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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO CONDITION MONITORING OF

ELECTRICAL MACHINES

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The rotating electrical machine (motor and generator) and

transformer play a vital role from small power application to large power
application like power plant. The Figure 1.1 describes the basic structure of
electrical system in power plant.

Figure 1.1 Basic structure of electrical system

The cost of a wind turbine in comparison to a diesel generator is

extremely higher. Furthermore, regular maintenance can be up to 2% of the
total cost of a turbine. However, occasional malfunction of specific parts
(such as blades, gearbox, tower, braking system etc.) can result of high cost of
spare and maintenance cost.
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Checking the system components, either by human-based resources

or intelligent systems, helps in preventing and consequently reducing the
number of breakdowns. Therefore, condition monitoring of equipment
operating in grid like wind turbine systems provides research opportunities in
the field of equipment performance and health monitoring using intelligent
condition monitoring techniques. Evaluating critical system component
conditions will lead to improved recognition of faulty parts and will facilitate
the reduction in time and maintenance cost. Analyzing sensor data,
implementing fault detection algorithms and using advanced signal processing
will result in improved prediction of the possible faults that may occur. The
fault diagnosis of electrical machines provides greater advantages to both the
industries and to the environment.

Electrical machines are suitable applications to develop automated

equipments. They are being utilized for numerous applications ranging from
power windows in automobiles to motors and transformers with tap changers
used in nuclear power plants. In this regard, electrical machines play an
important role therefore; it is of primary importance to ensure consistent
functioning. These electrical machines are subjected to many faults that occur
during the course of their life cycle. The application of condition monitoring
techniques becomes important as it enables asset management, detection of
faults at an early stage, before prevention of severe damage and failure of
electrical machines as discussed by (Ozdemir Gol 2007). Han & Song (2003)
and Bellini et al (2008)surveyed several condition monitoring techniques for
protecting the electrical equipment.

1.2 FAULTS IN ELECTRICAL MACHINES

A fault in a component is usually defined as a condition of reduced

capability related to specified minimal requirements and is the result of
normal wear, poor specification, poor design, poor mounting, wrong use, or a
combination of two or more of the above mentioned causes. If a fault is not
detected and remedial measures are not taken at an earlier stage or it is
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neglected it may lead to a failure over time. Several studies have been made
to understand the failure mechanism occurring in electrical machines and to
formulate a strategy for capturing the incipient failures. The Common internal
faults can be classified into two categories.

Electrical Faults
Mechanical Faults

Debasmita Basak et al (2006) reviewed several electrical machines

fault as shown in Figure.1.2 representing the tree structure of various failures
in electrical machines.

Figure 1.2 Tree structure representing various failures in electrical

machines
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The various standards (EPRI and IEEE) developed percentage of

fault for electrical machines as discussed in Yeh et al (2008), Khadim Moin
Siddiqui et al (2014) and Hadi Afkar et al (2014). Electrical Faults include
winding insulation problems and rotor faults. Mechanical faults include
bearing faults, air gap eccentricity, load faults and misalignment of shaft. The
winding fault is one of the common electrical faults in both transformer and
rotating electrical machines (Motor/Generator).

OLTC
12%
Winding
13%
41%
Core

12% Terminals

3% 19% Tank/Fluid

Transformer
Accessories
Induction Machine

Figure 1.3 Fault percentages for electrical machines

In this thesis the chapter 3 to chapter 5 focuses on detect electrical

fault like winding fault and rotor bar broken fault in induction machines and
transformer.

1.2.1 Mechanical Faults

Bearing fault is generally due to the excessive load, rise of

temperature inside the bearing, wear of bearing balls or rollers and use of bad
lubricant. This fault increases the motor vibration and leads to unscheduled
stoppage or motor break down. Hence, it is essential to monitor bearing
condition to improve the machine reliability.
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Sukhjeet singh & Navin Kumar (2017) focused on detection of

bearing faults in a load coupled to an induction motor using Motor Current
Signature Analysis (MCSA). Fardin Dalvand et al. (2016) developed Constant
Rotor Flux Linkage (CRFL) transient equivalent circuit to analyse the bearing
faults of induction motor by using Instantaneous Frequency of Motor Voltage
(IFMV). Ehsan Tarkesh Esfahani et al. (2014) proposed a multisensory
wireless sensor system to find airgap eccentricity and bearing faults in
induction motor by using vibration data, current data and acoustic signal. An
eccentricity fault is a common rotor fault which results in excessive noise,
vibration, increased electromagnetic stress and in the worst case causes a
stator rotor rub. This fault was investigated by Seyyed Mehdi et al. (2012).

