Armature Motion Damping of Superconducting Generators

Armature motion damping offers a means for improving the dynamic performance of superconducting turbogenerators, perhaps to the extent of allowing the use of cold, relatively loss-free rotor shielding. The scheme consists of allowing the armature winding to rotate against a spring and dashpot. This paper is an investigation of the dynamic characteristics of a machine constructed in this way. An approximate model is proposed and used to estimate damping effectiveness and energy storage and dissipation requirements. A more detailed model confirms and extends the results.