IET ENERGY ENGINEERING 145

Condition Monitoring
of Rotating Electrical
Machines
Other volumes in this series:

Volume 1 Power Circuit Breaker Theory and Design C.H. Flurscheim (Editor)
Volume 4 Industrial Microwave Heating A.C. Metaxas and R.J. Meredith
Volume 7 Insulators for High Voltages J.S.T. Looms
Volume 8 Variable Frequency AC Motor Drive Systems D. Finney
Volume 10 SF6 Switchgear H.M. Ryan and G.R. Jones
Volume 11 Conduction and Induction Heating E.J. Davies
Volume 13 Statistical Techniques for High Voltage Engineering W. Hauschild and
W. Mosch
Volume 14 Uninterruptible Power Supplies J. Platts and J.D. St Aubyn (Editors)
Volume 15 Digital Protection for Power Systems A.T. Johns and S.K. Salman
Volume 16 Electricity Economics and Planning T.W. Berrie
Volume 18 Vacuum Switchgear A. Greenwood
Volume 19 Electrical Safety: A guide to causes and prevention of hazards
J. Maxwell Adams
Volume 21 Electricity Distribution Network Design, 2nd Edition E. Lakervi and
E.J. Holmes
Volume 22 Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Power Systems K. Warwick, A.O. Ekwue
and R. Aggarwal (Editors)
Volume 24 Power System Commissioning and Maintenance Practice K. Harker
Volume 25 Engineers’ Handbook of Industrial Microwave Heating R.J. Meredith
Volume 26 Small Electric Motors H. Moczala et al.
Volume 27 AC–DC Power System Analysis J. Arrillaga and B.C. Smith
Volume 29 High Voltage Direct Current Transmission, 2nd Edition J. Arrillaga
Volume 30 Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) Y.-H. Song (Editor)
Volume 31 Embedded Generation N. Jenkins et al.
Volume 32 High Voltage Engineering and Testing, 2nd Edition H.M. Ryan (Editor)
Volume 33 Overvoltage Protection of Low-Voltage Systems, Revised Edition P. Hasse
Volume 36 Voltage Quality in Electrical Power Systems J. Schlabbach et al.
Volume 37 Electrical Steels for Rotating Machines P. Beckley
Volume 38 The Electric Car: Development and future of battery, hybrid and fuel-cell
cars M. Westbrook
Volume 39 Power Systems Electromagnetic Transients Simulation J. Arrillaga and
N. Watson
Volume 40 Advances in High Voltage Engineering M. Haddad and D. Warne
Volume 41 Electrical Operation of Electrostatic Precipitators K. Parker
Volume 43 Thermal Power Plant Simulation and Control D. Flynn
Volume 44 Economic Evaluation of Projects in the Electricity Supply Industry
H. Khatib
Volume 45 Propulsion Systems for Hybrid Vehicles J. Miller
Volume 46 Distribution Switchgear S. Stewart
Volume 47 Protection of Electricity Distribution Networks, 2nd Edition J. Gers and
E. Holmes
Volume 48 Wood Pole Overhead Lines B. Wareing
Volume 49 Electric Fuses, 3rd Edition A. Wright and G. Newbery
Volume 50 Wind Power Integration: Connection and system operational aspects
B. Fox et al.
Volume 51 Short Circuit Currents J. Schlabbach
Volume 52 Nuclear Power J. Wood
Volume 53 Condition Assessment of High Voltage Insulation in Power System
Equipment R.E. James and Q. Su
Volume 55 Local Energy: Distributed generation of heat and power J. Wood
Volume 56 Condition Monitoring of Rotating Electrical Machines P. Tavner, L. Ran,
J. Penman and H. Sedding
Volume 57 The Control Techniques Drives and Controls Handbook, 2nd Edition
B. Drury
Volume 58 Lightning Protection V. Cooray (Editor)
Volume 59 Ultracapacitor Applications J.M. Miller
Volume 62 Lightning Electromagnetics V. Cooray
Volume 63 Energy Storage for Power Systems, 2nd Edition A. Ter-Gazarian
Volume 65 Protection of Electricity Distribution Networks, 3rd Edition J. Gers
Volume 66 High Voltage Engineering Testing, 3rd Edition H. Ryan (Editor)
Volume 67 Multicore Simulation of Power System Transients F.M. Uriate
Volume 68 Distribution System Analysis and Automation J. Gers
Volume 69 The Lightening Flash, 2nd Edition V. Cooray (Editor)
Volume 70 Economic Evaluation of Projects in the Electricity Supply Industry,
3rd Edition H. Khatib
Volume 72 Control Circuits in Power Electronics: Practical issues in design and
implementation M. Castilla (Editor)
Volume 73 Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control Systems: The enabler for
smarter grids A. Vaccaro and A. Zobaa (Editors)
Volume 74 Power Electronic Converters and Systems: Frontiers and applications A.M.
Trzynadlowski (Editor)
Volume 75 Power Distribution Automation B. Das (Editor)
Volume 76 Power System Stability: Modelling, analysis and control B. Om P. Malik
Volume 78 Numerical Analysis of Power System Transients and Dynamics A. Ametani
(Editor)
Volume 79 Vehicle-to-Grid: Linking electric vehicles to the smart grid J. Lu and
J. Hossain (Editors)
Volume 81 Cyber-Physical-Social Systems and Constructs in Electric Power
Engineering S. Suryanarayanan, R. Roche and T.M. Hansen (Editors)
Volume 82 Periodic Control of Power Electronic Converters F. Blaabjerg, K. Zhou,
D. Wang and Y. Yang
Volume 86 Advances in Power System Modelling, Control and Stability Analysis
F. Milano (Editor)
Volume 87 Cogeneration: Technologies, optimisation and implementation C.A.
Frangopoulos (Editor)
Volume 88 Smarter Energy: From smart metering to the smart grid H. Sun, N.
Hatziargyriou, H.V. Poor, L. Carpanini and M.A. Sánchez Fornié (Editors)
Volume 89 Hydrogen Production, Separation and Purification for Energy A. Basile,
F. Dalena, J. Tong and T.N. Veziroğlu (Editors)
Volume 90 Clean Energy Microgrids S. Obara and J. Morel (Editors)
Volume 91 Fuzzy Logic Control in Energy Systems with Design Applications in
MATLAB‡/Simulink‡ İ.H. Altaş
Volume 92 Power Quality in Future Electrical Power Systems A.F. Zobaa and S.H.E.A.
Aleem (Editors)
Volume 93 Cogeneration and District Energy Systems: Modelling, analysis and
optimization M.A. Rosen and S. Koohi-Fayegh
Volume 94 Introduction to the Smart Grid: Concepts, technologies and evolution
S.K. Salman
Volume 95 Communication, Control and Security Challenges for the Smart Grid S.M.
Muyeen and S. Rahman (Editors)
Volume 96 Industrial Power Systems with Distributed and Embedded
Generation R Belu
Volume 97 Synchronized Phasor Measurements for Smart Grids M.J.B. Reddy and D.K.
Mohanta (Editors)
Volume 98 Large Scale Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Sources A. Moreno-
Munoz (Editor)
Volume 100 Modeling and Dynamic Behaviour of Hydropower Plants N. Kishor and
J. Fraile-Ardanuy (Editors)
Volume 101 Methane and Hydrogen for Energy Storage R. Carriveau and D.S.-K. Ting
Volume 104 Power Transformer Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis A. Abu-Siada
(Editor)
Volume 106 Surface Passivation of Industrial Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells J. John
(Editor)
Volume 107 Bifacial Photovoltaics: Technology, applications and economics J. Libal
and R. Kopecek (Editors)
Volume 108 Fault Diagnosis of Induction Motors J. Faiz, V. Ghorbanian and G. Joksimović
Volume 110 High Voltage Power Network Construction K. Harker
Volume 111 Energy Storage at Different Voltage Levels: Technology, integration, and
market aspects A.F. Zobaa, P.F. Ribeiro, S.H.A. Aleem and S.N. Afifi (Editors)
Volume 112 Wireless Power Transfer: Theory, technology and application N.Shinohara
Volume 115 DC Distribution Systems and Microgrids T. Dragičević, F. Blaabjerg and
P. Wheeler
Volume 117 Structural Control and Fault Detection of Wind Turbine Systems
H.R. Karimi
Volume 119 Thermal Power Plant Control and Instrumentation: The control of boilers
and HRSGs, 2nd Edition D. Lindsley, J. Grist and D. Parker
Volume 120 Fault Diagnosis for Robust Inverter Power Drives A. Ginart (Editor)
Volume 123 Power Systems Electromagnetic Transients Simulation, 2nd Edition
N. Watson and J. Arrillaga
Volume 124 Power Market Transformation B. Murray
Volume 125 Wind Energy Modeling and Simulation Volume 1: Atmosphere and plant
P. Veers (Editor)
Volume 126 Diagnosis and Fault Tolerance of Electrical Machines, Power Electronics
and Drives A.J.M. Cardoso
Volume 128 Characterization of Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductor Devices F. Wang,
Z. Zhang and E.A. Jones
Volume 129 Renewable Energy from the Oceans: From wave, tidal and gradient
systems to offshore wind and solar D. Coiro and T. Sant (Editors)
Volume 130 Wind and Solar Based Energy Systems for Communities R. Carriveau and
D.S.-K. Ting (Editors)
Volume 131 Metaheuristic Optimization in Power Engineering J. Radosavljević
Volume 132 Power Line Communication Systems for Smart Grids I.R.S Casella and
A. Anpalagan
Volume 139 Variability, Scalability and Stability of Microgrids S.M. Muyeen, S.M. Islam
and F. Blaabjerg (Editors)
Volume 146 Energy Storage for Power Systems, 3rd Edition A.G. Ter-Gazarian
Volume 155 Energy Generation and Efficiency Technologies for Green Residential
Buildings D. Ting and R. Carriveau (Editors)
Volume 157 Electrical Steels, 2 Volumes A. Moses, K. Jenkins, Philip Anderson and
H. Stanbury
Volume 172 Lighting interaction with Power Systems, 2 volumes A. Piantini (Editor)
Volume 905 Power System Protection, 4 volumes
Condition Monitoring
of Rotating Electrical
Machines
3rd Edition

Peter Tavner, Li Ran and Christopher Crabtree

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Published by The Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, United Kingdom
The Institution of Engineering and Technology is registered as a Charity in England &
Wales (no. 211014) and Scotland (no. SC038698).
† The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2020
First published 2020

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 This Book is Dedicated to our children:
Charles and Sarah,
Shaolu, Jason and Sam,
Alfred

As I walked down by the river

Down by the frozen fen
I saw the grey cathedral
With the eyes of a child of ten.
O the railway arch is smoky
As the Flying Scot goes by
And but for the Education Act
Go Jumper Cross and I.

Ballad for Katherine of Aragon, Charles Causley (1947)

Choral Symphony No.3, Gala and Gloria, Will Todd (2004)

First performed Durham Cathedral,
Riverside Band and banner marching its length,
closing with Cathedral bells
This page intentionally left blank
 Contents

About the authors xv

Preface xvii
Acknowledgements xxi
Nomenclature xxiii
Abbreviations xxix

1 Introduction to condition monitoring 1

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Need for monitoring 4
1.3 What and when to monitor 8
1.4 Technological timelines 10
1.5 Structure of text and bibliographies 14

2 Rotating electrical machines 17

2.1 Introduction 17
2.2 Electrical machines structures and types 18
2.3 DC machines 25
2.4 AC machines, synchronous 26
2.5 AC machines, asynchronous or induction 28
2.6 Permanent magnet or reluctance machines 33
2.7 Other machine types 33
2.7.1 Multi-phase machines 33
2.7.2 Doubly fed and variable-speed drive machines 35
2.8 Conclusions 37

3 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 39

3.1 Introduction 39
3.2 Materials, strength and temperature 39
3.3 Electrical machine construction 43
3.3.1 General 43
3.3.2 Stator core and frame 44
3.3.3 Stator windings 44
3.3.4 Rotors and windings 45
3.3.5 Enclosures 46
3.3.6 Connections and heat exchangers 47
3.3.7 Summary 47
x Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

3.4 Machine specification and failure modes 48

3.5 Insulation ageing mechanisms 50
3.5.1 General 50
3.5.2 Thermal ageing 51
3.5.3 Electrical ageing 52
3.5.4 Mechanical ageing 54
3.5.5 Environmental ageing 54
3.5.6 Synergism between ageing stresses 55
3.6 Insulation failure modes 55
3.6.1 General 55
3.6.2 Stator winding insulation 56
3.6.3 Stator winding faults 61
3.6.4 Rotor winding faults 67
3.7 Other failure modes 71
3.7.1 Stator core faults (Turbo- and hydro-generators) 71
3.7.2 Connection faults (HV motors and generators) 72
3.7.3 Water coolant faults (All machines) 73
3.7.4 Bearing faults (All machines) 73
3.7.5 Shaft voltages (Large machines) 75
3.8 Conclusions 76

4 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 77

4.1 Introduction and business of failure 77
4.2 Definition of terms 78
4.3 Root cause and FMEA 81
4.3.1 General 81
4.3.2 Typical root causes and failure modes 82
4.3.3 Root causes 83
4.3.4 Failure modes 83
4.4 Reliability analysis 84
4.5 Machine structure 87
4.6 Typical failure rates and MTBFs 89
4.7 Conclusions 93

5 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 95

5.1 Introduction 95
5.2 Spectral analysis 99
5.3 Higher-order spectral analysis 104
5.4 Correlation analysis 105
5.5 Vibration signal processing 107
5.5.1 General 107
5.5.2 Cepstrum analysis 108
5.5.3 Time averaging and trend analysis 110
5.6 Wavelet analysis 111
5.7 Model-based information extraction 113
 Contents xi

5.7.1 Kalman filter 114

5.7.2 Observer 116
5.8 Temperature instrumentation 117
5.9 Vibration instrumentation 123
5.9.1 General 123
5.9.2 Displacement transducers 124
5.9.3 Velocity transducers 127
5.9.4 Accelerometers 128
5.10 Force and torque instrumentation 129
5.11 Electromagnetic instrumentation 132
5.12 Wear and debris instrumentation 136
5.13 Signal conditioning 137
5.14 Data acquisition 139
5.15 Conclusions 141

6 Online temperature monitoring 143

6.1 Introduction 143
6.2 Local temperature measurement 143
6.3 Hot-spot measurement and thermal images 149
6.4 Bulk measurement 149
6.5 Conclusions 151

7 Online chemical monitoring 153

7.1 Introduction 153
7.2 Insulation degradation 153
7.3 Factors that affect detection 154
7.4 Insulation degradation detection 158
7.4.1 Particulate detection – core monitors 158
7.4.2 Particulate detection – chemical analysis 162
7.4.3 Gas analysis offline 164
7.4.4 Gas analysis online 166
7.5 Lubrication oil and bearing degradation 169
7.6 Oil degradation detection 169
7.7 Wear debris detection 170
7.7.1 General 170
7.7.2 Ferromagnetic techniques 170
7.7.3 Other wear debris detection techniques 173
7.8 Conclusions 173

8 Online vibration monitoring 175

8.1 Introduction 175
8.2 Stator core response 175
8.2.1 General 175
8.2.2 Calculation of natural modes 177
8.2.3 Stator electromagnetic force wave 181
xii Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

8.3 Stator end winding response 183

8.4 Rotor response 185
8.4.1 Transverse response 185
8.4.2 Torsional response 188
8.5 Bearing response 190
8.5.1 General 190
8.5.2 Rolling element bearings 190
8.5.3 Sleeve bearings 192
8.6 Monitoring techniques 193
8.6.1 Overall level monitoring 194
8.6.2 Frequency spectrum monitoring 196
8.6.3 Faults detectable from the stator force wave 199
8.6.4 Torsional oscillation monitoring (IAS) 200
8.6.5 Shock pulse monitoring 204
8.7 Conclusions 206

9 Online current, flux and power monitoring 209

9.1 Introduction 209
9.2 Generator and motor stator faults 209
9.2.1 Generator stator winding insulation detection 209
9.2.2 Stator current monitoring for stator faults 209
9.2.3 Brush-gear fault detection 210
9.2.4 Rotor-mounted search coils 210
9.3 Generator rotor faults 210
9.3.1 General 210
9.3.2 Earth leakage faults on-line 211
9.3.3 Turn-to-turn faults on-line 212
9.4 Motor rotor faults 220
9.4.1 General 220
9.4.2 Air-gap search coils 220
9.4.3 Stator current monitoring for rotor faults (MCSA) 220
9.4.4 Rotor current monitoring 223
9.5 Generator and motor comprehensive methods 225
9.5.1 General 225
9.5.2 Shaft flux 226
9.5.3 Stator and rotor currents 230
9.5.4 Power 231
9.5.5 Shaft voltage or current 235
9.5.6 Mechanical and electrical interaction 236
9.6 Conclusions 237

10 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 239

10.1 Introduction 239
10.2 Background to discharge detection 239
10.3 Early discharge detection methods 241
 Contents xiii

10.3.1 RF coupling method 241

10.3.2 Earth loop transient method 244
10.3.3 Capacitive coupling method 245
10.3.4 Wide-band RF method 246
10.3.5 Insulation remanent life 248
10.4 Detection problems 248
10.5 Modern discharge detection methods 250
10.6 Conclusions 253

11 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 255

11.1 Introduction 255
11.2 Operation and fault mechanisms 256
11.2.1 Insulation degradation mechanisms 256
11.2.2 Bearing current discharges 258
11.3 Bearing current discharge detection 261
11.4 Insulation degradation detection 263
11.4.1 PD measurement 263
11.4.2 Capacitance and dissipation factor measurement 266
11.4.3 Built-in winding insulation degradation detector 267
11.5 Control in-loop machine fault detection 269
11.6 Conclusions 272

12 Offline monitoring 273

12.1 Introduction 273
12.2 Stator core 273
12.2.1 General 273
12.2.2 Turbo-generators 277
12.2.3 Hydro-generators 277
12.3 Stator windings 278
12.3.1 Summary of offline tests 278
12.3.2 Frequency response analysis 278
12.4 Rotor windings 278
12.4.1 Summary of offline tests 278
12.4.2 Synchronous rotor surge tests 281
12.5 Conclusions 284

13 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 285

13.1 Introduction 285
13.2 Preventative maintenance 285
13.3 Condition-based maintenance 288
13.3.1 Signals and data for condition-based maintenance 288
13.3.2 Targeted monitoring 290
13.4 Economics of maintenance strategies 292
13.4.1 Basic economic justification 292
13.4.2 Life-cycle costing 294
xiv Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

13.4.3 Cost–benefit analysis of condition monitoring for CBM 296

13.4.4 Asset management 297
13.5 Conclusions 300

14 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 303

14.1 Introduction 303
14.2 Multi-parameter monitoring 305
14.3 Expert systems 309
14.4 Fuzzy logic 312
14.5 Machine learning using ANNs 316
14.5.1 What can be learned for CM? 316
14.5.2 Supervised learning through ANN 317
14.5.3 Unsupervised learning 320
14.6 Deep learning with big data 322
14.7 An AI example 324
14.7.1 Systems incorporating AI 324
14.7.2 How an MBVI system works 326
14.7.3 An MBVI system and AI 327
14.8 Conclusions 329

15 Safety, training and qualification 331

15.1 Introduction 331
15.2 Safety 331
15.3 Training and qualification 332
15.3.1 Training and qualification categories 333
15.3.2 Category I – data collector 333
15.3.3 Category II – specialist 333
15.3.4 Category III – analyst 334
15.3.5 Category IV – expert 334
15.4 Conclusions 335

16 Overall conclusions 337

16.1 CM techniques 337
16.2 AI and ML 339
16.3 Standards, training, safety and qualification 340
16.4 The future importance 340

References 341
Standards 361
Appendix A Failure modes and root causes in the rotating electrical
machines 365
Appendix B Draft CM good practice guide, MCSA 371
Appendix C Electrical machines, drives and condition monitoring
timeline 383
Index 391
 About the authors

Professor Peter Tavner, Eur Ing, CEng, FIET, is an Emeritus Professor of the
Department of Engineering, Durham University, UK. He received an MA in
Mechanical Sciences from Cambridge University in 1971, a PhD from
Southampton University in 1978 and DSc from Durham University in 2012.
He trained in the Royal Navy as a Weapons Electrical Officer and served on
the Guided Missile Destroyers Bristol and London, subsequently teaching at the
University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. He has held a number of research and
technical positions in the health-care, electrical supply and manufacturing indus-
tries including Group Head in a former CEGB laboratory, Technical Director of
Laurence, Scott & Electromotors Ltd. (LSE) and Brush Electrical Machines Ltd
(BEM), two of the UK’s large electrical machine manufacturers, then Group
Technical Director of FKI Energy Technology, owner of LSE and BEM, an inter-
national business-manufacturing wind turbines, electrical machines, electrical
drives, dynamometers, transformers and switchgear in the UK, Holland, Italy,
Germany and Czech Republic. At Durham University, he led a number of UK and
Europe research initiatives to improve the reliability of wind turbines, wave and
tidal generation devices. He retains a particular interest in practical electromagnetic
analysis, the application of condition monitoring, the reliability of electrical
machines and the use of converters.
He was the winner in 1988 with Richard Jackson of the Institution Premium of
the IEE and is an Honorary Member of the European Academy of Wind Energy.

Professor Li Ran, BSc, PhD, FIET, SMIEEE, joined the University of Warwick as
a professor in Power Electronics Systems in 2012. He is also a professor at
Chongqing University, China, and former deputy director for the State Key
Laboratory there in Power Transmission Equipment and System Security. Li
obtained a PhD in 1989 in Power Systems Engineering from Chongqing University
for his work on reliability evaluation of the transmission networks planned for the
Three-Gorges Hydro Power Plant. He then participated in commissioning the
Gezhouba-Shanghai HVDC System (1989–1990). He was a postdoctoral research
fellow with the Universities of Aberdeen, Nottingham and Heriot-Watt
(1992–1999), working on marine electrical propulsion, offshore electrical systems
and electro-magnetic compatibility (EMC) in power electronic motor drives. He
became a lecturer with Northumbria University, Newcastle, in 1999 and moved to
Durham University in 2003. He had a secondment to Alstom Power Conversion,
Kidsgrove (2001–2004), took sabbatical leave to MIT (2007–2008), was promoted
xvi Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

to Reader and then a Chair in 2010. He has the Stanley Gray Award of the IMarEST
for his published work on the monitoring of motors in the offshore environment and
IEEE prize paper awards for work on wind turbine converter control and industrial
power systems.

Dr Christopher Crabtree MEng, PhD, MIET, MIEEE, FHEA, is an Associate

Professor in wind energy systems in the Department of Engineering at Durham
University, UK. He joined Durham in 2012. After receiving an MEng in General
Engineering in 2007, Christopher received a PhD degree from Durham in 2011 for
research on condition monitoring techniques for wind turbines. Christopher’s
research focuses on operation and maintenance aspects of wind energy, onshore
and offshore, with the aim of improving reliability, raising availability and redu-
cing the cost of energy. His areas of focus include the development of condition
monitoring techniques, power conversion system reliability, performance analysis
of wind energy systems, and high-frequency thermal monitoring for power elec-
tronics. He also has interests in the movement of church bell towers during full-
circle change ringing, with early work focused on Durham Cathedral.
 Preface

An electrical machine is one of the most fundamental, yet subtle human innova-
tions. It uses the electromagnetic field to transfer energy from one system to
another, associated with rotational mechanical torque, and quantum electronics
within control transistors and power switches to make variable-speed operation
possible.
Condition monitoring of plant increases in importance as engineering pro-
cesses are automated whilst operational and supervisory plant workforce is
reduced. But electrical machines have traditionally been thought reliable, requiring
little attention except at infrequent intervals, when plant is shut-down for inspec-
tion. Indeed, the application to electrical machines of fast-acting, digital protective
relays reduces the attention operators pay to this equipment.
However, electrical machines are at the heart of these processes, being
designed to increasingly tighter margins and there is a need, for the reliability of
these processes, to monitor the machine performance. The control of electrical
machines by variable-speed drives, with sophisticated means to vary supply vol-
tages and currents, facilitates the ability to monitor the machine and its drive. This
book is a guide to the techniques available.
The subject of condition monitoring of electrical machines covers a wide field
including rotating machines and transformers. To restrict that field, the authors
concentrate here on rotating machines only but in this edition widen that from
traditional induction and synchronous machines to DC, permanent magnet, multi-
phase and other machines, considering both online and offline techniques, as well
as the effect of variable-speed drives connected to such machines.
The nature of electrical machine condition monitoring is dominated by their
materials:
● Strong but brittle ferromagnetic steel laminations, steel pole pieces and per-
manent magnets – the electromagnetic core,
● Ductile and mechanically weak machine conductors – the windings,
● Separated by dielectrically strong but mechanically weak and thermally vul-
nerable tapes, boards and resins – the insulation,
● Supported on structures and lubricants which separate rotating from stationary
parts – the bearings.
To condition monitor electrical machines, we must make electrical, mechan-
ical, thermal or chemical measurements to detect the deterioration and progression
xviii Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

to failure. The authors have been inspired in this respect by an earlier book by
Professor Miles Walker (1929) who said about rotating electrical machine troubles:
‘First find out the facts; let your conclusions be drawn from ascertained data
and not from supposition. After the facts have been clearly stated and the necessary
conclusions drawn, a happening that was very elusive in the telling may be very
simple in the seeing’. Wise condition monitoring words.
In Professor Miles Walker’s day in the 1920s, plant measurements were costly
and difficult, in fact he stressed
‘the investigator’s difficulty often arises from his neglecting to take a mea-
surement, which is the key of the situation’.
In our modern international world, this has changed dramatically: there is no
shortage of measurements, simply a lack of interpretation and, in these authors’
view, a lack of comparison between key measurements.
The first edition, entitled ‘Condition Monitoring of Electrical Machines’
written by Peter Tavner and Jim Penman, was published in 1987 by the Research
Studies Press. It had the intention of bringing together two strands of work active at
that time. These were, respectively,
● From industry, an interest in large machine monitoring as rising maintenance
costs competed with heavy financial impact from large machine failures,
● From universities growing confidence in complex electrical machine equiva-
lent circuit modelling and the application of finite element variational methods
to predict magnetic fields.
The book was aimed at larger machines in energy production, reflecting that
such machines were costly enough to warrant condition monitoring. It also reflected
that one author worked in the nationalised generating utility, colouring our approach
to the subject. That edition showed that in respect of condition monitoring, electrical
machines are unusual compared to other rotating plant in that the all-embracing
nature of the electromagnetic field, their modus operandi, enables us to infer far more
about operation from terminal conditions than could be the case with non-electrical
rotating plant. The edition covered elemental aspects of electrical machine condition
monitoring, eliciting some important facts leading to further work:
● Electromagnetic behaviour and the ability to model,
● Dynamic behaviour associated with control now available from modern power
electronics and the ability to model that behaviour.
Each has now matured and is a rich source of fundamental knowledge covering
the whole range of machine behaviours in their operating state, especially under
fault conditions. Three relevant sources are the books by Miles Walker (1929), Vas
(1993) on modelling and Jones (1967) exploiting a machine’s field modus operandi
by measuring terminal ‘performance’ conditions, rather than using ‘design’ para-
meters, such as reactance.
In the second edition, published by the IET, the first two authors were joined
by Li Ran and Howard Sedding, Li an expert in variable-speed drives and the
application of power electronics to those drives and Howard an expert on electrical
 Preface xix

insulation diagnostics. The economics of industry had changed, as a result of pri-

vatisation and deregulation of energy, placing greater emphasis on the importance
of reliable plant and machinery operation throughout the whole life-cycle, regard-
less of first capital cost. The availability of advanced electronics and software in
computerised instrumentation has also simplified and extended our ability to
monitor and analyse machinery, not least in the important area of visualising the
results of complex condition monitoring analysis. As a result, condition monitoring
was being applied to a wider range of systems, from fault-tolerant drives of a few
hundred watts in the aerospace industry, to machinery of a few hundred megawatts
in major capital plant. The value of the fundamental contribution to these advances
by many analysts over the last 30 years cannot be underestimated and will play a
major future role, particular contributions being:
● Behaviour of electrical machine insulation systems,
● Inspection of large machines.
Stone et al. (2014) is relevant on both these topics.
In this third edition, two earlier authors, who collaborated at Durham
University, have been joined by another Durham colleague, Christopher Crabtree,
an expert in the presentation and use of monitoring information for operation and
maintenance, reflecting the important combination of rotating machines and
variable-speed drives and their rapidly expanding use, particularly in traction,
propulsion, distributed and renewable generation, most particularly in wind power.
Together we have decided to build on earlier editions by extending the book to
cover the whole range of rotating machines without exclusion of type, including
both online and offline techniques and taking more cognisance of the interaction
between the machine and the power electronics to which it may be connected.
Earlier work on electrical machine condition monitoring concentrated on the
electrical signals, current and voltage. Later work included mechanical signals,
such as vibration, debris-in-oil and also thermal or chemical signals. Vibration and
electrical signals lent themselves to the fast Fourier transform (FFT), leading to the
application of motor current signal analysis (MCSA) to induction motors. As
variable-speed drives have been applied to machines, more attention has been
placed on transforms that deal with the effects of changing speed on signals, hence
recent interest in Wigner-Ville, Hilbert-Huang and discrete and continuous wavelet
(DWT and CWT) transforms. In this third edition, a particular difference from
earlier editions, where single signal applications, such as the FFT dominated, more
signal measurements are available, especially from drives and condition monitoring
is moving from the analogue to digital age. Our revised Chapter 13 on condition-
based maintenance and asset management draws on this increased availability of
data and change of analysis methodology. This then leads into Chapter 14, which
emphasises the importance of multi-parameter monitoring and the use of artificial
intelligence (AI) to infer machine condition from multiple signals. However,
machine learning (ML), a branch of AI, could learn appropriate condition mon-
itoring transforms from rich data originating from multiple signals, bypassing the
need to select a pre-existing mathematical transform and contributing to better
xx Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

plant asset management. We have also given an example from Faraday Predictive
of the impact AI is making in the condition monitoring of electrical machines.
Finally we have added some material on the training and qualification issues
appropriate to condition monitoring of machines and in the Appendices given a
draft Good Practice Guide for one of the most popular techniques. Our method
continues to emphasise the all-embracing effect of machine electromagnetic and
thermal fields on their signals, by inferring deterioration from terminal ‘perfor-
mance’ conditions, amplified by the increased information available from variable-
speed drives. We have merged our own experience with that of the machine ana-
lysts to bring the reader a thoroughly up-to-date but practicable set of techniques
that reflect the work of the last 30 years.
Relevant books are Drury (2009) on drives and machines, Krause et al. (2013)
on machine modelling and Chung et al. (2016) on drive reliability, all in our
references list.
Our book is aimed at professional engineers in the energy, process engineering
and manufacturing industries, research workers and students. In this edition, we
have maintained and expanded the ‘Nomenclature’ and ‘Abbreviation’ sections,
taken the opportunity to correct previous errors, added important information about
failure mechanisms, reliability, instrumentation, signal processing and the man-
agement of rotating machine assets, as these factors critically affect the way con-
dition monitoring needs to be applied. We omitted case studies from this third and
the second editions, simply because the range of condition monitoring techniques on
electrical machines is so wide and complex that it is impossible to select appropriate
applications from which general conclusions can be drawn. The diagrams and
photographs representing the machines, monitoring systems and signal processing
have, where appropriate, been updated and increased in number.
We have extensively updated the references to a single list, in Harvard format,
at the end of the book based on well-known bibliographies of the subject and have
added a list of standards appropriate to the condition monitoring of rotating elec-
trical machines. We have also presented a draft guide for MCSA condition mon-
itoring of electrical machines, as a prototype for future CM training documents.
Finally, at the end of the book, we have added a historical timeline, to compare
the development of these electromagnetic and quantum technologies of electrical
machines and drives, developing an uncertain reliability theory to apply to their
condition monitoring.

Peter Tavner,
Durham and Cambridge, 2019
 Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the assistance they have had from Durham University in
preparing this book, particularly from Chris Orton in preparing diagrams.
Our first author acknowledges Prof Percy Hammond, his PhD Supervisor
whose inspiration taught him electromagnetism, see the listed papers, Prof Kurt
Schwarz his former Technical Director, who taught him the consequent logic of
electrical machines and drives and Geoff Walker of Faraday Predictive Ltd., who
contributed to Chapter 14, for his advice on modern condition monitoring.
We also acknowledge our academic colleagues in the field, Mike Barnes,
Mohamed Benbouzid, Jim Bumby, Sinisa Djurović , Alan Jack, Barrie Mecrow,
Phil Mellor, Jim Penman, Phil Taylor, Phil Mawby and Steve Williamson as well as
former research students and post-doctoral researchers, Xuan Guo, Borong Hu,
Michael Wilkinson, Fabio Spinato, Wenjuan Wang, Wenxian Yang, Mahmoud
Zaggout and Donatella Zappalẚ for their contributions through papers, discussions,
diagrams and their understanding of the reliability and monitoring problems of
machines.
Special thanks to an old friend, Doug Warne, who gave us sound research
advice for many years and encouraged us to produce the second and third editions
of this book.
The authors also acknowledge the assistance of companies who contributed pho-
tographs and diagrams, in particular, Brush Turbo-generators, UK and Czech Republic,
Dong Fang Electrical Machinery Ltd., China, Equipmake, UK, Faraday Predictive Ltd,
UK, Laurence, Scott & Electromotors Ltd. and Marelli Motori SpA, Italy.
This page intentionally left blank
 Nomenclature

Symbol Explanation
A effective cross-sectional area of a coil, m2
A availability, A ¼ MTBF/(MTBF þ MTTR)
A(t) availability function of a population of components as a function
of time, %
Av vibration acceleration, m/s2
a scaling factor of time in a mother wavelet transform
a scale parameter in a power law expression
at cross-sectional area of a tooth, m2
ar resistance temperature coefficient,  C/W
as skew angle of a stator, 
B radial flux density in an air-gap, T
Bðf1 ; f2 Þ bispectrum
b instantaneous radial flux density, T
b time-shifting parameter in a mother wavelet function
b shape function in a power law expression
b half angle subtended by a shorted turn, 
C volumetric concentration of a degradation product in a machine,
%/m3
C Carter factor to account for air-gap slotting
C(y,v) inverse wavelet transform
C(t) cepstrum function
c damping constant of a support system, N/m/s
D damping factor for rotor vibrations
d rolling element diameter, m
d core fault current, largely in the quad axis, A
E Young’s modulus of a material, N/m2
Ee stored energy in an electrical system, Joules
E1 transformer primary emf, V
V1 transformer primary voltage, V
xxiv Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

I1 transformer primary current, A

E2 transformer secondary emf, V
V2 transformer secondary voltage, V
I2 transformer secondary current, A
Ic shorted stator winding circulating current, A
e specific unbalance e ¼ mr/M, m
e(t) instantaneous induced EMF, V
e strain in a material, %
F parameter from shock pulse measurement of a rolling element
bearing
Fbrg bearing frictional force, N
Fm(q,t) forcing function on a rotor or stator expressed in circumferential
angle q and time t, N
f(t) failure mode probability density, a Weibull function
Fs , F r stator and rotor magnetomotive forces (MMF), NI, ampere-turns
F or F-1 forward or backward Fourier transform
f1 instantaneous MMF wave in an electrical machine air-gap, A/m
f0 first critical or natural frequency of a rotor system, Hz
fc coolant flow rate, l/s
fn the nth component of an unbalanced forcing function, Hz
fm higher mth natural frequencies of the stator core, Hz
fse electrical supply side frequency ¼ 1/T, Hz
fsw PWM switching frequency, Hz
fsm mechanical vibration frequency on the stator side, Hz
frm mechanical rotational frequency ¼ N/60, Hz
G strain gauge factor
G degree of residual unbalance as denoted by the quantity G ¼ ew
G(fk) generalised power spectral function of frequency, fk, the kth
harmonic
G*( fk) complex conjugate of G( fk)
G(m) stiffness function of an mth natural frequencies of the stator core
G(tn) generalised periodic function of time, tn
g acceleration due to gravity, m/s2
g air-gap length, mm
gn(z) natural frequency function an nth solution of the balance equation
h heat transfer coefficient from an insulation surface, W/m2K
ht tooth depth, m
 Nomenclature xxv

I rms current, A
Ie stator core magnetising current, A
Is stator winding current, A
Iw stator core loss current, A
Io stator core current Io ¼ H( Ie2þ Iw2), A
i(t) instantaneous current, A
J polar moment of inertia of the core cylinder, Joule s2
k integer constant, indicates the kth space harmonic
k heat transfer coefficient through an insulating material, W/mK
k stiffness constant of a support system, N/m
kc integer number of commutator segments in a DC machine
kc integer constant, indicating vibrating stator core circumferential
modes
ke integer constant, indicating eccentricity order number, zero for
static eccentricity, low integer value for dynamic eccentricity.
kl integer constant, indicating vibrating stator core lengthwise modes
kr reflection coefficient in the recurrent surge oscillography
(RSO) test
kwn stator winding factor for the nth harmonic
k/nq Hall-effect constant of an electronic material
L active length of a core, m
L inductance of a coil, H
L magnetic permeance, H
l integer number of stator time harmonics or rotor winding fault
harmonics
l instantaneous failure rate or hazard function of a component,
l ¼ 1/MTBF, failures/component/year
l(t) failure rate of a component or machine varying with time, failures/
component/year
M mass of a rotating system, kg
Ms mass of a support system, kg
m integer constant
m equivalent unbalance mass on a shaft, kg
m permeability in a magnetic field
m instantaneous repair rate, m ¼ 1/MTTR, repairs/component/year
N integer number of turns of a coil
N speed of a machine rotor, rev/min
Nr integer number of rotor slots
xxvi Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Ns integer number of stator slots

n number of charge carriers per unit volume in a semiconductor
_
nn integer constant
nb integer number of rolling elements in a rolling element bearing
P active power, W
Pelcid phase axis in El CID testing
Q reactive power, Var
Q heat flow, W/m2
Qelcid quad axis in El CID testing
q electronic charge, Coulomb
q integer number of stator MMF space harmonics, 1, 3, 5, 7 . . .
DR change in resistance, W
R shock pulse meter reading
R resistance, W
Rwind winding resistance, W
Rcore core resistance, W
Rins insulation resistance, W
R(t) reliability or survivor function of a population of components as a
function of time, failures/machine/yr
Rff(t) auto-correlation function on a time function f (t) with a delay of t
Rfh(t) cross-correlation function between time functions f (t) and h(t)
with a delay of t
R0 resistance of a device made of the metal at 0  C, W
RT resistance, W
r effective radius of an equivalent unbalanced mass, m
rmean mean radius of a core, m
rair-gap radius of the air-gap, m
y(t) mother wavelet function of time
S total power, S ¼ H(P2þ Q2), VA
S constant related to the stiffness of a winding, insulation and tooth
components
Sd smoke detection from a core monitor
s normalised slip of an induction machine, between 0 and 1, %
DT change in temperature, K
T torque, Nm
T temperature,  C
T period of a wave, s
 Nomenclature xxvii

