A motor operated with an eccentric air gap results in increased mechanical vibration accelerated

insulation degradation due to increased coil movement, and possible rotor/stator rubbing due to
unbalanced magnetic pull. Types of air gap eccentricity are:
Static Eccentricity - which occurs when the centerline of the shaft is at a constant offset from the
centerline of the stator. An example is a misaligned end bell.
Dynamic Eccentricity - which occurs when the centerline of the shaft is at a variable offset from the
centerline of the stator, such as a wiped bearing.
The Rotor Influence Check (RIC): is a test performed with the motor de-energized. High resistance,
cracked, or broken rotor bars and end rings will cause a non-symmetric reflected impedance onto the
stator windings resulting in elevated inductance levels for the stator phase located over the rotor fault.
Rotating the rotor in calculated increments and retesting the inductance will present a clear image of
the residual flux and reflected impedance coming from the rotor. Variations of inductance indicative of
rotor defects will affect all phases of the stator similarly allowing you to isolate the anomaly to the
rotor.
A motor acts similarly to an electromagnet. The rotor acts like the "core" and the stator acts like the
windings of the electromagnet. A RIC shows how the rotor's residual magnetism influences the stator
inductance in different positions. As the magnetic field of the rotor interacts with more of the coils in
each stator winding, the inductance of that winding changes. This influence causes repeatable
patterns of change in the graph of the stator inductance, shown as sinusoidal waveforms.

Why is this important?

Broken rotor bars can cause extreme heat and vibration, which can result in winding failure, bearing
failure, and loss of torque in a motor. Eccentricity, a non-uniformity of the air gap between the rotor
and stator, can cause excessive vibration, which can result in winding and bearing failure.
Rotor eccentricity diagnostic:

• The figure on the left show varying peaks of inductance which indicates a rotor eccentricity
• The figure on the right is for a good condition rotor (the inductance time wave is sinusoidal and
the all the peaks from the 3 phases have the same amplitudes