Decoupled Sliding-Mode Control for Active Magnetic Bearings Using Particle Swarm Parameter Optimisation

The design of a multi-input and multi-output controller for a coupled system like an active magnetic bearing is challenging. By decoupling the systems states, simpler single input and single output controllers can be used. However, the active magnetic bearing system still exhibits strong nonlinearities in the electromagnetic system the controller must handle. Thus, a second-order sliding mode controller is utilised to control the rigid rotor of the active magnetic bearing. The aim is to improve the stability and robustness of these systems by addressing common problems such as disturbances and to find a trade-off between controller complexity and performance. Particle swarm optimisation is used to tune the control parameters of all presented controllers. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is validated in simulation.