In an active magnetic bearing(AMB) system,the catcher bearings(CBs) are indispensable to protect the rotor and stator in case the magnetic bearings fail.Most of the former researches associated with CBs are mainly focused on the dynamic responses of the rotor drops onto traditional single-decker catcher bearings(SDCBs).But because of the lower limited speed of SDCB,it cannot withstand the ultra high speed rotation after rotor drop.In this paper,based on the analysis of the disadvantages of SDCBs,a new type of double-decker catcher bearings(DDCBs) is proposed to enhance the CB work performance in AMB system.In order to obtain the accurate rotor movements before AMB failure,the dynamic characteristics of AMB are theoretically derived.Detailed simulation models containing rigid rotor model,contact model between rotor and inner race,DDCB force model as well as heating model after rotor drop are established.Then,using those established models the dynamic responses of rotor drops onto DDCBs and SDCBs are respectively simulated.The rotor orbits,contact forces,spin speeds of various parts and heat energies after AMB failure are mainly analyzed.The simulation results show that DDCBs can effectively improve the CBs limit rotational speed and reduce the following vibrations,impacts and heating.Finally,rotor drop experiments choosing different types of CBs are carried out on the established AMB test bench.Rotor orbits,inner race temperatures as well as the rotating speeds of both inner race and intermediate races after rotor drop are synchronously measured.The experiment results verify the advantages of DDCB and the correctness of theoretical analysis.The studies provide certain theoretical and experimental references for the application of DDCBs in AMB system. In an active magnetic bearing (AMB) system, the catcher bearings (CBs) are indispensable to protect the rotor and stator in the case of the magnetic bearings fail. Host of the researches associated with CBs are mainly focused on the dynamic responses of the rotor drops onto traditional single-decker catcher bearings (SDCBs). Due to the lower limited speed of SDCB, it can not withstand the ultra high speed rotation after rotor drop. In this paper, based on the analysis of the disadvantages of SDCBs, a new type of double-decker catcher bearings (DDCBs) is proposed to enhance the CB work performance in AMB system. Order to obtain the accurate rotor movements before AMB failure, the dynamic characteristics of AMB are theoretically derived. Detailed modeling models containing rigid rotor model, contact model between rotor and inner race, DDCB force model as well as heating model after rotor drop are established. Chen, using those established models the dynamic responses of rotor drops onto DDCBs and SDCBs are respectively analogous to rotor orbits, contact forces, spin speeds of various parts and heat energies after AMB failure are mainly analyzed. simulation results show that DDCBs can effectively improve the CBs limit rotational speed and reduce the following vibrations, impacts and heating.Finally, rotor drop experiments choosing different types of CBs are carried out on the established AMB test bench. Rotor orbits, inner race speeds as well as the rotating speeds of both both inner race and intermediate races after rotor drop are synchronously measured. results verify the advantages of DDCB and the correctness of theoretical analysis. The studies provide certain theoretical and experimental references for the application of DDCBs in AMB system.