Basic Study on Magnetic Suspension by Using the Control of Mutual Inductance

This paper studies a noble magnetic suspension whose suspension force is controlled with a variable mutual inductance mechanism. The suspension system has a transformer whose primary coil is energized by an AC power supply. The secondary coil is connected to the coil of an electromagnet for producing suspension force. The variable mutual inductance mechanism changes the coupling factor between the primary and secondary coils according to command signal. Since the voltage induced in the secondary coil is a function of the coupling factor, the suspension force can be adjusted with the mechanism. An experimental apparatus for single-axis magnetic suspension was fabricated. The controllability of suspension force was experimentally confirmed with the developed apparatus