Nonlinear Feedback Control of Bearingless Slice Motors

The demands on bearingless drive configurations concerning performance as well as costs are high. The proposed concept of bearingless motors consists of concentrated coils in a symmetrical arrangement, which generate radial forces and motor torque simultaneously in interaction with a permanent magnet excited disc shaped rotor. Owing to the nonlinearity of the plant, the use of linear control design methods alone is not suitable for achieving a high operation performance. This paper introduces a general approach of a new radial position and motor torque control algorithm based on the theory of feedback linearization for bearingless slice motors. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.