On-Load Tap Changers (OLTC) are responsible for maintaining

the voltage level under variable loading conditions. By changing a tapping on
the winding, the OLTC enables the turn’s ratio of the transformer to vary and
thus the level of output voltage varies. Thus on-load tap changing fault causes
fluctuation in the voltage. This fault has been identified by Kandagal et al.
(2015).

On-load tap-changer (OLTC) is used for voltage regulation, which

plays an important role in maintaining load voltage, adjusting reactive power
flow, and increasing flexibility of power system. Statistics have shown that
the faults caused by irregular operation of OLTC account for over 20% of the
transformer accidents. Hence, Ruochen Duan & Fenghua Wang (2015)
developed Fuzzy C-Means Algorithm to recognize the distribution patterns of
reconstructed vibration signals of transformer due to irregular operation of
OLTC.

The main causes of a broken bar are thermal stress, magnetic

stress, dynamic unbalance and mechanical stress. Once a bar breaks, the
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condition of the neighbouring bars also deteriorates progressively. This fault

was experimentally validated by Angel Sapena-Bano et al. (2015).

Rotor bar faults occur about 10% of total induction motor faults.
These faults occur in squirrel cage rotor bar. The rotor bar faults in motor are
due to pulsating load and direct on-line starting. It results in change of speed,
torque pulsation, vibration, overheating, arcing in rotor and damaged rotor
laminations as discussed by Khadim Moin Siddiqui et al (2012).

Usually, lower rating machines are manufactured by die casting

techniques whereas high ratings machines are manufactured with copper rotor
bar. Several related technological problems occur due to manufacturing of
rotors by die casting techniques. It has been found that squirrel cage induction
motors show asymmetries in the rotor due to technological difficulties, or
melting of bars and end rings.

Andrzej Trzynadlowski et al (2000) proposed various diagnostic

techniques for detecting rotor faults in induction machines. Zhang et al (2003)
proposed wavelet ridge technique for detecting the same faults. Zhang Jian-
wen et al (2007) proposed a new method combining Empirical Mode
Decomposition (EMD) and Envelope Spectrum Analysis (ESA) for detecting
broken rotor bars. Khadim Moin Siddiqui et al (2012) investigated the rotor
faults detection in induction machines wavelet transform by analyzing the
starting current. The breaking of rotor bar occurring in an electrical machine
is due to stresses such as magnetic stresses, environmental stresses,
mechanical stresses, dynamic stresses, residual stresses and thermal stresses
reviewed by Bell et al (1985).
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1.2. 2 Winding Faults

According to the survey, 30-40 % of induction motor failures are

related to the stator winding insulation as reported and discussed by Peter
Tavner et al (1987) and Hadi Afkar et al (2014). Similarly 15-25 % of
transformer failures are related to winding fault as discussed by Oliveira &
Cardoso (2001). Moreover, it is generally believed that a large portion of
winding - related failures are initiated by insulation failures in several turns of
a coil within one phase. This type of fault is referred as s “turn fault". A turn
fault in a symmetrical three-phase AC machines causes a large circulating
current to flow and subsequently generates excessive heat in the turns affected
by shorted circuit. If the heat which is proportional to the square of the
circulating current exceeds the limiting value, the complete machine failure
occurs.

Stator winding faults are caused by a combination of thermal,

electrical, mechanical, and environmental stresses. If it is not identified in
incipient stage (turn to turn fault), it may cause severe fault (coil to coil fault
and phase to phase fault). Marcin Wolkiewicz et al. (2016) identified the
winding fault using current data which is a new technique such as Direct Field
Oriented Control (DFOC).