Te volumetric vibration kinetic energy, J/m3

T( f1,f2,f3) tri-spectrum
t0 radial thickness of a stator core annulus, m
t time delay in a correlation function, s
t0 time duration of an overheating incident, s
tr residence time of an overheating product in a machine, or leakage
factor, s
q MTBF of a component, q ¼ 1/l, h
q1 space position in the stator field, 
q2 space position in the rotor field, 
u lateral displacement of a machine rotor, mm
ur and uq radial and peripheral displacements in a strained stator core, mm
VOC Volumetric detection of total organic matter
V rms voltage, V
V machine volume, m3
Vᶩ volumetric strain potential energy, J/m3
v velocity of the rotor, relative to the travelling flux wave produced
by the stator, m/s
vv volumetric rate of production of a detectable substance, m3/s
vb background rate of production of the substance, m3/s
n Poisson’s ratio of a material
F flux, Wb

f contact angle with races of a rolling element bearing,
f electrical phase angle of a stator MMF wave Fs, 
w angular frequency of an electrical supply, rad/s
w0 first critical or natural angular frequency of a rotor system, rad/s
wse electrical supply side angular frequency, rad/s
wsm mechanical angular vibration frequency on the stator side, rad/s
wrm mechanical rotational angular frequency ¼2pN/60, rad/s
wecc angular velocity of an eccentricity, rad/s
W work function for strain energy in stator core
W(a,b) wavelet transform
wy, wt, wi and weights of a core yoke, teeth, insulation and windings,
ww respectively, kg
w weight per unit length per unit circumferential angle of a stator
core cylinder, N/m
Xm2 second harmonic magnetising reactance, W
xxviii Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Xl 2 second harmonic leakage reactance, W

Z0 surge impedance of a winding, W
z longitudinal distance from the centre of a machine, m
r density of a material, kg/m3
s electrical conductivity of a material, W1m1
sr radial Maxwell stress in the air-gap, N/m2
 Abbreviations

AI Artificial intelligence
BDFIM Brushless doubly fed induction machine, a specialised induction
motor/generator
BJT Band-gap junction transistor
BP Back-propagation
CACA Closed air-cooled internal open air-cooled external
CACW Closed air-cooled internal open water-cooled external
CAPEX Capital expenditure
CBM Condition-based maintenance
COCW Closed oil-cooled internal open water-cooled external
CM Condition monitoring
CNN Convolutional neural network
CSC Current source converter
CWT Continuous wavelet transform
BINDT British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing
DBN Deep belief network
DFIM Doubly fed induction machine
DFT Discrete Fourier transform
DL Discharge locator
DSP Digital signal processor
DWT Discrete wavelet transform
EMI Electromagnetic interference
ETD Embedded temperature device
FBG Fibre Bragg grating
FPGA Field-programmable gate array
FFT Fast Fourier transform
FMEA Failure modes and effects analysis
FMECA Failure modes effects and criticality analysis
FRA Frequency response analysis
xxx Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

GTO Gate turn off thyristor

HFPD High-frequency PD detection device
HHT Hilbert–Huang transform
HPP Homogeneous Poisson process
HPSRA Hybrid physics statistics reliability analysis
IAS Instantaneous angular speed method
IC Integrated circuit
IGBT Insulated gate bipolar transistor
IR Insulation resistance
JFET Junction field effect transistor
LCC Lifecycle costing
LCOE Levelised cost of energy
LFPD Low-frequency PD detection device
LVDT Linear variable differential transformer
MAR Mercury arc rectifier
MBVI Model-base voltage and current systems
MCSA Motor current signal analysis
ML Machine learning
MLP Multi-layered perceptron
MOSFET Metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor
MTBF Mean Time Before Failure or Mean Time Between Failures
MTTR Mean time to repair
OPEX Operational expenditure
PD Partial discharge
PHM Prognostics and health management
PI Polarisation index
PID Proportional-integral-derivative
PLP Power law process
PoF Physics of failure reliability analysis, applicable to power electronics
PSD Power spectral density
PWM Pulse width modulation
RBM Restricted Boltzmann machine
RCA Root cause analysis
RF Radio frequency
RFCT Radio-frequency CT
RFI Radio-frequency interference
 Abbreviations xxxi

RIFI Radio-interference field intensity

RPDIV Repetitive partial discharge inception voltage
RSO Recurrent surge oscillograph
RTD Resistance temperature device
SCADA Supervisory control and data acquisition
RUL Remaining useful lifetime
SSC Stator slot coupler
SOM Self-organising mapping
TVA Tennessee Valley Authority probe
TBF Time between failures
TEFC Totally enclosed forced air-cooled
TTF Time to failure
UMP Unbalanced magnetic pull
VSC Voltage source converter
VSD Variable-speed drive
WVT Wigner–Ville transform
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 1
Introduction to condition monitoring

1.1 Introduction
This book is about the condition monitoring (CM) of rotating electrical machines.
To develop this understanding, we need to acknowledge:
● Fundamental electrical machines principles,
● Principles of variable speed drives applied to electrical machines,
● Principles of reliability applied to machines and drives so that we can under-
stand how CM can best be applied.
Rotating electrical machines permeate all areas of modern life at both the
domestic and industrial level. The average modern home in the developed world
contains 20 to 30 electric motors in the range 0–10 kW for clocks, toys, domestic
appliances, air conditioning or heating systems. Modern cars use electric motors for
windows, windscreen wipers, starting and now even for propulsion in hybrid and
electric vehicles. A modern Jaguar E-Pace car has two permanent magnet syn-
chronous drive motors and more than 40 other electrical machines.
The majority of smaller applications of electrical machines do not require
monitoring; the components are sufficiently reliable that they can outlive the life of
the parent product.
However, modern society depends, directly or indirectly, upon machines of
greater rating and complexity in order to support an increased standard of living.
The electricity we use so freely is generated in power plants by machines,
whose ratings can exceed 1 000 MW, have evolved to a state of great sophistica-
tion. These power plants are supported by fossil fuel and nuclear energy industries
that are transporting raw materials using pumps, compressors and conveyors in
sophisticated engineering processes incorporating rotating electrical machines of
powers from 100 kW to 100 MW. These have been joined by a growing renewable
energy industry using many of these and new techniques to extract energy from
sources with machines of ratings from 200 kW to 10 MW, often in combination
with traditional sources.
The steel used in cars will have been rolled using large electrical machines,
and at an earlier stage still the furnaces will have been charged using more elec-
trical machines.
2 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Our water and waste systems are also driven by electrical machines as are the
processes that produce the raw materials for the agricultural, chemical and phar-
maceutical industries.
Without all these our society, as it is arranged at the moment, would cease to
function.
The overall picture is that electrical machines come in many sizes and they
fulfil their function either independently, or as part of a highly complex process in
which all elements must function smoothly so that production can be maintained.
It is the usage of electrical machinery in the latter role that rose dramatically
towards the end of the twentieth century, and there is no reason to suspect this trend
will do other than accelerate through the twenty-first century. However, historically
the function of an individual electrical machine was seen as separable from the rest
of the electromechanical system. It must be remembered that the power-to-weight
ratio of electrical machines has been much lower than steam, diesel and gas engines
and consequently their reliability has been much higher.
It is against this background that the basic principles of protective relaying
evolved. Protection is designed to intercept faults as they occur and to initiate
action that ensures that the minimum of further damage occurs before failure. In its
basic form, the protective relay has the function outlined in Figure 1.1.
The signal provided by the transducer will be in the form of a current or
voltage, and will be interpreted by the relay as an acceptable, or unacceptable,
level according to a pre-set value worked out by the relay designer or main-
tenance staff. If the pre-set value is exceeded, then the relay will initiate further
electromechanical action that will often result in disconnection of the electrical
machine, and it will flag the fact that a fault, or even failure, has been identified.
This is a simplistic view of the protective relay, which were configured using
electromechanical devices such as relays to carry out their function, as the name
implies. However, nowadays most protective relays use digital processors
to deploy a wide range of functions, and are programmable to allow more
sophisticated criteria for initiating interrupt procedures to be applied. For
example, to block the restart of a motor until it has cooled to an acceptable
degree. Figure 1.2 shows a typical modern programmable relays for fulfilling
such functions.

Flag

Current of voltage Initiate executive

signal action

Figure 1.1 The basic function of an electrical protective relay

 Introduction to condition monitoring 3

Figure 1.2 Typical modern digital protection relays

From what has been said above, it is apparent that protective relaying can be
regarded as a form of monitoring, and indeed it is widely used with great success.
Modern digital relays have also started to fulfil a monitoring function since they
can record the voltages and currents they measure for a period before and after
any fault. In fact, many failure investigations on electrical machines, involving
root cause analysis, start with the download and analysis of the digital protective
relay data, which can usually be displayed clearly in an Excel spreadsheet.
Virtually all electrical machine protection systems embody some form of
protection device, and on typical machines they are used in some or all of the
following schemes:
● earth fault protection,
● overcurrent protection,
● differential current protection,
● under and overvoltage protection,
● negative phase sequence protection,
● field failure protection,
● reverse power protection,
● overspeed protection,
● excessive vibration protection,
● thermal overload protection.
This list is representative rather than exhaustive.
It is important to stress the fact that protection is basically designed to act only
once a fault has occurred, and it will normally initiate some executive action, ‘the
function of protective equipment is not the preventive one its name would imply, in
that it takes action only after a fault has occurred; it is the ambulance at the foot of
the cliff rather than the fence at the top’.
CM needs to establish itself as ‘the fence at the cliff-top’.
The executive action may very well be the disconnection of the piece of
machinery from the supply. Such action is acceptable if the item of plant is
readily dissociated from the process it is involved with, or if it exists
4 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

substantially in isolation. If, however, the piece of plant is vital to the operation
of a process then an unscheduled shutdown of the complete process may occur.
The losses involved may then be significantly greater than those resulting simply
from the loss of output during a scheduled shutdown. It must also be borne in
mind that the capital cost of an individual machine is more often than not small
compared with the capital costs involved in a plant shutdown. Maintenance is
most effective when it is planned to service many items in the course of a single
outage.
In summary, CM of an electrical machine is not necessarily aimed solely at the
machine itself, but at the wider health of the process of which it is part.

1.2 Need for monitoring

The notion of the scheduled shutdown or outage introduces us logically to the case
to be made on behalf of monitoring.
By CM we mean the continuous evaluation of the health of plant and equip-
ment throughout its serviceable life. CM and protection are closely related func-
tions. The approach to the implementation of each is, however, quite different.
Also, the advantages that accrue due to monitoring are entirely different to those to
be expected from protection.
This is principally because monitoring should be designed to pre-empt faults,
whereas protection is essentially retroactive. CM can, in many cases, be extended
to provide primary protection, but its real function must always be to attempt to
recognise the development of faults at an early stage. Such advanced warning is
desirable since it allows maintenance staff greater freedom to schedule outages in
the most convenient manner, resulting in lower down time and lower capitalised
losses. Figure 1.3 shows this process.
We have said above that advanced warnings of malfunctions, as provided by
monitoring, are desirable. Are they? We must justify this because the imple-
mentation of a monitoring system can involve the operator in considerable expense.
There are other questions to be answered too, for example,
● Once one has chosen to embark upon a programme of monitoring what form
should it take?
● Should the monitoring be intermittent, regular at fixed time intervals, or
continuous?
● If one employs a fixed time interval maintenance programme then is it
necessary to monitor at all?
● Monitoring can generate large quantities of data; how can this information be
best stored and used to minimise future expenditure?
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, how much needs to be spent on mon-
itoring in order to make it truly effective?
These questions do not have simple answers but we can get some indications
by considering the magnitude of the maintenance and replacement burden that
 Introduction to condition monitoring 5

Period in which monitoring

can detect, diagnose and
mitigate a fault

Unusual OK next Usual operation

event mission to a fault
Condition-based
maintenance
Health

Time to fault detection Fault

Time to fault

Time
Normal operation

Figure 1.3 Progression of an electrical machine to failure showing the

benefit of CM

industry is continually facing, and the implications for the costs of various main-
tenance strategies. We could consider three different courses of action:
● Breakdown maintenance,
● Fixed-time interval or planned maintenance,
● Condition-based maintenance.
Method (i) demands no more than a ‘run it until it breaks then replace it’
strategy, whilst method (ii) may or may not include a degree of monitoring to aid in
the planning of machinery outages. The final scenario method (iii) requires a
definite commitment to monitoring.
The scale of investment can be seen from figures provided by Neale (1979).
This information is now 30 years old from before a long period of privatisation but
is still invaluable. Table 1.1 shows the annual investment per employee in plant and
machinery. We have modified these values in order to reflect more realistically
today’s costs and have selected those industries that would have a high proportion
of expenditure in electrical machinery and ancillary plant.
The same report shows that the average annual expenditure on maintenance
was 80% of the capital annually invested in plant and machinery. The figures for
some selected industries and industrial groupings are shown in Table 1.2, which
shows the annual maintenance expenditure as a percentage of the annual plant
6 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Table 1.1 Expenditure on plant per employee of selected

industries, Neale (1979)

Industry Annual investment/employee

in plant and machinery
North Sea Oil and Gas £160 000
Oil refining £14 000
Electricity supply £8 000
Chemical industry £2 400
Iron and steel £1 800
Water supply £800
Textile manufacture £600
Instrumentation manufacture £400
Electrical engineering manufacture £400

Table 1.2 Annual maintenance expenditure as a percentage

of annual capital investment in plant, for selected
industries, Neale (1979)

Industry Maintenance expenditure/

Plant expenditure
Printing 160%
Instrumentation manufacture 150%
Mechanical engineering 100%
Textile manufacture 82%
Water supply 80%
Gas supply 80%
Electricity supply 80%
Electrical machinery manufacture 80%
Chemical manufacture 78%
Marine engineering 50%
Iron and steel manufacture 42%
Coal production 26%

investment expenditure. This is a high figure in real terms and anything that helps
to reduce it must be welcome. The Hewlett–Packard Journal has quoted the stag-
gering figure of $200 billion as the annual maintenance bill for U.S. business, and a
growth rate of 12%. Now only a fraction of this sum will be spent on maintaining
electrical machinery, but even if it amounts to only points of per cent of the total it
is still an enormous amount of money.
There are great incentives to maintain plant more efficiently, particularly when
it is estimated that approximately 70% of the maintenance work carried out by
 Introduction to condition monitoring 7

companies that use no planning at all may be classified as emergency work and
must be done at premium costs.
It is apparent that careful thought should be given to the most appropriate form
of maintenance planning. Breakdown maintenance can only be effective when
there is a substantial amount of redundant capacity or spares are available, and a
single breakdown does not cause the failure of a complete system. The question to
be answered in such circumstances is, ‘why is there a significant redundancy’? And
should it be allowed to continue?
Many sectors of industry, and particularly the electricity, water and gas utilities
and the railways, have adopted maintenance planning based on replacement and
overhaul at fixed time periods, so that outage work can be scheduled, diversions
and loads can be planned. Such scheduling is usually planned on the basis of plant
monitoring, and the monitoring is typically done on a discontinuous basis. There
are many estimates of the savings that accrue by adopting such an approach, and an
average reduction figure of 60% of the total maintenance burden may be considered
reasonable. This is good news, but it must be treated cautiously because such a
maintenance policy makes heavy demands upon scarce, skilled manpower. It is also
estimated that only 10% of components replaced during fixed interval maintenance
outages actually need to be replaced at that time. The obvious implication is that
90% of what is replaced need not be.
Such considerations, and the realisation that modern electrical machines and
the processes they operate in are growing in complexity, leads one to the conclu-
sion that continuous CM of certain critical items of plant can lead to significant
benefits. These benefits accrue in:
● Greater plant efficiency,
● Reduced capitalised losses due to break-down,
● Reduced replacement costs.
The plant operator can also be updated with information on the performance of
his machinery. This will help him to improve the day to day operational availability
and efficiency of the plant. CM should give information relevant to both the
operational and maintenance functions.
There is an added bonus in that better maintenance gives better safety.
In the longer term, CM also allows the operator to build up a data base that can
be used for trend analysis, so that further improvements can be made in the sche-
duling of maintenance. Such information should also be used advantageously by
the manufacturers and designers of plant in order to further improve product
reliability. This step effectively ‘closes the loop’.
In view of the above, how much needs to be spent on monitoring? This depends
on the value of the process in which the machine works, and estimates vary, but are
never less than 1% of the capital value of the plant being monitored. A more typical,
and probably more realistic, figure would be 5% for the general run of industrial
processes, whilst special requirements for high value processes, such as those found
in the offshore oil and gas industry, may push a realistic figure above 10%.
8 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

1.3 What and when to monitor

Now that we have examined some of the advantages to be gained from a com-
mitment to CM we can briefly address the questions, what should we monitor, and
when? The question of what to monitor, has two implications:
● What machines?
● What parameters or signals?
The first part is more easily answered. In view of the capital costs involved in
providing monitoring, whether it takes the form of a permanent installation with its
own local intelligence, or a hand-held device used periodically by a skilled
operator, it is unlikely that electrical machines with ratings less than 20 kW would
benefit. There are, of course, exceptions to this where a smaller machine has a vital
function in the performance of a larger system. It will pay dividends to carefully
consider the implications of losing the output of an individual piece of machinery,
in the context of a complete system.
Larger electrical drives, that support generating, process or production plant if
a high margin of spare capacity exists, will benefit from monitoring, although
perhaps not continuous monitoring. One could include induced and forced-draught
boiler fan drives, boiler water feed pump drives, and cooling water pump drives in
power stations, in this category. It must be borne in mind, however, that successful
monitoring can allow a big reduction in the requirement for on-site spare capacity.
Machines that have a high penalty in lost output costs need to be monitored
continually. Large generators naturally fall into this category since lost output can
exceed £1M/day for a large machine in a high efficiency power station. A similar
approach would apply to large propulsion motors and large process drive motors.
The conclusion is that there are machines to which monitoring is readily
applicable, but there are other circumstances where careful assessment is needed
before deciding. One must always be mindful of the scale of the maintenance
burden however nor be driven to false economies on the basis that ‘nothing has
gone wrong so far’. On the other hand, one must bear in mind the complexities of
the monitoring system itself and its own maintenance burden. Nothing can be worse
than to invest in complex monitoring equipment, which because of poor design or
maintenance gives rise to large numbers of false alarms and lead to the equipment
being ignored.
The parameters to be monitored are essentially those that will provide the
operator and maintainer with sufficient details to make informed decisions on
operation and maintenance scheduling, but which ensure security of plant opera-
tion. Automatic, online, monitoring has only recently begun to make an impact in
the area of electrical machines. Traditionally quantities, such as line currents and
voltages, coolant temperatures, bearing vibration levels, have been measured and
will continue to be used. Other quantities, involving the sensing of pyrolysed pro-
ducts in cooling gases and oils, have recently been introduced, as have techniques
for measuring contamination levels in bearing lubricants. Other specialist methods,
 Introduction to condition monitoring 9

involving the accurate measurement of rotational speed, or the sensing of leakage

fluxes, are being developed in order to monitor a variety of fault conditions.
As the ready availability of sophisticated electronic and microprocessor-based
systems is translated into monitoring hardware, then the more variables it is pos-
sible to consider, and the more comprehensive the monitoring can be. This trend
will be further accelerated as the costs of computing power fall still further, and the
complexity of microprocessors increases. Such developments are essential both
because of the complexity of the plant being monitored and the complexity of the
monitoring signals themselves.
The question when to monitor, is more easily answered. One should monitor
when it is cost-effective to do so, or when there are over-riding safety considera-
tions to be observed. The assessment of cost-effectiveness can be a relatively
complex matter, but in general terms monitoring is worthwhile when the net annual
benefits are increased by its use. The net annual benefit is the difference between
the gross annual benefit the annual costs including those of monitoring. The costs
of monitoring include the initial investigation, purchase, and installation charges,
staff training costs, costs of data acquisition and the cost of presenting the results to
the operator. This expenditure can be written off over the lifetime of the monitoring
system and set against the savings accrued.
As a general principle the larger the machine rating and its annual benefit the
less significant will be the amortised CM.
Thus, a large 600 MW turbo-generator earning £50M/yr can readily afford a
£50k/yr outlay on CM, as could a 10 MW propulsion motor for a cruise liner
earning £5M/yr. However, smaller machines, such as 200 kW commuter train
propulsion motors or the 20 kW electric car propulsion motors, may struggle in that
justification.
But safety and maintenance consequences of commuter train failure may jus-
tify monitoring expenditure.
It is interesting that the wider application of electrical drives to aircraft, where
safety is paramount, is leading to a demand for CM for such machines at ratings
down to 10 kW.
Another such example is in distributed renewable energy, when wind turbine
deployments were limited onshore to 1 MW there was little appetite for CM. But as
offshore turbine outputs increase >8 MW, CM has become increasingly interest-
ing, justified less by lost production costs but rather the need to reduce costly and
dangerous offshore maintenance staff deployment.
It is sufficient to say that it is not uncommon in the right application for the
capital costs of a wisely chosen monitoring system to be retrieved in the first year
of its operational life. However, it is true to say that, since the first edition of this
book, many more electrical machines, ranging in size from 50 kW to 1 000 MW,
are now being continuously condition monitored to enable planned, reduced cost
maintenance, as will be discussed in a later chapter.
Finally, it is tempting to think that, with such a degree of monitoring power
becoming available, the protective and monitoring functions could be merged.
10 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

With the development of more powerful digital protection and improved signal
condition and data acquisition systems (SCADA) this is happening, but care
must be taken and operational experience must be established before these
functions merge. It is likely that this will happen when artificial intelligence
(AI) is sufficiently developed to make reliable full use of measured signals and
alarms.

1.4 Technological timelines

When reviewing electrical machine CM it is useful to consider the timeline for
electrical machine development going back to the start of the nineteenth century.
On the other hand, the timeline for variable speed technology began at the start of
the twentieth century and for reliability in 1940. These timelines show that:
● Principal electrical machine designs, DC and AC, were all defined by the start
of the twentieth century but took another 50–60 years for their analyses to be
resolved,
● DC and AC variable speed drives were envisaged from the start of the twen-
tieth century but were initially enabled using rotating commutators for both
DC and AC machines,
● This changed in the mid-twentieth century with the availability of power
electronics, firstly vacuum tube valves and then semi-conductor devices,
● Reliability analysis has influenced the drives development timeline since the
1950s, following initial power electronics unreliability during the Second
World War,
● Unreliable rotating commutators were rapidly superseded by reliable static
commutators from the late 1970s, with the availability of more reliable, con-
trollable power electronic switches,
● CM of electrical machines emerges in the 1980s,
● Control of speed accelerated with the development of power microprocessors
in the 1980s followed by the use of digital signal processors (DSP) and field-
programmable gate arrays (FPGA),
● DSP and FPGA developments also facilitated CM, housed in those processors,
which progressed in the 1990s as a consequence of continuing economic
changes in the electrical/electronics industry,
● Reliability analysis has progressively improved power electronic switch and
controller reliability but has had relatively little effect on machine designs at
the end of the twentieth century,
● However, reliability analysis has affected machine and drive operation and
maintenance costs, which rose in the early twenty-first century, now influenced
by the application of modern CM.
An appendix of the book gives the detailed timeline, identifying all key
machine, drive and reliability technologies but Table 1.3 below provides a useful
summary.
Table 1.3 Technological timeline summary, machines, drives and reliability; refer to Drury (2009) and Chung et al. (2016)

Years 1820–73 1838–73 1880 1885–90 1911 1921 1957 1950–88 1986 Late 1980s 1989 2013

Subject Electroma- DC Synchronous Induction AC The AC Classic papers and books CM of AC Electrical Analysis of
gnetism Machine AC machine AC variable diagnosing variable- rotating variable- insulation electric
machine speed of speed electrical speed for rotating machinery
machine trouble in machine machines machine machines: and drive
Electrical Machines Timeline

electrical design, systems

machines evaluation,
aging,
testing, and
repair

Technology Two-or three- One, two- Implemented Book Implemented Machine troubles and analyses Book Implemented Book Book
phase stator or three- with AC with AC with AC
phase
windings and stator machines machine machine
a solid rotor windings using a using a using a
excited with a and a rotating thryistor PWM IGBT
DC winding closed or commutator Current Voltage
squirrel
cage rotor Source static Source static
winding commutator commutator

(Continues)
(Continued)
Years 1896 1904 1909 1911 1957 1940–70 1975 1980 1980s Late 1980s 2000 2010 2015
VSD and Power Electronic Technology Timeline

Subject DC DC Vacuum- AC Thyristor AC AC Fast-switching Application of IGBT Application Schottky Advanced devices
variable- variable- tube variable- variable- variable- semiconductor fast-switching of IGBT SiC diode
speed speed rectifiers speed speed speed devices semiconductor
machine machine machine machine machine devices

Technology Proposed Implemented Mercury Implemen- Invention Implemented Implemented Invention of Application of Invention Application First Application Cost
two DC with two arc ted of power with AC as an NA new GTO, GTR, of the of GTO, Schottky of SiC, reduction of
machines AC/DC rectifier, on AC drive machine AC machine fast-acting power Inverse power SiC diode MOSFETs, wide band-
back-to-back machines Vacuum- machines thyristor using a with shunt semiconductor MOSFET and Gate MOSFET to the JFETs, gap power
using a back-to-back tube using a and firing thyristor transformer devices thyristors Bipolar and market BJTs devices.
rotating using a rectifier rotating circuits current and variable controlled by Transistor thyristors andGaN Improved
commutators rotating and commutator source static induction microprocess- power controlled power performance
commutators Thyratron commutator regulator ors switch by DSPs devices to of Si power
using a to variable- and FPGAs variable- devices.
rotating speed drivers to variable- speed Intelligent
commutator speed drivers. powerstacks
drivers

Inventor, Ward Kramer Various Schrage Schckley Various Schwarz General Various Scharf Various Various Various Various
developer, Leonard industrial industrial Electric industrial industrial industrial Commercial Commercial
author companies companies companies companies companies companies companies

Moll
 Years 1940 1957 1974 1975 1985 1990 1991 1995 2005 2015

Subject Vacuum- AGREE Machines Reliability Reliability IEEE Gold MIL-HNDBK MIL- Hybrid Reliability of
tube Report reliability analysis analysis Book 217 HNDBK physics power electronic
devices 217 analysis convertor systems
superseded

Material Standard Paper Book Standard Standard Book

Technology Invention of Advisory Operation System- Accelerated Recommended Military For power Hybrid Chung et al.
vacuum- group on and level, life testing, Practice for HandBook- electronics physics
tube reliability reliability reliability, use of Design of Reliability Physics of statistics
devices, of of safety and Bayesian Reliable Prediction of failure (PoF) reliability
Reliability Timeline

mass- electronic electrical reliability statistics Industrial and Electrical reliability analysis
production equipment machines. software and six Commercial Equipment. analysis and supercedes
and first report Identifies becomes sigma Power Based upon varying failure PoF for
reliability published constant available Systems. constant rate, λ(t) complex
engineering failure Identifies failure rates, λ, supersedes electronic
rates, λ constant and MTBF MIL-HNDBK products.
failure rates, λ, 217F, based on Increased
and hence constant failure multiphysics
MTBF values rates, λ, and simulations.
for electrical MTBF.
machines However, for
machines
constant failure
rate, λ, and
MTBF still the
only available
guidelines

Inventor, Various AGREE Dickinson, Various Various IEEE US Various Various power
developer, IEEE software industrial Department power electronics
author paper companies companies of Defense electronics companies
companies
14 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

1.5 Structure of text and bibliographies

The structure of the book is organised as follows:

Introduction to
condition
monitoring

Electrical Electrical
Rotating machine machines,
electrical construction & reliability &
machines failure modes failure rates

Instrumentation
& signal
processing
requirements

Electrical
Electrical
Temperature techniques-
Vibration techniques- Chemical
on-line current, flux &
on-line on-line on-line
monitoring power,
monitoring discharge monitoring
on-line
monitoring
monitoring

Monitoring
variable speed Off-line
drive machines monitoring

Condition-
AI & ML
based
techniques to
maintenance &
integrate CM
asset
results
management

Conclusions

Safety, Training
& Qualification

References

Standards

Appendix 1, Failure Modes &

Root Causes in Rotating
Electrical Machines

Appendix 2, Timeline
 Introduction to condition monitoring 15

Our book includes References from the following substantial subject reviews,
each taken from a different monitoring point of view:
● Penman et al. (1980) electrical monitoring review,
● Tavner et al. (1986) large motor and generator monitoring review,
● Benbouzid (1999) comprehensive review,
● Benbouzid (2000) induction motor electrical signal analysis review,
● Singh et al. (2003) induction machine drive CM, review,
● Nandi et al. (2005) motor monitoring and fault diagnosis review,
● Tallam et al. (2007) induction machine stator-related fault diagnosis review,
● Bellini et al. (2008) advances in induction machine diagnosis review,
● Tavner (2008) extension of 1986 work,
● Zhang et al. (2011) MV induction motor monitoring and protection review,
● Stone (2014) motor stator winding monitoring and diagnosis review,
● Riera-Guasp et al. (2015) machine and drive monitoring and fault diagnosis
review.
To reduce the reference numbers, we have limited References to seminal
books, significant IET Journal and IEEE Transaction papers and seminal con-
ference papers only, where appropriate.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 2
Rotating electrical machines

2.1 Introduction
The early principles of electrical machines were established from 1820 by the interna-
tional inventions of Oersted, Faraday, Arago, Lenz, Wheatstone and Cook, summarised
in Appendix C, culminating from 1832 to 1873 in the manufacture of DC machines by
Pixii and Gramme and the first DC machine design paper, Hopkinson (1886).
The development of AC machines was also an international endeavour, starting
with inventions from 1879 to 1890 by Babbage, Herschel, Bailey, Ferraris, Tesla and
Dobrowlsky but the design was not harmonised for synchronous AC machines until
Concordia (1908) and for asynchronous or induction AC machines until Alger (1965).
The international development of electrical machine variable-speed drives
(VSDs) originally started with rotating commutator DC machines, then through a
seminal paper by Ward Leonard (1896), in the mid-1900s, using AC machines with
rotating commutators and then by the development of static commutators, based on
Ward Leonard’s principles. These were applied to AC induction and permanent
magnet machines, realised in power electronics from 1923 to 1950, using the
ignitron or mercury arc rectifier (MAR) and from 1950 using thyristors and then
insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs).
The principles of machines’ CM were hinted at by Miles Walker (1929) but
have been largely set out in papers and books from 1980 onwards. The CM of
VSDs was proposed by Vas (1993) followed by subsequent papers, including Yang
and Ran et al. (2010) and Riera-Guasp et al. (2015).
Key elements of all these developments can be seen, in year and alphabetical order,
at the end of Chapter 2, in the References and Appendix B-Timelines.
Electrical machines and VSDs now permeate all areas of modern life, both
domestic and industrial, and the CM of electrical machine is unique in that the all-
embracing nature of the electro-magnetic field, the machine’s modus operandi,
enables us to infer more about operation from terminal ‘performance’ conditions
than could be the case for non-electrical rotating plant.
Furthermore, the CM of electrical machines is dominated by the materials from
which they are constructed:
● Strong but brittle ferromagnetic steel laminations, steel pole pieces and per-
manent magnets, the electromagnetic core,
● Conducting but ductile and mechanically weak machine conductors, the
windings,
18 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● Separated by dielectrically strong but mechanically weak and thermally

vulnerable tapes, boards and resins, the insulation,
● Supported by bearings and lubricants which separate rotating from
stationary parts.
These facts lie at the heart of the development and effectiveness of rotating
electrical machine CM. A study of the key papers show how the subject science has
evolved under these principles, first into mechanical monitoring, vibration, then
into electrical monitoring, voltage and current, then into insulation monitoring and
finally into the monitoring of complex machine and drive combinations.
We will first consider the structure of electrical machines and then four main
types, DC machines, AC machines, synchronous or asynchronous (induction), and
permanent magnet or reluctance machines, in preparation for considering how they
can be monitored. In each case, we will describe their basic connection circuit,
equivalent circuit for analysis and then show their magnetic field that supports the
transfer of energy from stator to rotor in the case of a motor, or vice versa in the
case of a generator. This approach is based on the clear French logic set out by
Langlois-Berthelot (1950).

2.2 Electrical machines structures and types

The previous section provided a brief description of the history of the electrical
machine, the main constructional components and materials from which they
are made.
In this section, the detailed structure for assembly of the electrical machine is
discussed and the effect upon it of different types of machine. This structure, exem-
plified by the clear logic of Langlois-Berthelot (1949), is demonstrated for two very
different machines in Figure 2.1. Note the similarities between the 4 kW induction
motor in Figure 2.1(a) and the 125 MVA synchronous generator in Figure 2.1(b).

