A conventional point of view on active magnetic bearings

Active magnetic bearings used in rotating machinery should be designed as locally controlled, independent devices similar to other types of bearings. The functions of control electronics and power amplifiers can be simply and explicitly related to general bearing properties such as load capacity, stiffness, and damping. The dynamics of a rotor and its supporting active magnetic bearings are analyzed in a modified conventional method with an extended state vector containing the bearing state variables.