Dynamics of Rotor Drop on New Type Catcher Bearing

In an active magnetic bearing （AMB） system, the catcher bearings （CBs） are indispensable to protect the rotor and stator in case the magnetic bearings fail or overload. A new CB structure composed of two ball bearings is introduced. Detailed simulation models containing contact model between rotor and inner race, double-decker catcher bearing （DDCB） model as well as single-decker catcher bearing （SDCB） model are established using multi- body dynamics simulation software MSC. ADAMS. Then, using those established models, the rotor orbits and the contact forces between rotor and inner race are simulated respectively after rotor drop on DDCBs and SDCBs. The simulation result shows that the rotor vibration range using DDCBs is significantly smaller than that using SDCBs; the maximum contact forces drop about 15%--27%0 compared with the contact forces using SDCBs. Finally, the test bench for the rotor drop experiments is built and the rotor drop experiments for different types of CBs are cartied out. Labview data acquisition system is utilized to collect the displacement of rotor and the rotating frequencies of both inner race and intermediate races after rotor drop. The experimental results are comparatively analyzed, and the conclusion that DDCB can help to reduce vibration amplitude and collision force is obtained. The studies can provide certain theoretical and experimental references for the application of DDCBs in AMB system.