Identification of PD Defect Typologies
Using a Support Vector Machine
P. L. Lewin, J. A. Hunter L. Hao
The Tony Davis High Voltage Lab. GE Global Research
Electronics and Computer Science Niskayuna, NY, USA
University of Southampton liwei.hao@ge.com
Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
e-mail: pll@ecs.soton.ac.uk
Abstract— The Support Vector Machine (SVM) has been adopted
here to identify four different Partial Discharge (PD) sources that
can affect the insulation system of AC rotating machines. A
number of Roebel bars were prepared to generate bar-to-finger,
corona and slot PD in addition to the distributed micro-voids that
are typical of this insulation type. PD measurements were
performed using different set-up conditions, defect locations and
voltage levels in order to produce examples of PD activity that
represent the same source under a range of conditions. The SVM
was trained to differentiate between the inherent features (global
and derived parameters) of the phase resolved PD (PRPD)
distributions produced by each discharge source. In order to
achieve the optimum source classification accuracy, different
combinations of distribution features were used to produce a
range of SVM models to identify which parameters were
influenced by the measurement conditions. A cross validation
technique has been used to obtain the highest testing accuracy.
Moreover, results obtained using raw data and normalized
parameters, were also compared to obtain the best identification
performance of the given defect typologies.
Keywords; Partial Discharges; Insulation Systems; Diagnostics;
Support Vector Machine.
I. INTRODUCTION
Many approaches have been published that aim to identify
defect within insulation systems through the analysis of Partial
Discharges (PD) activity. Some of them are suitable for
implementation by experienced engineers, [1], whereas others
are designed for computer-based automatic identification, [2,
3]. Even if a number of statistical and artificial intelligence
techniques have been proposed, [4-6], significant concerns
still remain regarding the performance of automatic data
interpretation systems. The reliable performances of these
methods depend on the choice of PD activity features, in
particular those whose values do not depend on the applied
voltage, defect location and measurement set-up (robust
parameters) [7].
The use of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) for the
identification of defects generating PD in components such as
bars or coils as well as complete machines, has been
investigated. Initially, four different PD generating defect
typologies that is, distributed microvoids, bar-to-finger, end-
arm corona and slot discharges, have been considered. PD
measurements were performed on Roebel bars containing
A. Contin
D.I.A. University of Trieste
Via A.Valerio, 10
34127 Trieste, Italy
e-mail: contin@units.it
these defects at different voltage levels, using different set-up
configurations (coupling sensors and bandwidths), different
defect locations and PD sources. Global parameters defined in
IEC 60270 and IEEE Guide 1434, [8, 9], as well as those
derived from the stochastic analysis of PD-pulse phase and
height distributions. Initially, a comprehensive selection of 35
parameters were considered as useful classification features
but, during the training process, parameters whose values are
affected by the tests conditions were progressively removed
and the classification accuracy re-evaluated. A cross-
validation process was applied to the model in order to verify
whether the optimum values correspond with the highest
testing accuracy. A grid-search algorithm was applied to test
the different combinations of model parameter and find the
pair of parameters that provided the optimum value for the
SVM training process. Finally, a blind test was undertaken, the
results of which are discussed in the paper and this was
performed to validate the procedure.
II. EXPERIENTAL SETUP
In order to attempt to claim the general validity of a PD
source classification algorithm, it must show robustness to the
variation of sensor configuration, applied voltage magnitude,
defect location and measurement setup. An experiment was
designed to produce representative PD data from a series of
well understood model defects whilst varying the previously
highlighted experiment/sample characteristics.
The test samples were comprised of Roebel bars completed
with end-arm and slot stress grading paint. A number of them
were tested independently, whilst the others were inserted into
the slots of a stator mock-up. A sub-set of the bars had no
defects except for the unavoidable presence of distributed
microvoids. Others had their semi-conductive paint abraded
before introducing the bar inside the slot, thus producing a poor
contact between the bar and the magnetic core of the stator,
hence generating, “slot” PD. Three of them were
predominantly affected by corona discharges, that is, PD due to
the degradation of stress grading paint at the end arm. Two bars
with no major defects (except for microvoids) were used
together to create bar-to-bar PD between the top and bottom
bar in the end-arms [10]. Different bars were tested alone and
whilst connected in series (with up to five bars) to evaluate the
influence of the transmission path on the identification system.
As expected, when the number of connected bars increases, PD
magnitudes decrease and the signal waveforms appeared more
distorted due to signal attenuation, dispersion and reflection.
