIC BEARINGS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO SYSTEMS REQUIRING HIGH PERFORMANCE WIDE BANDWIDTH CONTROL. THE DEVELOPMENT OFSUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC BEARING TECHNOLOGY IS EXPECTED TO ALLOW A NUMBER OF NOVEL APPROACHES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MACHINERY AND SYSTEMS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL RESULT INA DESIGN DEFINITION AND DETAILED ANALYSIS OF A SUPERCONDUCTING BEARING SYSTEM. A LABORATORY PROTOTYPE WILLBE CONSTRUCTED AND TESTED AS A PHASE II EFFORT.