Ok, spare an excessive amount of flames. I'd kind of like serious anwers. I know I'm not a genius or anything and there's no way I actually had a good idea, so there must be some reason why no one has made magnetic turbo bearings that float the shaft in the center section. It'd be zero friction, zero drag (except air drag), zero wear, wouldn't need oil, it would isolate the shaft from vibration, so wtf... where are they at?

 

Neat idea but would be tough to pull off. Gotta deal with the heat too.

Only practical issue is the amount of energy it takes to support the shaft. There might be so much energy draw that the efficiency of the entire engine will be shot. Not to mention the huge alternator draw at idle and off boost would make the engine a gas hog and unresponsive.


I think foil bearings would be a better alternative. They are already being researched for use in turbines.

 

if it aint broke why fix it? Journal bearings FTW!

 

It's called innovation.

 

My guess would be the heat factor. You would obviously be using electromagnets which are spools of thin copper wire. As the heat increases, the electrical resistance also increases, thus weakening the magnetic field and risking bearing failure. It seems like an overly complicated system for the minimal gains it would net.

 

why reinvent the wheel?

 

To make it better, duh.

 

Power and clearance would be an issue I would imagine. I think you would need some serious juice to keep the shaft clearance in check. But, yes Tyler, if you can make it work it would sell. Get on that ----.

 

If you used something like this http://www.matchrockets.com/ether/halbach.html you wouldn't need to use an electromagnet.

 

Keeping the compressor and turbine wheels 30 mils away from the housings would be very difficult with mag lev. You would just have to hit a bump with your car and "screeeeeeeech".