PD measurements were performed using coupling
capacitors of 80 pF and 1nF connected to a resistor of 50 Ω as
well as an HFCT (bandwidth of 1-80 MHz). An innovative
measurement system was employed to record and process the
PD pulses [11]. It is based on the sequence mode acquisition
that records the wave-shape of every detected pulse and to store
a large number of individual pulses, enough to statistically
process PD amplitude and phase distributions. Three different
bandwidths were used in the experiments, 25, 200 and 500
MHz while the low-frequency cut-off was 150 kHz for all of
the PD measurements. PD measurements were performed at
different voltage levels, from PD inception up to 1.2U0 in steps
of 2 kV.
A suitable algorithm based on the assumption that different
PD sources or noise can present different signal shapes, allows
the separation of the recorded data in groups of signals
(classes) having similar waveform shapes [10]. Thus, the
phase-resolved PD (PRPD) patterns presented here were
generated by a single source at a time. Typical PRPD patterns
of internal, corona, bar-to-bar and slot discharges, are reported
in Fig.1 (Ck=80 pF and BW=25 MHz).
A B
C D
Fig. 1. Examples of PRPD patterns detected on single bars provided by a
single defect typology. (A) internal, (B) corona, (C) bar-to-bar and (D) slot
discharges (Ck=80 pF and BW=25 MHz).
III. STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS OF PD SIGNALS
Once a series of PD pulses generated by a single PD source
has been separated from other signals and from noise, [12], the
PRPD pattern and the relevant pulse-phase and pulse-height
distributions, can be evaluated. Statistical operators can be
derived from the stochastic analysis of these distributions in
order to extract numerical indexes that can be used for
identification purposes.
It is worthwhile recalling that a number of indexes are
suggested by the relevant standard, [8, 9], such as inception and
extinction voltage, repetition rate, mean values of discharge
height, as well as indexes that are frequently mentioned in
literature but, are not yet incorporated within standards.
Among these indexes, the most promising ones for
identification purposes appear to be those that are most suited
to quantifying the distribution characteristics. Skewness and
kurtosis factors are frequently used to describe pulse-phase
distributions [3]. The skewness, Sk, describes the asymmetry of
the phase distributions (Sk=0 for a symmetric function, Sk>0
and Sk<0 for left-side and right-side skewed distribution,
respectively). The kurtosis, Ku, is related to the sharpness of
phase distributions with respect to the normal distribution
(Ku=0 for normal function, Ku>0 and Ku<0 for sharp and flat
distributions, respectively).
The height distribution, F(q), can be processed according to
the two parameter Weibull function having characteristic
parameters, α and β (scale and shape parameters) [7]. Since α
is proportional to the mean integrated signal height it does not
provide any information about distribution shape. On the
contrary, β provides indications on data scatter with low and
high values indicate high and low data dispersion, respectively.
Besides, the ratio of other parameters evaluated for positive
and negative PD can be used to single out the asymmetries in
PD pattern. One index commonly used for this purpose is the
NQN factor, which is derived from the F(q) distribution
according to IEEE-1434 Std [9].
In total, 35 statistical operators, basic or deduced quantities
were calculated for each PD-pulse sequence. A technique using
SVMs has been applied to investigate the performance of each
distribution descriptor with regard to robust PD source
classification.
IV. THE SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE
Among the different pattern recognition techniques, the
SVM has been selected for its advantages in the statistical
treatment of small quantities of non-linear and high
dimensionality data [13]. According to SVM theory, the
appropriate kernel selection, normalization of the training data
and the optimization of the model generation parameters have
been investigated to obtain a reliable defect identification
method.
A. Kernel Selection
A number of kernel functions are available for modern SVM
toolboxes. They act to increase the separation of different
input classes and improve classification results. The definitive
suitability of one kernel over another has not yet been agreed
for the application of PD classification. However, for general
application, the Gaussian Radial Basis Function (Gaussian-
RBF) kernel is highly recommended and is defined as:
(
C ( xi , x j ) = exp − γ xi − x j
2
), γ >0 (1)
The RBF kernel nonlinearly maps data-points into a higher
dimensional space. The second reason is that the number of
kernel parameters which influence the complexity of SVM
model selection is minimized. Finally, the RBF kernel has less
numerical problems than other kernels where kernel values
may tend to infinity [14]. The application of various kernels to
PD data has been assessed previously, concluding that the
Gaussian-RBF kernel is one of the most effective for PD data
classification [15].
