Rotors on Active Magnetic Bearings: Modeling and Control Techniques

In the last decades the deeper and more detailed understanding of rotating machinery dynamic behavior facilitated the study and the design of several devices aiming at friction reduction, vibration damping and control, rotational speed increase and mechanical design optimization. Among these devices a promising technology is represented by active magnetic actuators which found a great spread in rotordynamics and in high precision applications due to (a) the absence of all fatigue and tribology issues motivated by the absence of contact, (b) the small sensitivity to the operating conditions, (c) the wide possibility of tuning even during operation, (d) the predictability of the behavior. This technology can be classified as a typical mechatronic product due to its nature which involves mechanical, electrical and control aspects, merging them in a single system. The attractive potential of active magnetic suspensions motivated a considerable research effort for the past decade focused mostly on electrical actuation subsystem and control strategies. Examples of application areas are: (a) Turbomachinery, (b) Vibration isolation, (c) Machine tools and electric drives, (d) Energy storing flywheels, (e) Instruments in space and physics, (f) Non-contacting suspensions for micro-techniques, (g) Identification and test equipment in rotordynamics. This chapter illustrates the design, the modeling, the experimental tests and validation of all the subsystems of a rotors on a five-axes active magnetic suspension. The mechanical, electrical, electronic and control strategies aspects are explained with a mechatronic approach evaluating all the interactions between them. The main goals of the manuscript are: • Illustrate the design and the modeling phases of a five-axes active magnetic suspension; • Discuss the design steps and the practical implementation of a standard suspension control strategy; • Introduce an off-line technique of electrical centering of the actuators; • Illustrate the design steps and the practical implementation of an online rotor selfcentering control technique. The experimental test rig is a shaft (Weight: 5.3 kg. Length: 0.5 m) supported by two radial and one axial cylindrical active magnetic bearings and powered by an asynchronous high frequency electric motor. The chapter starts on an overview of the most common technologies used to support rotors with a deep analysis of their advantages and drawbacks with respect to active magnetic bearings. Furthermore a discussion on magnetic suspensions state of the art is carried out highlighting the research efforts directions and the goals reached in the last years. In the central sections, a detailed description of each subsystem is performed along with the modeling steps. In particular the rotor is modeled with a FE code while the actuators are considered in a linearized model. The last sections of the chapter are focused on the control strategies design and the experimental tests. An off-line technique of actuators electrical centering is explained and its advantages are described in the control design context. This strategy can be summarized as follows. Knowing that: a) each actuation axis is composed by two electromagnets; b) each electromagnet needs a current closed-loop control; c) the bandwidth of this control is depending on the mechanical airgap, then the technique allows to obtain the same value of the closed-loop bandwidth of the current control of both the electromagnets of the same actuation axis. This approach improves performance and gives more steadiness to the control behavior. The decentralized approach of the control strategy allowing the full suspensions on five axes is illustrated from the design steps to the practical implementation on the control unit. Furthermore a selfcentering technique is described and implemented on the experimental test rig: this technique uses a mobile notch filter synchronous with the rotational speed and allows the rotor to spin around its mass center. The actuators are not forced to counteract the unbalance excitation avoiding saturations. Finally, the experimental tests are carried out on the rotor to validate the suspension control, the off-line electrical centering and the selfcentering technique. The numerical and experimental results are superimposed and compared to prove the effectiveness of the modeling approach

Compensation of Magnetic Disturbances Improves Inertial and Magnetic Sensing of Human Body Segment Orientation

This paper describes a complementary Kalman filter design to estimate orientation of human body segments by fusing gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer signals from miniature sensors. Ferromagnetic materials or other magnetic fields near the sensor module disturb the local earth magnetic field and, therefore, the orientation estimation, which impedes many (ambulatory) applications. In the filter, the gyroscope bias error, orientation error, and magnetic disturbance error are estimated. The filter was tested under quasi-static and dynamic conditions with ferromagnetic materials close to the sensor module. The quasi-static experiments implied static positions and rotations around the three axes. In the dynamic experiments, three-dimensional rotations were performed near a metal tool case. The orientation estimated by the filter was compared with the orientation obtained with an optical reference system Vicon. Results show accurate and drift-free orientation estimates. The compensation results in a significant difference (p<0.01) between the orientation estimates with compensation of magnetic disturbances in comparison to no compensation or only gyroscopes. The average static error was 1.4/spl deg/ (standard deviation 0.4) in the magnetically disturbed experiments. The dynamic error was 2.6/spl deg/ root means square

