Homopolar bearingless slice motor in temple design

This work describes a concept of a magnetically levitated homopolar bearingless slice motor in temple design. The proposed setup consists of two oppositely magnetized permanent magnets on the rotor and stator and provides high axial stiffness. The fluctuation of the air gap field for torque generation is generated with a cross-shaped rotor iron. Compared to a diametrically magnetized drive, this concept achieves three times the axial stiffness without increasing the radial stiffness and is better suited for systems with large air gaps. A drawback is the low torque capacity. Its operating principle is described and a working prototype is presented including simulation and measurement results.