Fan
Stator Cooling
air flow
Rotor

Drive end Non-drive end

(a) (b)

Figure 2.1 Structure of electrical machines, stator frame, stator core and
windings, rotor and bearings: (a) 4 kW induction motor and
(b) 125 MVA synchronous generator
 Rotating electrical machines 19

This structure is also presented in tabular form in Table 2.1, which will form
the basis for considering machine faults later in the chapter. The differences
between structure for assembly and reliability will be described in Chapter 3.
Note that generators require an exciter to provide the field current for their
rotor. They generally have their exciters mounted on the shaft of the main machine
and a large generator can have a pilot exciter and main exciter. The main and pilot
exciters are clearly visible on the left in Figure 2.1(b). Therefore, a generator may
consist of two or even three electrical machines on the same shaft. This is important
when carrying out a failure modes and effects analysis, in considering the number
of sub-assemblies in the machine, see Chapter 4, when the number of components
affects the predicted failure rate of the machine.
Table 2.1 sets out the major types of electrical machine, which shows the main
constructional features of each type and factors most likely fault root causes; this is
a useful reference when considering in later sections the design principles of each
machine design.
Deterioration of performance or failure in service can occur due to the damage
of any of these components, and the descriptions of failures at the end of this
chapter show how wide-ranging these root causes can be.
However, experience shows that particular components are under specific
electrical, mechanical and/or thermal stress and to a large extent those components
depend on the size and type of the machine.
Table 2.2 gives a range of typical sizes for some larger electrical machines and
shows some important mechanical electrical and thermal parameters in the design
of electrical machines, which determine their ability to meet the conditions
described in the previous sections, namely:
● Magnetic loading, T,
● Electric loading, A/mm,
● Current density, A/mm2,
● Mechanical loading, rotor peripheral velocity, mm/s.
The values of these parameters in Table 2.2 give an idea of their limits in all
electrical machines. What is noticeable is that magnetic flux densities are similar
over huge ranges of power, power/weight ratios are relatively low and only increase
in exceptionally large machines or in very small machines through the use of novel
cooling or advanced materials, such as permanent magnets, but it is remarkable that
very high torque densities, for propulsion motors or hydro generators, are achiev-
able in large radius, highly rated, large machines.
Figure 2.2 summarises typical power–weight ratios over a wide range of sizes
and types of electrical machine ranging from a small high-speed, air-cooled
vacuum cleaner motor on the left to a massive hydrogen- and water-cooled turbo-
generator on the right.
What is striking about Figure 2.2 is the relatively small range of power–weight
ratios, 0.2–3.0 kW/kg, and that both small and large machines can have high
power–weight ratios, occurring at low power because of high-speed and at high
power by the use of more effective coolants. The limited power–weight ratio range
Table 2.1 Types of rotating electrical machines

Main type of Sub-types Size range Main constructional features Root causes
machine
DC machines Generators 20 kW–5 MW Diameter  length Field or armature winding electrical
Horizontally mounted faults incurring consequential damage
Medium rotational speed 500–1 800 rev/min Commutator faults
Traction or special applications Brush-gear faults
Carbon dust contamination problems
Associated control gear problems
Motors 1 kW–2 MW Diameter  length Field or armature winding electrical
Horizontally mounted faults incurring consequential damage
Medium rotational speed 500–1 800 rev/min Intermittent duty thermal problems
Application to specialised variable-speed High-shock loading problems
applications particularly traction, declin- Commutator faults
ing compared to AC VSDs Brush-gear faults
Carbon dust contamination problems
Associated control gear problems
AC machines, Steam and c25-1 500 MVA Length  Diameter Stator or rotor winding electrical faults
synchronous gas-turbine Horizontally mounted incurring consequential damage
driven High rotational speed, 1 500–3 600 rev/min High-speed balance problems
generator Close circuit air or gas-cooling Excitation faults exacerbate balance
Water-cooled stator windings in larger sizes problems
Water-cooled rotor windings in some Stator end winding bracing problems
designs Rotor end bell integrity problems
Fossil fuel and nuclear generation Gas-cooling circuit sealing problems
Water-cooling circuit sealing problems
High-performance oil film bearings
Enclosed casing means difficult to
inspect frequently
 Water turbine c10-1 000 MVA Diameter  Length Stator or rotor winding electrical faults
driven Vertically or horizontally mounted incurring consequential damage
generator Low rotational speed, 80–300 rev/min Air-cooling and high stresses lead to
Air-cooled discharge erosion on HV windings
Water-cooled stator windings in larger sizes Rotor pole integrity problems
Hydroelectric generation High-performance oil film thrust bearing
Enclosed casing means difficult to
inspect frequently
Engine-driven c10 kVA– Diameter  length Stator or rotor winding electrical faults
generator 60 MVA Horizontally mounted incurring consequential damage
Medium rotational speed 500–1 800 rev/min Electrical faults incur
Standby, CHP, island and marine generation consequential damage
Reciprocating engines give torsional and
seismic vibration problems
Arduous environment can cause
problems
Synchronous 1–30 MW Length  diameter Stator or rotor winding electrical faults
motor Horizontally mounted incurring consequential damage
Wide range of possible rotational speeds High-speed compressors give high-speed
500–6 000 rev/min balance problems
North American technology Reciprocating compressors give torsional
Reciprocating and turbo-compressor drives and seismic vibration problems
Stator end winding bracing problems
AC machines, Generators 100 kVA– Horizontally mounted Stator or rotor winding electrical
induction or 10 MVA Medium rotational speeds 500–3 600 rev/ faults incurring consequential
asynchronous min damage
(Continues)
Table 2.1 (Continued)

Main type of Sub-types Size range Main constructional features Root causes
machine
Becoming common in wind generation Short air-gap drives air-gap stability
problems limiting permissible bearing
wear particular in high poleage, low-
speed machines
Slip ring and brush-gear problems on
doubly fed machines
Motors 0.1 kW–20 MW Diameter  length Stator winding electrical faults incurring
Horizontally mounted consequential damage
With VSDs wide range of possible rotational Rotor cage electrical faults incurring
speeds 500–6 000 rev/min consequential damage
Ubiquitous industrial workhorse High starting current limits thermal and
fatigue life
Short air-gap dives air-gap stability pro-
blems limiting permissible bearing
wear particular in high poleage, low-
speed machines
Rotor cage integrity after many restarts
Slip ring and brush-gear problems on
doubly fed machines
AC reluctance Motors 1 kW–50 kW Diameter  length Stator winding electrical faults incurring
machines Horizontally mounted consequential damage
Medium rotational speed 500–1 800 rev/min Vibration and noise
Increasing application to specialised variable VSD problems
speed, high-torque applications
Permanent mag- Synchronous 0.5–500 kW Length  diameter Stator or rotor winding electrical faults
net machines motor Horizontally mounted incurring consequential damage
High rotational speed, 500–5 000 rev/min Magnet damage due to heating, lack of
VSD applications adhesion or demagnetisation
High-speed balance problems
Synchronous 5–5 MW Diameter  length Stator winding electrical faults incurring
generator Vertically or horizontally mounted consequential damage
Low rotational speed, 80–300 rev/min Magnet damage due to heating, lack of
Renewable applications adhesion or demagnetisation
Rotor balance problems
AC machines, Motors 0.5–25 MW Diameter  length Stator or rotor winding electrical faults
multiphase Horizontally mounted incurring consequential damage
Medium rotational speed 150–500 rev/min Vibration and noise
Increasing application to specialised marine VSD problems
high-torque, variable-speed applications
AC machines, Motors 20 kW–5 MW Now almost obsolete in the face of power Stator or rotor winding electrical faults
commutator electronic VSDs applied to AC and DC incurring consequential damage
machines Commutator faults
Brush-gear faults
Carbon dust contamination problems
associated control gear problems
Table 2.2 Rotating electrical machine typical sizes and loadings

Type of machine DC permanent Air-cooled Air-cooled Air-cooled Air-cooled H2O- and

magnet motor 3-phase AC 9-phase 3-phase AC 3-phase AC H2-cooled 3-phase
induction advanced AC synchronous synchronous AC synchronous
motor induction motor hydro-generator turbo-generator turbo-generator
Cooling type TEFC CACW CACW CACW CACW CHCW
P, MW 0.0002 6.14 24 90 100 1 000
Poles 4 4 12 88 2 2
Rev/min 6 000 1 790 120 68.2 3 000 3 000
Typical weight, tonnes 0.0002 18 89 400 90 350
Power/Weight, kW/kg 0.88 0.34 0.22 0.23 1.11 2.86
Magnetic loading, air-gap flux – 0.90 – 1.05 0.94 1.00
density, Trms
Electric loading, A/mm – 93.0 – 62.5 116.3 255.3
Mechanical loading, rotor – 69.5 14.1 46.3 139.8 188.5
peripheral velocity, m/s
Air-gap torque density, kNm/m2 – 140.6 707.4 140.6 1 518.4 736.8
Current density, A/mm2 – 3.9 3.9 3.7 2.8 11.1
 Rotating electrical machines 25

10.00
Large H2O and
H2-cooled
Air- or water-cooled turbo-generator
Machine power/weight ratio, kW/kg

generators

Small air-cooled
vacuum cleaner
motor

1.00 Air-cooled motors

and generators

0.10
0.0001 0.0010 0.0100 0.1000 1.0000 10.0000 100.0000 1000.0000 10000.0000
Machine rating, MW

Figure 2.2 Graphic of machine power–weight ratios against rating

arises because of the mechanical and thermal limitations of magnetic circuit and
insulation materials, not experienced by other machine types, such as diesel and
petrol engines or aero and industrial gas turbines.
Based upon this range of machine power/weight and size, the following sec-
tions describe the basic structure and design principles which influence the CM of
different types of machines and may affect reliability. Particular attention will be
paid in these sections to show their simplified machine windings and connections,
their equivalent circuits and the magnetic field that links rotor and stator.
The issues here and in the next Chapter 3 are also considered in respect of
novel electrical machines in the Electric Machines Roadmap (2018) produced by
the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK. Their report suggests that innovations are
needed to improve electric traction machines power to weight ratios from their
current modest 0.2–3 kW/kg to at least 7 kW/kg by 2025 and 9 kW/kg by 2035.
These improvements are likely to come from the following:
● New insulation materials, see Table 3.2, Figure 3.2 and Stone et al. (2004),
● Better winding materials, copper, aluminium and their alloys,
● New magnetic materials, both permanent magnets and magnetic steels, see
Moses et al. (2019) Vols 1 and 2,
● Design to tighter margins using more advanced FEA and multi-physics mod-
elling software.

2.3 DC machines
All electrical machines up to the late nineteenth century were DC but, with the
recent availability of power electronics, the DC machine has been slowly losing
ground to the AC machine. However, DC machines continue to be the basis of
26 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Figure 2.3 500 W, 4-pole DC motor, section showing the stator frame and
bearing housings, armature and commutator on the left

electrical machine design and are still widely-used in precision variable speed
applications. There has been a progressive movement from the use of wound field
stator magnets to permanent magnets, firstly made using ferritic materials but in the
last 30 years changing to more complex magnetic materials including rare earth
materials and most recently high temperature superconducting coil magnets.
DC machine design is based on a simple magnetic circuit calculation method,
Hopkinson (1886), and more recently on the use of magnetic field finite element
analysis (FEA), Krause et al. (2013).
Figure 2.3 shows a typical 4-pole DC machine. Figure 2.4 gives a schematic
representation of the machine, considering first windings and connections, then the
equivalent circuit and finally the magnetic flux of the machine. The equivalent
circuit enables the prediction of winding currents for a given voltage under steady-
state load and fault conditions.

2.4 AC machines, synchronous

Since the advent of AC electrical supplies at the end of the nineteenth century, syn-
chronous AC machines have been primarily used as generators but they continue to
be used, albeit in smaller numbers, as high torque, fixed-speed motors in large
industrial applications, such as paper-mills, cement-mills and oil production facilities.
Figure 2.5 shows a small synchronous generator, typically driven by a diesel
engine, whilst Figure 2.6 shows two large machines, one a low-speed, high pole
number hydro-generator, the other a high-speed, 2-pole turbo-generator.
Synchronous machine design was fixed by a seminal book by Concordia
(1908) with a simple equivalent circuit, shown below.
Figure 2.7 presents the electrical circuit, equivalent circuit and magnetic flux
plot of a 2-pole turbo-generator, such as shown in Figure 2.6(a), the diagrams for
the multi-pole machines in Figures 2.5 and 2.6(b) would be very similar. The point
of this diagram is to emphasise again the standard way electrical engineers repre-
sent electrical machines, irrespective of their size or type and that winding currents
can be predicted for a given voltage under steady-state and fault conditions.
 Rotating electrical machines 27

f1 f1′
a
Brush
Insulation θr
Copper vf
segment
a
ωr
f2 f2′

f-axis

(a)

+ f1 +
if if

f1′
vf
f2 ωr vf

f2′

(b)

c
b

ωr d

g
f

(c)

Figure 2.4 2-Pole DC machine: (a) windings and connection diagram for a
2-pole DC machine, (b) equivalent circuit diagram and (c) consequent
magnetic flux plot for a 2-pole DC machine, Hopkinson, J (1886) and
Moullin (1955)
28 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Figure 2.5 40 kVA, 4 pole, 1 800 rev/min, 400 V, air-cooled synchronous

generator for a diesel genset, pilot exciter on the right

(a) (b)

Figure 2.6 (a) 706 MVA, 2-pole, 3 000 rev/min, 24 kV, H2- and H2O-cooled
CHCW synchronous steam turbo-generator. (b) 75 MVA, 44-pole,
136.4 rev/min, 15.7 kV, air-cooled CACW synchronous hydro-
generator

2.5 AC machines, asynchronous or induction

From the initial AC induction motor development in the late 1880s and the wide-
spread application of AC electrical supplies at the start of the twentieth century, the
induction or asynchronous motor has expanded in application as a universal elec-
trical prime mover. However, fixing the design parameters proved much more
difficult than for the synchronous machine but benefitted from the application of
the transformer equivalent circuit, modified to take account of the secondary circuit
or rotor motion, Alger (1965).
Particularly rapid growth in machine numbers occurred after the Second World
War and the effectiveness of modern power electronic drives has recently
 Rotating electrical machines 29

bs-axis

as ωr
q-axis
kq2'
cs' kq1' bs'
kd' θr
fd'
kd as-axis
fd
kq1 kq2
bs cs
ωr = ωs

as'

cs-axis
d-axis

Nkq2
ikq2
–v
+ v rs kq2 Nfd
cs Ns + +
rs – Nkd
vbs Nkq1
stator, s Ns – rotor, r
ikq1
Ns –
vkq1 rfd ifd
vas +
ωs = ωr ikd –
+
rs
rkd + vfd
–
(a) + vkd

jXa jXl Ra IØ

Ea stator, s VØ
If

rotor, r
referred
(b)

(c) ωr = ωs

Figure 2.7 2-Pole AC synchronous machine: (a) 3-phase a, b, c windings and

connection diagram for a 2-pole DC machine, (b) single-phase
equivalent diagram, rotor referred to stator and (c) consequent
magnetic flux plot for a 2-pole, 3-phase, 2-pole synchronous machine,
Concordia (1908)
30 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Figure 2.8 7 MW, 11 kV, 60 Hz, 4-pole CACW AC induction motor driving a
high-speed flash gas compressor for offshore oil and gas. Drive shaft
on left and the water cooled heat exchanger on top of machine

Figure 2.9 40 kW, 400 V, 50 Hz, 4-pole TEFC AC induction motor, typically
driven by a variable-speed drive

considerably broadened their application into VSDs. Figures 2.8 and 2.9 show
typical large and small induction motors.
Figure 2.10 presents in turn the electrical circuit, equivalent circuit, as per-
fected by Alger (1965), and magnetic flux plot of a 4-pole induction machine, such
as shown in Figures 2.4 and 2.7 for DC and AC synchronous machines. Again, the
purpose of this diagram is to emphasise the standard way electrical engineers
represent the machines, regardless of the size or type and again that winding cur-
rents and output torques can be predicted for a given voltage under steady-state and
fault conditions. Figure 2.11, taken from Krause et al. (2013), shows dramatic
evidence of the fundamentally identical behaviour of induction motors of different
 Rotating electrical machines 31

bs'-axis

??-axis as'

bs θr θr
cs ar' ar-axis
br
cr θr
θs
cr' as-axis
br'
ar cs'
bs' ωr = (ωr) ωs

as

cs-axis cr-axis

+ v rs
cs Ns
rr
+ + vcr Nr ibr
rs – +
v V
stator, s Ns – bs Nr
br rotor, r
Ns
vas N
Var r iar
rs ω = (l-s)ω rr
+ r s
(a) +

Rs ls jXs jXr lr Rr

lm

Vθ stator, s rotor, r VØ
Xm Rm referred

(b)

(c)

Figure 2.10 AC induction or asynchronous machine: (a) 3-phase a, b, c windings

and connection diagram for a 2-pole machine, (b) single-phase
equivalent circuit diagram, rotor referred to stator and (c)
consequent magnetic flux plot for a 4-pole, 3-phase, induction
machine, Alger (1965)
32 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

142.40 2.3 kW 37 kW

118.70

1583.3
94.96
T?Nm

1187.5
71.22

47.48 791.6

T?Nm
23.74 395.8

0 0
0 900 1800 900 1800
Speed (r/mln) Speed (r/mln)
–395.8
(a) (b)

5.94 373 kW 1 678 kW

26.7
3.96
T?Nm

T?Nm

17.8
1.98
8.9

0 0
900 1800 900 1800
Speed (r/mln) –8.9 Speed (r/mln)
–1.98
–17.8
–3.96
(c) (d)

Figure 2.11 Induction motor dynamic torque–speed curves on starting and pull-in
at zero load for the four machines of increasing rating,
demonstrating the similarity of form derivable from equivalent
circuit, Krause et al. (2013)

size by showing the transient starting torques, Te, against no-load for four motors of
increasing rating. Each torque–speed curve demonstrates the same behaviour, fol-
lowing the steady-state torque–speed curve, due to the properties of the rotor
winding L-R circuit shown in Figure 2.10. Note the torque oscillations at start
represent individual rotations of the machine, it takes many more such revolutions
for larger, higher inertia machines than for smaller machines and there are larger
torque reversals during the start. Furthermore, the pull-in to synchronous speed at
no-load for larger machines is oscillatory but quite clear.
 Rotating electrical machines 33

Three-phase SR Drive® stator and rotor

Figure 2.12 5 kW, switched reluctance motor

2.6 Permanent magnet or reluctance machines

In the 1980s, a requirement developed for a high-torque, variable speed, alternative to
the induction motor, effectively a more modern version of the DC machine. This lead
to the development of switched reluctance brushless drives, Lawrenson et al. (1980).
These use shaped steel pole-pieces or permanent magnets on their rotor and switched
DC supplies to their stator windings, allowing the machine to operate at variable
speed. They are really a re-invention of the stepper motor, modern materials, instru-
mentation and electronics, achieving high torque by the use of using sharply defined
pole pieces or strong, rare earth, permanent magnets. The consequence of their non-
uniform air-gap is that they can also tend to be noisy. These drives have now become
widely used for high torque, low variable speed, precision and traction drives.
Figure 2.12 shows a typical switched reluctance machine structure and
Figure 2.13 shows the schematic, equivalent circuit and flux plot for the SR machine,
similar to Figures 2.4, 2.7 and 2.10, re-emphasising the electrical machine similarities.

2.7 Other machine types

2.7.1 Multi-phase machines
With the advent of VSDs, multi-phase stator machines with induction or permanent
magnet rotors have become more attractive for high-torque motor applications,
such as marine propulsion, and for direct drive slow-speed wind generators
obviating the need for gearboxes.
Multi-phase stators, particularly for slower-speed applications allow the num-
ber of phases to increase above three-phase and use of parallel VSD stator con-
nections, offering speed control and redundancy.
Lewis (2002) described a typical multi-phase machine, the advanced induction
motor, a marine application shown in Figure 2.14 and a thorough review of multi-
phase induction machine technology is contained in Levi et al. (2007).
34 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

ωr

S
S
S

N
N

S
S

N
N
N
c
S

60°
(a) ωr

Inverter i? SRM

Q? D?

V?

D? Q?

ω? ωr
O?
Speed Controller Emcoder
(b)

a b

(c)

Figure 2.13 Permanent magnet or reluctance machine: (a) 3-phase a, b, c

windings and connection diagram for a 2-pole machine with 6-pole
stator, (b) single-phase equivalent circuit for a 6-pole machine with
8-pole stator and (c) consequent magnetic flux plot for a 8-pole
machine with 12-pole stator, operating in 4-pole mode, Lawrenson
et al. (1980)
 Rotating electrical machines 35

Figure 2.14 20 MW advanced induction motor, large multi-phase, multi-pole,

variable-speed AC induction motor fed by voltage-source converter
for ship propulsion, Lewis (2002)

Line-side inverter Motor-side inverter

A

s aks
b1
B
a2s
s
b2
al s –

als 120°
α= k
s
bk

ck
s

c1 s
–

s b1
C c2s
b2s
3k-phase motor

Voltage source converter Multiphase motor

Figure 2.15 Supply and converter for a 3k-phase, multi-pole, variable-speed AC

induction or permanent magnet motor

2.7.2 Doubly fed and variable-speed drive machines

For the purpose of completeness, we want to demonstrate some basic drive types
and their relevance to electrical machine CM.
An example of the connection arrangements for a multi-phase AC induction or
permanent magnet machine connected to a VSD is shown in Figure 2.15. The
36 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

design circuits for a multiphase machine would be based upon the equivalent circuit
model in Figure 2.10 for an induction machine or the flux plot for a permanent
magnet machine.
Doubly-fed machines are AC induction motors or generators, see Figure 2.16,
that have:
● Either one supply to a stator winding and the other to a rotor winding of the
same pole number fed via slip-rings and a reversible, partially rated VSD. This
is known as a doubly-fed induction machine (DFIM) and is widely deployed
for larger wind turbine generators,
● Or two AC supplies to separate stator windings, of different pole numbers, one
supply being via a reversible, partially rated VSD. This is known as a brushless
doubly-fed machine (BDFIM). This is a new technology being advocated for wind
turbines and some large industrial drives but has not yet been widely deployed.
The DFIM is a modern version of the wound rotor induction machine, widely
used in the past as a VSD for large power stations, paper mill and cement mill plant
where the speed change was achieved by varying rotor winding resistance through
rotor slip-rings. Wound rotor induction machines were powerful and cheap but
wasted energy in rotor resistance losses. The wound rotor induction machine’s
modern incarnation as a DFIM incurs no wasted power from this source, except in
the converter, and allows a machine speed variation range proportional to the

DFIM

Converter
(a)

BDFIM

Converter
(b)

Figure 2.16 Doubly-fed induction motors and generators: (a) slip-ring DFIM and
(b) brushless DFIM
 Rotating electrical machines 37

fractional rating of the VSD converter (VSC); this has been very widely applied in
the wind turbine industry.
The BDFIM is a more modern version of the DFIM with the advantage that
slip-rings are avoided, but introducing complexities in machine winding design and
VSD control. The equivalent circuit for the DFIM is the same as for a squirrel cage
induction machine, as shown in Figure 2.8(b) and while the equivalent circuit for a
BDFIM is more complex it is firmly based on that for the induction machine.
Again, this means that for both the DFIM and BDFIM winding currents can be
predicted under steady-state and fault condition for a given voltage.

2.8 Conclusions
There are currently an enormous range of VSDs being applied to electrical
machines and there are a number of specialised references available for considering
VSD reliability, see Appendix C-Timeline, including Yang and Ran et al. (2010)
and Chung et al. (2016).
A great deal of this development is being driven by the electrification of
transport, on the railway and the roads. For example, Figure 2.17 shows an example
of a high-performance electric car permanent magnet motor and drive.
The conclusion of this chapter is that all electrical machines are remarkably
similar in their logic and design, despite there being many different types and
progressive changes in their application. However, they are all dominated by the
coupling magnetic field, which is their modus operandi.
It follows therefore that their construction, failure modes and CM must derive
from that fundamental mechanism, the materials which facilitate it and their
operating conditions, as the following chapter will demonstrate. We will need to
show how CM can take these facts into account.

Figure 2.17 100 kW AC permanent magnet motor and voltage source inverter for
an electric-vehicle
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 3
Electrical machine construction, operation
and failure modes

3.1 Introduction
This chapter could be subtitled ‘the way rotating electrical machines fail in ser-
vice’. These machines convert electrical to mechanical energy, or vice versa, and
achieve this by magnetically coupling electrical circuits across an air-gap that
permits rotational freedom of one of these circuits. Mechanical energy is trans-
mitted into, or out of, the machine via a drive train that is mechanically connected
to one of the electric circuits.
An example of one of the largest electromagnetic energy conversion units in
the world, at 1 111 MVA, is shown in Figure 3.1. The construction of electrical
machines is similar, whether large or small, as shown later in the chapter and their
operational weaknesses are dominated by the same principles.
The purpose of this chapter is to explain their constructional principles and the
main causes of failure. The chapter is illustrated with a number of photographs to
demonstrate to the reader the salient features of electrical machines.

3.2 Materials, strength and temperature

The magnetic and electric circuits essential to machines require materials of high
permeability and low resistivity, respectively, and these are metals.
Metals with good magnetic and electrical properties do not necessarily have
high mechanical strength. Indeed, the atomic structure of a good conductor is such
that it will naturally have a low yield strength and high ductility. Yet the magnetic
and electric circuits of the machine must bear the mechanical loads imposed upon
them by the transfer of energy across the air-gap by the electromagnetic field.
Furthermore, the magnetic and electrical circuits must be separated by insulating
materials, such as films, fibres and resins, which have even weaker mechanical
properties. Table 3.1 sets out the elastic moduli and tensile strengths of materials
used in electrical machines and highlights the relative weakness of electrical steel,
conductor and insulating materials. So right from the outset, there is a conflict
between the electrical and mechanical requirements of the various parts of an
electrical machine, which the designer must attempt to resolve.
40 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Figure 3.1 1 111 MVA, 24 kV, 50 Hz steam turbine-driven, hydrogen-cooled,

2-pole turbo-generator

Table 3.1 Mechanical properties of materials used in electrical machines

Material Elastic modulus, Tensile strength,

GPa MPa
Structure High tensile steel 210 1 800
Structural steel 210 830
Core Electrical steel 220 450
Windings Copper 120 210
Aluminium 70 310
Insulation Epoxy-mica-glass composite 60 275
Moulded organic/inorganic resin 5 48
Cured phenol-formaldehyde Resins 3 35

There is a further complication, the electromagnetic transfer of energy inevi-

tably involves the dissipation of heat, by ohmic losses in the electric circuit, by
eddy current and hysteresis losses in the magnetic circuit. The performance of the
insulating materials that keep the magnetic and electrical circuits apart is highly
dependent on the temperature and deteriorates rapidly at higher temperatures.
Materials that can sustain these higher temperatures become progressively more
expensive and their mechanical and dielectric properties are often worse than lower
temperature materials. Table 3.2 classifies the common insulating materials used in
electrical machines and shows the relatively low temperatures at which they are
permitted to operate.
Uncertainties about the temperatures within a machine mean that the designer
is forced to restrict the maximum measurable operating temperature to an even
lower value than that given in Table 3.2, taken for the appropriate insulation from
BS EN IEC 60085:2007, in order to provide a safety factor during operation. It is
Table 3.2 Temperature capabilities of machine insulating materials

Old IEC 60085 Insulation materials Max. allowable Max. hot spot
Thermal class temperature,  C temperature, or
relative thermal
endurance index,  C
O or Y Oleo-resinous natural fibre materials, cotton, silk, paper, wood without 90 >90–105
obsolete impregnation
A Natural fibre materials, cotton, silk, paper and wood impregnated, coated or 105 >105–120
immersed in dielectric liquids such as oil
E Synthetic-resin impregnated materials but not containing fibrous materials such 120 >120–130
as cotton, silk or paper or enamelled wire including phenolics, alkyds and
leatheroid
B Combinations of mica, glass and paper with natural organic bonding, 130 >130–155
impregnating or coating substances including shellac, bitumen and polyester
resins
F Combinations of mica, glass, film and paper with synthetic inorganic bonding, 155 >155–180
impregnating or coating substances including polyester and epoxy resins
H Combinations of mica, glass, paper or asbestos with synthetic bonding, 180 >180–200
impregnating or coating substances including epoxy, polyamide or silicone
resins
– As for Class F but including Teflon 200 >200–220
C Combinations of asbestos, mica, glass, porcelain, quartz or other silicates with 220 >220–250
or without a high-temperature synthetic bond, impregnating or coating
substance but including silicone resins or high-temperature calendered
aramid papers, e.g. Nomex
– As for Class H but including polyimide enamel or polyimide films, e.g. Kapton 240
– As for Class H but including polytetrafluoroethylene resins 250 >250
42 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

clear that the heat dissipated within a machine must be removed effectively if
design limits are to be met.
For example, in the 1 111 MVA turbo-generator shown in Figure 3.1 with
losses of the order of 12 MW, if cooling stopped the average temperature of the
generator body would exceed any of the maximum permitted insulation tempera-
tures within 12 s. The problem is exacerbated because the losses are not evenly
distributed and in practice at some locations the rise in temperature will be even
faster than this. So, cooling and its distribution becomes a vital part of machine
design.
The health of an electrical machine, its failure modes and root causes, are
ultimately related to the materials of which it is made, the mechanical and electrical
stresses those materials are subjected to and particularly the temperatures they are
allowed to attain in service, see Figure 3.2, taken from Table 3.2. Note that most
modern machines are insulated to Class F or H standard.
In Chapter 1, we explained how electrical machines are protected by relays,
which sense serious winding current disruptions and operate to trip or disconnect
the machine. However, when fault currents are flowing, the machine has already
failed as an electrical device. Electrical or mechanical failure modes are always
preceded by deterioration of one of the machine’s mechanical, electrical, magnetic,
insulation or cooling components. This is so, regardless of the type of electrical
machine. If that deterioration takes a significant period and can be detected by
measurement, then that root cause detection will be a means of monitoring the
machine before a failure mode develops. Table 3.2 and Figure 3.2 show that tem-
perature could be one of the most effective means of root cause detection. The heart

300
Highest temperature rise allowance °C or K
Permitted temperature rise °C or K
250
Maximum coolant temperature °C
Highest permitted temperature

200

150

100

50

0
O or Y, A E B F H C
Obsolete Insulation class, Old IEC 60085

Figure 3.2 Insulation classes, ranges of permitted temperatures, see Table 3.2
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 43

of CM is to derive the methods to measure, as directly as possible, parameters that

indicate root cause deterioration and provide sufficient warning of impending
failure in order that the machine may be taken off for repair or may be tripped
before serious damage occurs, see Figure 1.3.
A degree of protection could be achieved by making the protective relays
especially sensitive and providing an alarm indication before tripping occurs.
Experience has shown that this is a precarious mode of CM leading to false alarms
and a lack of confidence in the monitoring process.
The following sections show how the construction, specification, operation and
types of fault can lead to the identification of generic failure mode root causes in
the machine.

3.3 Electrical machine construction

3.3.1 General
The basic constructional features of the electrical machine are shown in Figure 3.3(a).
The rotor, which usually has a relatively high inertia, is usually supported on two
bearings, which may be mounted on separate pedestals or incorporated into the
enclosure of the machine. Some larger, slower-speed machines incorporate a single
non-drive end bearing and rely on the bearing of the prime mover or driven plant for
remaining support. Rolling element bearings are used on smaller size machines where
shaft peripheral velocities are low, and sleeve bearings with hydrodynamic oil films
are used for larger machines. Vertically mounted machines will incorporate a thrust
bearing usually at the bottom end of the enclosure. This may be a relatively modest
angular contact ball bearing for a small vertically mounted pump motor but could be
a large hydrodynamic oil film thrust pad Michell-type bearing for a hydro-type
generator where the rotor may weigh 100 tonnes or more, see Figure 2.5(b).

(a) (b)

Figure 3.3 Synchronous generators: (a) medium-size, 125 MVA, 15 kV, 60 Hz,
2-pole, air-cooled, brushless excitation turbo-generator. Section
showing fabricated main frame, stator core, winding, rotor and on the
left machine main exciter and (b) large-size, stator core of 500 MW,
2-pole, hydrogen-cooled machine. Construction showing fabricated
inner frame and segmented laminations
44 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

3.3.2 Stator core and frame

The stators of all AC machines are constructed from lightly insulated laminations
of electrical steel, Figure 3.3(b) and the magnetic field rotates with respect to the
stator frame and core. As Table 3.1 shows, electrical steels are strong but the sili-
con, alloyed to impart magnetic properties and raise resistance, weakens the
material compared to structural steel, making it brittle. Furthermore, if the lami-
nated structure is to have the cohesion necessary to transmit the load torque, and
have low levels of vibration when carrying magnetic flux, it must be firmly
clamped between cast or fabricated end-plates secured to the cylindrical frame into
which the core is keyed. The core is constructed within the frame and compressed
before the clamping plates are applied, the frame structure and its clamping are
clearly visible in Figure 3.3(b). On larger machines, the clamping plates are tigh-
tened by large bolts, see Figure 3.4(a), but on smaller machines interlocking keys or
even welds are used to secure the clamping plates or the core itself is welded or
cleated. Large hydro-generators have very large diameter stator cores, which may
be built up in segments in the factory, to facilitate transport to site and assembly
there. This results in core segment gaps and a resultant magnetic potential drop
between those core segments.
In a DC machine, the magnetic field is stationary with respect to the frame and
core, therefore the laminated stator field poles, supporting the non-rotating DC
field, are bolted to a rolled steel stator yoke which has much greater inherent
strength than a laminated stator core.

3.3.3 Stator windings

The stator windings of all high-voltage AC machines comprise conductor bars
made of hard-drawn, high-strength copper sub-conductors that may be connected in
series or parallel. Individual sub-conductors are covered with a paper or glass-based

(a) (b)

Figure 3.4 Large synchronous generator: (a) stators for two 500 MW, 2-pole,
hydrogen-cooled turbo-generators. Stator nearest the camera is
wound. Stator furthest from the camera is awaiting winding, (b) rotor
for a 500 MW, 2-pole, hydrogen-cooled turbo-generator, showing
rotor forging and rotor winding before the fitting of end bells
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 45

Wedge Wedge
Wedge or top stick
Conductors Conductors
Ground insulation or
slot cell
Coil separator Main wall Main wall
Insulated magnet wire insulation insulation

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 3.5 Sectional view of slot sections 3-stator windings, not same scale: (a) a
400 V round wire winding for a 1 kW motor, (b) an 11 kV, 1.5 MW
motor winding and (c) a 23 kV conductor bar for the stator winding of
a large turbo-generator

tape and the assembled bar is over-taped with a similar material impregnated on
older designs with bitumen but nowadays with epoxy resins, see Figure 3.5. In the
portion of the conductor bar embedded in the stator slot the insulation system is
compacted by heating and pressing or it may be impregnated under vacuum and
pressure. In the end winding portion where one coil is connected to another, the
insulation system is not compacted and may be altered, containing less impregnant,
so that it is more flexible and therefore better able to withstand the large electro-
magnetic forces that part of the winding experiences during a fault. An important
part of the construction is the manner of the bracing of these end windings. They
may be pulled back onto rigid insulated brackets, made of impregnated laminate or
steel, using nylon or Terylene cord. On the largest machines, Figure 3.6(a), bracing
rings of glass reinforced plastic are used with insulating bolts and the end winding
is clamped within this defined and calculable structure. The exact nature of the
bracing depends upon the machine rating and the relative length of the end wind-
ing, as determined by the number of pole pairs, with the proportionally largest end
winding extensions being for large winding pitch 2-pole machines. The yoke or
stator core is fitted into a frame and enclosure. On smaller machines and those of
standard design the stator core is secured directly into a simplified design of a
machine main frame, but on larger machines the core has its own inner frame,
which is separate from the outer frame so that the clamped core can be removed
from the enclosure for repair, Figure 3.3(b).

3.3.4 Rotors and windings

The rotor design depends on the particular type of machine. AC induction and DC
motors have laminated rotors where the laminations are clamped together and
shrunk onto a steel shaft. Turbo-generators have large, solid, forged-steel rotors that
are long and thin, Figure 3.4(b), while hydro-generators have large, short, fat rotors
with laminated pole shoes bolted onto a fabricated steel spider, Figure 2.5(b).
Where air or gas cooling is necessary an axial, or radial, fan may be fitted at either
46 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(a) (b)

Figure 3.6 Large synchronous generators: (a) end region of a 600 MW, 2 pole,
hydrogen-cooled turbo-generator with water-cooled stator windings,
showing the end winding bracing structure and the hoses carrying
water to the winding and (b) Generator Hall in the Grand Coulee
Hydroelectric Dam, showing a number of hydro-generators,
120 MVA, 88-pole, 60 Hz, 81.8 rev/min

or both ends of the rotor shaft. However, smaller machines rely solely on air cir-
culation as a result of the windage of the rotor itself, which is usually slotted to
accept the rotor windings, Figure 3.4(b) and larger machines contains radial air
ducts, effectively an implicit fan.
Generator rotor windings are constructed of hard-drawn copper and are insu-
lated with rigid epoxy or formaldehyde resin, impregnated into a woven material.
On squirrel cage induction motors the winding may consist of lightly insulated
copper bars driven into the slots in the laminated rotor or of aluminium or copper
bars cast directly into the rotor. The rotor windings of a DC machine or wound rotor
induction motor will be rather similar to a conventional AC stator winding
described later. Typical induction motor and generator rotors are shown in
Figures 2.1 and 3.12.

3.3.5 Enclosures
The machine enclosure can take a wide variety of forms, depending on the manner
in which the machine is cooled, and the protection needed from the environment in
which it will work. Where a pressurised gas cooling system is used the enclosure
will be a thick-walled pressure vessel but for simple air-cooling with an open air
circuit the enclosure will consist of thin-walled ducting. Typical enclosures are
shown in Figures 3.1, 3.3(a) and 3.6(b). There is an increasing demand nowadays to
reduce the noise level from electrical machines and, apart from affecting the basic
design of the stator and rotor cores, this is requiring specially designed enclosures
with built-in noise-proofing.
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 47

3.3.6 Connections and heat exchangers

Electrical connections are made to the windings via copper bus-bars or cable that
leave the machine enclosure through bushings into a terminal box, the main three
phase bus-bars of the 1 111 MVA generator are visible rising from the stator frame
in the centre of Figure 3.1. The bus-bars may be lightly insulated to protect them
against the environment. In older machines wound paper bushings were used but in
modern machines bus-bars are embedded in epoxy resin and proprietary cast epoxy
resin bushings are used. The electrical connections are well braced to withstand
large electromagnetic forces, developed when short-circuit fault currents flow. The
terminal enclosure allows the proper termination of the supply cables, or bus-bars,
and must be specially designed to suit the environment in which the machine
works. For example, special enclosures are required for motors that operate in
inflammable areas and these incorporate baffles and seals to ensure that any
flashover in the enclosure cannot ignite gas, or vapour, within or outside the
terminal box.
A few machines today incorporate brush-gear for connection to the rotor
windings either through steel or copper slip-rings or through a copper commutator,
Figure 2.2. The commutator is a carefully designed complex component in which
copper segments interlock with the rotor so that they can withstand the bursting
forces acting upon them. Also, each segment must be well insulated from its
neighbours, and mica is normally used for this purpose. Slip-rings are usually
shrunk onto an insulating sleeve mounted on a boss on the rotor shaft, and electrical
connections to the slip-rings are insulated and carefully braced to withstand the
centrifugal forces upon them. Brushes will be spring-loaded and mounted in brass
brush boxes, around the periphery of the rings or commutator.
The mechanical and electrical complexity and cost of the rotating commutator
have been the cause of the decline of the DC machine in favour of the more reliable
and easier to manufacture static commutator using power electronic switches, such
as the thyristor and IGBT, mounted on the stator side external to the machine in a
VSD.
Heat exchangers for the cooling system of the machine are mounted on the
enclosure or may be a part of it as shown in Figures 2.7 and 2.13. They may be as
simple as a finned casing to the machine to promote convective heat transfer to the
surrounding air or they may be a more complex water-cooled systems, such as in
Figures 2.7 and 2.13, through which the cooling gas or air is ducted.

3.3.7 Summary
These descriptions show the very wide range of materials used in an electrical
machine and Table 3.3 gives a summary of these based on the structure of the
machine. In particular the reader should realise, both in terms of volume and cost,
how important insulating materials in the overall structure of an electrical machine.
In the following section, this structure of the machine will be discussed in more
detail.
48 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Table 3.3 Materials used in the construction of a typical electrical machine

Sub- Component Materials

assembly
Enclosure Enclosure Fabricated structural steel
Heat exchanger Steel, copper or brass tube
Electrical connections Copper or aluminium bus-bar or cable
Bushings Cast epoxy resin
Bearings Steel babbitts, high tensile steel rolling elements
or soft bearing alloy on bearing shells
Stator body Frame Structural steel
Core Electrical steel laminations or rolled steel yoke
Core clamp Structural steel or non-magnetic,
low-conductivity alloy
Stator Conductors Hard drawn copper or copper wire
winding Insulation Mica-paper or glass or film impregnated with
resin
End winding support Glass fibre structural materials and impregnated
insulation felts, ropes and boards
Rotor Conductors Hard-drawn copper or copper wire
winding Insulation Mica-paper or glass or film impregnated with
resin
End winding support Impregnated glass fibre rope
Rotor body Shaft Structural steel or forging
Core Electrical steel laminations or steel forging
integral with shaft
Core clamp Structural steel or non-magnetic,
low-conductivity alloy
Slip rings Steel, brass or copper
Brush-gear Carbon or copper brushes in brass brush-holders

3.4 Machine specification and failure modes

Faults can occur because machines are incorrectly specified for the application to
which they are being applied. For example, a machine may be underpowered or
have an inadequate enclosure. The specification of a machine must ensure that it is
of an appropriate design for the use to which it is being put.
It is a waste of time applying sophisticated monitoring techniques to a machine
that is unfit for purpose. Far better, to remove the monitoring and change the
machine for one that is more suited to the application.
By the same token, many operational problems could be avoided by using an over-
designed machine. For example, in a hot environment it may be better to use an
overrated machine, which has a substantial design margin, than push an adequately
designed machine to its limit. On the other hand, it is sometimes an operational fact-of-
life, especially with an expensive machine, that it must continue to operate even though
it suffers from shortcomings in the original specification. In such cases effective
monitoring can help to ease the burden placed upon the maintenance engineer.
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 49

The specification of a machine must reflect the mechanical, electrical and

environmental conditions in which the machine will work. These matters will have
a bearing on the mechanisms by which the machine may fail in service. The need
for monitoring and the selection of the parameters to be monitored must be affected
by these operational conditions. Table 3.4 sets out the operational conditions that
should be covered by a specification, relevant to monitoring.

