Keynote 4: “Active Magnetic Bearings for Smart Rotating Machinery”

Active Magnetic Bearings (AMBs) provide contact-free rotor levitation and have many advantages over conventional bearings. These include lubrication-free frictionless operation. They can operate at high speeds, in a vacuum, andare highly robust allowing them operate in hostile environments with littlemaintenance. AMB control electronics incorporate processors, which can be utilized both to implement advanced control techniques and also to monitor the plant in order to detect and compensate for faults. Thus, AMBs are key components in the design of smart machines. Smart machines have been described as part of a ‘new wave’ of technology, but in the area of rotating machinery that wave has been progressing for over a decade. The talk will concentrate on how magnetic bearings have played a central part in this evolutionary development in machine design, and progress made in the design of smart machinery in terms of modelling, identification, and control, coupled with on-line diagnostics. A key factor is the ability to automatically reconfigure a machine when a fault has been diagnosed or when changes in operational conditions have been detected. Developments in these areas will be described and case studies from Sahinkaya's work spanning over 25 years will be presented. Smart, self-adaptive rotating machinery is still rapidly developing area of technology and the final stage is not yet complete. The talk will include discussions on how further developments and future work arising from research in these areas can lead to increased capability of smart machines.