Estimating Body Segment Orientation by Applying Inertial and Magnetic Sensing Near Ferromagnetic Materials

Inertial and magnetic sensors are very suitable for ambulatory monitoring of human posture and movements. However, ferromagnetic materials near the sensor disturb the local magnetic field and, therefore, the orientation estimation. A Kalman-based fusion algorithm was used to obtain dynamic orientations and to minimize the effect of magnetic disturbances. This paper compares the orientation output of the sensor fusion using three-dimensional inertial and magnetic sensors against a laboratory bound opto-kinetic system (Vicon) in a simulated work environment. With the tested methods, the difference between the optical reference system and the output of the algorithm was 2.6deg root mean square (rms) when no metal was near the sensor module. Near a large metal object instant errors up to 50deg were measured when no compensation was applied. Using a magnetic disturbance model, the error reduced significantly to 3.6deg rms

Active shielding of magnetic field with circular space-time characteristic

Aim. The synthesis of two degree of freedom robust two circuit system of active shielding of magnetic field with circular spacetime characteristic, generated by overhead power lines with "triangle" type of phase conductors arrangements for reducing the magnetic flux density to the sanitary standards level and to reducing the sensitivity of the system to plant parameters uncertainty. Methodology. The synthesis is based on the multi-criteria game decision, in which the payoff vector is calculated on the basis of the Maxwell equations quasi-stationary approximation solutions. The game decision is based on the stochastic particles multiswarm optimization algorithms. The initial parameters for the synthesis by system of active shielding are the location of the overhead power lines with respect to the shielding space, geometry and number of shielding coils, operating currents, as well as the size of the shielding space and magnetic flux density normative value, which should be achieved as a result of shielding. The objective of the synthesis is to determine their number, configuration, spatial arrangementand and shielding coils currents, setting algorithm of the control systems as well as the resulting of the magnetic flux density value at the shielding space. Results. Computer simulation and field experimental research results of two degree of freedom robust two circuit system of active shielding of magnetic field, generated by overhead power lines with «triangle» type of phase conductors arrangements are given. The possibility of initial magnetic flux density level reducing and system sensitivity reducing to the plant parameters uncertainty is shown. Originality. For the first time the synthesis, theoretical and experimental research of two degree of freedom robust two -circuit t system of active shielding of magnetic field generated by single-circuit overhead power line with phase conductors triangular arrangements carried out. Practical value. Practical recommendations from the point of view of the practical implementation on reasonable choice of the spatial arrangement of two shielding coils of robust two -circuit system of active shielding of the magnetic field with circular space-time characteristic generated by single-circuit overhead power line with phase conductors triangular arrangements are given.Цель. Синтез комбинированной робастной двухконтурной системы активного экранирования магнитного поля с круговой пространственно-временной характеристикой, генерируемого одноконтурной воздушной линией электропередачи с треугольным подвесом проводов для снижения индукции магнитного поля до уровня санитарных норм и для снижения чувствительности системы к неопределенности параметров объекта управления. Методология. Синтез основан на решении многокритериальной стохастической игры, в которой векторный выигрыш вычисляется на основании решений уравнений Максвелла в квазистационарном приближении. Решение игры находится на основе алгоритмов стохастической мультиагентной оптимизации мультироем частиц. Исходными параметрами для синтеза системы активного экранирования являются расположение высоковольтной линий электропередачи по отношению к экранируемому пространству, геометрические размеры, количество проводов и рабочие токи линии электропередачи, а также размеры экранируемого пространства и нормативное значение индукции магнитного поля, которое должно быть достигнуто в результате экранирования. Задачей синтеза является определение количества, конфигурации, пространственного расположения и токов экранирующих обмоток, алгоритма работы системы управления, а также результирующего значения индукции магнитного поля в экранируемом пространстве. Результаты. Приводятся результаты теоретических и полевых экспериментальных исследований комбинированной робастной двухконтурной системы активного экранирования магнитного поля, генерируемого воздушной линией электропередачи с треугольным подвесом проводов. Показана возможность снижения уровня индукции исходного магнитного поля внутри экранируемого пространства и снижения чувствительности системы к неопределенностям параметров объекта управления. Оригинальность. Впервые проведены синтез, теоретические и экспериментальные исследования комбинированной робастной двухконтурной системы активного экранирования магнитного поля, генерируемого одноконтурной воздушной линией электропередачи с треугольным подвесом проводов. Практическая ценность. Приводятся практические рекомендации по обоснованному выбору с точки зрения практической реализации пространственного расположения двух экранирующих обмоток двухконтурной робастной системы активного экранирования магнитного поля с круговой пространственно-временной характеристикой, создаваемого одноконтурной воздушной линией электропередачи с треугольным подвесом проводов