The organic materials used for insulation of electric machines are

subjected to deterioration from a combination of thermal overloading and
cycling, transient voltage stresses on the insulating materials, mechanical
stresses, and contaminations. Among the possible causes, thermal stresses are
the main reason for the degradation of the winding insulation. Stator winding
insulation thermal stresses are categorized into three: aging, overloading, and
cycling. Even the best insulation may fail quickly if motor is operated above
its temperature limit. As a rule of thumb, the life of insulation is reduced by
50 % for every 10" C increases above the stator winding temperature limit.
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The winding fault model has been shown in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.4 winding insulation failure mechanisms

The winding of an electrical machine is subjected to stresses

induced by various factors. Some of the important factors are thermal
overload, mechanical vibrations, and voltage spikes caused by adjustable-
frequency drives etc discussed by Peter Tavner et al (1987). Some of the
major causes of winding failures are:

Short circuits of slack core lamination, slot wedges, and joints,

Electrical discharges
starting stresses,
High stator core or winding temperatures,
Contamination caused by oil, moisture, and dirt,
Loose bracing for end winding,
Leakages in the cooling systems

In this thesis short circuit winding faults occurring in electrical

machines are discussed.
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Kliman et al (1996) investigated to find inter – turn short circuit

fault, that is decreasing in the quality of the winding insulation usually begins
from an inter-turn fault involving few turns of the winding. The turn to turn
fault in the stator winding of an electrical machine causes a large circulating
current to flow in the turns affected by short circuited turns. Such a circulating
current is of the magnitude of twice the locked rotor current as it causes
severe localized heating and creates conditions for the fault to rapidly spread
to a larger region of the winding. Wiedenbrug et al (2003) reported the locked
rotor currents are of the order of 6-10 times the rated current. If locked
currents are not detected, then turn to turn faults can propagate and results in a
coil to coil, phase to ground or phase to phase faults. Overheating caused by
turn to turn short circuit in electrical machines is the reason for the failure of
electrical machines within a short interval of time, in range of seconds to
minutes. Gerald Kliman et al (2007) stated that the basic rule of thumb is to
consider that every additional 10°C causes the winding to deteriorate twice as
fast as when the operation takes place in the allowable temperature range.
Hence the stator thermal protection is needed to protect the machine.
Figure1.5 shows an inter-turn short circuit fault between two points, bth and
nth turn of a complete stator winding where Ic represents circulating current.

Figure 1.5 inter-turn short circuit

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1.3 CONDITION MONITORING OF ELECTRICAL MACHINES

To ensure the efficient and reliable functioning of electrical

machines throughout their operational period, condition monitoring is
required. Penman & Yin (1994), Debasmita Basak et al (2006), Chaturvedi et
al (2013) and Goel et al (2014) mainly focused on condition monitoring of an
electrical machine to predict the need for their maintenance before the failure
of a machines. Condition monitoring of electrical machines have not the gain
the more importance as the condition monitoring of mechanical machines.
“This may be due to the misguided impression that, electrical machines do not
undergo many faults during their course of operation”. Özdemir Göl et al
(2007) and Henao et al (2014) discuss the various types of faults and related
symptoms occurring in the electrical machines.

1.4 NEED FOR CONDITION MONITORING

Asset management plays a vital role in any industry. Condition

monitoring is considered as the efficient method of asset management which
includes scheduled maintenance and preventive maintenance.

Poor operating environments, specifically moist or contaminated

areas, and improper handling practices result in premature bearing failure.
The bearing failure is one of the mechanical defects in the rotating electrical
machines. Bearing faults in the inner raceway, outer raceway or rolling
elements will produce unique frequency components in the measured machine
vibration and other sensor signals. The bearing fault frequency is a function of
bearing geometry and running speed. The defect in rolling elements
(bearings) produces mechanical vibrations at different rotational speeds of
each component.
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Contamination, corrosion, improper lubrication, improper

installation and brinelling are the external factors which are also responsible
for the bearing fault. Now when flux disturbance like rotor eccentricities
occurs, it results in unbalanced shaft voltages and currents which are also the
reason for bearing failures.

In the eccentricity faults, the rotor is not centre aligned, the

unbalanced radial forces can cause a stator to rotor rub, consequently, damage
the stator and rotor. This misalignment or eccentricity faults caused due to the
several factors such as bent rotor shaft, bearing wear or misalignment etc.

Load fault is also one of the types of mechanical fault. Motors are
often coupled with mechanical loads and gears. Several faults can occur in
this mechanical arrangement. Examples of such faults are coupling
misalignments and faulty gear systems that couple a load to the motor.

