Force Characteristic Analysis of a Linear Magnetic Bearing With Rhombus Magnet Array for Magnetic Levitation Positioning System

Magnetic levitation positioning systems (MLPSs) are of great interest in high-precision applications in vacuum. In this paper, a linear magnetic bearing with rhombus magnet array (RMA-LMB) for MLPS is proposed. With the RMA, the proposed RMA-LMB possesses advantages of excellent force uniformity, high force density, and good manufacturability. First, the basic structure and operating principle of the proposed RMA-LMB are presented. Second, the expressions of magnetic field, static force and torque, and dynamic force and torque are obtained by an equivalent current model. Third, the 3-D finite-element analysis (3-D FEA) is employed to investigate the RMA-LMB, and the magnetic field distribution, the static force and torque, as well as the dynamic force and torque are analyzed. Finally, a prototype is constructed, and experiments show a good agreement with the FEA results.