Preliminary Research of Auxiliary Bearing in HTR-10GT Project

Active Magnetic Bearing (AMB) was used in the project of 10MW high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR-10GT) for the advantages over conventional mechanical bearings: without any mechanical friction and lubrication, etc. Auxiliary Bearings (ABs) is one of the most important parts in the AMB system, and its main function is to support the rotor at rest and provide protection for the rotor system during an overload or magnetic bearings failure situation. This paper introduced auxiliary bearings used in the HTR-10GT project and compared its advantages and disadvantages with other types of auxiliary bearings. The dynamic behaviors and temperature variation are the most important factors that may affect the performance of auxiliary bearings in a rotor drop event, this paper also analyzed the touching down course and dynamics in detail, divided the drop down process into four distinct stages of motion: free fall, impact, sliding-whirling and rolling. Finally, a test rig built up for the following rotor drop test is presented in the article. Test results at lower drop down speed were discussed. The result of the theory and experiment research has important reference value for the auxiliary bearings design of HTR-10GT.