Due to the winding fault, the resultant induced currents produce

extra heating and cause an imbalance in the magnetic field of the machine. If
undetected, the local heating will cause further damage to the winding
insulation and results in catastrophic failure. In the case of the rotating
machine, the unbalanced magnetic field can also result in excessive vibration
that can cause premature bearing failures.

The rotor bar and end ring breakages have been occurring because
of thermal stresses, magnetic Stresses, residual stresses, dynamic stresses,
environmental stresses and mechanical stresses. Due to the above reasons,
rotor bar may be damaged and simultaneously rotor unbalance situation may
occur. It results into fluctuation of speed, torque pulsation, vibration,
overheating, arcing in the rotor and damaged rotor laminations. The main
objectives described by (Neelam Mehala 2010) for condition monitoring are
to optimize the performance, predict the state, diagnosis of the fault,
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improving reliability and accuracy of prediction and reducing the cost of

maintenance of electrical machines.

1.5 LITERATURE SURVEY ON CONDITION MONITORING

Han & Song (2003) discussed survey results of condition

monitoring techniques for electrical machines like transformer, generator and
induction motor utilized in industries and power plants, because condition
monitoring has the potential to reduce operating costs and enhance the
reliability of operation and improve power supply and service to customers.

Jardine et al (2006) reviewed the recent trends in research and

development of diagnostics and prognostics of mechanical systems
implementing condition-based maintenance with emphasis on models,
algorithms and technologies for data processing and maintenance decision-
making. Realizing the increasing trend of using sensors in condition
monitoring, the authors discussed different techniques for multiple sensor data
fusion.

Jung et al (2006) discussed advanced signal-and-data processing

algorithms with Digital Signal Processing (DSP) board and Personal
Computer user interface for online diagnosis of four kinds of motor faults
namely asymmetry of rotors, stator winding fault, bearing failure and
abnormal air-gap eccentricity.

Megala (2010) discussed condition monitoring of three phase

squirrel cage induction machines using Motor Current Signature Analysis
(MCSA) for various types of faults using different time-frequency analysis
techniques using LabVIEW software.
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However the winding fault diagnosis was discussed by Grubic et al

(2008) evaluate the existing offline and online condition monitoring methods
for the stator winding insulation of low-voltage induction machines in order
to provide researchers and application engineers a broad overview of recent
developments in condition monitoring methods.

Aleurne et al (2012) reviewed electrical winding failures in wind

turbine generator, which includes cooling system failure, under designed
materials and systems, catastrophic failure attributable to surges,
contamination issues, lubrication, loss of conductive wedges and grounding
failure. They concluded that for wind turbine generators under 1MW capacity
are affected with rotor fault and those above 1MW capacity with bearing
faults.

Bouzid et al (2008) simultaneously monitored the values of the

three-phase shifts between the line current and the phase voltage by a simple
MLP NN, which includes information about the detection and the location of
inter-turn short circuit fault in the stator winding of the induction machine.

Diagnosis of the rotor bar broken fault is discussed by several

surveys. Milimonfared et al (1999), proposed a new approach to detect broken
rotor bars of induction motors. They have detected the fault by utilizing the
induced voltage in the stator due to rotor flux after disconnecting the motor
from the supply. The induced voltages in the stator windings have been
affected by the rotor bar broken fault. The effects of source non idealities
(such as unbalance, presence of time harmonics, etc.) and nonlinearity of
machine magnetizing characteristics due to saturation have not been
discussed.

A new technique for diagnosing the effect of rotor bar broken faults
in squirrel cage induction motors was developed by weili et al (2007). They
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identified third harmonic components of the air gap flux density in the
presence of rotor bar broken fault. In their experimental study they observed
the air gap flux density by placing a search coil at tip of stator tooth.

Cusido et al (2008) have proposed fault detection in induction

machines using power spectral density in wavelet decomposition. Motor
current signature analysis has been successfully used in induction machines
for fault diagnosis. Comparison of FFT and Wavelet has been performed

Bouzida et al (2011) worked on fault diagnosis of industrial

induction machines through discrete wavelet transform for broken rotor,
broken rotor end ring and opening of stator phase fault using MCSA method.

