Generalized optimization procedure for rotational magnetized direction permanent magnet thrust bearing configuration

Abstract

Optimization of rotational magnetized direction permanent magnet thrust bearing configuration is carried out using generalized three-dimensional mathematical model. The bearing features namely axial force and stiffness are maximized using in-house developed mathematical expressions solved using MATLAB. The design variables selected for the optimization are axial offset, number of ring pairs, air gap and inner radius of inner and outer rings. The maximized axial force values of the optimized configuration are validated with the finite element analysis results. To overcome the high computational cost associated with three-dimensional equations, generalized method of optimization is sucessfully demonstrated using plots representing variation of optimal design variables as a function of air gap with respect to bearing’s outer diameter. Simple and useful method of using the generalized plots for the process of optimization is presented by dimension optimization of representative bearing configuration with a particular aspect ratio. The proposed optimization using mathematical model and generalized approach assists designer in selecting optimized geometrical parameters of rotational magnetized direction thrust bearing configurations easily for variety of high-speed applications. © IMechE 2018.