Table 3.4 Operational conditions, defined by specification, which affect failure

mechanisms

Operational Nature of Detailed Root causes and failure modes

condition condition condition
Mechanical Characteristics of Duty cycle Successive overloads may cause
the load or overheating or bearing damage
prime mover Pulsating load May cause bearing and low cycle
fatigue damage
Repeated: Repeated application of high start-
starting ing torques may cause excessive
overheating and damage to rotor
and stator end windings
Load or drive May cause high cycle fatigue
vibration damage to rotor
Electrical Characteristics of Fast-voltage May cause an insulation breakdown
the electrical spike
system and the Slow-voltage May cause loss of power and motor
machine fluctuation stall or generator pole-slip
connected to it Fast-voltage May disrupt the generator excitation
fluctuation or cause insulation failure in
winding
System May cause stator winding heating
unbalance
Environmental Characteristics of Temperature High ambient temperature will
the environ- cause higher machine
ment in which temperatures, thus faster
the machine is insulation degradation and
being used bearing deterioration. Low
ambient temperature may cause
frosting and icing
Humidity High humidity may lead to
condensation and tracking
damage to the insulator surfaces
and corrosion of metal parts
leading to susceptibility to
corrosion fatigue failure
Cleanliness Dirt from the environment may
enter the machine, contaminating
insulation surfaces, enhancing the
propensity to tracking, fouling
heat exchangers and
contaminating brush-gear
50 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Mechanically, machines can be exposed to periods of intermittent running,

frequent starting and to arduous duty cycles, where the load varies frequently
between no-load and full-load with occasional overloads. These can lead to insu-
lation degradation, bearing wear, vibration and slackening of windings, commu-
tator or brush-gear. Similarly, a machine driving a pulsating load, such as a
compressor, is going to experience heavy bearing wear, vibration and slackening of
windings, commutator or brush-gear.
From an electrical supply point of view, a machine, by virtue of its location in
a supply system or its task in a manufacturing process, may be subjected to a
variety of transients at its supply terminals. These may be slow fluctuations in the
supply voltage or even unbalance between the three phases that can cause opera-
tional problems, for example, if the machine does not have the thermal capacity to
deal with the consequent overheating due to imbalance. More rapid transients in the
supply voltage, however, can overstress the winding insulation because the electric
stress is not uniformly distributed throughout the winding length. Modern inter-
rupters produce very rapid voltage surges that were known to break-down Class B
inter-turn insulation on the line end coils of motors, Table 3.2, but with modern
Class F systems this is now rare. The most severe electrical transients a machine
can receive, however, are during starting or re-switching of the supply, and part of
the duty of many machines in industrial processes is to be repeatedly started and
run for short periods. This will cause overheating, slackening of winding systems,
movement of electrical connections and overstressing of terminal boxes.
Environmentally, there are thermal and contamination problems. The machine
may run exceptionally hot, because of ambient conditions or cooling problems or
simply that the machine is being operated beyond its rated limit. Each condition causes
deterioration of the machines insulating materials. The machine may be operating in a
dirty environment either because of the industrial process in which it is working, such
as in textile or paper mills, or because it has brush-gear that produces carbon dust. If dirt
can enter the main coolant circuit it may contaminate windings, bushings and electrical
connections causing insulation integrity deterioration. Or it may foul coolers, seals, or
bearings causing over-heating and mechanical damage. Because of ambient conditions
the cooling gas may also become damp, for instance in a tropical country, or due to
cooler leakage. Either of these can lead to moisture condensation on the electrical
insulation and connections giving a reduced insulation resistance.
A machine needs to be designed to meet the environmental, mechanical and
electrical disturbances it is likely to encounter during its life but any monitoring
scheme that is installed should be directed towards detecting the untoward effects
of these disturbances.

3.5 Insulation ageing mechanisms

3.5.1 General
Electrical insulation faults are a significant contributor to rotating machine failures.
Industry studies indicate that up to one-third of rotating machine failures, Table 4.2 can
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 51

be attributed to stator winding insulation problems. Therefore, they deserve con-

sideration before we consider failure modes in general. However, it should be borne in
mind that although the final failure mode may be electrical breakdown of a dielectric
component, but the underlying mechanism driving the breakdown may be driven by
thermal, mechanical or environmental stress as well as electrical factors. This section
will cover the basic stresses that affect the performance of stator winding, stator core
and rotor winding insulation systems on operating machines as well as discussing the
roles that design, operation and maintenance have on the life of the equipment.
Insulation systems are classified into Types I or II where different insulation
materials apply.
● Type I materials are usually organic, such as polyamide-imide or polyester
with a polyamide-imide overcoat and the rated voltage is below 700 V,
● Type II will rely on mica using mica paper tape for coil insulation and mica-
based ground-wall insulation to withstand PD.
Insulation in service is exposed to high temperature, high voltage, vibration
and other mechanical forces, as well as some adverse environmental conditions.
These stresses can act together or individually to degrade insulation materials or
systems. Thermal ageing of insulating material due to high temperatures has been
most studied, and is perhaps best understood. The mechanism may be treated as a
chemical rate phenomenon, described by the Arrhenius relationship, and includes
loss of volatiles, oxidation, de-polymerisation, shrinkage and embrittlement. In
actual service, loss of insulation system integrity is aggravated by cyclic and
transient mechanical forces, which cause relative movement and abrasion of insu-
lation. Furthermore, insulation subjected to high voltage can degrade due to PD
activity. Eventually, the stresses will so weaken the insulation that puncture occurs
and the conductor is connected to earth. Thus, although the final result is electrical
failure, the root cause may be the result of a non-electrical stress. In general, the
higher the electrical stress or temperature, the more rapidly insulation will age. In
the discussion to follow, each of the above stresses, thermal, electrical, mechanical
and ambient conditions will be described in generic terms. The exact details of
which the critical mechanisms are very much dependent on the type of equipment
and service conditions.

3.5.2 Thermal ageing

Thermal ageing occurs when the temperature of the insulation is high enough to
cause the electrical and mechanical properties of the insulation to degrade. Cycling
of the temperature can also induce mechanical stresses causing deterioration, even
if the temperature alone is insufficient to cause damage, for example the loss of the
copper/insulation bond in the stator windings of rotating machines as a result of
successive conductor heating and cooling.
The operating temperatures of inorganic insulating materials, see Table 3.2, for
example, porcelains and glasses, are limited by the reversible changes of conduc-
tion, dielectric loss or strength, or softening, or the danger of fracture due to
52 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

differential thermal stresses. Organic materials suffer irreversible changes at high

temperatures. Generally, the temperature limit of the machine will restrict dete-
rioration to what is acceptable over the equipment design life, except when the
temperature rise in service is of short duration then immediate changes, such as
softening, may occur. Typical obvious symptoms are shrinkage, hardening, spon-
taneous cracking or crazing, loss of strength, embrittlement, discolouration, dis-
tortion and, in extreme cases, charring. These effects are generally due to, or
accompanied by:
● Loss of weight resulting from the evaporation of volatile components,
● Oxidation or pyrolysis to form volatile substances or gases such as CO and
CO2, water and low molecular weight hydrocarbons,
● Excessive cross-linking.

3.5.3 Electrical ageing

3.5.3.1 General
Electrical ageing occurs when the electric stress applied to insulation causes dete-
rioration. Although electric stress due to DC and transient voltages can cause
ageing, AC voltage is normally the most severe. It should be noted that the insu-
lating materials used in practical equipment operate well below their inherent
breakdown strength. Consequently, electrical ageing of insulation usually occurs as
a result of the presence of faults in the material, for example, gas voids due to
imperfect impregnation, resulting in PD or incorrect lay-up of fibre components.
The following are the electrical ageing mechanisms that can be induced by the
principal power frequency voltage or by transient surge voltage from power system
disturbances.

3.5.3.2 Partial discharges

In general, deterioration from PD will occur in insulation that has voids created
during manufacture or by thermal or mechanical ageing in service. The direct
impingement of discharges on insulation surfaces will cause decomposition of solid
insulation. PD only occurs in machines with disturbances associated with local
peaks of electric stress, depending on air pressure, humidity and machine voltage.
In general, in normal ambient conditions at the sea level, PD does not occur at
sinusoidal winding phase voltages less than 3 kV. Each individual PD represents a
charge transfer of picocoulombs (pC), however there may be many PDs in each
voltage half-cycle, see Figure 3.7.
Therefore, they depend upon voltage, environmental conditions, machine
design, particularly of the winding insulation, and application. Over time, they can
damage the machine insulation.

3.5.3.3 Surface tracking and moisture absorption

Electrical surface tracking is the formation of conductive or carbonised paths over
an insulation surface, caused by AC electrical stress. When an insulating surface
collects dust and moisture it can become conducting. The conduction current can
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 53

Partial discharge
activity

Amplitude

Time (ms)
10 20

Figure 3.7 Example of PD activity during a voltage cycle

become large enough to swamp the effects of capacitance currents, in that case the
voltage distribution is no longer determined by capacitances, as for a clean surface,
but depends on how the conductance varies over the surface. The pollution film is
never uniform, and conduction through the film causes drying out that is most rapid
in the regions of highest resistivity. Drying out then causes a further increase in
resistivity in these regions, so the effect is cumulative and eventually a dry band is
formed across the insulation. Most of the surface voltage appears across this dry
band, flashover then occurs over the dry band, constituting a partial break-down.
An arc is formed in the air adjacent to the dry band, this arc can do one of the
following three things:
● Extinguish rapidly,
● Stabilise and continue to burn,
● Or extend in length until it bridges the insulation causing complete breakdown.
In the final stages, the arc may grow slowly, by thermal drying, a reversible
process, or it may propagate rapidly and irreversibly due to the stress concentration
at the arc root. Arcs on polluted insulation can propagate and cause failure at
working stresses of 0.02–0.04 kV/mm. Such low stress should be compared with
the average insulation breakdown stress of 3 kV/mm for uniform fields and 5 kV/mm
for point-plane gaps in air.

3.5.3.4 Transient voltages

Transient or surge voltages can result from a number of causes such as lightning
strikes, switching operations due to faults or from the power electronic devices
feeding the machine, in the case of VSDs. Normally, insulation systems are
designed and qualified to withstand lightning and switching surges, however, faster
transients, such as those associated with drives or gas insulated switchgear opera-
tions, have been known to cause failures due to the non-uniform voltage distribu-
tion resulting from steep-fronted surges. Consequently, part of the design process
requires knowledge of the electrical environment, the surge environment, in which
the equipment will be operating. Transient events can also cause failure in older
54 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

equipment that has been subject to several years of thermal, electrical, mechanical,
or ambient ageing.

3.5.4 Mechanical ageing

Mechanical stress is a major direct or indirect contributor to many insulation sys-
tem ageing mechanisms. Mechanical ageing is principally produced by the relative
motion of insulating components and results from mechanical and electromagnetic
forces, resonances, inadequate wedging and bracing, flexing, abrasion and envir-
onmental factors that affect the mechanical properties of the insulation. These are
particularly prevalent in the stator end windings of larger machines.

3.5.5 Environmental ageing

The contamination of insulation systems by water, oils, or chemicals can cause
insulating materials to degrade mechanically and electrically. Thermal ageing will
also proceed at a faster rate in air than in relatively inert atmospheres such as
hydrogen or carbon dioxide. The effects of moisture or water absorption are well
known. The most common ageing effect is the worsening of insulation electrical
properties and a general tendency to poorer mechanical performance. In practice,
the severity of problems, caused by the presence of moisture in the insulation, is
dependent on the type of insulation system. Older insulation systems, containing
organic binders and bonding varnishes, are more susceptible to mechanical degra-
dation from water absorption than modern systems containing inorganic binders
and synthetic resins such as epoxy. However, polyester-based materials can lose
their electrical and mechanical properties in wet environments. Hydrolysis is a
mechanism by which moisture causes rupture of the chemical bonds of the insu-
lation. This tends to cause delamination and swelling of the insulation exposing it
to the risk of failure due to thermal, electrical or mechanical factors.
Oils, acids, alkalis and solvents can also attack certain insulating materials and
bonding agents. Again, organic materials are more likely to suffer significant
deterioration. Contamination of insulating materials with dust can result in elec-
trical failure due to surface tracking.
There are a number of high-voltage applications, such as coolant circulator
motors within nuclear power station reactor containment areas, where radiation
levels can be high. If acceptable insulation life is to be achieved, the insulation
systems used must contain materials with a high radiation resistance to prevent
rapid mechanical deterioration of mechanical properties. Materials such as cera-
mics, mica and glass are known to be only slightly affected by the radiation levels
encountered in these areas. Organic materials, on the other hand, are strongly
affected by the ionising radiation while polymers with aromatic rings, such as
polyamides, will tolerate higher doses without deterioration. Because of the sus-
ceptibility of organic materials to radiation damage, great care is required in
selecting and qualifying insulation materials and systems for use in these envir-
onments. The principle sources with which the designer is concerned are g-rays and
neutrons that interact with insulating materials to produce the damaging electrons.
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 55

The two molecular changes that may be produced by radiation in an organic

insulation are cross-linking of molecular chains and bond scission, or cutting, of
polymer chains. Cross-linking builds up the molecular structure, initially increasing
tensile strength, but then reduces elongation and eventually results in the loss of
impact strength. This changes rubbery or plastic material into hard, brittle solids.
Scission breaks down the molecular size, reduces the tensile strength and
usually adversely affects other properties.
In outdoor applications, attention should be paid to the resistance of insulation
to degradation by ultraviolet light that can also result in material embrittlement.

3.5.6 Synergism between ageing stresses

Typically, the operating environment of most rotating machines results in two or
more of the above ageing mechanisms being present at the same time. Interactions
between the stresses may be complex and result in unexpected consequences. The
complexity introduced by a combination of stresses is one of the reasons that most
insulation materials, systems and sometimes components are subjected to sequen-
tial application of individual stresses in prescribed multi-factor ageing test cycles.
Multi-factor ageing of insulation materials, which tries to represent these insulation
system operating conditions, is performed on sample insulation components in
some cases, however, the results require significant analysis, see the ‘Standards’
section at the end of this book.
An understanding of the synergistic effects between ageing stresses is central to
the design of any CM program since it will affect the selection of the hardware and
the interpretation of the data derived from these sensors and measuring instruments.

3.6 Insulation failure modes

3.6.1 General
From the preceding sections, it can be seen that the means by which electrical
machines fail depends not only on failure modes, which will be discussed in
Chapter 4, but also on the type of machine and the environment in which it is
working. However, it is possible to identify certain basic failure mechanisms that
apply to all machines. We must then identify the early root causes of these faults
because it is by detecting root causes that monitoring becomes practicable and
beneficial.
Any fault involves a failure mechanism, progressing the initial fault to the failure
itself. The time taken for such a progression will vary, depending on a wide range of
circumstances. What is important, however, is that all faults will have early indicators
of their presence and it is here that monitoring must seek to look and act. Also, any
fault is likely to have a number of possible causes and is likely to give rise to a
number of early indications. A typical route to failure is shown in Figure 1.3.
In this and the following section, we give a description of the ailments with
which electrical machines are afflicted. A detailed schedule of failure mechanisms
for electrical machines is given in Appendix A where the failure modes and root
56 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

causes for electrical machines are elaborated. By a study of Appendix, the reader
can identify what parameters would be worth monitoring in order to give an early
indication of a particular fault. However, the general overview in the Appendix
may fail to give the reader a clear image of the faults he/she may encounter on his/
her machines.
Therefore, we will describe in these sections a number of specific machine
failure modes that draw out the factors that need to be considered in any monitoring
system. Most of these incidents have been taken from the authors’ experience, so
detailed references do not exist. However, various electrical machine users have
tried to record their own failure statistics and typical results are summarised in
Dickinson (1974), Barker et al. (1982), O’Donnell (1985) and Tavner et al. (1986).
Insulation faults present some of the most challenging problems for electrical
machines, so this section starts with the major insulation failure modes of electrical
machines and then follows with other failure modes.

3.6.2 Stator winding insulation

3.6.2.1 General
Stator winding insulation is affected by all of the aforementioned thermal, elec-
trical, environmental and mechanical stresses, however, the extent to which these
stresses will cause problems in the short or long term, in normal operation, will
depend on factors such as the operating mode and type of ambient cooling condi-
tions. For example, air-cooled machines tend to be subject to higher rates of ther-
mal ageing compared to generators with direct liquid cooling of the stator winding.
Furthermore, generators with this type of cooling usually operate in a compressed
hydrogen atmosphere thus eliminating oxidation.

3.6.2.2 Delamination and voids

Stator winding insulation is a laminated system consisting of numerous layers of
mica-paper tape on a fibre-glass backing material impregnated and consolidated
with a synthetic resin, usually epoxy or polyester-based. The stator windings of
rotating machines built prior to 1970 are likely to contain a bituminous resin
instead of epoxy or polyester. Further, these older insulation systems tend to
employ large flake mica rather than mica-paper. Consequently, the results derived
from any CM tool that is focused on stator winding insulation must be viewed in
the context of the differences in these materials. While the older, thermoplastic
resins flow at relatively low temperatures, around 70  C, causing resin migration
leading to void formation and embrittlement of the main ground-wall insulation,
the high mica content provides significant resistance to PD deterioration. Further,
the propensity of bitumen-based insulation to soften at elevated temperatures per-
mits the ground-wall to conform to the walls of the stator core slot and render a
degree of self-healing. The lack of this property in modern, thermoset insulation
systems based on synthetic resins has resulted some problems to be discussed
below. Consequently, the use of age as a reliable index of machine health is not
supported.
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 57

Voids or delaminations in the ground-wall insulation of stator windings may

result from the manufacturing process and/or operating stresses. The presence of
voids in new stator windings, although not desirable and should be minimised, does
not necessarily imply that the winding be rejected or that it is not fit for the design
life intended. Application of various diagnostic tests, such as PD and dielectric loss,
as well as potentially destructive overvoltage tests aid in the production of stator
windings with minimal void content. During the life of the machine, these initial
delaminations, or those initiated by thermal, mechanical or electrical stress may result
in the growth of voids prone to PD. The probability that a void will be subject to PD
is governed by a number of factors such as void dimensions, electrical stress, pres-
sure, temperature and the presence of initial electrons to cause discharge inception.
A PD is so called because it represents a gas breakdown between the two
dielectric surfaces or between a conductor and a dielectric surface. Details of the
physics of the process can be found in Pedersen et al. (1991). PD, similar to any gas
breakdown, results in the emission of heat, light, sound as well as the production of
electrons and ionic species. Depending on the energy of the discharge, erosion of
the void walls will result causing growth of delamination and potentially failure in
the long term. However, from a practical perspective, stator winding failure caused
by internal void discharge is very uncommon and is not considered by manu-
facturers and users of rotating machines to be a significant problem. There are two
principle reasons why void discharge does not lead to rotating machine failure:
● Presence of mica, a material extremely resistant to electrical discharge attack,
forces PD erosion to occur only in the organic binding resin component.
Consequently, the electrical breakdown path must follow a very circuitous route
from the initiation site to the grounded core steel before failure can result.
Typically, the initiation point is located at the edge of the copper conductor stack.
Thus, the time-to-failure for such a process is very long, in the order of decades.
● Application of on-line PD monitoring equipment as well as advances in the
interpretation of the data produced by these tools. Use of PD monitoring
equipment has enabled machine users to better determine the condition of
stator winding insulation in operating machines and to take corrective action at
early stages, however, refer to Sections 11.6 and 11.7. Although there is little
maintenance available to remediate the presence of voids in the ground-wall
insulation, actions such as maintaining the integrity of the slot support system
or reducing the operating stresses on the machine may arrest the process of PD
delamination.
Thus, although void discharge has been and continues to be, a subject of
intense study by academic and other research organisations, failure of stator
winding insulation from this mechanism is of low probability. The use of PD
measurement may be of value, however, because PD is a symptom of other stator
winding deterioration mechanisms that can cause failure (Figure 3.8). These
mechanisms will be discussed below, therefore PD can provide a useful history of
machine winding insulation.
58 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Figure 3.8 Corona discharge on an end winding knuckle of an HV induction

motor, over time this will result in winding insulation PD damage

3.6.2.3 Slot discharge

Slot discharge or high-energy discharge is a very damaging deterioration
mechanism found generally, but not absolutely exclusively, in air-cooled machines.
Left undetected or uncorrected, failure from this type of mechanism can result in a
relatively short period of time, two to three years. Slot discharge is the term used to
describe a discharge occurring between the surface of the stator coil or bar and the
grounded core steel. Generally, this mechanism results from a loss of good elec-
trical contact between the insulated bar or coil surface and the stator core. Rotating
machines rated above 3.3 kV employ a resistive coating applied to the slot portion
of the stator coil or bar to promote good electrical contact with the core.
Deterioration of this coating or loss of contact between bar surface and core steel
can lead to conditions favourable for slot discharge.
The key to preventing slot discharge is to minimise the differential movement
between the stator winding and core (Figure 3.9). Consequently, significant effort is
expended by machine manufacturers and users to maintain the integrity of the slot
support system, that is the tightness of the stator wedges that restrain the winding in
the slot.
During the transition from thermoplastic to thermoset insulation systems a
significant increase in slot discharge problems on large air-cooled machines was
observed by Lyles et al. (1993).
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 59

(a) (b)

Figure 3.9 Examples of PD damage on HV stator windings: (a) stator slot

emergence due to corona shield damage and (b) between the end
winding coils

The failure modes of large hydro generators were described by Evans (1981).
In those cases, the new hard insulation systems did not conform well to the stator
slot unlike the older thermoplastic insulations. Consequently, significant vibration
of the stator winding was encountered that lead, during operation, to cyclical iso-
lation of the stator bar or coil surface from the core steel. The resultant loss of
electrical contact with the grounded core at one or more points along the coil or bar
surface caused the surface potential on the bar to rise to line-to-ground potential. If
this potential was sufficient to break down the gas gap between bar and core steel,
then a high-energy discharge would result. Over a period of time, these discharges
would erode the resistive surface coating leaving isolated non-conducting areas that
further exacerbated the problem since these locations would become capacitively
charged resulting in further discharge and erosion of the ground-wall insulation
itself.
A further mechanism leading to slot discharge in machines with apparently
good bar-core steel contact resulted from abrasion of the resistive coating and the
creation of isolated, insulating patches on the bar or coil surface Jackson et al.
(1982) and Wilson (1991). Wilson (1991) identified the critical conditions leading
to slot discharge for this case and also demonstrated analytically that the problem
could also occur throughout the winding and not be limited to the high-voltage coils
or bars. This finding was borne out by experience in the field that found visual
evidence of slot discharge damage at, or close to, the neutral point of the windings
of large hydraulic generators as described by Lyles et al. Parts I and II (1994).
Slot discharge can be identified using on-line PD measurements. The PD
behaviour of slot discharge tends to be characterised by:
● Large magnitude pulses with a predominance of one polarity depending on
how the measurement is accomplished.
● The position of the occurrence of the PD pulses may vary over the power
frequency cycle since the discharge is occurring between a capacitively
60 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

charged surface and the core steel and these surfaces are, due to vibration, not
at well-defined positions with respect to one another.
● Rapid increase in PD magnitudes over a relatively short period of time, such as
doubling of pulse magnitudes over six months.
The production of ozone in open-ventilated air-cooled machines is both a
symptom of slot discharge and ultimately a life-limiting fault in itself. Ozone is a
strong oxidising agent and will have a negative effect on the insulating and
conducting materials. However, very often those machines that are producing
excessive ozone are removed from service and rewound because the concentra-
tions of ozone exceed the limits prescribed by health and safety legislation for
workers.

3.6.2.4 Stator end windings

From the perspective of electrical insulation, the end-windings of rotating machines
are prone to environmental and mechanical rather than electrical ageing. Assuming
that factory and/or acceptance overvoltage tests have demonstrated that the end-
winding clearances have been properly designed and manufactured, the key pro-
blem areas for end-windings are:
● Surface contamination. The design and testing of the clearances in end-
windings are performed from the context of clean and dry insulating surfaces.
However, air-cooled machines, especially motors, often operate in ambient
conditions containing high levels of conducting contaminants such as salt,
cement dust, lubricating oil and brake dust. Over time, and in the presence of
moisture, these conductive layers distort the electrical field in the end-winding
and lead to surface tracking. This deterioration mechanism if not corrected
may lead to serious problems including the phase-to-phase failure of the
machine. PD measurements can be used to detect the presence of contaminated
end-windings.
● Internal voids. Until relatively recently, the end-winding portion of stator bars
and, especially, stator coils tended to be taped manually rather than by machine
as is the case in the slot cell. Consequently, the insulation of the end-winding
region is prone to contain voids or delaminations. The presence of such faults
is not as critical as for the slot cell of the winding because the electrical stress
in this area is relatively low.
● Mechanical aspects. The end-winding structure of a rotating machine, espe-
cially for large turbo-generators, represents several challenges for designers.
Apart from electrical clearance, the major issues are minimising the vibration
and differential movement. Modern synthetic insulation systems are quite rigid
and thus prone to cracking either due to long-term cyclic fatigue in normal
operation or transient events causing end-winding distortion such as a close-in
transformer fault. Unfortunately, while the behaviour of insulating materials in
this region of the machine is considered of significant interest, relatively little
work has been done to develop a similar understanding of the creep and fatigue
properties that exist for metals.
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 61

3.6.2.5 End-winding stress grading

End-winding stress grading systems tend to be found on machines rated 6.6 kV and
above. Their role is to reduce the electric field at the surface of the stator bar or coil
where it exits the core slot. Without application of such a material, there is a high
probability of surface discharge or even flashover from the capacitively charged
insulating surface back to the core steel. The functionality of the stress grading
system may be compromised by the surface contamination or improper design and
processing of the interface between the end-winding grading and slot stress control
systems. In the latter case, a combination of electrical and thermal effects can cause
erosion of the junction between the two systems, potentially resulting in an increase
in surface discharge activity. While this fault can appear serious, the discharges
tend to be transverse to the surface resulting in a low probability of machine failure
due to this mechanism. Empirical evidence indicates that when the junction
between end-winding and slot stress control systems has been completely dis-
rupted, and the electrical contact lost, the surface discharges cease.

3.6.2.6 Repetitive transients

Variable-speed drives based on electronic inverters are widely applied on low
voltage, <1 000 V, motors. Insulation problems have been experienced on these
largely random wound machines resulting in failures. The bulk of the failures have
been attributed to electrical discharges in the end-windings of these machines. The
steep-fronted surges generated by the IGBT devices employed in these drives may
cause transient voltage-doubling that exceeds the electric field required to cause
breakdown in the air around the end-windings. The insulation systems employed in
random wound machines, typically polyester-based enamels and Daglas, have poor
discharge resistance and are thus prone to failure in the presence of such dis-
charges. Steps to mitigate this problem include better design of the winding, to
minimise the areas of high electrical stress, consideration of the length of cables
used to connect to the motors, to reduce the probability of voltage doubling, the use
of multi-converter topologies, and the use of metal-oxide loaded enamels to grade
the winding electric stress.
High-voltage motors, employing form wound stator windings, are less prone to
the deterioration mechanism described above although some consideration is being
given to the behaviour of the resistive slot stress control material under repetitive
transient conditions.

3.6.3 Stator winding faults

3.6.3.1 Winding faults (All machines)
It is clear that the insulation system is potentially one of the intrinsically weakest
components of an electrical machine, both mechanically and electrically and in the
earliest days of machine construction insulation faults were excessively frequent as
Miles Walker (1929) described.
However, as described above, modern techniques of winding manufacture, using
thermosetting resin or vacuum pressure impregnated insulation, provide systems that
62 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

are mechanically tough and electrically sound. Nonetheless, modern machines use
drives insulation systems to their thermal, mechanical and electrical limits. However,
there are very few incidences of failures on machines due simply to ageing of insu-
lation. A very thorough review of root causes of failures and failure modes in insu-
lation systems and conducting components is given in Stone et al. (2014).
An example of a generator winding failure is shown in Figure 3.10 and the
final puncture of the insulation system was the result of accelerated ageing due to
an over-temperature in the adjacent generator core.
An exception to this may be on air-cooled, highly rated hydro-generators
where epoxy mica insulation has failed due to erosion of the insulation in the slot
portion as a result of discharge activity, primarily because of the rigidity of epoxy
mica systems, the large forces on such large conductor bars, the high dielectric
stress on the windings and the fact that these machines are air-cooled.
However, failures due to isolated insulation faults do occur. These are due to
manufacturing faults, such as voids or foreign bodies, embedded in the main wall
insulation, or penetration of the insulation by foreign material, such as oil or metal,
from elsewhere in the machine.
Whether insulation failure occurs due to ageing or the action of an isolated
fault, the indications are similar in that there will be an increase in discharge
activity in the machine culminating in an insulation puncture like the shown above.
Faults can also occur in low voltage windings, which are generally dipped in
varnish and do not experience high voltage discharge. Figure 3.11 shows a typical
failure in a round wire winding that is varnish impregnated showing the effect of
moisture contamination and tracking that has eaten away part of the winding slot
liner causing a fault to earth.

3.6.3.2 Winding conductor faults (Generators)

These faults are again generally confined to large generators where the current
densities are such that the stator winding is electrically, thermally and mechanically

Main wall
insulation
puncture

Figure 3.10 Stator fault in a 15 kV generator winding, showing the main-wall

insulation punctured in the top right as a result of core overheating
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 63

Moisture
contamination
and tracking
of slot liner

Figure 3.11 Stator fault on a 200 V exciter winding, showing the effect of
moisture contamination and tracking

highly stressed. It is normal to subdivide the conductor into a large number of sub-
conductors and to insulate and transpose them to minimise winding losses. In the
most modern machines the transposition is distributed throughout the conductor
length employing the Roebel technique. This gives a uniform current distribution
and minimises the voltages between sub-conductors. Older machines, however,
have the transpositions made in the end winding at the knuckle joint and quite large
voltages, up to 50 V rms, can exist between sub-conductors. If severe, mechanical
movement of the winding occurs during operation and the sub-conductor insulation
fails then sub-conductors can short together causing arcing. A number of older
machines have failed in the United Kingdom and the United States due to this
arcing, which in the worst cases has eroded and melted other sub-conductors,
pyrolysing the main wall insulation of the conductor bar. If this happens in the slot
portion, or near to other earthed metalwork, then an earth fault can occur but if not,
it is possible for the debris, ejected from the burnt area, to produce a conducting
path between electrical phases of the winding leading to the more serious phase-to-
phase fault, as shown in Figure 3.12(b). Sub-conductor arcing has also been initi-
ated by fatigue failure of sub-conductors, where the conductor bar emerges from
the core or enters a water box, due to excessive and winding vibration. The con-
sequences of such a failure are very similar to those of a sub-conductor short. When
this arcing takes place in a machine with hollow water-cooled sub-conductors,
perforation of a sub-conductor occurs and, since they are usually arranged so that
there is an excess of cooling gas pressure over the water, this leads to a leakage of
gas into the water cooling system.
The early indicators of such faults are arcing activity within the winding and
the pyrolysing of insulation. Although the fact that burning is taking place deep
within a conductor bar usually means that, initially at least, only small quantities of
particulate and gaseous matter produced by the burning are released into the
cooling gas circuit. Where water-cooled sub-conductors are present the fault causes
a leakage of gas into the winding cooling system.
64 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(a) (b)

Figure 3.12 Stator winding faults: (a) overheating of 20 kW, 415 V induction
motor LV stator winding due to inter-turn shorts and (b) stator sub-
conductor fault on 588 MVA, 23 kV, 50 Hz turbo-generator winding,
stator conductor bars ejected into the air-gap, disrupting the end
winding

3.6.3.3 Winding inter-turn faults (All machines)

A common failure mechanism on machines employing multi-turn stator coils is
break-down of the turn insulation, see Figure 3.12(a). The resultant short-circuit
between the copper turns causes a significant circulating current to flow in the coil
leading to rapid deterioration and failure. Turn failures tend to be very destructive
involving burning of the insulation and localised melting of the copper conductors.
Often, failures resulting from breakdown of the inter-turn insulation are inferred
from the location of the puncture, typically at or near the core exit, and the elec-
trical position in the winding, typically the first or second coil from the line end.
During the 1980s, an EPRI study investigated the reasons for an apparent
increase in the number of turn failures experienced by North American utilities.
Initially, the increase in breakdowns was attributed to the increase in use of vacuum
circuit breakers as replacements for conventional magnetic air circuit breakers. The
steep-fronted, high-magnitude transients generated during operation of the vacuum
circuit breaker was considered to exceed the capability of the turn insulation.
However, the EPRI study concluded that the principal reason for the perceived
increase in turn insulation failures was inadequate turn insulation. Those machines
that incorporated dedicated turn insulation consisting of either mica-paper tape or
double Daglas were found to have superior capability to withstand the steep-fronted
surges imposed by vacuum circuit breakers as well as being able to withstand the
rigours of steady-state operation at power frequency. The use of dedicated turn
insulation provides abrasion resistance in the event of differential movement
between turns due to thermal or thermo-mechanical ageing.
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 65

Early detection of the onset of conditions likely to lead to breakdown of inter-

turn insulation may be possible using PD methods and/or techniques based on axial
leakage flux detection, investigated by Penman et al. (1980). With regard to PD-
based methods, a significant practical problem is that although the deterioration of
the inter-turn insulation can, in principle, be detected, attributing the detected sig-
nals to this deterioration mechanism in the presence of PD pulses originating from
other faults is practically impossible.

3.6.3.4 End winding faults (All machines)

A considerable amount of effort over the whole range of machines has gone into the
design of end winding structures. The first objective is to restrain the end winding
against the large forces on the winding during transient loading or faults and the
second is to cushion the conductor bars against the smaller forces during steady,
continuous running. End winding movements are larger on the older, less rigid,
bituminous mica insulation system but then that system, because of its softness,
was more able to withstand the steady fretting action of normal running than the
hard epoxy-mica systems. In either case end winding movements in normal
operation are quite significant and can be as much as a few millimetres on a large
turbo-generator.
Faults occur in the end winding when the bracing structure slackens, due to
torsional and lateral vibration, either as a result of a succession of unusual over-
loads or because of an extended period of continuous running at high or overload.
In some cases, end winding insulation becomes cracked, fretted or worn away. In
the limit, a full line to line fault can lead to a catastrophic failure of the end winding
as shown in Figure 3.12(b). On the largest machines, fatigue failure of conductors
can occur when the winding becomes slack enough to permit a significant amount
of conductor movement during normal operation or during the much larger forces
of starting or re-switching. In addition, seismic excitation of the relatively weak end
winding structure can occur in applications with inherent vibration where the
machine is mounted on a flexible foundation and this has been a major cause of end
winding failures in the offshore industry.
Foreign bodies inside a machine, such as steel washers, nuts or small portions
of insulation, get thrown around by the rotor. Damage is caused by these objects,
usually in the stator end winding region, where the insulation is damaged by impact
or eroded by debris worming into the insulation under the action of electromagnetic
forces. The early indications of problems are an increase in end winding vibration
and the possibility of electrical discharge activity to nearby earth planes.

3.6.3.5 Winding coolant system faults (Large machines)

Many large machines employ direct or indirect liquid-cooling of the stator wind-
ings to permit operation at higher energy densities. In the vast majority of cases, the
coolant medium is water, however, a small number of designs use oil.
Consequently, there is a risk that the coolant path will deteriorate resulting in the
release of water, of varying levels of purity, on to insulating or high-voltage
components resulting in deterioration and potentially failure of the machine.
66 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Large steam turbo-generators employ direct liquid-cooling of the stator

windings in that demineralised water flows through hollow sub-conductors. Most
designs, whether single or two-pass, use a manifold at one or both ends of the
winding that connects to the individual stator bars using insulated (Teflon) hoses,
see Figure 3.6(a). Catastrophic failure of the hose or the connection of the hose to
the bar or manifold will result in water impinging on the stator winding. Depending
on the condition of the water, such an event may not cause an immediate stator
earth ground alarm or fault, however, the coolant loop pressure and stator winding
temperature will be affected. Smaller leaks would likely result in gas-in-coolant
alarms and potentially gas-locking.
Some types of turbo-generators employ a plenum that connects a group of
stator bars directly to the water circuit without the use of hoses. The plenum con-
sists of cast insulating epoxy components, mechanical failure of which will cause
loss of the coolant circuit and water impingement on the stator winding.
Other sources of potential water leaks onto the stator winding include faults in
the hydrogen coolers. In this case, water is likely to have a relatively high con-
ductivity and would have a high probability of causing a stator ground fault alarm
and ultimately fault.
Water leaks into the bulk of the stator winding insulation can also occur. This
water ingress has been observed on liquid-cooled stator windings using the clip
design where the connection of the stator bar to the coolant system is affected.
Pinhole leaks appear after a few years of service and moisture propagates along the
brazed joint until contact with the strand insulation. The moisture further wicks into
the insulation degrading the dielectric properties. Two principle root causes for
moisture ingress into stator winding insulation.
● Crevice corrosion, resulting from chemical reaction between the coolant water
and the braze material that
● Deficiency in the quantity of brazing material; the initial brazed joint is tight,
but over time vibration and thermal stresses cause voids in the braze to connect
creating a channel for the water.
In principle, the presence of a leakage channel in the brazed region should
result in a gas-in-coolant alarm. However, the insulation covering the water box is
very tight and hydrogen does not migrate easily through it. Therefore, water box
leaks detected in this way are rare.
Water ingress in the insulation wets the material to up to ten times the initial
moisture level. Another consequence of water ingress in the ground-wall insulation
is a drop in insulation resistance. This resistance decay can be quite slow. It is
considered that it takes about 5 years for water to migrate and cause a significant
insulation drop. This is the main mechanism for stator winding failure due to water
box leaks. Several stator earth fault failures are due to water ingress and thus to
water box leaks. So far, water box leak detection methods have been based on
detecting one of the consequences of the water ingress. However, no reliable on-
line method has been developed.
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 67

In addition to problems caused by coolant leaks, serious damage can be caused

by blocking of the coolant flow in stator windings. Depending on the location and
number of plugged sub-conductors catastrophic failure due to overheating can occur
rapidly. Other than blockages caused by foreign material entering the coolant loop
and gas locking, flow restrictions can result from the deposition of copper oxide
deposits. These deposits may result from poor control of stator water chemistry.
Plugging or flow restriction of the coolant medium in the hollow sub-
conductors of liquid-cooled stator windings can have serious, if not catastrophic,
implications for the reliable operation of large steam turbo-generators. Significant
efforts have been, and continue to be, expended on understanding the fundamental
mechanisms resulting in coolant flow restriction. Apart from loose debris in the
coolant circuit, the predominant cause of blockage is corrosion of the copper con-
ductors resulting in the deposition of copper oxides that tend to clog the small
aperture hollow sub-conductors. Consequently, much of the work in this field has
focused on the chemistry of the coolant water.
Unfortunately, for some utilities plugged sub-conductors are already a reality,
resulting in the derating of units and/or the implementation of complex flushing and
cleaning procedures. Again, many organisations are pursuing work to understand
and optimise these remedial actions. Consequently, significant work is underway,
or has already been performed, to understand the plugging mechanism and the
means to prevent or remedy it. These efforts are necessary to enable utilities to
maximise reliability and availability of their generators. However, there is a third
aspect to this problem, namely, for those utilities experiencing over-heating due to
plugged sub-conductors, how best to manage the situation so as to minimise the
revenue loss while ensuring that the stator winding suffers no undue loss-of-life.
Unfortunately, early detection of stator bar overheating due to plugging is
complicated because of, in many cases, the dearth of sufficient temperature and
flow data. Even where significant quantities of temperature data exist, such as on
hose-type machines with thermocouples on the outlets, the location of the tem-
perature sensor with respect to the hot spot increases the difficulty of successful
early plugging detection. Some organisations have recognised this problem and
have attempted to address it by detailed thermohydraulic modelling of the stator
winding and/or the implementation of post-processing of the temperature.
Notwithstanding the above efforts, operators of large steam turbo-generators
presently lack tools to objectively assess the risks associated with operating
machines with known, or possible, sub-conductor plugging.

