Title:Active Reduction of Bearing Forces for Short Stroke Linear ActuatorsAuthor(s):Florian PoltschakAbstract:Linear magnetic actuators are used in industry for a wide area of applications. In order to reach high values for the axial thrust force, the mover commonly features a permanent magnet excitation. Thus, in combination with a slotted stator layout, these actuators exhibit a high destabilizing stiffness in the direction perpendicular to the direction of motion which has to be compensated by the linear bearings. This paper introduces a linear short stroke actuator with an integrated active bearing force compensation to minimize the forces acting on the mechanical bearings. The potential and limits of a bearing force compensation is analyzed based on a short stroke linear actuators with an E-shaped stator layout. It is outlined how far bearing forces can be compensated even for simple actuator layouts. Especially for linear drives oscillating with a high speed this compensation can significantly reduce wear and thus improve lifetime and efficiency as well as reduce the size of the mechanical bearings.Booktitle:ISMB14, 14th International Symposium on Magnetic Bearings, Linz, AustriaPage Reference:page 401-406, 6 page(s)Publishing:8/2014