In order to overcome the shortcoming of magnetic bearings whereby general mathematical models of the radial suspension forces cannot be accurately established, a mathematical model considering the edge effect is set up. The configuration, operation principle and flux distribution features of a three-pole radial hybrid magnetic bearing (HMB) are analyzed in this paper. The magnetic field division method is employed to calculate the permeance of different regions around the end portion of poles. The total permeance of a single pole is composed of the permeance of the regions. Then, an accurate mathematical model of the radial suspension forces considering the edge effect is deduced by the equivalent magnetic circuit method. From the modeling procedures, it can be seen that the edge effect calculation is only related to the configuration and parameters of the magnetic poles, and is isolated with the other configurations and parameters of the three-pole radial HMB, therefore, the mathematical model is proved universal for calculating different suspension forces of hybrid magnetic bearings. A finite element analysis (FEA) simulation and three-pole radial HMB experiments are performed. The error between the theoretical calculation values and the FEA simulation values of the suspension forces is less than 5%, and the error between theoretical calculation value and experimental value of suspension forces is less than 7%. The comparison between the results of the theoretical calculation, FEA simulation and experiments has verified that the established mathematical model can accurately calculate the suspension forces.