3.6.4 Rotor winding faults

3.6.4.1 General
Rotor windings of synchronous machines are insulated with epoxy-glass laminates
or polyester-based materials (Nomex). Rotor windings of large squirrel cage
induction motors generally consist of lightly insulated copper bars driven into the
laminated slots in the case of large machines rotor or die-cast aluminium or copper
68 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

cages for smaller machines. The principal stresses of concern to rotor windings are
due to thermal expansion and centrifugal mechanical forces.

3.6.4.2 Winding faults (Induction motors)

Faults on the rotor windings of induction motors have not been easy to detect
because there is not necessarily an electrical connection to the winding and it is
difficult to measure the low frequency currents induced in the rotor winding.
Although the rotor winding of a squirrel cage induction motor is exceptionally
rugged, faults do occur particularly on the larger machines especially when they are
subjected to arduous thermal and starting duty causing high temperatures in the
rotor and the high centrifugal loadings on the end rings of the cage, see Figure 3.13.
Faults may occur during manufacture, through defective casting in the case of
die-cast rotors, or poor jointing in the case of brazed or welded end rings. Such a
fault results in a high resistance, which will cause overheating, and at high tem-
perature the strength of the cage will be impaired. Cracking may then occur in the
rotor bar and indeed usually takes place at the cage end rings where the bars are
unsupported by the rotor core. Similar faults can occur because of differential
movement of the cage in the rotor slots, because of a succession of periods of high
temperature running and shutdowns. This can lead to distortion and ultimately
cracking of the end rings and the associated bars. It should be remembered that the
bars must provide the braking and accelerating forces on the end ring when the
motor changes speed. If the motor speed fluctuates, because of the changing load or
as part of the normal duty cycle, then high-cycle fatigue failures can occur at the
joints between bars and ring. If the motor is repeatedly started, then the exceptional
starting forces may lead to low-cycle fatigue failure of the winding component.

Broken bars–Note: Bars Have Lifted from Slots

Ventilating Ducts

End ring

Rotor shaft spider assembly Rotor core

Figure 3.13 Rotor cage fault in a 1.5 MW squirrel cage induction motor
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 69

End
winding
arcing
damage

Figure 3.14 Rotor winding fault in a 3 MW slip ring induction motor, showing the
arcing damage between the phases in the winding end region

The early indications of these faults are pulsations in the speed, supply current,
stray leakage flux and vibration of the machine.
The rotor windings of wound rotor induction motors are of rather similar
design to the stator winding of the motor except that the end windings must
restrained against centrifugal forces by steel wire or woven glass fibre banding
rings. Damage to the windings usually occurs in the end region due to centrifugal
forces on the crossovers and connections of the winding causing shorts between
turns. These faults are similar to the problems experienced on the rotor windings of
high-speed turbo- generators. An additional difficulty encountered with the wound
rotor machine is that of ensuring balance between the phases of the external
resistors connected to the winding via the slip rings. These resistors are usually
water-based and can become unbalanced with time, then the currents flowing in the
rotor windings will be unbalanced and overheating will occur. This can lead to the
rapid degradation of rotor winding insulation and ultimately failure such as shown
in Figure 3.14. The problem is difficult to detect because the rotor currents are at
the very low slip frequency and one must detect the relatively small changes in
those currents.

3.6.4.3 Winding faults (Turbo-generators)

The rotor winding insulation and bracing system in turbo-generators must be
designed to withstand the extremely high centrifugal forces present during opera-
tion. An inter-turn short-circuit can occur between rotor turns due to puncture or
cracking of the turn insulation. The current that subsequently flows between turns
creates localised heating and the probability of further shorted turns. This dis-
turbance of the current flow will cause an asymmetry in the flux in the machine
causes unbalanced magnetic pull (UMP) leading to vibration of the rotor and this
70 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

can be compounded when the asymmetric heating leads to thermal bending of the
rotor. Two and four pole totally enclosed machines are particularly prone to these
problems especially if they have a short air-gap that will have a reduced coolant gas
flow and therefore rotor temperatures can be higher. Differential movement
between turns and fretting action in the rotor winding can produce copper dust may
also increase the probability of turn shorts. This phenomenon occurs because of the
cyclic movement that a large winding experiences relative to the rotor. The
movement is partly caused by self-weight bending of the rotor and thermal cycling.
This problem can also be exacerbated by the long periods of barring or turning
gear. During this type of very low-speed operation, there are little or no centrifugal
forces that act to lock the key internal rotor components in place and hence mini-
mise the differential movement.
If an insulation fault occurs between the winding and rotor body, then a ground
fault current flows that can be detected by an earth leakage relay. The ground fault
current is limited such that a single ground fault is not serious, but a second ground
fault can result in very large circulating currents. A second ground fault can cause
an arc to be struck at the fault location not only causing winding damage but also
severe damage to the rotor forging, see Figure 3.15. The early indications of these
faults are distortion of the air-gaps flux and associated stray leakage flux around the
machine and an increase in bearing vibration.
Therefore, the early indications of these faults are usually excessive transverse
bearing vibrations, although attention has also focussed on measuring the torsional
oscillations of the shaft itself, see Chapter 8.

Figure 3.15 Rotor winding earth fault on a 2-pole turbo-generator, showing

resultant damage to rotor forging
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 71

Figure 3.16 Failure of DC armature winding close to the commutator

3.6.4.4 Winding faults (DC machines)

DC machines encounter particular difficulties in their armature, where the AC winding
is directly connected to the commutator and electrical action between brushes and
commutator segments can lead to high temperatures and the production of carbon dust.
A common problem with DC armature windings is failure between conductors close to
the commutator connection, Figure 3.16 shows just such a failure, possibly aggravated
by the accumulation of carbon dust under the banding that provides the centripetal
force to retain the winding in place close to the commutator connections.

3.7 Other failure modes

3.7.1 Stator core faults (Turbo- and hydro-generators)

A core fault is a rare event, Figure 3.17, which usually only occurs in the largest
turbine-driven generators where the laminated steel cores are sufficiently massive,
and carry a sufficiently high magnetic and electric loading, see Table 2.2. They can
occur anywhere in the laminated steel core of large rotating electrical machines but
are more common in the stator core, see Tavner et al. (2005). A core fault initiates
when core-plates are electrically connected together, either because of an insulation
failure between them, or as a result of physically imposed short circuits due to
various causes including foreign bodies. These connections circulate additional
currents in the core, coupling the main flux, leading to additional losses and heat-
ing, further weakening core-plate insulation and expanding the fault. The fault is
then at a zone in the core that is overheated, buckled and electrically interconnected.
72 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Core
back

Figure 3.17 Core fault in the stator core of a 660 MW turbo-generator

This can expand, melting material, leading to the catastrophic runaway of the fault
and creating a cavity in the core, continuing until the main conductor insulation is
damaged and the machine is disconnected for an earth fault. Core faults generally
occur some distance from the main conductors and final disconnection frequently
occurs after irreparable damage has been done to the core and conductors.
A number of large generators worldwide have experienced this problem,
mainly as a result of damage to their stator cores during manufacture or rotor
insertion, when laminations became shorted together, and the application to the
core of transient high flux conditions.

3.7.2 Connection faults (HV motors and generators)

Faults in the connections of electrical machines are very unusual in the lower
voltages < 1 000 V rms but become more common at higher voltages where the
dielectric stress on the bushings and forces on the conductors increase.
Insulation failures also occur from time to time on the bushings that carry the
electrical connections through the machine enclosure. On a turbine-type machine
these are mounted in the pressure-tight casing and therefore have to withstand the
operating pressure of the machine. Failure of a bushing can occur either due to
mechanical stresses or vibration on the conductor passing through the bushing,
causing it to crack, or debris being deposited on the exposed surfaces allowing it to
track electrically, as described in Section 3.6.3.3. Again, the early indication is an
increase in discharge activity.
Figure 3.18 shows damage to a high-voltage switchgear bushing, similar to that
used in HV machines, where moisture and contamination have allowed a
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 73

Tracking
paths

Figure 3.18 Tracking damage on cast resin bushing similar to that used for
high-voltage motor and generator connections

conductive film to form on the surface of the bushing and severe surface tracking
has taken place. The high dielectric stress on the surface of the bushing has allowed
tracking to take place over an extended period of time, probably many months and
even more than a year. This kind of damage tends to occur where bushings are
exposed to the environment outside the machine. It is rare inside the machine
unless there is a cooling liquid leak combined with solid contamination circulating
in the inner cooling circuit. This kind of damage can be diagnosed by physical
inspection, PD measurements or thermography.

3.7.3 Water coolant faults (All machines)

In machines with water-cooled heat exchangers, it is possible for coolant blockage
or failure to occur, either in the pipework leading to the heat exchanger or in the
heat exchanger itself. This can be the result of pipework debris being circulated in
the water system, although it should be removed by filters fitted close to the inlet of
the machine or due to negligence when cooling systems or machines are main-
tained. The normal vibration of a machine in service can excite resonances in an
improperly designed cooling pipework system and this can cause fatigue failure of
a pipe and loss of coolant. The early indications of these kinds of fault are indicated
by high conductor or cooling water temperatures, leakage from the water system
and pyrolysing insulation leading eventually to damaging discharge activity that
will be electrically detectable at the machine terminals.

3.7.4 Bearing faults (All machines)

Rolling element, sleeve and pad bearings are used in rotating machines as guide
and thrust bearings and fail when the load upon the bearing is excessive or its
lubrication fails. The choice of bearing and the lubrication used depends upon the
74 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

load borne and the shaft speed, Table 3.4 gives a summary of the curves involved in
the choice, based upon a prospective bearing life of 10 000 h, and this can be
helpful when considering fault conditions. A good summary of bearing selection is
given in Neale (1973) and shown in Figure 3.19.
Bearing failure is usually progressive but ultimately its effect upon the
machine is catastrophic. Failure is accompanied by a rising temperature at the
bearing surface, in the lubricant and in the bearing housing, which are detectable by
temperature sensors. An important consequence of bearing deterioration for elec-
trical machines is the rotor becomes eccentric in the stator bore causing a degree of

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Fluid film plain bearings. A hydrodynamic pressure is gener-

ated by the relative movement dragging a viscous fluid into a
taper film.

Figure 3.19 A summary of the bearing selection criteria for all machinery
 Electrical machine construction, operation and failure modes 75

static and/or dynamic eccentricity, disrupting the fine balance between the mag-
netic forces of adjacent poles, causing UMP and placing more load on the bearing.
This also causes an increase in vibration as the shaft dynamics are affected by the
altered air-gap and bearing stiffness.
Bearings can also be damaged by the flow of shaft currents as described in the
following section.

3.7.5 Shaft voltages (Large machines)

Electrical machines can generate voltages in their shafts due to an unbalance in the
magnetic circuit of the machine, see Tavner (2008). The shaft voltage can circulate
current through the bearings of the machine and this leads to bearing damage.
Voltages on small machines can be of the order of 500 mV rms but in larger
machines they can be 5–10 V rms.
There is a considerable literature about shaft voltages and manufacturers
design machines to minimise their effects by insulating one bearing of the machine
and providing a shaft ground to allow the shaft voltage to be monitored.
The damage that occurs to bearings depends upon the type of bearing. In
general, a rolling element bearing is more susceptible to the effects of shaft vol-
tages, exhibiting electro-erosion, see Figure 3.20(a).
Sleeve bearings have higher impedance and resistance to damage but can also
be affected by electro-pitting action consequent upon the intermittent flow of shaft
current through the bearing oil firm, see Figure 3.20(b). However, the bearings of
machines supplied from a VSD may experience more energetic electrical action,
but this is dealt with in Chapter 11.

Electro-erosion
track

Electro-pitting

(a) (b)

Figure 3.20 Bearing electrical damage: (a) electro-erosion damage in race of a

rolling element bearing due to the flow of shaft currents and (b)
electro-pitting damage to a bearing sleeve due to the flow of
generator shaft currents
76 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

3.8 Conclusions
This chapter has shown the common structure present in electrical machines
regardless of their type or size.
The construction of electrical machines has also been demonstrated with an
indication of the effect of operational service on failure modes.
The importance of the insulation system of the machine has been considered
and discussed.
Finally, typical failures in service have been shown to identify the most com-
mon failure modes that an engineer will encounter, starting with those originating
in the insulation system but then expanding to consider other sources.
A set of failure modes root causes is set out in Appendix A and these
demonstrate how faults could be detected in their early stages by monitoring
appropriate parameters.
In the next chapter we will describe reliability analysis that will connect root
causes to failure modes and shows how CM can be directed to address particular
components in the electrical machine.
 Chapter 4
Reliability of machines and typical failure rates

4.1 Introduction and business of failure

Chapter 3 described the construction and operation of electrical machines and the
way they fail in service.
We now move towards identifying what CM is needed to detect those faults.
All machines, plants and animals are subject to fault processes and natural
degradation of health, similar to that plotted in Figure 1.3. Plants and animals have
a cellular structure, incorporating growth and self-repair mechanisms, dependant on
their genes, a subject of intense research in the biomedical sphere to promote health
and prolong life.
However, machines of human construction do not have these benefits, but
there are many similarities.
Electrical machine reliability is fundamentally dependent on:
● Design: by virtue of materials, rating and load, which may subject a machine to
excessive torques, temperatures, voltages or currents; variability or dis-
continuity in the driving or driven machine load and varying ambient envir-
onment, including machine temperature, dependant on cooling and lubrication
quality and contamination,
● Application: may be benign at a constant load; such as base-load generators or
rapid load application and sudden reversals of power; such as a traction
machine, or sudden operation at overvoltage or overload; such as a submarine
propulsion motor, or stochastic changes of load, voltage and ambient condi-
tions due to the natural environmental changes; such as in a wind or tidal
turbine,
● Physics: torque being developed by thermodynamically reversible electro-
magnetic, electrostatic and mechanical processes, but accompanied by the
irreversible loss processes in windings (a to I2Rwind), core (a to V2/Rcore),
insulation (a to V2/Rins), bearings (a to wrbrgFbrg) and coolant (a to DTfc), due
to the changing currents, voltages, speeds, forces and temperatures. These
irreversible processes constitute the electrical, mechanical, thermal and
chemical root causes of degradation, wear, corrosion and fatigue leading to
yield, described in Chapter 3, which can be mitigated by design but ultimately
interfere with energy conversion.
78 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

In time, these root causes accumulate to trigger the machine failure modes, a
stochastic integration process, worsening machine reliability and leading to
machine failure, Figure 4.1 repeated from Chapter 1.
The impact of these effects on electrical machine reliability is the subject of
this chapter.
CM has previously been seen as the province only of those who analyse fault
signals and interpret results.
However, interpretation must be informed by causality and the authors’ view is
that an important change in CM over the last 40 years is ensuring that it is firmly
directed towards detecting and prognosing real machine failure root causes. In so
doing, successful CM directly addresses, at the earliest practicable stage, machine
unreliability and, more importantly, gives the operator a prognosis, which can be
used to improve the availability.
By this means modern machine reliability theory, CM and prognosis, for
human-made machines attempts to mimic living gene self-repair mechanisms.
The reliability to date of our surface and air transport and electrical generation
systems confirm their effectiveness.
This chapter sets out the mathematical and numerical issues controlling this causality.

4.2 Definition of terms

In considering the progression to failure of machinery, we must remind ourselves of

the definitions of a number of useful terms, already used, as follows:

Period in which monitoring

can detect, diagnose and
mitigate a fault

Unusual OK next Usual operation

event mission to a fault
Condition-based
maintenance
Health

Time to fault detection Fault

Time to fault

Time
Normal operation

Figure 4.1 Progression of an electrical machine to failure showing the

benefit of CM
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 79

● Failure is when the electrical machine fails to perform its energy conversion
function. Failure is complete and does not imply partial functionality.
● Failure mode is the manner in which final failure occurred. For example,
* Insulation failure to ground,
* Or structural failure of a shaft.
● Root cause is the manner in which the failure mode was initiated. For example,
for the two cases above:
* Overheating of the insulation could be the root cause leading to the failure
mode of insulation failure to ground,
* Or excessive shock torque being applied to the shaft could be the root
cause leading to the failure mode of structural failure of the shaft.
● Failure mechanism is the physical manner in which a failure process pro-
gresses from the root cause to the failure mode. For example, in the two cases
above:
* Overheating causes degradation of the insulation material leading to
reduced voltage withstand capability,
* Excessive shock torque on the shaft causing yield and an increase in stress
in the remaining parts of the shaft leading to a progressive and ultimately
catastrophic yield of the component.
● Root cause analysis, RCA, is an analysis following failure of the failure modes
and underlying root causes.
● Duration of the failure sequence is considered in this book to be the time from
root cause to failure mode. This may be a period of seconds, minutes, days,
months or weeks and can depend on:
* Failure mode itself,
* Operating conditions of the machine,
* Ambient conditions.
● Reliability, R, is the probability that a machine can operate without failure for a
time t and in this book is generally quoted as a percentage. A high reliability
machine has few failures, a high mean time between failure, a high-percentage
reliability and a low failure rate. The reliability as a function R(t) is sometimes
known as the survivor function because it indicates what proportion of the
starting population survives at a particular time t. A word definition of relia-
bility would be ‘the probability that a system will operate to an agreed level of
performance for a specified period, subject to specified environmental
conditions’.
● Availability, A, is the probability that a machine will be available to operate for
a time t and in this book is generally quoted as a percentage. A high-availability
machine has only short periods of time shutdown due to failure or maintenance.
● Failure intensity, l(t), is the rate at which failures occur in a machine, some-
times called the hazard function and this varies through machine life.
However, experience shows that for complex objects, such as an electrical
machine, the failure intensity generally develops, after an early period of
operation, into a constant failure rate, l, and in this book is generally quoted as
80 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

failures/machine/year. It is the objective of machine maintenance engineers to

keep the failure rate low, constant and predictable.
● Time to failure, TTF, is the time measured from the instant of installation of
the machine to the instant of failure. The mean time to failure, MTTF, is the
expected value of successive TTFs. MTTF does not include the time to repair
as a result of a failure. The MTTF is usually given in hours.
● Mean time to repair, MTTR. Time to repair, TTR, is the time measured from
the instant of first failure to the instant when the machine is available for
operation again. The MTTR is the average of successive TTRs and can be
averaged over a number of machines in a population. The MTTR ¼ 1/m is
usually given in hours.
● Under the hypothesis of minimal repair, that is a repair that brings the unit
back to the condition before failure, time between failure, TBF, is the time
measured from the instant of installation of the machine to the instant after
the first failure when the machine is available for operation again. The
mean time between failures, MTBF, is the average of successive TBFs and
can be averaged over a number of machines in a population. MTBF is the
sum of the MTTF and MTTR. The MTBF or q ¼ 1/l is usually given
in hours.
● Failure mode and effects analysis, FMEA, is a subjective analysis tool,
defined by the international standard, BS EN IEC 60812:2018, that uses a
qualitative approach to identify potential failure modes, their root causes
and the associated risks in the design, manufacture or operation of a
machine.
Reliability theory has developed as set out in the Timeline Table 1.3 and in
more detail in Appendix B, but summarised here as:
● Early anecdotal information,
● Followed by mathematical reliability representations, set out in the following
section,
● Realisation that failure intensity, l(t), particularly failure rate, l, and its inverse
MTBF helps to identify when repairs hints at the difference between avail-
ability and reliability,
● Development of MIL-HNDBK 217, Military Handbook: Reliability Prediction
Of Electronic Equipment, prescribing the mathematical reliability representa-
tions and tests to be used for electronics development,
● Understanding that repair intensity, m(t), particularly repair rate, m, and its
inverse MTTR help identify the mean repair time needed emphasises the
importance of availability over reliability,
● Realisation that the variation of failure rate, l(t), was more significant for
electronics than simple failure rate, l, and that physics of failure (PoF) is
important, leading to the supercession of MIL-HNDBK 217. This issue is more
significant for power electronics than machines, which still conform to earlier
notions of reliability.
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 81

4.3 Root cause and FMEA

4.3.1 General
The sequence from operation to failure for a specific failure mode in a typical sub-
assembly or component of a machine is shown in Figure 4.1 but could be explained
diagrammatically in Figure 4.2, in this case for a main shaft and the sequence is
from root cause through failure mode to failure.
The duration of a failure sequence depends on the failure mode, the operating
condition of the machine and the ambient condition in which it is operating.
Figure 4.3 shows this process for a failure mode whose statistic can be described by
a normal distribution.
● Figure 4.3(a) shows progression from reliable to non-reliable operation rapidly
at the 50% life point for a fast fault. The probability of failure rises sharply
close to this point, the area under the curve being equal to 1 because in the life
of the machine there is 100% probability of failure.
● Figure 4.3(b) repeats the progression for a medium speed fault.
● Finally, Figure 4.3(c) repeats the progression for a slow fault.
This process of RCA and FMEA is at the heart of CM.
If a failure sequence is like Figure 4.3(a), very rapid, then effective CM is
impossible. This is the situation for failure modes that actuate the electrical pro-
tection, where final failure mode action maybe seconds or even only a few mains
cycles. However, if the failure sequence is days, weeks or months, like the slow
fault in Figure 4.3(c), then CM has the potential to provide early warning of
impending failure and the ability to continue operating the machine before failure
and maintain it to avoid failure. Therefore, CM must concentrate on those root
causes and failure modes that exhibit a failure sequence of substantial duration and
our ability to detect its initiation and progress is crucial to successful CM.

Failure mode

Main shaft
failure

Why? Fracture Deformation How?

Root cause Condition
analysis monitoring
and diagnosis
High cycle Corrosion Low cycle fatigue Misalignment
fatigue or overload

Root cause

Figure 4.2 Cause-and-effect diagram showing the relationship between the

failure sequence and RCA for a main shaft failure initiated by low or
high cycle fatigue
82 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

100 45 100 5

90 40 90 4
80 80 4
35

Probability of failure (%)

Probability of failure (%)

Reliability of plant (%)
Reliability of plant (%)

70 70
30 3
60 60
25 3
50 50
20 2
40 40
15 2
30 30

20 10 20 1

10 5 10 1

0 0 0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
(a) Life of component (%) (b) Life of component (%)
Fast fault Fast fault Medium fault Medium fault
failure probability failure probability

100 3
90
80 2

Probability of failure (%)

Reliability of plant (%)

70
60 2
50

40 1
30
20 1
10
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100
(c) Life of component (%)

Slow fault Slow fault

failure probability

Figure 4.3 The failure sequence showing operability falling with time as a fault
progresses: (a) fast speed fault, (b) medium speed fault and (c) slow
speed fault

4.3.2 Typical root causes and failure modes

It is important to distinguish between root cause, which initiates a failure sequence
and could be detected by CM, and a failure mode that terminates it but cannot be
predicted.
After a failure, operators are used to tracing the sequence back from the failure
mode to the root cause, in order to determine the true cause of failure. That is the
process of RCA or asking why a failure occurred, see BS EN IEC 60812:2018.
On the other hand, the designer of a CM system must keep in mind the need to
predict the reverse of that process, tracing how a failure develops, as shown in
Figure 4.2.
On this basis the authors propose, see Chapter 3, the most common root causes
and failure modes for rotating electrical machines. They are similar to the root
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 83

causes and failure modes identified in IEEE Gold Book (1997) and Thorsen et al.
(1995) and could be related to the more detailed failure modes analysis developed
by Bonnett et al. (1992) for induction motors, in particular.
It is surprising how few root causes and failure modes there are and a reader
should note that these are generic and could be applied to many different machine
sub-assemblies and components.
The following are key examples and a complete set of failure modes and root
causes for different types of electrical machines is given in Appendix A.

4.3.3 Root causes

● Defective design or manufacture,
● Defective material or component,
● Defective installation,
● Defective maintenance or operation,
● Ambient conditions,
● Overspeed,
● Over-load,
● Low cycle fatigue or shock load,
● High cycle fatigue or excessive vibration,
● Component failure,
● Excessive temperature,
* Winding overtemperature,
* Bearing overtemperature,
● Excessive dielectric stress, steady or transient,
● Debris or dirt,
● Corrosion.

4.3.4 Failure modes

● Electrical:
* Core insulation failure,
* Stator winding insulation failure,
* Rotor winding insulation failure,
* Brush-gear failure,
* Slip-ring failure,
* Commutator failure,
* Control failure,
* Electrical trip,
● Mechanical:
* Bearing failure,
* Rotor mechanical integrity failure,
* Stator mechanical integrity failure,
* Fan failure,
* Cooler failure.
84 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

4.4 Reliability analysis

Component failure modes and the failure sequence described in Section 4.3 are
controlled by statistical processes in the components, such as insulation degrada-
tion or degradation of metal components due to fatigue. These processes govern the
transition from operation to failure exemplified by Figure 4.3. This process is the
subject of detailed texts on reliability such as Billinton et al. (1992). Each com-
ponent failure mode will have its own probability density function that derives from
its own physical processes.
For example, the shape of the probability density function for winding insu-
lation deterioration depends on the ambient and operating temperatures, deterior-
ating slowly as the insulation degrades with time. Whereas the probability density
function for shaft fatigue would show a rapidly rising trend as fatigue cycles are
accumulated.
The mathematical function, f(t), for a component failure mode probability
density function should have the flexibility to represent a wide range of major
failure modes, such as are present in most machinery. A flexible function that is
available for this work is the Weibull function:
b  t b1 ðqt Þb
f ðtÞ ¼ e (4.1)
q q
The instantaneous failure rate, l(t), or hazard function of a component in a
population of components can be obtained from f (t) because:
f ðtÞ
lðtÞ ¼ (4.2)
RðtÞ
where R(t) is the reliability or survivor function of a population of components,
which for a Weibull distribution would be given by:

RðtÞ ¼ eðqÞ
t b
(4.3)
Therefore:

b  t b1
lðtÞ ¼ (4.4)
q q
which can be simplified to:

lðtÞ ¼ abtb1 (4.5)

where b is a shape parameter and a is a scale parameter equal to 1/qb and reduces to
1/q when b ¼ 1, where q is the MTTF of the component and  MTBF. This
expression is a very powerful mathematical tool to understanding the behaviour of
components, sub-assemblies and complete machines from a reliability point of view.
Figure 4.4 shows the effect on the probability of failure of a component for
different values of b, in this case life is expressed in arbitrary units.
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 85

35
β = 0.5
30
β=1
Probability of failure (%)
25
β=5
20

15

10

0
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0
Life

Figure 4.4 Variation in the probability density function of failures to a

component, showing the effect of different degradation
processes at work

So, for example, the curve with b ¼ 0.5 could describe the behaviour of a
population of rolling element bearings whose probability of failure decreases pro-
gressively with time as the bearing and grease runs in.
On the other hand, the curve with b ¼ 2 or 5 could describe the behaviour of an
insulation component subjected to increased degradation with time and
temperature.
Figure 4.5 shows the hazard or failure intensity function using (4.5) for such
components against life. The bearing component shows a failure rate decreasing
steadily with time, whereas the insulation component shows an increasing
failure rate.
The complete failure intensity function for a population of components varies
over time as shown in Figure 4.6. Each phase of the segregated failure rate curve is
represented by (4.5), for different values of the shape parameter, b. When com-
ponents are assembled into sub-assemblies and thence, for example, into a com-
plete electrical machine, the aggregated component failure mode sequences result
in a composite failure intensity function curve, such as Figure 4.6, derived
from (4.5).
Failure intensity, Figure 4.6 is a combination of three curves representing three
stages of a population’s operation:
● Early life (b < 1): stage is also known as infant mortality or burn-in,
where the failure rate falls as the components prone to early failure are
eliminated.
● Useful life (b ¼ 1): stage represents normal operation of the system, when the
failure intensity is a constant failure rate over an extended period of time.
86 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

0.6
β = 0.5

0.5 β=1
β=2
0.4 β=5
Failure rate

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0
Life

Figure 4.5 Variation in the hazard function of a population of components for

different underlying the probability density functions, showing the
effect of different degradation processes on the deterioration of failure
rate and therefore on the reliability
Failure intensity function, λf

β<1 β=1 β>1

Early failures Intrinsic failures Deterioration

Operating life, time

Figure 4.6 Aggregate hazard or failure intensity function for a population of

components or sub-assemblies forming a complete electrical machine,
known as bath-tub curve, showing the effect of shape function b at the
start and end of a machine’s life
● Wear-out (b > 1): stage represents increasing system failure intensity, occur-
ring towards the end of its useful life, due to the deterioration of the individual
components that start to fail in increasing numbers.
However, components of machinery do not always follow the typical bath-tub
form. The authors have noted how complex electronic equipment does not often
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 87

exhibit infant mortality symptoms. This is because such sub-assemblies are sub-
jected to automatic and accelerated life testing on completion of manufacture,
before delivery, specifically designed to minimise the number of early life failures.
In another way, electrical insulation systems do not tend to show a low, con-
stant, mid-life failure rate but a rather gradual worsening in failure intensity over
the whole life, as the insulation material steadily deteriorates with ageing, as shown
in Figure 4.5 with b ¼ 2.
However, the hazard function or failure intensity of the bath-tub curve is
instructive for those engaged in CM because they demonstrate the character of
failure modes, which CM needs to detect, and the different phases of a
machine’s life.
The low, constant, mid-life failure intensity becomes a constant failure rate, the
bottom of the bath-tub, and is achieved partly by good machine component design
and manufacture but its base value can be reduced and duration extended by
maintenance and in turn by monitoring.
So, the shape of the failure intensity bath-tub for a complex engineering plant
is dependent upon the maintenance and monitoring regime that is adopted as set out
in Chapter 1.

4.5 Machine structure

The structure of a machine is an important factor in the cause-and-effect diagram
and in the aggregation of failure mode probability density functions, as described in
the previous section.
We may consider that structure to be simply the assembly structure of indivi-
dual components into sub-assemblies and then the aggregation of those sub-
assemblies into a complete machine. This could be exemplified by the exploded
diagram of the machine and was discussed in Chapter 2, see, for example,
Figure 2.9.
Billinton et al. (1992) concluded that the relevant structure is not assembly but
that due to the reliability dependence of components, where the failure of one
component in the structure may not incur the failure of the machine, for example,
due to redundancy. This affects the makeup of the cause-and-effect diagram, which
is the structure relevant to CM, and is governed by causality rather than assembly.
The structure for a sub-assembly can be built up from the cause-and-effect
diagrams of individual components to give a cause-and-effect diagram for the sub-
assembly, such as is shown in Figure 4.7. The assembly structure for a typical
electrical machine is shown in Figure 4.8 and may be adequate in some cases but is
not necessarily correct for the assessment of failure modes. Compare Figure 4.8 to
the diagram in Figure 2.12.
A simple example of the two aspects of this issue could be the lubrication
pumps of a large turbo-generator. It is customary to introduce redundancy into this
plant by providing 2 off, 100%-rated, main and standby, AC motor-driven lubri-
cation pumps with a third 100%-rated, DC motor-driven pump to provide
88 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Corrosion
Material failure

Vibration fatigue

Main shaft

Corrosion
Fracture

Vibration fatigue

Presence of Inner bearing

debris material failure Turbo-generator main
shaft and bearings
Presence of Mechanical
debris DE bearing
failure

Corrosion
(End effect 1)
Bearing casing
fracture
Corrosion
(End effect 2) Bearings

Presence of Inner bearing

debris material failure

Presence of Mechanical
debris NDE bearing
failure

Corrosion
(End effect 1)
Bearing casing
fracture
Corrosion
(End effect 2)

Figure 4.7 Example of a cause-and-effect diagram for a simple sub-assembly,

main shaft of a turbo-generator

Induction motor
system

Enclosure Ventilation Stator Rotor Instrumentation

sub-system sub-system sub-system sub-system sub-system

Frame Heat Stator Shaft and Sensors

exchanger core rotor core

Bearing Fans Stator Rotor Instrument

assembly winding winding terminals

Main Wedging
terminals and bracing

Figure 4.8 Example of a typical electrical machine structure diagram, see

Figure 2.12
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 89

emergency power from a battery, when AC power fails. In this case, it is not
legitimate simply to add the cause-and-effect diagrams in series or to add the
failure mode probability functions of the three pumps, since a large turbo-generator
can operate with any one out of three pumps functioning. The correct approach is to
consider the three systems in parallel and take account of the probability density
functions in the same way.

4.6 Typical failure rates and MTBFs

The approach of this chapter can be put into context by considering the failure rates
and MTBFs of typical electrical machines.
Such data can be notoriously difficult to find but some information, particu-
larly about MTBF, is available from the reliability surveys, mostly conducted in the
United States under the auspices of the IEEE, Dickinson (1974), O’Donnell (1985),
Albrecht et al. (1986), Bonnett et al. (1992) and IEEE Gold Book (1997).
Information about the life of electrical machines has also come to light from
experience in the Defence Industry, where reliability predictions are a contractual
requirement of equipment purchase, see Tavner et al. (1999). Finally, information
is available from the wind industry about generators being fitted to the wind tur-
bines being installed in increasing numbers, where fault data is recorded suffi-
ciently frequently to deduce the life curves of typical electrical machines and their
reliability, see Spinato et al. (2006).
The MTBF can be a deceptive quantity. It is intended to represent the pro-
spective life of the machine, assuming it has a constant failure rate, as shown in the
constant failure rate region of Figure 4.6. Then one could consider that there would
be a 50% probability of failure before the MTBF and 50% probability of failure
afterwards. However, machines can have a failure rate that improves with time and
then it is possible that a higher proportion of failures could occur before the MTBF.
However, a well-maintained machine is expected to be operating in the constant
failure rate region, in which case MTBF gives a good indication of prospective life,
which engineers can appreciate without being overwhelmed by any statistical
interpretation.
Table 4.1 extracts the data from a number of surveys of electrical machines and
gives the failure rates and MTBFs for a range of machines, showing a remarkable
degree of consistency with MTBFs ranging from 18 to 33 years, if a year is
assumed to contain 8 766 h operation. Table 4.1 also gives an idea of the sig-
nificance of each survey by noting the number of machines surveyed and the
number of failures recorded.
It should be noted that the large surveys are dominated by the induction motors
because of their ubiquity.
Results have also been added for machine converters since so many drives,
particularly with induction motors, now include VSD converters, the latter results
having been taken from the wind industry, the largest sector to release such relia-
bility figures.
Table 4.1 Typical measured or predicted failure rates and MTBFs, for electrical machines and converters, from literature

Machine or converter type No. of machines in Machine No. of Failure rate, MTBF Source of data
the survey years in failures in l ¼ 1/MTBF (h)
survey survey (failures/
machine/year)
Electrical Large steam turbo-generators Unknown 762 24 0.032 273 750 Dickinson (1974),
machines IEEE Gold Book
(1997)
Induction motors, 601–15 Unknown 4 229 171 0.040 216 830 Dickinson (1974),
000 V IEEE Gold Book
(1997)
Motors > 200 HP generally 1 141 5085 360 0.071 123 740 O’Donnell (1985),
MV and HV induction IEEE Gold Book
motors (1997)
Motors > 100 HP generally 6 312 41 614 1 474 0.035 247 310 Albrecht et al. (1986)
MV and HV induction
motors
Motors > 11 kW generally 2 596 25 622 1 637 0.064 137 110 Thorsen et al. (1995)
MV and HV induction
motors
Wind turbine generators < 2 Various predictions 44 785 4 389 0.098 89 387 Spinato et al. (2006)
MW based on
Variable Soft starter for induction measured wind – – 0.063 139 000 Chung et al. (2016)
speed generator industry data
drives LV partially-rated converter – – 0.121 72 400
for DFIG
3-axis pitch converter for DC – – 0.195 44 900
motors
MV fully-rated converter for – – 0.402 21 800
induction generator
MV fully-rated converter for – – 0.738 11 900
permanent magnet
generator
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 91

The striking message from Table 4.1 is that electrical machines are generally
more reliable than VSD converters, i.e. they have a lower failure rate, l ¼ 1/MTBF.
However, experience shows that because of VSD modularity MTTR ¼ 1/m is lower
than for an electrical machine, because faulty VSD modules can be rapidly
exchanged to restore converter reliability.
The distribution of failures within an electrical machine structure is also
important because it should guide the application of CM. Table 4.2 gives another
analysis of failures based on the literature used in Table 4.2 and three important
areas of the machine are identified: stator-related, primarily the winding; rotor-
related, including slip rings and commutators; bearing related. Remaining failures
are grouped as other. The failure data comes from different surveys and whilst
these surveys are not necessarily complementary they are substantial and show a
consistent failure significance in descending order of importance:
● Bearings,
● Stator-related,
● Rotor-related.
The relative importance of failures is affected by the size, voltage and type of
machine under consideration. In particular, the relative weighting of stator-to-rotor
winding failures does depend upon the type and size of machine under
consideration.
For example, small, low-voltage induction machine failures, exemplified by
the first two columns of Table 4.2, are dominated by bearing faults, as LV windings
experience very few faults. Smaller machine bearings are usually rolling element
and their reliability depends heavily on the standard of maintenance. Induction
machines show a much lower number of rotor winding or squirrel cage faults com-
pared to stator winding faults, because of the ruggedness of cage construction. But
larger, HV machines, exemplified by the next three columns of Table 4.2, receive a
higher proportion of failure modes on the stator winding, due to dielectric stress and
vibration root causes and this can rise to be of a similar significance to bearing faults.
Large machine bearings are also usually of sleeve construction and with constant
lubrication are generally more reliable than bearings in smaller machines. Table 4.2
also shows that other component failure modes, for example, in the cooling system,
connections and terminal boxes, become more significant on larger machines.
An interesting aspect of this analysis is the attention being paid in published
literature to different machine failure mechanisms. The authors have used the
search engine IEEEXplore to consider Trans IEEE and Proc IEE/IET papers only in
the period 1980 to date and searched the metadata under the following headings:
● Broken bars in induction motor rotor cages, 35 papers,
● Discharge activity in MV and HV stator windings in motors and generators,
9 papers,
● Stator winding faults excluding discharge activity in motors and generators,
19 papers,
● Bearing faults in electrical machines, 17 papers.
Table 4.2 Distribution of failed sub-assemblies in electrical machines obtained from literature

Sub-assemblies Predicted by an OEM MOD Survey, IEEE large motor Motors in utility Motor survey Proportion of 80
through FMEA Tavner et al. survey,1985,O’- applications, Al- offshore and journal papers
techniques, 1995–97* (1999) Donnell (1985) brecht et al. (1986) petrochem, published in
Thorsen et al. IEEE and IEE/
(1995) IET on these
subject areas
over the past
26 years
Types of Small- to medium-LV Small LV motors Motors >149 kW, Motors >75 kW Motors >11 kW All machines
machines motors and and generators < generally MV and generally MV generally MV
generators <150 750 kW, gener- HV induction and HV induc- and HV in-
kW, generally ally squirrel cage motors tion motors duction motors
squirrel cage induction motors
induction motors but also DC ma-
chines
Bearings 75% 95% 41% 41% 42% 21%
Stator related 9% 2% 37% 36% 13% 35%
Rotor related 6% 1% 10% 9% 8% 44%
Other 10% 2% 12% 14% 38% 0%
*Private communication from Laurence, Scott & Electromotors Ltd.
 Reliability of machines and typical failure rates 93

The spread of this collection of 80 publications is shown distributed alongside

the relevant failure areas in Table 4.2.
It shows that much more publishing effort has gone into the study of the less
prevalent, but calculable, rotor faults than into the more prevalent, but perhaps
more mathematically challenging, bearing faults.
Induction motor rotor cage faults can be detected through perturbations
of the air-gap magnetic field, see Chapter 9. The distribution of journal papers
towards those faults is probably due to the fact that the air-gap field is scientifically
interesting, analytically tractable and cage induction motors are very numerous.
Bearing faults, on the other hand, involve a more complex interplay of
mechanical and electrical physical effects. However, bearing faults lead to air-gap
eccentricity and the effect on the resultant magnetic field is also tractable, although
more complex than the effect of rotor cage faults.
Some of the lessons learnt from rotor cage fault detection, combined with the
study of the effect of eccentricity on the air-gap magnetic field can be applied to the
detection of bearing faults and this topic is returned to in later chapters. It is interesting
that the study of eccentricity effects in induction motors, the most numerous electrical
machines, can also be elicited from literature survey above and that recorded that 36
papers have addressed the subject since 1980. Some of these papers address the issues
of noise and speed control but that number demonstrates the attention that is beginning
to focus on this important issue because of the application of VSDs to these machines.

