Karafi, Mohammad Reza;
Asef, Pedram;
(2025)
Review of Emerging Hybrid Gas–Magnetic Bearings for Aerospace Electrical Machines.
World Electric Vehicle Journal
, 16
(12)
, Article 662. 10.3390/wevj16120662.
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Abstract
Hybrid Gas–Magnetic Bearings (HGMBs) are an emerging technology ready to completely change high-speed oil-free rotor support in aerospace electric motors. Because HGMBs combine the stiffness and load capacity of gas bearings with the active control of magnetic bearings, enabling oil-free, contactless rotor support from zero to ultra-high speeds. They offer more load capacity of standalone magnetic bearings while maintaining full levitation across the entire speed range. Dual-mode operation, magnetic at low speeds and gas film at high speeds, minimizes control power and thermal losses, making HGMBs ideal for high-speed aerospace systems such as cryogenic turbopumps, electric propulsion units, and hydrogen compressors. While not universally optimal, HGMBs excel where extreme speed, high load, and stringent efficiency requirements converge. Advances in modeling, control, and manufacturing are expected to accelerate their adoption, marking a shift toward hybrid electromagnetic–aerodynamic rotor support for next-generation aerospace propulsion. This review provides a thorough overview of emerging HGMBs, emphasizing their design principles, performance metrics, application case studies, and comparative advantages over conventional gas or magnetic bearings. We include both a historical perspective and the latest developments, supported by technical data, experimental results, and insights from recent literature. We also present a comparative discussion including future research directions for HGMBs in aerospace electrical machine applications.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Review of Emerging Hybrid Gas–Magnetic Bearings for Aerospace Electrical Machines |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3390/wevj16120662 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj16120662 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the World Electric Vehicle Association. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Gas bearing; magnetic bearing; electrical machines; hybrid bearing; aerospace; electrification |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Mechanical Engineering |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10218872 |
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