Ambulatory position and orientation tracking fusing magnetic and inertial sensing

This paper presents the design and testing of a portable magnetic system combined with miniature inertial sensors for ambulatory 6 degrees of freedom ( DOF) human motion tracking. The magnetic system consists of three orthogonal coils, the source, fixed to the body and 3-D magnetic sensors, fixed to remote body segments, which measure the fields generated by the source. Based on the measured signals, a processor calculates the relative positions and orientations between source and sensor. Magnetic actuation requires a substantial amount of energy which limits the update rate with a set of batteries. Moreover, the magnetic field can easily be disturbed by ferromagnetic materials or other sources. Inertial sensors can be sampled at high rates, require only little energy and do not suffer from magnetic interferences. However, accelerometers and gyroscopes can only measure changes in position and orientation and suffer from integration drift. By combing measurements from both systems in a complementary Kalman filter structure, an optimal solution for position and orientation estimates is obtained. The magnetic system provides 6 DOF measurements at a relatively low update rate while the inertial sensors track the changes position and orientation in between the magnetic updates. The implemented system is tested against a lab-bound camera tracking system for several functional body movements. The accuracy was about 5 mm for position and 3 degrees for orientation measurements. Errors were higher during movements with high velocities due to relative movement between source and sensor within one cycle of magnetic actuation

On-chip Magnetoresistive Sensors for Detection and Localization of Paramagnetic Particles

This paper presents the work towards miniaturized magnetic biosensor array based on the detection of paramagnetic particles using the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect. GMR sensors have been studied for many years, but its application for on-chip integration and in complex configurations, as well as effective localization for Lab-On-Chip and Tissue Engineering applications is not yet explored. This work demonstrates the development of initial prototypes of 5 and 9 sensor GMR arrays of varying geometries and corresponding calibration and localization algorithms to detect and localize paramagnetic materials in 2D. The generation of a uniform magnetic field using a 16 magnet Halbach cylinder was also analyzed and optimized using FEA for different sensor configurations. Results show excellent localization for the fully calibrated 5 sensor arrays, with a mean (SD) error of 2.45 (1.61) mm for the ferrofluid as compared to 1.48 (1.14) mm for a strong ferromagnet for a 25×25mm2 array surface. The 9sensor array similarly showed good results for full calibration

Contactless measurement of electric current using magnetic sensors

We review recent advances in magnetic sensors for DC/AC current transducers, especially novel AMR sensors and integrated fluxgates, and we make critical comparison of their properties. Most contactless electric current transducers use magnetic cores to concentrate the flux generated by the measured current and to shield the sensor against external magnetic fields. In order to achieve this, the magnetic core should be massive. We present coreless current transducers which are lightweight, linear and free of hysteresis and remanence. We also show how to suppress their weak point: crosstalk from external currents and magnetic fields