3D modeling of HTS tape stacks in superconducting magnetic bearings with real thickness

Superconducting magnetic bearings (SMB)s offer a passive and contactless technique for rotating machines and, as linear bearings, for superconducting maglev systems. Stacks of superconducting tapes have been recently used as an alternative to the bulk. Modeling has been employed as a cost-effective, fast and reliable tool for improving the performance of SMBs. 2D models have been extensively used in the past, due to offering much faster computations compared to 3D models. However, using the 3D models is sometimes inevitable, especially when the depth of the problem geometry is comparable to the width and height or when the magnet guideway or the passive component geometries are complicated or asymmetrical. In this study, we employ an energy minimization method called MEMEP 3D, developed in C++, for modeling the magnetization of the tape stacks in three dimensions in a reasonable time. This method is significantly faster and more efficient than the previously proposed 3D methods giving the opportunity to model tens of HTS tapes with their real thickness with consideration of J_c(B, θ) dependence.