4.7 Conclusions
This chapter has shown that causality must be the guiding principle when applying
CM to electrical machines.
First, the operator must be aware first of the failure modes and then the root
causes for the machine being considered for CM.
Second, causality must be traced through prospective failure sequences, possible
by the use of cause-and-effect diagrams. The probability of failure of a component of a
machine can be described by a probability density function for that component. The
resultant hazard function curves for each component in a sub-assembly can be aggre-
gated to give a prospective life curve for that sub-assembly and can then be aggregated
to give the life curve of the machine. The aggregation of cause-and-effect diagrams and
hazard functions needs to be done with care, taking account of the assembly structure of
the machine and the reliability dependence of components. From the aggregate hazard
function, a model for the complete machine could be derived.
Third, CM needs to address the root causes that have a slow failure sequence to
the failure mode and this information can be derived from knowledge of the failure
modes in operation in an electrical machine.
In Chapter 1, we proposed three different courses of maintenance action:
● Breakdown maintenance, implying uncertainty and a high spares holding,
● Fixed-time interval or planned maintenance, implying extended shutdown or
outage periods and lower availability,
94 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● Condition-based maintenance, CBM, implying low spares holding but main-

tenance planned based on the monitored information leading to high
availability.
Real engineering plant demands a flexible combination of maintenance
regimes based on the above.
This chapter has shown that by addressing failure modes that are slow to
mature, CM could significantly affect the detection of faults before they occur. CM
can then form part of planning fixed-time interval maintenance (ii) and will be at
the heart of maintenance for method (iii).
Prior to determining the type of equipment and frequency of monitoring, some
consideration should also be given to whether the cost of implementing such a
program is justified. Factors involved in this decision may include:
● Replacement or repair cost of the equipment to be monitored,
● Criticality of the plant to safe and reliable operation,
● Long term future of the facility in which the equipment is installed.
Assuming that consideration of the above points indicates that the expenditure
is justified, the following points will aid in determining how the CM programme
should be implemented.
● Design,
● Manufacture,
● Installation,
● Operation,
● Maintenance.
In the majority of cases, the end users of rotating machines are dealing with
existing plant and will have to consider all five of the points identified above. This
task is complicated because often there is very little design information, the man-
ufacturer may no longer exist and installation, operation and maintenance records
may be incomplete. The paucity of information can lead to the assumption that the
age of the equipment indicates the need for more rigorous monitoring. However,
this is not always the case since the refinement of design tools and the constant
pressure on manufacturers to reduce costs has, in some cases, lead to decreased
design margins.
The practicability of these approaches for electrical machines depends upon
the application of the machine and the engineering plant it serves. That is the basis
of this book and the fault Mechanisms and root causes, dealt with in this and the
previous chapter, which CM must deal with are set out in Appendix A.
In the next chapter, we describe the signal processing and instrumentation
needs for CM.
 Chapter 5
Signal processing and instrumentation
requirements

5.1 Introduction
An electrical machine CM system involves the measurement of operating variables
of the plant being monitored, and interpretation as well as management of the
acquired data. In many plants, measurements are already used for control and
protection. From a cost perspective, it would be ideal if such measurements can
also be used for CM. However, knowledge of the limitations of the existing mea-
surements and understanding of the difference between the objectives of control,
protection and CM is important, as will be discussed later in the book.
One feature of CM, described in Chapter 3, is to detect the impending faults at
an early stage, capturing weak signatures in measurements that are usually mixed
with noise. Furthermore, some impending faults may manifest themselves in non-
electrical variables that are not usually used in control or protection.
Before getting into the details of the instrumentation elements, we need to view
a CM system from a higher level where the functionality of different parts of the
system can be more clearly described. By doing this, it should be possible to
identify the common elements of a CM scheme, irrespective of the system detail.
In essence we are saying that an engineer examining occasional meter read-
ings, with a view to producing an operational and maintenance strategy, is involved
in a procedure that is analogous to a sophisticated CM system.
In view of this analogy, we believe that the following tasks are essential ele-
ments in a CM system, see Figure 5.1:
● Measurement or transduction task, sensing of primary variables,
● Data acquisition task, conversion of sensed variables into digital data in CM
system,
● Data processing task, identifying information buried in data,
● Diagnostic task, acting on processed data.
Tasks (i) and (ii) are usually carried out whilst the monitored plant is operating.
Tasks (iii) and (iv) can be performed off-line and the results of these tasks may not be
fed back immediately to the plant operators. This is a non-intrusive approach of CM.
In contrast, it is possible to use an intrusive approach in which a signal is
injected into the plant being monitored and the response is used to indicate the plant
96 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Operational
strategy

Plant Transduction Data

Processing Diagnostics
acquisition

Figure 5.1 Monitoring tasks

status. This is particularly attractive in plants involving power electronic converters

that generate monitoring signals and are very fast acting.
As of now, we will confine our description to the non-intrusive approach.
In each of the above four tasks, human intervention is possible, and often
desirable. Indeed, in some cases these tasks may be entirely carried out by the
operator. Let us return to the analogy of the engineer collecting his meter readings,
and trying to identify the tasks. The meter deflections or the numbers displayed on
the panels will naturally be in response to measurements made elsewhere in the
plant being monitored and may be picked up by currents transformers (CTs), vol-
tage transformers (VTs), thermocouples or accelerometers, for example.
This is the transduction task and is normally performed automatically as it is
difficult for the human operator to act in anything but a qualitative way in fulfil-
ment of this task. That is, he/she may be able to tell if one piece of plant is hotter
than another but little else. Having that said, it often relies on a human operator to
ensure the reliability of the transduction task.
The data acquisition task could be simplified to the action of the engineer
writing down a series of readings from each meter, together with information
regarding time, load, ambient conditions and location of the plant being monitored.
In our example, this would be wholly under human control. The periodicity of the
observations will depend on the plant characteristics.
The processing task corresponds to the analysis of the readings in the same
way. It may be considered appropriate to average several readings, for example,
and to present them in a way that allows easy comparison with other data. This
phase can vary greatly in complexity and it demands significant computing power
in automatic systems. We shall return later to more common processing techniques
merely noting now the use of methods such as spectral analysis, time averaging,
auto- and cross-correlation.
The diagnostic task operates on the results of the processing task in order to
recommend actions that hopefully will result in improved operational readiness and
performance, and improved maintenance scheduling. Again, returning to our sim-
ple analogy, on the basis of examining the average meter readings and comparing
them with the manufacturer’s operational limits, say, the engineer decides, for the
next plant shutdown, which items of machinery must be overhauled or replaced.
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 97

He/she arrives at this judgement on the basis of experience and the data available as
a result of collecting and processing readings and having access to the manu-
facturer’s data on operational limits. For the manufacturer to set the operational
limits, a relationship between the plant condition and the signature during operation
should already have been established. Understanding of the mechanism of fault
development is particularly useful in determining such threshold values. The
diagnostic task is mostly carried out with significant input from human operators,
but with the development of knowledge-based expert systems or other forms of
artificial intelligence, full automation of this phase can be realised.
Recent development of communication technology, for example, in fibre-
optics and semiconductor sensing devices, allows the data acquired to be sent to a
central point or to the manufacturer for processing and analysis. With the current
trend of restructuring in many industrial sectors, the responsibility of plant CM has
also started to change; operators, asset owners and manufacturers may all have
different parts to play with manufacturers taking more responsibility than tradi-
tionally. Depending on application, a plant can be equipped with CM functional-
ities as a selling point. As manufacturers cannot schedule plant shutdowns, the
central position of the operator could hardly be replaced. Here we are mainly
interested in the technical aspects of CM. The trend towards through-life costing of
plant means that manufacturers are more closely involved with the operator in
managing plant beyond the warranty period and this opens up and increased market
for service work, which can be sustained by CM activity.
In Figure 5.1, we summarised the four tasks associated with the CM and
indicate the obvious step of closing the loop as an aid to improve the operational
performance.
We must now examine the first two of the four CM tasks in some detail, both
in a general way and as they apply to electrical machines. Data-processing task will
be developed next in Chapter 5 while the diagnostic task will be delayed to later in
the book. At all times we must be mindful that the monitoring activity is aimed at
reaping the benefits to be gained by closing the loop identified in Figure 5.1.
Broadly speaking, the data-processing task for these signals is that part of the
monitoring activity where data, which has been collected and suitably formatted, is
operated upon or otherwise transformed so that a diagnosis of plant condition can
readily be made. As we have mentioned previously, it is here that the most significant
scope for automation exists. Indeed, to perform many of the data-processing functions
now commonly used in CM, considerable computational effort will be required.
Processing may be done on or offline and this choice will predominantly depend upon
whether the monitoring system is one that operates on a continuous basis, or not. It also
depends on understanding how quickly monitored faults can develop. Usually CM on a
continuously operating plant and on faults that can develop quickly should process the
obtained data online. However, this distinction may not be clearly drawn. Modern data
acquisition units now permit data to be obtained from a running plant and analysed at a
different location without any significant time delay.
In the past, dedicated signal analysers were applied to analogue signals from
the transduction process, to obtain the spectra that could indicate the occurrence
98 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

and level of signal components at particular frequencies. Their use has now been
almost completely replaced by general computer algorithms acting on data
acquired in the digital format.
There are two fundamental objectives in signal processing:
● Filtering out the noise present in measurements,
● Extracting signatures which can indicate the health condition.
Although computer software packages are commercially available for digital
signal-processing applications and can be used for CM of electrical machines, it is
important to fully appreciate the characteristics of the different algorithms in order
to avoid unreliable results, leading to misinterpretation of the plant condition.
Requirements of such algorithms and their limitations must be clearly understood.
For such a reason, this chapter describes in greater detail some of the more
important numerical techniques used for signal processing in CM.
Perhaps the simplest form of signal processing is one in which the magnitude
of the raw incoming signal is examined on a regular basis, as a function of time. In
fact, this is essentially the basis of all visual inspection techniques or trend analysis,
which involves active collection of data by personnel. The processing, in such
cases, may consist of a comparison of the current record with the previous value or
with some preset, or predetermined, threshold. This process is simple to automate,
even when many hundreds of inputs are being monitored. The processor is simply
required to associate the incoming reading with a particular item of plant. If the
incoming data is to be trended, to examine the lead up to an atypical event, then a
data storage medium is essential. There is the trend to use company-wide intranet
for data storage, backup and sharing, as part of an asset management system, Sabin
et al. (2017). It is very easy, when monitoring many inputs, to accumulate
exceedingly large volumes of data, so it is desirable to automatically refresh the
data storage so that after a given period of time the data storage elements either
transfer their contents to bulk storage media, or are overwritten by the incoming
data stream.
When a plant malfunction is detected, a common practice is to annunciate the
event and discontinue data storage on that channel or continue for a specified
period. In this way the diary of events leading up to the malfunction is preserved for
subsequent examination, if required.
The above example of magnitude detection implies that plant condition
information is seeded in the event of a change of signals from the plant. Indeed, the
variation of signals usually tells us the change of condition. Variation of a signal in
the time domain can be more saliently expressed as components in the frequency
domain. Therefore, spectral analysis is naturally a very common technique of signal
processing used in CM. Spectral analysis is effective when applied to steady-state
periodic signals, which is usually the case when monitoring machine faults that
gradually develop. In recent years, higher-order spectral analysis has been used to
make use of phase information and improve the signal-noise ratio. We will describe
first and higher-order spectral analysis techniques in this chapter. Sometimes a CM
technique may also be applied to transient or non-stationary signals. However, it is
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 99

normally the case that the condition signatures are highly dependent on the
machine operating condition which varies with time. Some signals, such as partial
discharge, even change within a fundamental mains cycle during periodic opera-
tion. Therefore, correlation analysis which is a powerful tool in revealing buried
relationships between signals and identify the causes and consequence of a plant
fault will also be described. Sometimes a CM technique may also be applied to
transient and non-stationary signals. Wavelet transform techniques that have more
recently been developed will then be described for this objective, followed by a
description of signal processing techniques based on modelling. The chapter is
completed by instrumentation and signal condition techniques commonly used in
electric machine CM.

5.2 Spectral analysis

Spectral analysis is the name given to describe methods that transform time signals
into the frequency domain. The spectral representation of a time signal is therefore
a collection of components in the frequency domain, each with a specific fre-
quency, amplitude and phase angle. The transformation is achieved using the
techniques of Fourier analysis whereby any periodic signal, g, of period T, has:
g ðt Þ ¼ g ðt þ T Þ (5.1)
This can be represented by equally spaced frequency components G(f):
ð
1 T =2
G ðf k Þ ¼ g ðtÞej2pfk t dt; k ¼ 0  1; 2; (5.2)
T T=2

where the subscript k indicates the kth harmonic of the fundamental frequency f ¼ 1/T.
The harmonic represents a sine wave at the harmonic frequency whose amplitude and
phase angle can be determined from (5.2). The original time domain signal can be
reconstructed by summing all the harmonic components as shown below in (5.3).
X
1
g ðt Þ ¼ Gðfk Þej2pfk t (5.3)
k¼1

We see that a continuous periodic time function can therefore be represented as

a discrete series in the frequency domain. The advantages are immediately appar-
ent; our continuous input can be approximately represented to the required accu-
racy by a finite and often a small set of numbers. As we are going to illustrate in
some later chapters, many faults give rise to harmonic components that are nor-
mally non-existent or of insignificant amplitudes. Spectral analysis compacts the
data significantly at the cost of computation time, and allows the trend of change to
be more easily recognised.
Because it is often necessary to digitise the transducer signals for onward
transmission to the processing unit in a monitoring system, the incoming data is
also sampled in time. That is, it is represented as a series of discrete values at
100 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

equally spaced instants in time, in a similar fashion to the frequency domain

representation of a continuous time signal. Under these conditions, the equivalent
statement of (5.2) becomes,

1XN 1
G ð fk Þ ¼ g ðtn Þej2pnk=N (5.4)
N n¼0

The corresponding inverse transform is:

X
N 1
g ðt n Þ ¼ Gð fk Þe j2pnk=N (5.5)
k¼0

In these expressions, we see that the frequency is effectively sampled at the

discrete frequencies fk whilst the time signal is sampled at instant tn. We therefore
have a means of representing a discrete time function by a set of discrete values in
the frequency domain. This transformation is known as the discrete Fourier trans-
form (DFT). In practice, this transformation is carried out using the fast Fourier
transform (FFT) technique, which is an extremely efficient way of achieving a DFT
by constraining the number of time samples to a power of 2 and decomposing the
transformation into a number of smaller transformations which are then combined
to produce the result, Bateman et al. (2002). The number of calculation steps is
significantly reduced, usually by orders of magnitude, to permit real-time signal
processing of large data size, and this is also important for the accuracy when
capturing weak condition signatures because the total round-off error is reduced.
When sampling a continuous signal, the total sampling length, the observation
interval must be taken into consideration. The entire sampled data is automatically
treated as one period in spectral analysis. If the signal is not strictly periodic or the
sampled data does not precisely represent an actual period, then harmonic distor-
tion may occur because the periodic waveform created by the sampling process
may have sharp discontinuities at the boundaries. This effect may be minimised by
windowing the data so that the ends of the data block are smoothly tapered.
Common window functions include Bartlett, Hanning, Hamming and Blackman
windows, see Madisetti et al. (1998). The original sampled data is multiplied with
the window function before FFT is applied to generate the frequency domain
spectrum, as shown in Figure 5.2. What we obtain is not a true spectral repre-
sentation of the original time domain signal, but the effect of boundary dis-
continuities is attenuated. A way to view the windowing technique is that the finite
sampling process itself has already windowed the true waveform with a rectangular
window. Applying an additional window will give a more desirable result that
minimises frequency domain distortion.
Another way often used in practice is to increase the length of the sampled data
block, by increasing the observation interval. This lowers the fundamental fre-
quency assumed in the spectral analysis. For a given sampling rate, the observation
interval is proportional to the number of samples taken for the FFT. With increased
observation interval, the harmonic distortion due to the discontinuity at boundaries
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 101
6

4
Signal

2
6

Windowed signal
0
0 200 400 600 800 1 000 4
1
Hamming window

0
0.5 0 200 400 600 800 1 000
Sample (n)

0
0 200 400 600 800 1 000
Sample (n)

Figure 5.2 Illustration of window function

tends to concentrate in the low-frequency range; their contribution in the high-

frequency range is reduced. It must be understood that the finite observation interval
always results in a fundamental limit on the frequency resolution. Lengthening the
observation interval increases the frequency resolution in the resultant spectrum.
Since FFT only provides components at discrete harmonic frequencies, which
are integer multiples of the fundamental frequency, there is always the risk that the
target component for CM is at a frequency that is between two-integer harmonic
frequencies. This means that not all frequencies can be seen by the FFT, due to the
so-called ‘Picket fence’ effect, disregarding the length of the observation interval.
In such a case, the energy of the components unseen by the FFT slips through the
Picket fence and leaks into the harmonics that are seen by the FFT. Several algo-
rithms, including polynomial estimations, have been developed to detect the target
component from the harmonics that have been identified by the FFT. For example,
Figure 5.3 shows how the energy of harmonics of unity amplitude of a machine
current signal at 59.83, 59.85 or 59.87 Hz could leak to components at 59.6, 59.7,
59.8, 59.9, 60 and 60.1 Hz that are at the FFT output frequencies, and this depends
on the sampling scheme used. Details of the algorithms to estimate the components
at intermediate frequencies, as a reverse process of what is shown here, can be
found in Durocher et al. (2004). In CM of rotating electrical machines, the target
frequency component in a signal is usually dependent on the speed of the machine
that may vary continuously depending on the load condition. As a result, the target
frequency is unlikely to be a multiple integer of the fundamental frequency deter-
mined by the length of the observation interval.
A final point that we would like to highlight here is the risk of aliasing that can
occur in the spectral analysis. More and more electrical machines nowadays are
connected to power electronic converters, which generate switching harmonics.
High-frequency harmonics exist in both machine current and vibration signals that
may be used for CM. Figure 5.4 illustrates the cause of aliasing. Suppose the ori-
ginal continuous time signal has a spectrum shown in Figure 5.4(a). The sampled
discrete time data then will have a spectrum shown in Figure 5.4(b) where the
102 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

1
59.80

Contribution to FFT components (p.u.)

59.83
0.8 59.85
59.87
59.90

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
59.6 59.7 59.8 59.9 60 60.1
Frequency (Hz)

Figure 5.3 Illustration of picket fence leakage

|G( f )| |G( f )|aliased

Aliased spectrum

0 f –fsampling 0 fsampling f

(a) (b)

Figure 5.4 Occurrence of aliasing: (a) true spectrum and (b) aliased spectrum

original spectrum is duplicated according to integer multiples of the sampling fre-

quency, see Flankin et al. (1998). If the sampling frequency is lower than the
Nyquist frequency that is twice of the highest frequency in the signal, as shown in
Figure 5.3, then aliasing occurs. In this case, some harmonic components in the
spectrum obtained by performing FFT on the sampled signal are due to aliasing or
sampling effects rather than real components of the original continuous time signal.
Consider an example. Figure 5.5(a) shows the stator current of an induction
motor fed by a PWM (pulse-width-modulation) voltage source inverter with a
symmetrical PWM switching frequency of fsw ¼ 2.5 kHz. The current is now
sampled also at a rate of 2.5 kHz and the result is shown in Figure 5.5(b). The
sampling rate may be considered natural because it coincides with the internal
clock of the controller that generates the PWM pulses. Suppose that the output
fundamental frequency of the inverter is fo ¼ 10 Hz. The actual current then con-
tains a fundamental component and harmonics at fsw2kfo, where k ¼ 1, 2, 3 . . . ,
giving harmonics at 2 480 Hz, and 2 520 Hz, due to the modulation process in the
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 103

40
30
20

Motor current (A)

10
0
–10
–20
–30
–40
0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1
(a) Time (s)
40
30
20
Motor current (A)

10
0
–10
–20
–30
–40
0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1
(b) Time (s)

Figure 5.5 (a) Inverter-fed motor current and (b) sampled motor current

inverter Mohan et al. (2003). A section of the true spectrum is shown in Figure 5.6
(a), the corresponding spectrum of the sampled current Figure 5.5(b) is shown in
Figure 5.6(b). The 2 480 Hz and 2 520 components in the original spectrum, after
being shifted downwards by 2.5 kHz, have contributed to the 20 Hz component in the
aliased spectrum that may be misinterpreted in CM and therefore should be taken care
of. The 40 Hz component is caused by the same mechanism. The effect of sampling
also depends on the instant of a sample is taken in a PWM switching cycle, see
Jintakosonwit et al. (2002).
If the sampling rate cannot be further increased, then a common practice is to
physically filter the signal and limit its frequency bandwidth before sampling. This
anti-aliasing filter can prevent unrealistic components being introduced to the
resultant spectrum. In general, the filter bandwidth and the sampling rate afterwards
should be determined after knowing the target frequencies that are to be extracted
for the purpose of CM.
As will be shown later in the book, spectral analysis is the foundation of CM
techniques for induction machines, based on measurement of the stator current, i.e.
104 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

40
30
20
Motor current (dB/A)
10
0
–10
–20
–30
–40
–50
–60
0 10 20 30 40 50
(a) Frequency (Hz)
40
30
20
Motor current (dB/A)

10
0
–10
–20
–30
–40
–50
–60
0 10 20 30 40 50
(b) Frequency (Hz)

Figure 5.6 Effect of sampling on inverter-fed motor current spectrum: (a) true
spectrum of motor current and (b) spectrum of sampled motor current

machine current signature analysis (MCSA). Later development normalised the

spectrum with respect to the supply frequency, slip and the rated current so that the
condition signatures can be easily identified Sapena-Bano et al. (2010). It is also
common to plot the amplitude in dB to highlight the weak signatures.

5.3 Higher-order spectral analysis

Higher-order spectral analysis is a relatively new technique for CM. The first-order
spectral analysis as described in the previous section makes little use of the phase
information of the Fourier harmonic components. This can be taken into account in
higher-order spectral analysis and the signal-noise ratio can be consequently
improved Arthur et al. (2000).
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 105

For first-order harmonic components defined by (5.2), a second-order power

spectral density (PSD) at frequency fk can be defined as:
Pðfk Þ ¼ Gðfk ÞG ðfk Þ (5.6)
where G*(fk) is the complex conjugate of G(fk). Extending this definition to third-
and fourth-order measures gives birth to the bispectrum B(f1,f2) and trispectrum T
(f1,f2,f3) as shown below.
Bðf1 ; f2 Þ ¼ Gðf1 ÞGðf2 ÞG ðf1 þ f2 Þ (5.7)

T ðf1 ; f2 ; f3 ÞÞ ¼ Gðf1 ÞGðf2 ÞGðf3 ÞG ðf1 þ f2 þ f3 Þ (5.8)
From (5.7) and (5.8), we may see that, unlike the PSD P(fk), the bi-spectrum
and tri-spectrum are functions of more than one frequency index and, further, we
may also see that they are complex quantities, that is they contain both magnitude
and phase information about the original sampled time signal. In contrast, P(fk) is
only of real values.
We can appreciate the value or potential of such higher-order spectral analysis
by looking into what happens during some typical faults that causes electro-
magnetic disturbances in the machine. For example, a broken rotor bar fault in an
induction motor will usually give rise to harmonics at two frequencies f1 and f2 in
the air-gap flux density, with phase angles ff1 and ff2 . A vibration signal is likely
to be related to the flux according to a quadratic function, see Onadera et al. (1993).
As a result, the vibration signal that can be acquired through an accelerometer con-
tains harmonics at frequencies f1, f2 and f1 þ f2 due to the quadratically non-linear
relationship. Their phase angles will be ff1 ; ff2 and ff1 þf2 ¼ ff1 þ ff2 , showing a
quadratic phase coupling that can be easily indicated by a peak in the bi-spectrum of
the vibration signal at the bi-frequency, B(f1,f2), where the associated bi-phase f(f1,f2)
tends to zero. Faults of other types that cause flux components at different frequencies
can be similarly detected provided that the target frequencies are known. Higher-
order spectral analysis can be used when multiple faults exist in the machine so that
more signature frequencies can be identified with a high signal-to-noise ratio, by
exploiting the property of phase coupling. Examples of using higher-order spectral
analysis for CM of induction machines are shown in Arthur et al. (2000).

5.4 Correlation analysis

This is a time-domain technique. Correlation between two signals, in the time
domain, is a process mathematically very similar to that of convolution. The auto-
correlation function provides a measure of the similarity between a waveform and a
time-shifted version of itself, whilst the cross-correlation function refers to two
different time functions.
The auto-correlation function of a time signal f (t) can be written as,
ð1
Rff ðtÞ ¼ f ðt  tÞf ðtÞdt (5.9)
1
106 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

The function f (t  t) is delayed version of f (t), by a time t. Essentially, the

process may be thought of as one signal searching through another to find
similarities.
If Rff (t) is plotted against t, then the result is a correlogram. If the signal tends
to repeat, the correlogram plot will give a peak indication when t is around the time
that takes the signal to show some repetition. Therefore auto-correlation is a
powerful tool to identify the repeating features that can be hidden in a signal mixed
with noises and disturbances.
Figure 5.7 illustrates the principle. The time signals are shown in Figure 5.7(a)
and (b), and the resulting correlogram in Figure 5.7(c). It is apparent that signals
exhibiting a periodic similarity, which may be difficult to extract from a back-
ground of noise, can be identified using this technique.
The cross-correlation function of two different signals f (t) and h(t) may be
written as,
ð1
Rfh ðtÞ ¼ f ðt  tÞhðtÞdt (5.10)
1

The similarity between correlation and convolution is now clearly seen. For
example, the convolution of the two time functions f(t) and h(t) would be expressed as,
ð1
g ðt Þ ¼ f ðt  tÞhðtÞdt (5.11)
1

h(t)

Rfh(τ)

t
τ
(a)

f(t – τ)

τ
(c)

t
(b)

Figure 5.7 The use of correlation functions

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 107

f(t) Time delay τ

f (t–τ)

Time Correlogram
Multiplier Rfh(τ)
averaging

h(t)

Figure 5.8 Implementing the measurement of correlograms

The only difference is that one of the time functions is effectively reversed.
Like the auto-correlation function, the cross-correlation function can also be used
to recover both the amplitude and phase of signals lost in a noisy background. If two
signals are inherently related but are phase shifted due to transmission delay in the
system or modulated by physical processes in the system, cross-correlation can reveal
the similarity between these signals, which are then confirmed to be due to the same
cause. Because of such a property, correlation functions are particularly suitable to
monitor faults like bearing degradation, PD activity on worn transformers, including
their on-load tap changers, which have intermittent effects during operation Yazici
(2004) and Kang et al. (2001). Correlation functions provide a means of relating the
CM signatures to the causes of faults. Correlation functions can also be used to
exclude the effects of factors that may not have direct implication on the plant con-
dition, for example, known variations of load or changes of ambient temperature.
If we redefine (5.10) in a slightly different way, that is let the cross-correlation
function between two signals f (t) and h(t) be
ð
1 T
Rfh ðtÞ ¼ lim f ðt  tÞhðtÞdt (5.12)
T !1 T 0

it is easy to see how the correlation process can be realised in a numerical algo-
rithm. Figure 5.8 illustrates the activity schematically; the time-averaging operation
required will be described in the next section.

5.5 Vibration signal processing

5.5.1 General
Vibration monitoring requires a number of specialised techniques and two of these
techniques shall be briefly mentioned here. Although they are beginning to estab-
lish themselves as powerful diagnostic tools, their acceptance and application, is
limited now primarily to the diagnosis of faults in gearboxes.
108 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

5.5.2 Cepstrum analysis

Mathematically, the cepstrum, C(t), a function described as the inverse Fourier
transform of the logarithm of the power spectrum of the function; that is if we
define the power spectrum, Pg( f), of a function g(t) as:

Pg ðf Þ ¼ F fg ðtÞg2 (5.13)
then the corresponding cepstrum is:
 
C ðtÞ ¼ F 1 loge Pg ðf Þ (5.14)
where F and F1 represent the forward and backward Fourier transforms, respec-
tively, described in Section 5.2. Therefore Pg( f) is the power spectrum of the time
signal g(t), which is also defined in (5.6). The dimension of the parameter t in
(5.14) is time and is introduced by the inverse Fourier transform; hence we can
display the magnitude of the cepstrum with respect to time intervals in the same
way as the spectrum can be illustrated with respect to frequency. The logarithm is
employed so that the harmonic components in Pg( f) that have relatively low
amplitudes are also taken into account; their existence is amplified. The inverse
Fourier transform in (5.14) tries to reconstruct the time signal but only highlights
the time instants when considerable activities are occurring.
From this, the repetition of the activities can be identified as demonstrated
next. The use of the cepstrum has found favour in examining the behaviour of
gearboxes because such items of equipment tend to produce many families of side-
bands in their vibration spectra, due to the variety of meshing frequencies and shaft
speeds that may be present. Figure 5.9(a) shows the power spectrum of a gearbox
vibration signal, containing harmonic side-bands that are spaced according to some
pattern. We hope to identify such a pattern in order to derive information about the
condition of the gearbox and the cause of fault if present. Figure 5.9(b) shows the
cepstrum calculated from the power spectrum using (5.14), with t progressing from
0 to a cycle. The horizontal axis here is practically time and the spikes correspond
to the instants when significant activities are present in the original time signal. It is
clear that the activities repeat predominantly according to two time periods, marked
as A and B, respectively, in Figure 5.8(b). By measuring the periods (8.083 and
19.6 ms), we know that the fundamental repetition frequencies are 123.75 and
51 Hz. We can then further infer that the power spectrum of Figure 5.9(a) contains
two sets of harmonic side-bands that are separated by 123.75 and 51 Hz, respec-
tively, as illustrated in Figure 5.9(c).
So, the cepstrum essentially highlights multiple periodicity in complex signals,
and hence identifies clearly various families of side-bands. The identification of
various side-bands in a rich signal may be practically impossible using spectral
analysis, but as Figure 5.9 shows the cepstrum easily picks them out.
We note in passing that although the horizontal scales of the cepstrum are in
seconds it is usual practice to refer to the horizontal quantity as frequency, the
peaks in the cepstrum as harmonics and the process as liftering. This is done to
firmly identify the methodology with that of spectral analysis. If this technique can
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 109

100 m
50 m

10 m
5m

1m
500 u

100 u
50 u

10 u
0 0.5 k 1.0 k 1.5 k 2.0 k 2.5 k 3.0 k
(a) Frequency, Hz
5.0
4.5 B
4.0
3.5
3.0 B

2.5
2.0 A
A B
A
1.5 A
A A
1.0 A B
0.5 A A A B
0
(b) 0 20 m 40 m 60 m 80 m 100 m 120 m
Time, s
100 m

10 m

1m

100,

10,
0 0.5 k 1.0 k 1.5 k 2.0 k 2.5 k 3.0 k
100 m

10 m

1m

100,

10,
0 0.5 k 1.0 k 1.5 k 2.0 k 2.5 k 3.0 k
(c) Frequency, Hz

Figure 5.9 Gearbox vibration spectra and associated cepstra: (a) power spectrum
of the gearbox, (b) cepstrum of the gearbox and (c) liftered spectra
110 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

identify side-bands with ease, then it may hold significant possibilities for the
identification of faults in induction machines, particularly when they are fed from
harmonic-rich inverters. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no work on this
application has yet been reported but it may yet prove to be a fruitful path to follow.
Its disadvantages lie with the technique complexity. It is a ‘post’ spectral analysis
tool, in much the same way as spectral analysis is generally employed once one’s
suspicions are aroused by anomalies in time domain signals taken using overall
level monitoring.

5.5.3 Time averaging and trend analysis

In Figure 5.7, the need for signal averaging was noted during the practical com-
putation of correlation functions. The averaging technique has found considerable
favour in its own right for the detection of faults in gear boxes and rolling element
bearings. It achieves this by simply averaging a large number of samples, taken
successively from the same transducer or an upper stream numerical process, with
each sample carefully timed to the same period. With rotating plant the rotational
period of the element under inspection is usually chosen. In this way, noise gen-
erated elsewhere in the system is effectively smoothed out, and the signals due to
faults that exhibit a cyclic pattern over the chosen period are enhanced.
Averaging can be implemented using one of the many transient signal capture
techniques. For example, if it is necessary to take the average of 1 000 records, say,
then each record must be captured and then stored for a simple average to be
obtained on a point-by-point basis. This is an inefficient technique since it requires
large amount of digital storage. It is possible to reduce this requirement sig-
nificantly by approximation and defining the average of a sampled quantity xn as,
xn  x n1
xn ¼ 
 x n1 þ (5.15)
n
In (5.15), n is the record number, xn is the value for the nth record, and x n and

x n1 are the average values up to the nth and (n  1)th records, respectively. Using
this technique it can be seen that only two records need to be stored at any given
time, yet the truly moving average is still calculable. The corresponding saving of
digital memory is obvious, but it has been gained at the expense of requiring more
rapid processing hardware, particularly if the period of each record is short. This
problem is not always significant, particularly as fast processors are becoming
more easily available in embedded systems. Time averaging is seldom applied to a
signal that changes very quickly with time. For example, it should not be used for
time-domain voltage and current signals. Time averaging is usually applied to a
signal that indicates the level of a signature in the frequency domain, for example,
the rms value of the voltage or current. Time averaging helps to avoid the effect of
random, background noise in that signal. It is nearly always possible to choose
records with suitable gaps between them. It is however of paramount importance to
ensure that each record is properly synchronised. In addition to time averaging that
filters out the random noise in the measurement, it is often necessary to perform
some trend analysis to capture the change of a CM signature in a relatively long
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 111

period of time. Auto-regression models in time series analysis Morris (2001) and
Stack et al. (2004) can be applied for the purpose on monitoring developing fault.
The usefulness for time-averaging techniques in monitoring electrical
machines is somewhat limited although it is effectively the technique described by
Tavner et al. (1986) for detecting rotor cage faults by speed variation. It may also
prove helpful for drive systems where the effect of a gearbox, excluding the input
shaft and bearings, can be removed using this technique.

