Hybrid superconducting magnetic bearing and its frictional energy loss and dynamics

A hybrid superconducting magnetic bearing (SMB) has been designed and tested. A flywheel energy storage (FES) prototype has been constructed for testing bearing friction loss and characterizing the dynamics of the rotor. The hybrid SMB design uses magnetic forces from permanent magnets for levitation and high temperature superconductor YBCO in between the magnets for stabilization. A 42 lb. flywheel currently can rotate up to 6,000 RPM with kinetic energy of 8 Wh stored. The result from the recent rotor spin-down experiment indicates an average frictional energy loss <2% per hour in a vacuum of 10 {sup {minus}5} torr, with imperfect system alignment and balance of rotor. The system dynamics has been conducted to improve upon the energy loss and rotor-bearing modeling.