Thermal Behavior of a Magnetically Levitated Spindle for Fatigue Testing of Fiber Reinforced Plastic

This article discusses the critical thermal behavior of a magnetically levitated spindle for fatigue testing of cylinders made of fiber reinforced plastic. These cylinders represent the outer-rotor of a kinetic energy storage. The system operates under vacuum conditions. Hence, even small power losses in the rotor can lead to a high rotor temperature. To find the most effective way to keep the rotor temperature under a critical limit in the existing system, first, transient electromagnetic finite element simulations are evaluated for the active magnetic bearings and the electric machine. Using these simulations, the power losses of the active components in the rotor can be derived. Second, a finite element simulation characterizes the thermal behavior of the rotor. Using the power losses calculated in the electromagnetic simulation, the thermal simulation provides the temperature of the rotor. These results are compared with measurements from an experimental spindle. One effective way to reduce rotational losses without major changes in the hardware is to reduce the bias current of the magnetic bearings. Since this also changes the characteristics of the magnetic bearings, the dynamic behavior of the rotor is also considered.