Improved thrust calculations of active magnetic bearings considering fringing flux

A methodology for deriving fringing permeance in axisymmetric devices such as active thrust magnetic bearings (ATMBs) is presented. The methodology is used to develop an improved equivalent magnetic circuit (EMC) for ATMBs, which considers the fringing effect. This EMC was used to characterize the force between the housing and mover and the dependence of thrust and inductance on the air gap and input current, respectively. These characteristics were validated by comparison with those obtained by the finite element method and in experiments.