Study on stable equilibrium of levitated impeller in rotary pump with passive magnetic bearings

It is widely acknowledged that the permanent maglev cannot achieve stable equilibrium; the authors have developed, however, a stable permanent maglev centrifugal blood pump. Permanent maglev needs no position detection and feedback control of the rotor, nevertheless the eccentric distance (ED) and vibration amplitude (VA) of the levitator have been measured to demonstrate the levitation and to investigate the factors affecting levitation. Permanent maglev centrifugal impeller pump has a rotor and a stator. The rotor is driven by stator coil and levitated by two passive magnetic bearings. The rotor position is measured by four Hall sensors, which are distributed evenly and peripherally on the end of the stator against the magnetic ring of the bearing on the rotor. The voltage differences of the sensors due to different distances between the sensors and the magnetic ring are converted into ED. The results verify that the rotor can be disaffiliated from the stator if the rotating speed and the flow rate of the pump are large enough, that is, the maximal ED will reduce to about half of the gap between the rotor and the stator. In addition, the gap between rotor and stator and the viscosity of the fluid to be pumped also affect levitation. The former has an optimal value of approximately 2% of the radius of the rotor. For the latter, levitation stability is better with higher viscosity, meaning smaller ED and VA. The pressure to be pumped has no effect on levitation.