Amine Yazidi et al (2011) have proposed a web-based remote

laboratory for monitoring and diagnosis of AC electrical machines. Fault
identification using Digital Signal Processing (DSP) concept and web based
automation. Sampling calculation method for Data Acquisition (DAQ) system
was explained.

1.6 SOFTWARE USED FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF FAULTS IN

ELECTRICAL MACHINES

Many software programs available for the diagnosis of faults in

electrical machines, some of the popular software packages are MATLAB,
ANSYS, Magnet Infolytica Software, Tiberius, LabVIEW, knoware,
ABAQUS, SAMCEF, OOFELIE, Calculix, OOFEM, ALGOR, Sundance,
JMAG, PERMAS, STRANDS7, PAM, Solid work, COSMOS WORK and
others. The software packages used in the present research work are MagNet
and Lab View.
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MagNet, Infolytica Corporation: MagNet 2D/3D simulation

software for electromagnetic fields allows one to model quickly and predicts
the performance of electromagnetic or electromechanical devices. It uses the
finite element technique for an accurate and quick solution of Maxwell's
equations. Each module is tailored to simulate different types of
electromagnetic fields and is available separately for both 2D & 3D designs.
The software version used in the present research work is MagNet Version
6.11.2.

LabVIEW is an acronym for: Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation

Engineering Workbench. LabVIEW is used for instrumentation, data-
acquisition, analysis, automation, control and communication. It is the
software that was used to interface the computer with the control device. The
software version used in the present research work is LabVIEW 13.0.

1.7 MOTIVATION AND OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH

Based on literature survey, the following research objectives were

identified for the present research work

1) Need for developing an unique instrumentation procedure for

automated condition monitoring of electrical machines using
Electrical signatures as current, voltage and flux analysis for
their performance and for the detection of possible machine
faults through various diagnosis techniques like Park Vector
Approach (PVA), Peak Variation Response (PVR) in spectral
analysis and Standard deviation (SD).

2) Fault diagnosis demands

Identification of type of fault
Detection of Location of fault
Diagnosis of source and cause of fault
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3) Identify fault with Flux Signature using a new method for

detection of fault.

This thesis focuses on winding faults in transformer, stator

winding faults and rotor bar faults in induction machines (motors/ generators).
In most cases, this fault starts as a turn-to-turn fault which leads to major
faults such as coil-to-coil, phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground failure
resulting in electrical machine failure.

1.7.1 Methodology

The present research work examines the diagnosis method and

cause of faults occurring during the operation of electrical machines. Both
healthy and faulty operations of the machine under different load conditions
were simulated using Infolytica MagNet software. Electrical faults
(Unbalanced supply voltage, undesired frequency, single phasing, under
voltages) under no load and load conditions were analyzed. The above results
were compared with the experimental results to determine the maximum
tolerable limit values of electrical machine operation. The electrical machines
considered in the present research work are transformers, induction motors
and generator. The output data collected from simulated model and
experimental setup which are current signal and flux signal are analyzed using
spectral analysis (considering peak variation response). The park vector
approach is applied for three phase machine. The statistical approach
considers variation of standard deviation for electrical machines. The results
obtained from data collected by simulated models and experimental setups are
compared with the data of healthy electrical machine. The Figure1.6 shows
the methodology of the present research work carried out.
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Figure 1.6 Research Plan

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

Chapter 1 discusses the need for condition monitoring of electrical

machines.

Chapter 2 describes the induction motor behavior under

unbalanced supply and turn dislocation pole fault using three fault diagnosing
techniques like Peak Variation Response, Park Vector Approach and Standard
Deviation.
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Chapter 3 analyses the fault detection based on the Peak Variation

Response, Park Vector Approach and Standard Deviation for three phase
squirrel cage induction motors subjected to stator winding fault and rotor bar
broken fault.

Chapter 4 Discusses the fault detection based on tracing the Peak

Variation Response, Park Vector Approach and Standard Deviation for three
phase squirrel cage induction generators subjected to stator winding fault and
rotor bar broken fault. This chapter also discusses the winding fault behavior
in the coupled induction machine using the three fault diagnosing techniques.

Chapter 5 discusses the winding fault behavior in single phase and

three phase transformer using the three fault diagnosing technique.

Chapter 6 summarizes the present research work on fault diagnosis

of electrical machines reported in the thesis with discussions on the scope for
future research.