5.6 Wavelet analysis

We do not attempt to present even an overview of the rich subject of wavelet

transform; interested readers are referred to Flordin (1999), for example. But there
is an increasing interest in developing CM techniques based on signal-processing
methods using the wavelet transform. This is primarily because of the limitations of
conventional spectral analysis based on Fourier series. For example, spectral ana-
lysis assumes that a signal is periodic and the harmonic components are obtained as
an average over the entire observation interval; there is no information about the
local variation of a signal at a certain frequency during a particular short period of
time. Faults of an intermittent nature, such as mechanical faults in an electric
machine drive train, cause intermittent, non-stationary, oscillatory signals; see, for
example, Lin et al. (2003). If the oscillatory signature lasts for only a relatively
short period each time it occurs, it may easily be masked if spectral analysis is
applied over a long observation interval. Also capturing such a signature may
require a high sampling rate that may not be acceptable to sample the signal for a
long period of time; a flexible sampling scheme is desirable. For the reasons to be
shown next, wavelet transform will be more suitable in such a case. It can employ a
long window and low sampling rate for a low frequency component in the signal,
and at the same time a short window and high sampling rate for a high frequency
component. Furthermore, wavelet transform exhibits time–frequency localisation
and globalisation, which gives a more precise description of the signal, providing
more informative data for CM.
It is true that CM is usually applied to steady-state signals, even the signature
carried by the signals may be of an intermittent nature. However, it has been rea-
lised that sometimes the target signature can be too difficult to separate from the
dominant fundamental signal. For example, a broken rotor bar fault in an induction
machine causes side-band current components whose frequencies are only slightly
different from the fundamental frequency, the difference depending on the slip,
which is normally very small in the steady state. It has been suggested by Zhang
et al. (2003) and Douglas et al. (2004) that a more effective method is to detect
the current signatures during start-up of the machine when slip is large. However,
the transient current during start-up is not a stationary and periodic signal.
Conventional spectral analysis would give erroneous results in this case. Again,
wavelet transform, due to its time-frequency localisation property, can be a more
suitable technique to extract the signatures from transient currents.
112 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Fourier analysis uses sine waves of different amplitudes, frequencies and phase
angles to synthesise a periodic signal. Wavelet transform expands this concept by
considering that a time domain signal, not necessarily periodic, can be reconstructed
using a series of small waveforms that can be transitioned and scaled in time. Such small
waveforms, which are called wavelets, no longer need to be periodic, like sine waves.
As an example, for a time signal f(t), and a chosen basic mother wavelet function y(t),
the corresponding wavelet transform, W(a,b), is defined as:
ð  
1 1  tb
W ða; bÞ ¼ pffiffiffi f ðtÞy dt; a > 0; 1 < b < 1 (5.16)
a 1 a
where a is the scaling factor of time while b is the time-shifting parameter in the
mother wavelet function and y is defined below. The mother wavelet function is
usually chosen as an oscillatory waveform that decays in both directions from the
centre of the wavelet, as shown in Figure 5.10. So, the parameters a and b in (5.16)
therefore scale the mother wavelet frequency and shift the centre of the mother
wavelet, respectively. For a given instant t ¼ b, if the signal f (t) contains significant
oscillation at a frequency coinciding with 1/a, then the integration shown in (5.16)
will result in a significant output. Because the mother wavelet decays in both
directions away from the centre t ¼ b, what happens to the signal f (t) long time
before t ¼ b or after t ¼ b does not matter. Therefore, wavelet transform provides
the local frequency information in signal f (t) around t ¼ b. As parameter b is
varied, the f (t) is scanned through in terms of time. As parameter a is changed,
signatures at different frequencies in the signal are revealed.
The decaying rate of the mother wavelet is usually selected to depend on the
scaling factor a. If a is small so that the corresponding frequency is high, then the

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

0
–0.2
–0.4
–0.6
–0.8

–1
–4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4
Time (s)

Figure 5.10 A mother wavelet function

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 113

decaying rate can be fast. If a is large corresponding to a low frequency, then the
decaying rate is slow. In this way, wavelet transform exhibits the property of
multiple resolutions. The low-frequency information, which is present for a rela-
tively long period of time in the signal, and the high-frequency information, which
exists for a short period of time, can be obtained simultaneously. A most commonly
used mother wavelet function, whose real part waveform is partially shown in
Figure 5.10, is the Gaussian function and this is described below in (5.17).

yðtÞ ¼ et
2 =2
½ cos ð2ptÞ þ j sin ð2ptÞ (5.17)
It is obvious that wavelet transform as defined in (5.16) can be calculated
numerically in a similar way to that shown in Figure 5.8, further taking into account
the complex number nature of the mother wavelet function. It is however important
to note that wavelet transform may involve different sampling rates and different
observation lengths. It is therefore important to keep synchronisation in the sam-
pling scheme. As y(t) is complex, from the output of wavelet transform W(a,b)
both amplitude and phase information can be retrieved.
For the sake of being complete, (5.18) gives the inverse wavelet transform
where:
ð1
C ðy; vÞ ¼ ½y ðvÞyðvÞ=vdv:
0
ð1 ð1  
1 1 tb
f ðt Þ ¼ p
2 a
ffiffi
ffi W ð a; bÞy db  da (5.18)
C 0 1 a a
Figure 5.11(a) shows a measured starting current signal of an induction motor
taken from Ran et al. (1996). It was found that transient torsional vibration was
excited during the direct-on-line starting of the motor. The natural frequency of the
mechanical shaft was known to be 22 Hz. Research showed that the torsional
vibration could be indicated in the motor stator current as side-band components at
28 and 72 Hz, assuming a supply frequency of 50 Hz. As the starting current was
transient and non-stationary, wavelet transform was applied to the current signal
and the result is shown in Figure 5.11(b). The development of the 28 Hz component
is clearly observed while the 72 Hz component is shadowed by the fundamental,
see Yacamini et al. (1998).

5.7 Model-based information extraction

The above is to extract the information from the available data. In practice, the
measurement of some variables may not be that straightforward. The dynamics of
the instrumentation system may need to be considered and some quantities ideal for
CM may not be directly accessible. For example, the temperature of permanent
magnets on the high-speed rotor may be important information when operating
safety critical permanent magnet machines, see Feng et al. (2018). Also, thermal
conductivity in parts of a machine system may better indicate the cooling system
114 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(a)

2 000
1 500
100
1 000 80
b(ms) 60
500 40 1
20 –
α (Hz)
0

(b)

Figure 5.11 Monitoring the onset of torsional vibration during the start-up of a
downhole motor pump set. Taken from Yacamini et al. (1998) and
Ran et al. (1996)

condition than temperature measurements themselves. In all these cases, the target
quantities need to be derived from data that are subject to modelling and/or mea-
surement errors. In recent years, there has been a trend to develop more insightful
and precise CM for electric machines using a mode-based approach, which com-
plements the more traditional data-driven approach.

5.7.1 Kalman filter

Kalman filter is traditionally used to estimate the unmeasurable state variables in a
dynamic system, and is executed numerically in discrete time-steps, see Dutton
et al. (1997). The estimation is based on measurable input and output signals that
are polluted by random noises. In the discrete time domain, the system model is:
xkþ1 ¼ ∅xk þ uk þ wk (5.19)
ykþ1 ¼ Cxk þ vk (5.20)
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 115

where x is the variable to be estimated, while u and y are the measured input and
output, respectively. Subscript k is the time-step, and w and v are noises. In appli-
cations, these quantities can be of high dimensions and the linearised model is
characterised by the matrices ∅ and C.
Our task is to estimate x at step k þ 1, given the input and output measurements
up to step k. Kalman filtering is a recursive process which breaks down the esti-
mation into two steps: ‘predict’ and then ‘correct’. The estimate from step k to step
k þ 1 is denoted as b x kþ1jk ; then b x kþ1jkþ1 is the final estimate given measurement at
step k þ 1. Starting from b x 0j0 , at each time-step k, the variable is predicted for the
next time-step k þ 1 using the first model equation:

b
x kþ1jk ¼ ∅b
x kjk þ uk (5.21)

This is used to predict the measurable output using the second model equation:

b
y kþ1 ¼ Cb
x kþ1jk (5.22)

When output measurement ykþ1 becomes available, its difference with b

y kþ1 is
used to correct the prediction for x, as:
 
b
x kþ1jkþ1 ¼ ∅bx kjk þ uk þ Kkþ1 ykþ1  b
y kþ1 (5.23)
where Kkþ1 is the Kalman gain which is updated step by step to minimise the
variance of the estimate b
x kþ1jkþ1 . The procedure to determine Kkþ1 can be found in
Dutton et al. (1997) and it reflects the statistic characteristics of noises w and v.
Both the linearised system model and the noise characteristics can be updated with
time. The Kalman filter is indeed adaptive, Dutton et al. (1997), extracted from
which Figure 5.12 shows the response of a Kalman filter for a second-order

12

10

6 ^
Amplitude

y X1
4

2
X1
0

–2

–4
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (s)

Figure 5.12 Noise rejection by Kalman filter from Dutton et al. (1997)
116 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

dynamic system where an internal variable x1 is estimated step by step as bx 1 . In this

case, the output y is actually measuring the internal variable x1 but subject to
considerable white random noise as shown in the Figure 5.12. The Kalman filter
has effectively rejected the noise present in the transient process.

5.7.2 Observer
Strictly speaking, the concept of an observer is not part of signal processing in the
normal sense, but of extracting information by modelling. While filtering works
on signals that are directly measured or indirectly estimated, an observer is more
suitable for updating model parameters which change as the monitored system
ages. Since CM focuses on the early stages of fault development, sometimes it
can be assumed that the model structure remains the same, and only the para-
meters need to be updated. This is usually acceptable for early stages of cooling
degradation, in both machines and power electronic systems, for example, Xiang
et al. (2011), Gerstenkorn et al. (2017). Figure 5.13 shows a block diagram to
estimate a thermal resistance value based on measurements of temperatures and
power losses, following the concept of a Luenberger observer, see Dutton et al.
(1997). The thermal resistance value is updated according to the difference
between the measured temperature and the temperature estimated by the electro-
thermal model of the system; a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) algorithm
can be employed to update the parameter and the process can be extended to
cases with multiple parameters to be updated. The objective here is to minimise
the difference between the model output and the actual measurement. As long as
the parameter changes slowly, the numerical process can be stable. As shown in
Xiang et al. (2011), an advantage of using the thermal resistance as a health
condition signature rather than using the measured temperature itself is that it is
more constant and insensitive to the change of the operating point. The estima-
tion of some internal temperatures can be achieved by Kalman filtering to
mitigate random measurement errors.

Input Output
Plant

Observer Measured output

Measured input
(e.g. temperature)
(e.g. power loss) +
Plant –
model Comparison

Error
Condition Parameter
signature (e.g. Rthermal ) adaptation

Figure 5.13 An observer for condition monitoring

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 117

5.8 Temperature instrumentation

Temperature is widely monitored in electrical drives and generators. For example,
it is common to find temperature sensing used to monitor specific areas of the stator
winding, core and cooling fluids of large electrical machines such as turbo-
generators. Such measurements can only give indications of gross changes taking
place within the machine but they are extremely effective if mounted and mon-
itored in carefully selected sites. When temperature measurement is combined with
information about machine load and ambient conditions, it provides very valuable
monitoring information. Bearing temperatures are commonly monitored on drive
trains and, together with vibration sensing, temperature measurement provides the
standard approach to the assessment of the condition of these elements. The typical
techniques and sites for temperature measurement in an electrical machine are
described in Chapter 8. Here, we describe the three principal methods of measuring
temperature electronically:
● resistance temperature detection (RTD),
● thermistors,
● thermocouples.
Each type has acceptable areas of application, which we will now briefly
investigate.
The RTD uses the resistance change of a metal to indicate temperature change.
Platinum and nickel is usually used because they are retardant to corrosion and
because they have sensitive resistance vs. temperature characteristics, as shown in
Figure 5.14, where R0 is the resistance of the device made of the metal at 0  C, see
Morris (2001). An RTD can be made by either winding insulated metal wire around

RT /R0
Nickel
7

Copper
6

5
Platinum
4

3 Tungsten

2
°C
1
200 400 600 800 1 000

Figure 5.14 Typical temperature–resistance characteristics of metals

118 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

a thin cylindrical former or by evaporating a thin coating of the metal on an insu-

lating, usually ceramic, substrate. Figure 5.15 shows a commercial sensor enclosed
in a thin stainless steel tube for protection. Such devices are widely used for gas and
liquid temperature measurement applications up to 1 000  C and are the usual
choice for electrical machine manufacturers for insertion between winding con-
ductors in machine slots.
RTD devices are constructed generally to a base resistance of 100 W at 0  C
and have the advantage of being linear over a wide operating range. They have very
good accuracy and precision but have, however, a relatively low sensitivity. They
are generally used in a 4-wire configuration of Wheatstone bridge, but 2- or 3-wire
operation is also possible. The circuit converts the change of resistance into the
change of output voltage.
Figure 5.16 shows a Wheatstone bridge circuit for an RTD device made of
platinum. The RTD device has the following temperature–resistance relationship:
RT ¼ R0(1 þ aT), where RT is the resistance in W and T is the temperature in  C.

Figure 5.15 An RTD device

Vs
Zero adjustment

R R
+

Vo

R0 RT
(RTD)
0V

Lead compensation

Figure 5.16 Wheatstone bridge circuit for an RTD

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 119

ar ¼ 0.00385/ C, R0 ¼ 100 W and the power supply to the circuits is Vs ¼ þ15 V.

Ignoring the zero adjustment resistance, Table 5.1 shows the output voltage cal-
culated for two resistance values: R ¼ 5 530 W and R ¼ 48 W. The overall sensi-
tivity and linearity between 0  C and 100  C are then derived. The sensitivity is
defined as the ratio of change of output to the change of input while the linearity is
defined as the deviation from the straight line between the two end points of the
whole range, that is from 0 to 100  C.
It is clear that increasing the value of R causes the sensitivity to be reduced but
the linearity to be improved. The self-heating error is reduced as the value of R is
increased. The Wheatstone bridge arrangement allows the lead resistance to be
easily compensated as shown in the figure.
Temperature measurement using thermocouples is based on the well-known
Seebeck effect whereby a current circulates around a circuit formed using two
dissimilar metals, when the metal junctions are held at different temperatures. If a
break is made in one of the wires, then a voltage is generated across the break,
which increases with the temperature difference between the junctions. One junc-
tion is held at a temperature that can be easily measured to allow the so-called
reference junction compensation. By doing this the need for a carefully controlled
reference junction temperature is avoided and a device with effectively only a
single junction result. Some typical junction materials and their associated oper-
ating ranges and outputs are given below in Table 5.2, derived from standard

Table 5.1 Response of a Wheatstone bridge RTD circuit

T ( C) RT (W) V0 (V @ R ¼ 5 530 W) V0 (V @ R ¼ 48 W)
0 100 0 0
20 105.79 0.0204 0.24
40 115.54 0.0406 0.46
60 123.24 0.0606 0.66
80 130.89 0.0804 0.84
100 138.5 0.1 1.0
Sensitivity 0.001 V/ C 0.01 V/ C
Linearity 0.6  C error 6  C error

Table 5.2 Ranges, outputs and sensitivity of thermocouple junction materials

Type Junction Range ( C) Output at Sensitivity at

materials 100  C (mV) 30  C (mV/ C)
E Chromel/constantan 279/1 000 6.317 0.0609
J Iron/constantan 210/1 200 5.268 0.0517
K Chromel/alumel 270/1 370 4.095 0.0405
N Nicrosil/nisil 270/1 300 2.774 0.0268
T Copper/constantan 240/400 4.277 0.0407
120 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

thermocouple tables. Multiple thermocouples can be cascaded to form a thermopile

of higher sensitivity.
Figure 5.17 shows thermocouples being bonded on the coils of an air-cored
axial flux permanent magnet motor in an electric vehicle for CM. It is essential to
use the correct leads when extending the wires to the point where the output voltage
is measured. As the thermocouple output is already in the form of a voltage, there is
no need to use additional circuit such as a Wheatstone bridge for signal conversion.
However, downstream devices are still generally required for amplification and
reference junction compensation. Figure 5.18 shows a reference junction tem-
perature compensation circuit using an LM35 integrated circuit (IC) whose output
voltage is 0 V at 0  C and increases at a rate of 10 mV/ C. A voltage divider is
included to cause an approximately 40 mV/ C voltage gradient across resistor R2
that forms part of the measured output voltage. The voltage across R2 will then
compensate the voltage developed across the cold junction marked as ‘3’ in
Figure 5.18, assuming that the cold junction is at room temperature around 30  C.

Thermocouple

Figure 5.17 Thermocouples to monitor coil temperature in a permanent magnet

wind turbine generator

2 Copper
Copper
+5 V
Measurement R1: 100 K
junction Compensated
LM35 output
10 mV/°C
1 voltage
R2: 424
Constantan
3 Copper

Figure 5.18 Reference junction compensation for a thermocouple

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 121

When appropriate, the sparking welding technique can be used to cause a ther-
mocouple junction directly on a metallic surface.
The working life of thermocouples depends on the working temperature and
the physical dimensions of the junction materials, but for copper/constantan and
chromel/alumel, which are most widely used in electrical machine CM, they are be
expected to survive for many years.
Provided the quality of the signal conversion circuit, the performance of
RTD temperature transduction is very good; it is however relatively expensive.
Thermocouples usually offer slightly reduced performance at much more modest
cost. We noticed that the changes of output involved in both types of temperature
transducers were small. Another type of temperature transducer we wish to briefly
mention is the thermistor that provides coarse but very sensitive response.
Thermistors are manufactured from the blends of metal oxides of cobalt, iron,
titanium and nickel, which are fired like clays into small discs or beads that may be
encapsulated in resin or enclosed in protective brass tubes. They are also available
in the form of washers for easy mounting. Figure 5.19 shows a range of commercial
thermistors.
Thermistors exhibit a large change in resistance as a function of temperature.
In addition to sensitivity, they also have the advantages of high stability, fast
response, and very small physical size. Typically a glass bead device will have a
diameter in the order of 0.25 mm, whilst flake thermistors are produced in thickness
down to 0.025 mm with cross-sections of 0.5  0.5 mm. The size advantage means
that the time constant of thermistors operated in sheaths is small. But the size
reduction also decreases the heat dissipation capability and so makes the self-
heating effect of greater importance. Thermistors are generally limited to 300  C,
above which level the stability reduces. They do not provide a linear output and this

Washer

Disk in sleeve Bead

Surface-mount
devices

Tube sheath

Disk
Screw

Figure 5.19 Commercial thermistors. Source: EPCOS Inc. & Tyco

Electronics Corp
122 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

must be taken into account. For this reason, it is also difficult to control the con-
sistency between samples of thermistors, implying that the precision achievable is
relatively low. A thermistor is usually used as a logic switching device to operate
an alarm when the temperature exceeds a preset limit and are inexpensive.
Figure 5.20 shows four typical temperature–resistance characteristics of ther-
mistors. The nominal values of resistance 10, 20, 30 or 100 kW are defined for a room
temperature of 25  C. We note that the vertical axis is in logarithmic scale implying
that the change of resistance with temperature is indeed significant. Since the accuracy
of the device is hardly high and the characteristic may also slightly drift after long-
time thermal cycling, the signal conversion scheme adopted for a thermistor is usually
quite simple; in most applications, a voltage divider will be more sensible than a
Wheatstone bridge circuit, helping to keep the overall cost down.
Semiconductor temperature transducers in the form of ICs have found more
applications, Morris (2001). Their design results from the fact that semiconductor
diodes have temperature sensitive voltage–current characteristics. With external
power supply and internal feedback mechanisms, transistors in the IC can be made
to produce an output current or voltage that is proportional to the absolute tem-
perature. A voltage is developed as the current flows through a fixed resistor. The
use of IC temperature sensors is limited to applications where the temperature is
within a 55 to 150  C range. Their errors are typically 3%, quite low indeed.
They are very inexpensive and therefore have been used in large quantities to
monitor the temperature distribution of equipment featuring large dimensions, such
as pipes and cables. We have described reference junction compensation. Such ICs
can also be used for that purpose.
Other techniques such as quartz thermometers, fibre-optic temperature sensing,
infrared thermography can be used to achieve high accuracy, fast response or
provide non-contact and spark free solutions. They are generally more expensive
than the techniques described above and have not been widely used in CM of

104
R
(kΩ)
103

102

10

30 kΩ
10–1 20 kΩ 100 kΩ
10 kΩ

10–2
–50 50 150 250 T(°C) 350

Figure 5.20 Thermistor characteristics

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 123

Laser light

Detector Optic fibre

Back Coupler
scattering

Data
Computer
acquisition

Figure 5.21 Principle of fibre-optic temperature sensing

electrical machines. However, in cases where the value of the monitored equipment
greatly exceeds the cost of the transducers, such techniques are now increasingly
being used. For instance, fibre-optic temperature sensing has been applied to
identify hot spots in switchgear, transformers and more recently synchronous
generators, see Morris (2001) and Miyazaki et al. (2003). For this reason, we now
outline the principle and characteristics of such a technique, indicating its advan-
tages and limitations.
Figure 5.21 shows the basic concept of fibre-optic temperature sensing. When
a laser pulse is injected into the optic fibre, it is subject to scattering as it travels and
the back scattered pulse is returned as shown in the principle of optical time domain
reflectometry (OTDR), Miyazaki et al. (2003) and Rogers (1982). The back-
scattered light consists of a Rayleigh component, a Brillouin component and a
Raman component, which differ in wavelength. Thermally influenced molecular
vibration causes the Raman-scattered component to change and therefore it is
sensitive to temperature. According to the time when the signatures in the back-
scattered light are received, the temperature along the optical fibre can be detected.
Therefore, fibre-optic temperature sensing can be a naturally distributed method.
Spatial resolution is typically in the 1 m range in terms of the fibre length. By winding
the optic fibre around the body whose surface temperature is to be measured, better
spatial resolution in terms of physical body dimensions can be achieved, see Kher
et al. (2004). Using a technique called fibre Bragg grating (FBG), distributed tem-
perature sensing can be multiplexed with strain and displacement measurements in the
same fibre-optic system, as to be described later in this chapter. The temperature
resolution is typically <0.1  C in the range from 0  C to a few hundreds of  C. The
response time of fibre-optic temperature sensing can be 1 ms to 2 s.

5.9 Vibration instrumentation

5.9.1 General
In Chapter 8, we will discuss in detail the techniques available and the applicability
of vibration monitoring. This is particularly useful for monitoring the condition of
components in the mechanical drive of electrical machines, such as gearboxes,
shaft couplings, bearings and rotor unbalance. More recent work has extended that
124 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Table 5.3 Matching vibration transducer to the required frequency range,

Mills (2010)

Transducer Typical transducer output response

0–2 Hz 2–5 Hz 5–200 Hz 0.2–1 kHz 1–2 kHz 2–20 kHz

Displacement Good Good Good Fair Poor Nil
Velocity Fair Good Good Good Fair Poor
Accelerometer Poor Fair Good Good Good Good

to the extraction of condition information from electrical variables such as current,

vibration sensing, including acoustic noise, and it remains a most important mon-
itoring technique for the operators of electromechanical plant. Its use is extremely
widespread and has reached a high degree of sophistication. It revolves around the
measurement of three quantities that are related by numerical integration or
differentiation:
● displacement,
● velocity,
● acceleration.
Which quantity one should measure depends on the size of the plant being
monitored, and the frequency range in which one is interested. Generally, machines
of similar type and size have a more or less constant vibrational velocity. Also, as
the vibration frequency increases it is likely that displacement levels fall, but
acceleration levels rise. This suggests that with increasing frequency it is better to
progress from a displacement device to a velocity transducer and ultimately to an
accelerometer.
The frequency ranges of various transducers are shown in Table 5.3.
As a guide, the approximate frequency ranges of vibration transducer appli-
cations are shown graphically in Figure 5.22; it is useful to appreciate that an
integration process to obtain velocity attenuates measurement noise whilst differ-
entiation to obtain acceleration amplifies it.
Care must be exercised, however, when monitoring systems with small moving
masses, for in such circumstances transmitted forces may be small and the accel-
erometer mass may be significant compared to the body mass. Here, displacement
will usually provide the best indication of condition.
We can now characterise the vibration transducers according to the quantity
they measure.

5.9.2 Displacement transducers

Here, we confine ourselves to non-contact displacement probes or proximeters.
This excludes some capacitive and low-frequency inductive devices such as a
linear-variable differential transformer LVDT. One type of non-contact device that
is used in CM operates by using a high-frequency current/voltage source to
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 125
100 000 000
10 000 000 Piezoelectric accelerometer/transducer
1 000 000 Eddy current displacement transducer
100 000
10 000
Velocity mm/s rms

1 000
100
10
1.0
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001
0.00001 Electro-mechanical velocity transducer
0.000001
0.01 0.01 1.0 10 100 1 000 10 000 100 000
Frequency (Hz)

Figure 5.22 Normal frequency range applicabilities for vibration transducers,

Mills (2010)

generate an electromagnetic field at the probe tip. The system energy, due to eddy
currents in the target, is dependent upon the local geometry of the area surrounding
the probe tip. If the system energy changes, for example, when the target surface,
which is ferromagnetic and electrically conductive, moves with respect to the
probe, then the system energy also changes. This change is readily measured as
the change of voltage/current in the high-frequency excitation circuit is related to
the displacement of the target surface from the probe tip. It should be noted that
such systems measure the relative motion between the probe and the target; hence
the vibration of the housing in which the probe is mounted is not readily measured
by this technique. Figure 5.23 shows the operation of a proximity probe.
Sensitivities in the order of 10 mV/m displacement are easily achievable with
displacement probes, and they find wide application in situations where heavy
housings ensure small external movements. The measurements of shaft eccentricity
and differential movements due to expansion are therefore most easily achieved
using displacement transducers. The same principle has been used to develop
devices that effectively measure rotational displacement or speed by sensing the
passage of keyways on the shafts, these are sometimes called key phasors.
As mentioned previously, displacement is most effectively measured at the
lower frequencies even though the frequency range of eddy current systems can
extend above 10 kHz. They are relatively robust transducers and the driving and
detection circuits are straightforward. Essentially the high-frequency signal applied
to the probe is modulated by the passage of the target, and the demodulated signal
used as the measurement quantity. Consideration of Figure 5.22, which illustrates
the basic displacement measurement principle, shows us that the output of the
system will depend not only on the displacement between the probe and the target,
but also on the material from which the target is made. This is because the eddy
current reaction of the target, and hence the system energy, is dependent upon the
126 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Housing
Air gap
g Shaft

Housing

DC output
Driver/Detector proportional to g

Figure 5.23 Operation of a proximeter probe

Laser light
source

Shaft

Housing
Receiver

Figure 5.24 Principle of fibre-optic proximetry

conductivity and/or permeability of the material. Proximity probes must therefore

be calibrated for each target material. Care must also be taken when mounting the
probe to ensure that electrically conducting and magnetic surfaces around the probe
tip do not cause unnecessary disturbance of the applied high frequency field and
that the target surface is smooth with no surface or magnetic disturbances.
Another non-contact device uses a fibre-optic, which detects the light reflec-
tion and compares it with the injected light to determine the distance between the
reflection surface and the optic fibre end. This is illustrated in Figure 5.24.
The result is converted into a voltage signal using a photodiode in the receiver.
The contact-free measurement range is up to 0.3 mm with typical resolution of
0.01 mm. There are other fibre-optic displacement sensors based on an FBG that
can have a larger measurement range. However, they usually require contact to the
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 127

target surface; temperature compensation may also be necessary as the displace-

ment is translated into strain for measurement, see Iwaki et al. (2000). In general,
fibre-optic devices are intrinsically immune to electromagnetic noise problems.

5.9.3 Velocity transducers

Rotational speed in electrical machine systems is usually measured for the purpose
of control. Optical encoders are now used as common practice. They effectively
derive the speed information by counting the position rotated per unit time. The
optical encoder, which when in use is attached to the rotating shaft, carries a disk
cut in slits. A light source and a receiving device are aligned on both sides of the
disk. Light pulses are caused on the receiver, which are converted into electrical
pulses by a photo-sensitive transistor. Such an encoder is very suitable to interface
with a digital control system. The angular resolution is typically 0.18 corre-
sponding to 2 000 pulses per revolution. Linear encoders are commercially avail-
able. However, application of such optical encoder for vibration measurement has
been limited to very low-frequency range because position variation is hardly
enough when the vibration frequency is high.
High-precision electromagnetic resolvers can also be used to obtain the rota-
tional information from a drive shaft.
For vibration measurement, velocity is most usefully sensed in the frequency
range from 10 Hz to 1 kHz. This is usually achieved in an analogue manner by
designing a spring mass system with a natural frequency less than 10 Hz, and
letting the mass take the form of a permanent magnet, as illustrated in Figure 5.25.
The device is responsive regardless of the range of displacement involved in
vibration. The magnet is then surrounded by a coil that is securely attached to the
housing. Whenever the housing is placed in contact with a vibrating surface, the
housing and coil move with respect to the magnet and cause an EMF to be induced
in the coil, in accordance with the expression:
e ¼ ‘Bv (5.24)

Spring

Mass in the form

of a magnet
Coil

Probe tip

Figure 5.25 Principle of an electromagnetic velocity probe

128 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

where e is the induced EMF, ‘ the effective length of the conductor in the coil, B
the radially directed flux density, which is ideally constant and v is the velocity in
the axial direction.
This transducer is relatively delicate but has the advantage of producing an
output signal that is relatively large, and therefore requires little or no signal con-
ditioning. Modern electromagnetic velocity transducers are designed using
computer-aided design software including finite-element analysis to ensure the
quality of dynamic response in the target frequency range.

5.9.4 Accelerometers
Nowadays, however, velocity and displacement are commonly measured using
accelerometers, the required parameters being derived by integration. Accelerometers
are rigidly fastened to the body undergoing acceleration. For each accelerometer there
is a sensing axis aligned with the direction of the acceleration that is intended to be
measured. Accelerometers produce an electrical output that is directly proportional to
the acceleration in the sensing axis. The output should be low if the acceleration is
applied at 90 to the sensing axis; the non-zero output is due to cross-sensitivity.
The piezoelectric device has become almost universally accepted as the
transducer to use for all but the most specialised of vibration measurements. The
piezoelectric crystals act as both the spring and damper in the accelerometer that is
consequently very small and light in weight. The piezoelectric accelerometer is
physically much more robust than the velocity transducer and has a much superior
frequency range. This has become more important as CM techniques involving
frequencies well above 1 kHz have been adopted.
The construction of a typical piezoelectric accelerometer is illustrated in
Figure 5.26.
When it is subject to vibration, the seismic mass, which is held against the
piezoelectric crystal element, exerts a force upon it. This force is proportional to the
acceleration. Under such conditions, the piezoelectric crystal, which is usually a
polarised ceramic material, generates a proportional electric charge across its faces.

Piezoelectric element Triangular Preloading spring

in shear centre post

Piezoelectric
Preloading Seismic mass element in
ring compression

Output Output

Base
Delta shear type Compression type

Figure 5.26 A piezoelectric accelerometer. Source: Bruel and Kjaer

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 129

|A| Accelerometer
resonance peak

Operating range
Frequency

25 kHz

Figure 5.27 Accelerometer response

The output can then be conditioned using a charge amplifier and either incremental
velocity or displacement signals recovered by integration. The device has the
obvious advantage of generating its output without an external electrical source
being required. As the electrical impedance of a piezoelectric crystal is itself high,
the output must be measured with a very high-impedance instrument to avoid
loading effects. Integrated circuit piezoelectric devices have become available with
a high-impedance charge amplifier resident in the accelerometer encapsulation. In
recent years, integrated accelerometer circuits, which include more than one sen-
sing axis, have been developed to permit 2D and 3D measurements.
When using piezoelectric accelerometers it is important to realise that, unlike
proximity probes, the natural frequency of the device is designed to be above the usual
operating range. A typical frequency response is shown in Figure 5.27. This limits the
useful operating range to around 30% of the natural frequency. Also, because the
output is low at low frequencies the normal range of application of accelerometers is
approximately 1 to 8 kHz, although small devices may have ranges extending beyond
200 kHz and integrated amplifier allows measurement at nearly DC.
There is an extremely wide range of piezoelectric accelerometers available
today, from very small devices that will measure shocks of high acceleration, in
excess of 106 ms2, to large devices with sensitivities greater than 1 000 pC/ms2.
Highly sensitive devices, on the other hand, have to be physically large so as to
accommodate the increased seismic mass required to generate the high output. In
all cases, however, care must be taken when mounting accelerometers since they
can be easily destroyed through over-tightening.
Table 5.4 below provides a short summary of the area of application of each of
the vibration transducer types discussed above.

5.10 Force and torque instrumentation

One of the most common ways of measuring force is to use a strain gauge, a simple
device that comprises a long length of resistance wire formed into a zigzag shape
and securely bonded to a surface that will alter shape elastically under the action of
the force. When the gauge is stressed under the action of the force, the cross-section
and length of the wire changes so that its resistance alters. In recent years, wire-type
gauges have largely been replaced by metal foil or semiconductor types.
130 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Table 5.4 Application of vibration-monitoring techniques

Application Transducer type

Motor pump drives Velocity or acceleration
Motor fan drives Displacement or velocity
Motor connected to the gearbox with rolling Acceleration
element bearings
Motors and steam, gas or hydro-turbine-driven Displacement
generators with oil film bearings
Overall vibration levels on all the above Velocity
machines

Figure 5.28 A metal foil-type strain gauge

Figure 5.28 shows a metal foil-type strain gauge; the material used is typically the
‘advance alloy’ made of copper, nickel and manganese. Cutting a foil into the
required shape is much easier than forming a piece of wire into the required shape,
and this makes the devices cheaper to manufacture.
The input–output relationship of a strain gauge is expressed by the gauge
factor, G, which is defined as the relative change in resistance, R, for a unit value of
strain, e, that is:
 
DR
G¼ e (5.25)
Rnominal
Strain gauges are manufactured to various nominal values of resistance, of
which 120, 350 and 1 000 W are the most common. The typical maximum change
of resistance in a 120 W device would be 5 W at maximum deflection. The resis-
tance of the gauge is usually measured by a bridge circuit and the strain and hence
force is inferred from the bridge output measured. The maximum current that is
allowed to flow in a strain gauge is in the region of 5 to 50 mA, generally small to
limit the self-heating effect.
In order to measure forces, strain gauges need to be applied in a particular
arrangement, examples of which are shown in Figure 5.29. Within the same
stressed structure, usually some strain gauges are subject to tension while other two
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 131

Gauge
elements

Load cell Beam element

Proving ring

Figure 5.29 Arrangement of strain gauges to measure the force

+Vs

R + ΔR R – ΔR

+
Vout
–

R – ΔR R + ΔR

–Vs

Figure 5.30 Wiring of strain gauges in a Wheatstone bridge

are subject to compression. Consequently, the resistance of some strain gauges

increases while that of others decreases. Figure 5.30 shows a common way of
wiring four strain gauges into a Wheatstone bridge where the increased and
decreased resistance alternates to maximise the output sensitivity. Note that the
voltage supply to the Wheatstone bridge circuit is Vs rather than between 0 and
2 Vs. This is to avoid common mode voltage in the output that can cause common
mode errors in the down-stream circuits.
Force transducers of this type are routinely used to measure forces ranging
from a few Newtons to huge tonnes of force. Care must be taken to either operate
132 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Table 5.5 Other strain measurement methods

Method Principle of operation Remarks

Fluidic load Force applied to a diaphragm causes Pressure signal must then be
cells pressure. converted to an electrical output.
Optical Twisting torque causes displace- High resolution needed. Usually
encoder ment across the two ends of a applied on long shaft such as in
shaft. turbine-generators.
Fibre-optic Some fibre-optics exhibit the prop- Careful phase measurement needed.
erty to rotate the transmitted light Expensive but highly accurate.
in proportion to the stress applied
to the fibre.
Magneto- The magnetic properties of some Expensive but accurate. Special
elastic ferromagnetic materials depend precaution needed to screen
on the mechanical stress the devices.
material is subject to.

them at a constant temperature or properly compensate for the effects due to

expansion. Modern strain gauge bridge systems, to measure DR, may be self-
balancing with automatic read out.
It is immediately apparent that such devices can be used to measure torques
applied to shafts but if the shaft is in motion the additional problem of extracting
the signal must be faced. This may be done using instrumentation grade slip rings
attached to the shaft, or by suitable noise-free telemetry. Telemetry systems in the
electrically noisy environment around electromechanical machinery can be diffi-
cult to implement. Alternatively, contact free inductive magneto-elastic or FBG
torque transducers can be used that work on the change of the material permeability
or the reflection of polarised light. Table 5.5 outlines a few such strain measure-
ment methods that, although still relatively expensive, are becoming increasingly
popular owing to the computing power available for the compensation of tem-
perature and/or nonlinearity effects. For instance, Sihler et al. (2005) described a
case of using an inductive torque transducer in a synchronous generator system to
monitor the occurrence of sub-synchronous resonance and this enables the control
system to provide damping using active compensation, this subject is dealt with in
more detail in Chapter 8.
In this section, we have simply outlined the most common means of measuring
force, and it is an area that is extremely well established and highly developed.
The use of specific techniques for particular applications can be found by searching
the large literature associated with force measurement. Some helpful references are
Beihoff (1999) and Gao et al. (1999).

