58 th ICMD 2017 6 - 8 September 2017, Prague, Czech Republic THE BEARING SYSTEM FOR THE CALIBRATOR OF SCHENBERG DETECTOR Carlos FRAJUCA, Paulo Fernandes JUNIOR Sao Paulo Federal Institute – Sao Paulo-SP-Brazil ABSTRACT This paper presents some topics for the “Mario Schenberg” gravitational waves detector calibrator, focused on the bearing system. This device must symmetrically rotate two objects, with mass and at a radius as large as possible, at a speed of 96,000 rpm, and therefore falls into the high-speed machines category. The guidelines and solutions proposed in this paper constitute a contribution to this class of engineering problems and were based on an extensive literature search, contacts with experts, the tu- tor’s and author's experience, as well as on experimental results. A hybrid bearing that combines a radial passive magnetic bearing with an axial sliding bearing, here called MPS (Magnetic Passive and Sliding, was proposed. A reduced physical prototype was built and tested. Although the prototype has been tested at speeds below 12,000 rpm, the proposed guidelines were partially validated. Keywords: Gravitational Waves Calibrator, Mario Schenberg Detector, High Rotation Machine, Pas- sive Magnetic Bearing, Magnetic Sliding Bearing.. INTRODUCTION Since Einstein's prediction of gravitational waves in 1916, scientists around the world are attempting to detect it, first signal were found. There are few gravitational wave detectors in the world. Brazil partic- ipates in this international effort with its resonant mass detector called "Mario Schenberg", built by the research group Graviton and installed at the University of São Paulo. To carry out the calibration of the Mario Schenberg detector an external device is necessary (Calibrator) capable of generating a periodic tidal signal. This device, here designated by the acronym DCMS (Device for Calibration of the Mario Schenberg detector), should rotate symmetrically two equal objects with the largest mass and at the largest possible radius, at a frequency of 1,600 Hz or 96,000 rpm (ANDRADE , 2006; PADOVANI, 2012; RUIZ, 2014; SANTOS, 2013). Figure 1 shows a basic schematic of this device. Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of the gravitational signal generator Source: Adapted from Padovani (2012). The DCMS fits into the well-known class of engineering problems called "High Speed Rotary Machines High Speed " (WATSON, 1999). The project and the manufacture of these machines bring important challenges that involve several areas of Engineering. According to Choi (2015), such problems include mechanical, electrical and magnetic losses, extreme mechanical stresses arising from high centrifugal forces, heating, power limitations of electronic cir- cuits, increasing complexity of control algorithms and complex linked issues to the dynamics of rotors and vibrations. The present work is part of a broader study aimed at obtaining guidelines for the whole project of the Calibrator 74