Bridge configured winding for polyphase self-bearing machines

The self-bearing or bearingless machine is an electromagnetic device that supports its own rotor by way of magnetic forces generated by windings on its stator. Various winding configurations have been used to accomplish the task of force production. This paper proposes a winding based on a bridge connection for polyphase self-bearing rotating electrical machines with advantages such as: 1) requiring only one power supply for torque production; 2) lateral forces are produced using auxiliary power supplies of relatively low current and voltage ratings; 3) relatively low power loss; and 4) preserving the flexibility for extensions to other polyphase machines. The bridge connection has been verified to exhibit the characteristics of a self-bearing motor via an electrically coupled finite-element analysis. A comparison of power loss with conventional winding schemes and general applications of such a proposed scheme are also presented.