B. Data Normalization
Normalizing or scaling data is a very important pre-
processing stage for PD source classification, not only in the
application of SVM but also in many other pattern recognition
tools such as neural networks. The purpose of normalization is
to avoid features that exhibit greater numeric ranges
dominating those in smaller numeric ranges. Another
advantage is to avoid numerical difficulties during the
application of kernel functions [16]. In this investigation, the
parameter feature vector consisted of 34 positive and 34
negative components plus the NQN ratio, which were
normalized in the range of -1 and +1. The data used to test the
performance of the SVM was also normalized using the same
technique as the training data. The generation of the SVM
models using the raw data has also been evaluated and the
results of both approaches, compared.
C. Grid-Search and Cross-Validation
Two parameters, C and γ require optimisation while
generating SVM models from training data. C is referred to as
the regularisation parameter and γ as the flexibility parameter.
They act to control the trade off between increasing separation
margin against miss-classification rate and to define the
nonlinear embedding of data during the kernel application
respectively. It is not known beforehand which C and γ are the
optimal for a specific data-set and there is no standardised
method for selecting these two parameters. Therefore, some
parameter search algorithms must be applied to find the
optimized C and γ. This process is called a grid-search. The
objective of grid-searches are to identify the best pair of C and
γ to accurately classify the training data. However, in practice,
a high training accuracy does not guarantee a high
identification accuracy for the training set, since the
characteristics of training and testing data can be markedly
different – a practical classification system would require
regular optimisation of these parameters over time.
A common way to optimise these parameters is to separate
training data into multiple sub-sets of which, one or more are
considered as unknown data to the classifier during the
training process and the other set used as testing data. Then the
prediction accuracy of this test data set during the training
process will more precisely reflect the performance when
classifying unknown data. This improved procedure is known
as cross-validation. In this investigation, C and γ were
optimised using both a grid-search and cross-validation. Pairs
of C and γ are tested and the one with the best cross-validation
accuracy recorded. A practical method used by researchers is
to populate the grid search with exponentially growing
sequences of C and γ (for example, C=2−12 , 2−11,… .2+12;
γ=2−12 , 2−11 , . . ., 2+12 are used in this case to investigate the
optimal performance.
D. SVM Identification
In order to investigate how the number of folds effects the
parameter optimisation process, a data-set was used to
generate a number or SVM models. The obtained experiment
Robinson data generated by two applied voltages were used as
the training data set. By applying the grid-search and different
numbers of folds (2 folds, 3 folds, 5 folds and 10 folds) for
cross-validation, the optimised training results are shown in
Table 2. 5 folds and 10 folds reveal perfect training accuracies
of 100% for the same C and γ values.
Table 2. SVM training accuracies and optimized parameters
Cross-validation
2 3 5 10
folds
Training accuracy 99.97% 99.97% 100% 100%
C 25 25 211 211
γ 2−3 2−2 2−7 2−7
The RFCT data are used to test the performance of the
optimised SVM with C and γ values of 211 and 2-7
respectively. The overall classification accuracy achieved is
98.33% (59/60) and details can be found in Table 3. The only
miss-classification cycle is the internal discharge, which may
have been caused by the slight phase shift introduced by the
RFCT sensor.
V. APPLICATION EXAMPLES
In order to test the suitability of different PD distribution
characteristics as effective source classification features, a
number of combinations of them were used to optimize
several SVM models. The reason that the optimization process
was used to judge the performance of features relates to the
size of the available data sets. Each set of data was produced
from a range of samples, data acquisition systems and test
voltages. Subsequently, the amount of time required to
generate one data-set is considerable, for the purposes of this
investigation, ten different data-sets were tested. Each set
having been comprehensively described using the various
statistical techniques explained in Section III. The results of
the optimization process are shown in Table 3. A 5 fold cross-
validation process was applied to the data to produce the
results and the scaled and un-scales results are provided.
VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
A 5 fold cross-validation technique has been applied to a
comprehensive experimental dataset produced from a number
of PD sources using a range of data acquisition systems and
applied voltages. The data was produced in order to
investigate which commonly used phase-resolved PD
distribution descriptors are most robust for source
classification. Several SVM models were optimized and tested
with their performance linked to the independence of the
distribution feature to experiment and applied voltage
variations. Different combinations of distribution features
were tested using both the raw data and the scaled data. The
results show increased classification accuracy was returned for
scaled data in all cases. The classification result for the entire
set of distribution descriptors was considerably lower than
other combinations. This implies that sufficient “noise”
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