A design consideration of a novel bearingless disk motor for artificial hearts

A novel bearingless disk motor for a possible application of implantable centrifugal artificial hearts is proposed in this paper. To reduce a motor height, C-shaped stator cores with radially expanded coil windings are employed. End windings are not located in the axial direction. The motor height and an outer diameter are designed to be 10 mm and 70 mm, respectively. Magnetic suspension characteristics of the bearingless disk motor are analyzed by using finite element method. The design consideration of a suspension winding configuration has been discussed especially on radial suspension force variations. A prototype machine is fabricated and tested. Experimental results have provided the feasibility of the design of the bearingless disk motor.