Passive axial magnetic bearing with Halbach magnetized array in magnetically suspended control moment gyro application

The paper presents a special configuration of passive axial magnetic bearing with segmented Halbach magnetized array in magnetically suspended control moment gyro (MSCMG). Peculiarity of presented passive axial magnetic bearing is its ability to provide angular stiffness so that it can produce gyro moment when it is used in MSCMG. The MSCMG with this passive axial magnetic bearing can efficiently reduce the power loss when it supplies gyro moment compared with the five degrees of freedom (5-DOF) MSCMG. The characteristics of the suspension force and stiffness of the passive axial magnetic bearing are studied using finite element method (FEM). The performance of the presented passive axial magnetic bearing with Halbach magnetized array is verified by a prototyped MSCMG.

Research highlights
► Passive axial magnetic bearing is used to provide angular stiffness.
► Passive axial magnetic bearing is based on repulsion.
► Layers Halbach magnetized array realizes higher stiffness per bearing volume.
► Passive axial magnetic bearing can provide gyro moment in CMG.
► Power loss of MSCMG with PMB does not increase when it provides gyro moment.