Eric Severson trained attendees of the Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo in Long Beach, CA on the basic principles of magnetic bearings and bearingless motors.
Title of Tutorial: Primer on Magnetically Suspended Motor Shafts for Transportation Applications
Instructor: Eric Severson, Assistant Professor and WEMPEC Associate Director, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Tutorial Description: The goal of this tutorial is to train participants on the opportunity for magnetic suspension technology to disrupt transportation motor systems. Participants will analyze critical challenges posed by conventional bearing systems in high performance applications, focusing on electrified cars and aircraft. Participants will then explore the basic principles of magnetic forces, operation, and control of magnetic bearings and bearingless motors. Ultimately, participants will evaluate the potential for magnetic suspension technology to disrupt their product development or research field.
Recent commercialization of wideband gap power electronic devices and low cost embedded control systems are enabling higher speed, more light-weight motor systems. This technology is proving critical for transportation applications, which depend on weight reductions to decrease fuel consumption and/or extend battery life. All of this is placing increasingly hostile demands on our bearing systems that conventional bearings are unable to meet. In today’s motor systems, bearings are typically the first components to fail—with upward of 80% of turbocharger failures attributable to bearing failure. These challenges have driven a resurgence of industrial interest in magnetic suspension. Come join us to find out how magnetic bearing and bearingless motor technology can address your unique needs.