5.11 Electromagnetic instrumentation

The basic electrical quantities associated with electromechanical plant are readily
measured by tapping into the existing CTs and VTs that are always installed as part
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 133

of the protection system. These are standard and therefore need not be considered
further here.
There can be a requirement, however, to measure the magnetic flux density in,
or around, electrical machines. This is not normally measured for control or pro-
tection. For the purpose of CM, this can be done in one of the two ways. Either a
simple search coil is used, or a Hall-effect device may be more appropriate. These
two options are different in nature since the search coil is a passive device whereas
the Hall-effect device is not. On the other hand, only the search coil has the
capacity for significant energy storage and the risk of sparking; therefore in areas
that may present an explosion hazard, such as on offshore oil rigs or refineries, their
use must conform to current safety standards. The search coil induced EMF, e, is
given by the expression:

e ¼ wBAN (5.26)

where w is the frequency of the normal component of flux density, BA is the
effective cross-section of area of the coil and N the number of turns in the coil.
Such devices cannot detect DC fields and at very high frequencies their output may
be limited by the self-screening effects due to the parasitic capacitance
between turns.
Coils can be produced by evaporating copper directly onto surfaces, in the
appropriate position, or by evaporating them on to insulating materials such as
Mylar, which can then be bonded to the appropriate surface. These techniques are
extremely useful if the coil is to be used inside an electrical machine, where the coil
must not be allowed to move into the air-gap and risk damage to other areas of the
machine.
As previously mentioned, if the coil is to be placed in a hazardous area then it is
not the output of the coil that is important, it is the possibility of an unwanted input
that must be considered. The energy stored in a coil is given by the expression:

Ee ¼ ð1=2ÞLI 2 (5.27)
where L is the inductance of the coil, and I the current flowing in it. The stored energy
Ee can be reduced by ensuring that either L is low or I is limited. For a high signal
output, L, which is a function of the number of turns, N, should be reasonably high.
Therefore, one must limit I, usually by a large resistance of the coil. It is then
important that the input impedance of the downstream circuit is high. If this is the
case, the voltage measured across the terminals of the search coil indicates the EMF
and hence the flux density, without much effect of the coil resistance or inductance. A
search coil is often made of thin wire so the coil resistance is high; the input impe-
dance of the downstream circuit should be significantly higher. Suitable buffering to
the signal conditioning amplifier is sufficient to allow operation in most areas.
The Hall-effect device does not suffer from such disadvantages so long as the
required power supply to the device is suitably isolated, but it is by nature only able
to provide a measurement of flux density over a very small area. Figure 5.31 shows
the basic principle of operation of the Hall-effect element. When a current I flows
134 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Bulk semiconductor
material
V

Figure 5.31 The Hall-effect principle

through the Hall device in perpendicular to an applied magnetic-filled strength B,

the electrons are crowded to front surface due to Lorentz force causing a transverse
voltage across the device. The output voltage, V, is related to the applied current, I,
and the field, B, by:
kIB
V¼ (5.28)
nq
where
q ¼ electron charge,
n ¼ the number of charge carriers per unit volume in the semiconductor,
k ¼ a constant,
k/nq ¼ Hall constant of material.
In measuring the magnetic field, the current is established and regulated by a
power supply.
Hall-effect devices have the advantage of being able to measure down to DC,
and can be made in extremely small sizes. Since Hall effect can be established in
less than a nanosecond, the response bandwidth of a Hall-effect transducer can be
easily over 100 MHz.
We said at the beginning that current and voltage measurements are usually
obtained from CTs and VTs. This is often the only option we have for large generators
in power plants. For small- and medium-size electric machines, for example, motors
in most VSDs, it is often more common to measure both current and voltage using
Hall-effect transducers. Figure 5.32 shows a board with three Hall-effect current
transducer channels and a board with three Hall-effect voltage transducer channels.
The operating principle of the transducer is still that shown in Figure 5.31.
Commercial Hall-effect current transducers require voltage supply to establish the
current while the magnetic field is set up by the current to be measured. This allows
contact free arrangement as the conductor carrying the current passes through the Hall
transducer that is shaped in a ring. Hall-effect transducers are also available for
measuring voltage, where the voltage is turned into weak current through a large
ohmic resistor, say 100 kW. Both current and voltage measurement using Hall-effect
transducers requires on-board signal conditioning to set the ratio.
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 135

Voltage
transducers
Current
transducers

Figure 5.32 Hall-effect current and voltage transducers

vo (EMF)
Current

Figure 5.33 Illustration of a Rogowski Coil measuring current in a bus-bar

Another current transduction technique used for CM of electrical machines is

the Rogowski coil whose operating principle is similar to that of a search coil.
However, a Rogowski coil is specifically arranged to provide features that are
desirable in some applications. As shown in Figure 5.33, a Rogowski coil is an air-
cored toroidal coil that can be placed around a conductor that may carry current. An
EMF is induced by the alternating magnetic field. Since there is no saturable
magnetic component in the coil, the total magnetic field is strictly proportional to
the current that excites it and the net effect of any current external to the toroidal
coil is always zero. To complete the Rogowski coil current transducer, the induced
EMF is electronically integrated so that the output from the integrator, properly
initialised, is a voltage that accurately reproduces the current waveform. Rogowski
coils are often used to capture the high-frequency spikes in the neutral current that
may be used to interpret internal faults or PD in an electrical machine, see Xiao
136 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

et al. (2003). Conventional CTs are not suitable for this purpose due to more lim-
ited bandwidth and possible core saturation.

5.12 Wear and debris instrumentation

In many electrical machines, we can derive crucial condition information from
fluid lubricant and coolant. For example, bearing damage accounts for at least 50%
of rotating electrical machine failures, see Chapter 3 and Durocher et al. (2004). As
the bearing wears, we would naturally expect to detect debris in the lubricant.
Similarly, when internal faults such as PDs occur in the machine, we would expect
that the coolant would be contaminated. Chemical methods of monitoring the wear
and contamination will be discussed in detail in Chapter 6. For completeness, we
will here briefly describe the physical techniques of debris measurement in line
with the transduction task in monitoring. The most common method of doing this is
to use a so-called debris sensitive detector. Such a detector depends on the lubri-
cating fluid being continually passed through a device that is sensitive to the pre-
sence of particular material. This is commonly achieved using either an electrical
transducer to measure the electrical changes in inductance, capacitance, or con-
ductivity, or optically by measuring changes in turbidity of the lubricant.
The principle of operation of the electrical techniques is essentially the same.
The lubricant and debris pass through a small chamber that can alternatively be part
of a conductive circuit, the dielectric in a capacitor, or part of a magnetic circuit, in
order to measure the changes in conductivity, capacitance or inductance, respec-
tively. AC power supply is usually needed when detecting the change of capaci-
tance or inductance.
All of these devices can give good indications of general levels of wear, and
dramatic indications of the occasional large pieces of debris. Such transducers are
both complex and expensive, and require careful and regular attention. Figure 5.34
shows a scheme of measuring the change of inductance, which is most widely used in
practice. An inductive coil is placed around the tube carrying the fluid that may
contain metallic debris. The inductance of the coil is detected using a high-frequency

Shield case
Coil

Inlet tube
Power supply and
signal output

Circuit

Figure 5.34 Structure of an inductive debris detector

 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 137

To signal conditioning

Light sensor
Test cell for
transmission
measurement
Lubricant

Figure 5.35 Arrangement for an optical debris sensor

oscillating circuit. Ferromagnetic debris in the oil increases the coil inductance and
hence decreases the resonant oscillating frequency of an LC circuit. If the metallic
debris is non-ferromagnetic, the high-frequency inductance of the coil tends to reduce
due to eddy current induced in the debris, see Whittington et al. (1992).
Optical monitors generally operate by sensing either a loss of transmission of
light through a test cell, or by detecting light scatter from the particular matter
(known as the Tyndall effect), as shown in Figure 5.35.
Maintenance of optical systems is minimal, and they may be used on a wide
variety of fluids. They are subject to spurious output, however, if the lubricant
becomes aerated to any significant degree. Being more suitable for detecting fine
particles in the fluid, they are however unable to differentiate between harmful and
non-harmful particulate matters. Optical and electrical detectors are often used in
combination in CM applications.

5.13 Signal conditioning

Signals from sensing devices will often require some type of modification before
they are transferred for data acquisition and signal processing. This requires local
signal conditioning circuits that usually employ analogue devices. The modifica-
tion may be amplification or averaging, for example. In noisy environments, it is
often necessary to filter the outputs of the transducers. Figure 5.36 shows two
typical signal conditioning circuits using operational amplifiers, and their input–
output relationships under ideal conditions. Their operation is explained thoroughly
in many text books. Figure 5.37 shows a buffer amplifier circuit that can avoid the
effect of the resistance of the leads. This allows transmission of analogue signals
over distances up to 100 m using the screened cables.
We have already discussed in previous sections that many transducers output a
differential voltage signal by using a Wheatstone bridge whose loading capability is
very small, that is the current drawn from the bridge should ideally be zero.
138 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

RF R RF
v1
R
– v2 –
R
vin v3
+ vout = vin(RF/R+1) +
vout = –RF/R(v1+v2+v3)

R Non-inverting
Summing/averaging
amplifier
amplifier

Figure 5.36 Two commonly used amplifier circuits

V in Cable resistance has little effect.

–

+
load
V out
RL

R Vout = Vin(RL/R)

Figure 5.37 Buffer amplifier circuit for signal transmission

– Vs –Vs
R R
+
–
RG
+ Vo
+
RT R0
Instrumentation
–
amplifier
0V

Figure 5.38 Instrumentation amplifier

Furthermore, we often would like to turn the differential voltage into a voltage
signal referenced to the common ground with the rest to the circuit. This can be
achieved by an instrumentation amplifier, as shown in Figure 5.38, and an RTD
temperature transducer. The entire circuit is usually made in a single chip and value
RG can be tuned externally to adjust the overall gain of amplification.
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 139

More generally, great care must be taken with regard to the cabling and ter-
mination of transducers and equipment to reduce noise problems. Cables should be
of high quality and routed through unexposed areas wherever possible, so as to
avoid the possibility of accidental damage. If many channels coexist in the same
transmission corridor, care must be taken to avoid common impedance coupling
between channels by segregating power from signal cables and ensuring that cables
cross at right angles where EMC isolation is important. In most cases, twin-
screened twisted pairs should be used to couple a transducer to the primary data
acquisition unit to avoid induction from low-frequency fields <500 Hz. Screened
co-axial cables are suitable to screen from high frequency fields >100 kHz. Optical
fibre cabling is now robust and therefore a frequently used alternative, particularly
when high noise immunity is essential. These issues are particularly important
when CM electrical machines supplied from harmonic rich converters.
Communications between the primary data acquisition unit and the processing
system should also be established via a high-integrity low-noise link to avoid any
chance of data corruption, or interruption.

5.14 Data acquisition

The precise nature of the data acquisition techniques used is usually determined by
the subsequent algebraic manipulations that will be performed on the data sets
produced by the transduction process. It is not really possible, therefore, to separate
these two tasks fully, in most cases. What is of paramount importance, however,
irrespective of the complexity of the monitoring system, is the fidelity of the infor-
mation received by the processing unit. Transmitted or recorded data must be suffi-
ciently noise-free to comply with the demands of the monitoring system, and must be
wholly consistent. If this is not the case then the whole data set, perhaps spanning
several months, may be effectively corrupted and therefore useless. In complex sys-
tems handling many inputs, either continuously or on a sampled basis, it is usual to
have the processing system remote from the plant. In such cases some degree of local
data conversion may be advisable. For example, the signals taken from a group of
machines in adjacent locations may be routed to a nearby collection point that digi-
tises the incoming signals and identifies them for onward transmission to the central
system. In noisy environments it may even be desirable to digitise signals at the
measurement point, and then forward them to a gathering point.
Figure 5.39 illustrates a preferred structure for a fully automatic system. The
basic data acquisition system shown above is broken down into three, concatenated
functions: multiplexing, sampling and holding, and analogue-to-digital conversion
(ADC). An analogue multiplexer directs different signal channels for downstream
processing and allows the channel identity to be passed through. The use of a
multiplexer is essential if a large number of channels are to be monitored, and can
be appropriate even for small numbers of channels because it allows the use of a
single high quality ADC, rather than recourse to many lower grade devices.
Commercial multiplexers can now accommodate many channels. An ADC turns an
140 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Processing
Transductions Data acquisition and
diagnostics

Signal
Plant cond.
Analog.
1 Sample ADC Processing
multi-
and hold
plexer
Signal
Plant cond.
Diagnostics
2

Signal
Plant cond.
N

Local Short distance Long distance

Figure 5.39 General arrangement of data acquisition

Figure 5.40 A commercial data acquisition device to interface to a PC.

Source: Adept

analogue voltage signal into a digital number that can be recognised by the com-
puter according to a defined comparison scheme or scaling factor. During conver-
sion time, the input analogue signal is sampled and the sample is held constant.
Resolution of the ADC, which affects the sensitivity of the CM system, depends on
the number of bits. Since CM aims to capture weak signals at early stages of
impending faults, high sensitivity is desirable. A 12-bit ADC has a resolution of
1 in 4 096 and typically completes conversion in less than 0.01 ms. The switching
rate of the multiplexer can therefore be in the range of 10 MHz, adequately high to
avoid any significant time lag between the multiplexed channels.
General purpose data acquisition units, designed in line with the above generic
structure, are now commercially available and have naturally been used for CM
purposes. For example, Figure 5.40 shows a 16 channel, 32 bit acquisition board
that can interface with a standard PC by USB and operate in a specific software
 Signal processing and instrumentation requirements 141

environment. This is a suitable choice provided that the use of a dedicated PC can
be arranged. Other options, such as LabVIEW, are also available, which normally
provide output channels to implement some simple control actions.
In data acquisition, it is important to determine how often the signal is sampled
and how many samples are kept for further processing. This is an area where
mistakes can be easily made and we have provided some guidelines in this chapter
to avoid them. Here, we just stress that the Shannon sampling theorem must be
observed. The theorem states that the sampled data can be used to faithfully
reproduce a time-varying signal provided that the sampling rate is at least twice the
highest frequency present in the signal. This minimum sampling rate is called
Nyquist frequency. Given a sampling rate, the total number of samples kept for
signal processing implies the duration during that the signal is sampled. This
duration determines the frequency resolution that a spectrum analysis performed on
the data can give. For example, if a signal is sampled for 1 second, the frequency
resolution is 1 Hz.

5.15 Conclusions
This chapter has described the signal-processing methods now available for com-
puter monitoring electrical machines and the wide range of instrumentation and
processing techniques used to monitor machines.
Modern techniques and methods have been shown and the next chapters show
how the signals from these have been applied to provide CM information.
The following chapters will therefore describe the major temperature, chemical,
mechanical and electrical techniques available for monitoring.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 6
Online temperature monitoring

6.1 Introduction
As has been described in Chapter 2, the limits to the rating of electrical machines
are generally set by the maximum permissible temperature that the insulation can
withstand. Indeed, the performance testing of machines, before they leave a man-
ufacturer’s works, is dominated by the measurement of winding or embedded
temperatures and the need to achieve temperature rises within the appropriate
standards. The measurement of temperature therefore has an important role in the
monitoring of electrical machines and the following describes how this can be done
using the measurement techniques described in Chapter 4.
There are three basic approaches to temperature monitoring:
● to measure the local temperatures at points in the machine using embedded
temperature detectors (ETDs),
● to use a thermal image, fed with suitable variables, to monitor the temperature
of what is perceived to be the hottest spot in the machine,
● to measure the distributed temperatures in the machine or the bulk tempera-
tures of coolant fluids.
These approaches demonstrate the fundamental difficulty of thermal monitoring,
which is resolving the conflict between point temperature measurements that are
easy to make, but give only local information, and bulk temperature measurements
that are more difficult and run the risk of overlooking local hot-spots.
The following three sections show how these approaches can be applied
practically.

6.2 Local temperature measurement

This can be done using thermocouples, RTD or ETDs whose characteristics are
described in Chapter 4. To monitor the active part of the machine, they are usually
embedded in the stator winding, and in the stator core. They can also be located in
the bearings, to detect hot running. The choice of location requires careful con-
sideration during the specification stage of the machine. For example, temperature
detectors embedded in the stator winding need to be located close to its hottest
part, which may be in the slot portion or end winding portion, depending on the
144 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

thermal design of the machine. Or for a machine with an asymmetrical cooling

arrangement they should be located at the hottest end of the machine. Some
guidance as to where ETDs should be located is given in Chalmers (1988) and this
is summarised in Figure 6.1. It should be noted that when ETDs are fitted in

T4
T3
Stator core
T2

T1

(a) Embedded between conductors in the slot portion (T1)

Embedded in core pack laminations (T 2)
Mounted on potentially hot components such as pressure plates (T 3)
Embedded on conductors in the end winding portion (T4)

Coolant in
T1
T4
Coolant out
T2 T3 T3

T5 T5

(b) Water or air inlet to the heat exchanger (T1)

Water or air outlet from the heat exchanger (T 2)
Re-entry air to the machine from the heat exchanger (T 3)
Exhaust air from the machine to the heat exchanger (T4)
Bearing temperatures (T5)

(c) Bearing temperature (T)

Figure 6.1 Location of temperature detectors in electrical machines

 Online temperature monitoring 145

bearings, precautions must be taken to ensure that the bearing insulation is not
breached.
The weakness of these methods is that thermocouples and RTDs are metallic
devices and cannot be located on the hottest active component, the winding
copper, because they need electrical isolation. On a winding, the devices have to
be embedded in the insulation at some distance from the copper itself, see
Figure 6.2(a). As a result, the measured temperature will not necessarily be that of
the winding itself but an image of it, as shown in Figure 6.2(b). The heat flow per

Main Over Cooling

Copper insulation insulation gas
conductor

Heat flux Q Tt

Tc Ts Tg

T1 T2

Embedded temperature
(a) detector

Embedded
Tc Heat flux
temperature
Q 0
detector
Tt
Temp

Ts
Conductor
Tg bar

t1 t2 Distance
(b) (c)

Figure 6.2 Effect of embedding a temperature detector away from an active

part: (a) asymmetrically ETD, (b) temperature detection from (a),
and (c) symmetrically ETD
146 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

unit area, Q, through the insulation system can be described by simple conduction
equations as follows:

k k
Q ¼ h Ts  Tg ¼ ðTs  Tt Þ ¼ ðTc  Tt Þ (6.1)
t2 t1
where
– t is the insulation thickness,
– T is the temperature,
– k is the heat transfer coefficient through an insulating material,
– h is the heat transfer coefficient from the insulation surface.
Eliminating Ts between the first two expressions gives:
 
t2 1
Tt ¼ Tg þ Q þ (6.2)
k h

Therefore, we have:
  
k
Tt ¼ Tg þ ðTc  Tt Þ t2 þ t1 (6.3)
h


Tg þ Tc t2 þ kh =t1
Tt ¼ 
(6.4)
1 þ t2 þ kh =t1

So:
 
k k
Tt  Tc if Tg  Tc and t2 þ t1  1; i:e: if t2 þ  t1 (6.5)
h h

So, the measured temperature Tt will approach the temperature of the hottest active
component Tc if the thickness of insulation, t2, applied over the ETD is sufficient
compared to the main insulation. This problem does not occur for devices
embedded in the slot portion, between two conductors, as shown in Figure 6.2(c),
where there is a low heat flux between the active copper parts. But it is an important
difficulty when monitoring end winding temperatures in that case the thickness of
over-taped insulation, t2, needs to be substantial if sensible readings are to be
obtained.
It would be very desirable to develop a temperature monitoring device that can
be affixed to a high voltage winding and give electrical isolation. Such a device was
developed in the 1980s for power transformers, comprising a small phial of liquid
that had a high vapour pressure that varied widely with temperature. The phial was
affixed to the high voltage winding whose temperature was required. The pressure
in the phial was then monitored through a non-conducting silicone rubber tube and
the temperature was derived electronically from the pressure measurement. The
device was applied, on a trial basis, to operational transformers where it performed
satisfactorily.
 Online temperature monitoring 147

More widespread modern methods of measuring temperature on high-voltage

components have also been developed using fibre-optic techniques, as described in
Chapter 4 and are shown in Figure 6.3. A particular design using the dependence of
the polarisation of light on the temperature of a material is described by Rogers
(1986).
Light from a laser is transmitted to the device and is passed through a polar-
ising prism before being launched into a fibre maintained at the temperature to be
measured. This material introduces a rotation of the light beam that is dependent on
temperature. The beam is reflected back through the fibre and polariser and is
relaunched with a light amplitude proportional to the polarisation that has taken
place in the fibre. By arranging two passes through the fibre, the polarisation is
rendered insensitive to electrical or magnetic field effects.
A modern approach to temperature monitoring, based on that proposed by
Rogers (1986), Rogers (1999) and Kher et al. (2004), has been developed for
electrical machines by Mohammed et al. (2016) using FBG sensors, initially
embedded in stator winding motorettes to test the approach. The technique has
produced very promising results, Figure 6.4 shows a test coil design and Figure 6.5
shows the fitting arrangement, giving operators the opportunity to have a full
thermal map of a stator winding in operation. The approach has been applied to a
working TEFC induction motor with an enamelled round wire stator winding, see
Mohammed et al. (2018).
The temperature measurements described in this work have all been on
machine stationary parts so far and on many machines the thermal design is stator-
critical, so the hottest spot will be located there. But many machines are rotor-
critical, particularly larger induction motors, because under stall conditions the
rotor losses are very large, and the temperatures can rise rapidly to values that could
damage the rotor integrity. On such machines there may well be no apparent
deterioration after one or two stalls, but should this occur repeatedly there will be a
weakening of rotor bars and/or end rings that may result in premature mechanical
failure. In the past, there have been various crude methods of measuring rotor
temperatures for experimental purposes, using heat-sensitive papers or paints, or
thermocouples connected through slip rings. Until recently, however, there has not

Laser light
source

Detector Optic fibre

Back Coupler sensor
scattering

Data Computer
acquisition

Figure 6.3 Principle of fibre-optic temperature sensing

148 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Random wound coil Slot 1 Copper Slot 2

conductors
Capillary 2

Capillary 1 Capillary containing

FBG sensor
Base plate Cross section

Figure 6.4 Test coil design, manufacture and the IEEE motorette rig, Mohammed
et al. (2018)

(a) (b)

FBG 5 mm

Shrinking tube
PEEK capillary
Fibre-optic
connector (FC)

Teflon tube

(c)

Figure 6.5 Arrangement of FBG winding temperature sensor, Mohammed et al.

(2018): (a) motorette rig with an FBG embedded test coil,
(b) winding bobbin and (c) test random wound coil

been a method sufficiently reliable to use for monitoring purposes. Siyambalapitiya

et al. (1988) described a device for monitoring eight thermocouples, multiplexing
the signal on the rotor, then optically coupling to the stator and decoding in a DSP.
These techniques have now been adopted widely, using modern blue-tooth tech-
nology, particularly for prototype experimental work on induction motors, see Hou
et al. (2012), but such methods have not yet been widely deployed for regular CM,
but Hou et al. (2012) and Kumar et al. (2018) give guidance on the latest methods
for this type of work.
 Online temperature monitoring 149

6.3 Hot-spot measurement and thermal images

Local temperature measurements give the machine operator considerable con-
fidence that he/she knows the operating temperature of key points in the machine,
but there is always the nagging suspicion that temperature detectors may not be
located at the hottest point. This problem has long been recognised in power
transformers where it is extremely difficult to obtain even embedded winding
temperatures, because of the need for EHV isolation and the great thickness of
electrical insulation necessary, so thermal images of the hot spot temperature are
used. The thermal image consists of a dial-type thermometer with its bulb
immersed in the region where the transformer oil is hottest. A small heating coil,
connected to the secondary of a current-transformer, serves to circulate around the
bulb a current proportional to the load current and is such that it increases the bulb
temperature by an amount equal to the greatest winding-to-coil temperature gra-
dient. The indicator therefore registers an approximation to the hot-spot
temperature.
The thermal image technique has not received wide application on rotating
electrical machines, although it deserves to. The availability of a thermal image
hot-spot temperature of machine could be used for motor monitoring and protection
purposes, as proposed by Zocholl (1990), Milanfar et al. (1996) and Mellor et al.
(1991), who proposed a technique for small, totally enclosed, forced-cooled,
induction motors where a thermal model of the machine is configured in a DSP that
is fed with signals proportional to the ambient air temperature and the stator
winding current. The model can calculate the predicted temperatures at a variety of
key points in the machine. Stator core, stator winding slot or stator end-winding
representation must be programmed solely using the design information for the
machine. The instrument is designed to produce an analogue voltage that is pro-
portional to several temperatures at the hottest points.
Mellor et al. (1991) have used the device on two totally enclosed fan-cooled
(TEFC) machines and compared the predictions of the thermal image with. The
measured temperatures in the stator end-winding were found to be the hottest point
in this design of the machine. Figure 6.6 shows the comparison of results for those
two machines when they have been put through very severe duty cycles and it can
be seen that the comparison between modelled and measured results is extremely
good. The device has been designed to be part of the thermal protection of a motor
but it could equally well be used for monitoring a machine for operational pur-
poses, particularly, for example, on a crucial machine located in an inaccessible
position, where hot-spot measurements may be difficult to obtain.

6.4 Bulk measurement

In the electrically active part of the machine, even when hot-spot locations are
known or hot-spot temperatures can be surmised from a thermal image, there is still
a desire to obtain a bulk indication of the thermal state of the machines. This can be
150 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Temperature (°C) 100

50

0
0 9 18 27 36 45
(a)

20
Rated current
Current (A)

10

0
0 9 18 27 36 45
(b) Time (min)

100 Measured
Simulated
Temperature (°C)

50

0
0 9 18 27 36 45
(c)

160
Rated current
Current (A)

120
80
40
0
0 9 18 27 36 45
(d) Time (min)

Figure 6.6 Comparison between measurements and the predictions of a thermal

image of an electrical machine: (a) comparison for 5.5 kW induction
motor, (b) duty cycle for (a), (c) comparison for 7.5 kW induction
motor and (d) duty cycle for (c). Taken from Mellor et al. (1991)
 Online temperature monitoring 151

found from the measurement of the internal and external coolant temperature rises,
obtained from thermocouples located, for example, as shown in Figure 6.1. This is
done on most larger machines, but it is normal for coolant temperatures to be
displayed and rare for the point values to be subtracted to give the temperature rise
directly. An increase in temperature rise from such a device would clearly show
when a machine is being overloaded or if the coolant circuits are not performing as
they should. But the method is insensitive to localised over-heating in the elec-
trically active parts of the machines. Therefore, considerable effort has been
devoted, as an alternative to the thermal image, to devising methods whereby single
indications of high temperature can be obtained from a device that is embedded in
the bulk of the machine.
Lengths of signal cable using heat-sensitive semi-conducting material as the
insulation have been proposed but most effort has been devoted to the use of optical
fibres. Brandt et al. (1982) have described various methods, including simple point
measurements on high-voltage components, using the optical fibre for isolation
purposes. But they have also described how, using the temperature sensitive
properties of fibre optics, a continuously sensitive fibre could be embedded in the
machine, adjacent to the high voltage copper, to detect localised overheating any-
where in the winding and yet provide a single indication. The method proposed
would utilise the black body radiation in the optic 1 fibre, alongside the hot spot,
being transmitted back to the detector and being used to determine the hottest point
along the fibre’s length. Such a device would therefore need to be embedded in the
machine during manufacture and as yet a practicable instrumentation scheme has
not been devised.
An interesting approach to monitoring temperature in a variable-speed induc-
tion motor by Chen et al. (1994) is described briefly in a later chapter.

6.5 Conclusions

This chapter shows that temperature measurement yields valuable bulk indications
of the condition of an electrical machine using simple sensors and narrow band-
width (<1 Hz), low data rate signals and, because temperature limits the rating of a
machine, overtemperature is a valuable CM signal. Temperature detection has
repeatedly been shown to be an effective global monitoring technique for electrical
machines, but has been neglected as a monitoring method.
Temperature measurement is usually done in traditional and rather antiquated
ways, there are some simple changes that could be made in existing practice to
make more sense of temperature measurement. These changes are partly in the area
of sensing but also in the area of signal processing and in particular the importance
of presenting temperature rise to the operator, rather than absolute temperature.
There are also advances in the application of modern sensors becoming available,
which will allow the temperature measurements to be made closer to the active
parts of a machine, and these should be exploited.
An important conclusion of this work is that the availability of new FBG
temperature sensors gives the potential for much greater distributed electrical
152 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

machine temperature measurements. This will be more essential if power/weight

ratios are to rise to 7 kW/kg by 2025 and 9 kW/kg by 2035, as proposed by the
Electric Machines Roadmap (2018). Such rating improvements may well depend in
future of better CM and these authors propose that this could be done by a closer
integration between the temperature monitoring proposed by Mohammed et al.
(2018) and the thermal modelling proposed by Mellor et al. (1991). Perhaps this
could be achieved in the future using the AI methods proposed in Chapter 14.
 Chapter 7
Online chemical monitoring

7.1 Introduction
The insulating materials used in electrical machines are complex organic materials,
which, when they are degraded by heat or electrical action, produce a very large
number of chemical products in the gas, liquid and solid states. Lubrication oils
also carry not only the products of their own degradation but also those from the
wear of the bearings and seals they cool and lubricate.
Techniques to provide early warning of the deterioration of electrical machines
should include the measurement of these complex degradation products where they
can be accessed in the machine.

7.2 Insulation degradation

What are the mechanisms by which insulation can be degraded? Well, the table in
Appendix A shows how important excessive temperature and therefore thermal
degradation is as a failure mode and this is largely determined by the thermal
performance of the insulation. The insulation consists in the main of organic
polymers, either natural forms such as bitumen, or more commonly nowadays,
synthetic epoxy resins, and Chapter 2, Section 2.7.2 has described the majority of
the failure modes associated with insulation degradation. The thermal degradation
of these materials is a complex process. However, as the temperature of the insu-
lation rises above its maximum permitted operating value, approximately 160
C,
volatiles used as solvents in the insulation manufacture start to be driven off as
gases. Then the heavier compounds making up the resin may reach their boiling
point. The gases so produced are generally the heavier hydrocarbons such as
ethylene. As the temperature rises further, above 180
C, chemical decomposition
of the resin components starts. A supersaturated vapour of the heavier hydrocarbon
decomposition products then forms in the cooling gas close to the high temperature
area of insulation. Rapid condensation of that vapour occurs as the cooling gas
leaves the hot area producing condensation nuclei that continue to grow in size by
further condensation until they reach a stable droplet size. These droplets, usually
called particles, are of submicron size and form what would commonly be called
smoke. The precise materials given off depend primarily on the insulation material
being heated but also on the cooling gas of the machine. The binder material of the
154 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Unheated

300 °C

400 °C

550 °C

600 °C

Figure 7.1 Heating of phenolic impregnated wood insulating material

insulation, whether it be wood, paper, mica or glass fibre, can usually withstand
much higher temperatures, but eventually as 400
C is reached, they start to
degrade and char, releasing gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide,
drawing oxygen from the cooling gas, if it is air, or from the degradation of the
complex hydrocarbon in the resin. Figure 7.1 shows a piece of phenol-impregnated
wood insulation from a turbo-generator, progressively raised to higher temperatures
in hydrogen. Up to 300
C, one can see the effects of the resin material being
decomposed and driven off, but the wood binder still retained its strength. Above
400
C, the binder has degraded by charring and no longer has significant
mechanical strength.
Pyrolysing activity therefore gives rise to a wide range of liquid droplets, solid
particulates and gases, which together make up the smoke being driven off from the
insulation.
Electrical discharge activity, within or adjacent to the insulation system, can also
degrade the insulation releasing particulate and gaseous chemical degradation pro-
ducts. The very high temperature associated with sparking breaks down the hydro-
carbon compounds in the insulation to form acetylene. It also breaks down the oxygen
in the cooling gas, if it is air, to give ozone. Furthermore, continuous discharge
activity gradually carbonises and erodes the insulating material to produce, on a
smaller scale, the degradation products that result from more widespread overheating.

7.3 Factors that affect detection

Before considering the different methods of detecting chemicals within an elec-

trical machine it is necessary to understand the factors that affect the detectability.
 Online chemical monitoring 155

Consider Figure 7.2(a), which shows the machine within its enclosure, the rate of
change of concentration of a detectable substance can be determined by the fol-
lowing equation:
fRate of change of concentration of a detectable
substance in the cooling circuit of a machineg ¼
fSpecific production rate of detectable
substance  leakage rate from the machineg=fmachine volumeg (7.1)
8 9
dC <n_  tr =
VC

¼
dt : V ;

where
– V ¼ the machine volume
– C ¼ the volumetric concentration of the substance concerned
– tr ¼ a leakage factor
– n_ ¼ the volumetric rate of production of the detectable substance.
When leakage is low, tr is effectively a residence time constant for the substance in
the machine enclosure. The rate of production, n, is related to the volume of
material being overheated, and its chemical composition. This variable is in fact a
function of time n(t). So, the equation could be rewritten as:
dC C n_ ðtÞ
þ ¼ (7.2)
dt tr V
 
1 n_ ðtÞ
Dþ C¼ (7.3)
tr V
The complementary function for this equation is:
 
t
C ¼ A exp  (7.4)
tr
The particular integral is:
ðn_  n_ b Þtr
C¼ (7.5)
V
where
n_ ðtÞ ¼ n_ þ n_ b

– n_ ¼ a step increase in the volumetric rate of production,

– n_ b ¼ the background rate of production of the substance.
When t ¼ 0, C ¼ Cb, the background concentration, then:
n_ b tr _ r
nt
Cb ¼ and A ¼ (7.6)
V V
156 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Concentration of
detectable chemical, C

Total cooling gas volume, V

Overheating

Volumetric rate of production

of detectable chemical, V

(a)

V(t)

Vb

Time

VT
V r
x

Cb
V bT
V r
(b) Time

Figure 7.2 The concentration of detectable chemicals in coolant gas of an

electrical machine: (a) cross-section of the machine and (b) response
of the concentration of detectable chemical to a step change in the rate
of production of that chemical
  
_ r
nt t n_ b tr
;C¼ 1  exp þ (7.7)
V tr V
From (7.7), it is possible to determine how the detectable concentration depends
upon the design of the machine, the nature of the overheating it is suffering from,
 Online chemical monitoring 157

and the concentration of material involved. Figure 7.2(b) will help to explain this.
A machine with a tightly sealed and pressurised cooling system, such as a turbo-
generator, will have a long residence time, tr , of many hours, the background
concentration level of the detectable substance, Cb, will be high. On the other hand,
the concentration level, which can be reached after an extended period of over-
heating, will also be correspondingly high. But if the length of the overheating
incident, to , is short compared to the residence time, say a few minutes, then the
concentration will not build up to a significant level compared to the background. A
machine with an open cooling circuit will have a short residence time, tr , of per-
haps merely a few seconds. So, the background concentration will be low and there
will need to be a large volumetric production, V, from an overheating incident to
produce a large increase in concentration C. But the concentration level will
respond rapidly to any overheating.
Detectability of overheating depends upon:
(i) A large signal-to-noise ratio. That is, the magnitude of the indication (X in
Figure 7.2(b)), must be large compared to the background, Cb,
(ii) A long duration of indication.
The larger the signal-to-noise ratio of the indication and the longer its duration, the
easier it will be to detect. These two conditions can be considered mathematically:
For a large signal-to-noise ratio, (i) above, n_  n_ b and X  n_ Vb tr
Now
  
n_ t0
X ¼ tr 1  exp
V tr
where t0 is the duration of the overheating incident
So
  
t0 n_ b
1  exp  
tr n_
   
n_ b t0
; 1  exp 
n_ tr
That is
n_ must be  n_ b and t0 > tr
Or
n_ must be > n_ b and t0  tr
For a long duration of indication, (ii) above, t0  tr
The time constant, t0 , depends on:
● the type of fault causing the overheating,
● the extent of the fault,
158 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● the nature of the material being overheated,

● the nature of the substance being released and detected.
So, for example, a small intermittent shorted turn in the rotor winding of a large
turbo-generator will produce heating for only a few minutes and the increase in
concentration of detectable substances in that time will be small because of the long
residence time, tr , in such a machine. On the other hand, overheating in a terminal
connection or due to excessive stray losses will operate for many hours and produce
a substantial indication.
The effect of the substance being detected can be considered as follows. An
insulation material that is heated at a steady but relatively low temperature of say
190
C will produce a considerable amount of hydrocarbon gases over a long
period of time, up to 2–3 h, until those gases are all driven off. Particulates will also
be formed but these will have a short lifetime in the enclosure because of recom-
bination and condensation, say 10–15 min. If the insulation is raised to higher
temperatures the production of copious quantities of gases will take place over a
much shorter period of time and will stop before charring commences. If the
machine is air-cooled, large amounts of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide will
also be produced, if overheating takes place over a long period of time, because
production of those gases continues even during charring.
All these factors need to be taken into consideration when deciding which of
the following techniques should be applied to a particular machine to detect a
certain type of fault.

7.4 Insulation degradation detection

It can be concluded from Sections 7.1 to 7.3 that insulation degradation can be
monitored chemically by detecting the presence of particulate matter in the coolant
gas or by detecting simple gases, like carbon monoxide and ozone, or more com-
plex hydrocarbon gases, like ethylene and acetylene. Let us consider these
approaches in turn.

7.4.1 Particulate detection – core monitors

Detecting the smoke given off from degrading insulation appears the simplest and
most general of all techniques, since proprietary smoke detectors already exist
using an ion chamber to detect the smoke particles. An example is shown in
Figure 7.3. As the cooling gas of the machine enters the ion chamber it is ionised by
a weak radioactive source. The gas then flows through an electrode system to
which a polarising voltage is applied.
The free charges in the gas are collected on the electrode and flow through an
external electrometer amplifier circuit, which produces an output voltage propor-
tional to the ion current. When heavy smoke particles enter the chamber, they too
are ionised and their greater mass implies a lower mobility compared to the gas
molecules, so as they enter the electrode system the ion current reduces. Therefore
 Online chemical monitoring 159

Alpha
source Collector
Solenoid
Outlet to
valve
generator

Flowmeter

Particle Polarising
Test particle Ion chamber detector
filter voltage
source Electrode
Input from Flow control
generator valve
Meter and/ Gain
or recorder

Alarm contacts Electrometer

Figure 7.3 Diagram of a basic core monitor. Taken from Carson et al. (1978)

the smoke is detected by a reduction in the output voltage from the electrometer
amplifier. Skala (1966) described an ion chamber specifically designed to detect
the products of heated insulation and this was applied to a large turbo-generator by
Carson et al. (1973).
The primary impetus for this work was the need to provide early warning of
core faults referred to by Tavner et al. (1986) and Tavner et al. (2005), which the
larger sizes of turbo-generators started to experience in the early 1970s. A core
fault can involve substantial quantities of molten stator steel and, hitherto, the fault
could only be detected when the melt burnt through the stator winding insulation
and caused an earth fault. It was hoped that the core monitor could detect the
degradation of the insulation between the steel laminations at an earlier stage in the
fault. The lifetime of pyrolised particles in the closed hydrogen cooling circuit of a
large generator is 15 to 30 min after which time the particulates are deposited onto
the exposed surfaces of the machine. So, a single instance of insulation overheating
should lead to a reduction of core monitor ion current for a period of time of this
order. Figure 7.4 shows typical core monitor responses. When a core fault is
occurring, the overheating continues over a longer period and it has been shown by
Carson et al. (1973) that the core monitor does respond to this and other forms of
insulation overheating. Core monitors are available from several manufacturers.
The sensitivity of the device depends upon the ion chamber design but experi-
mental figures for the monitor described in Carson et al. (1973) show that it will
produce a response ranging from 85% to 95% of full-scale deflection when
100 cm2 of lamination insulation is pyrolised, depending on the material. An area is
quoted because the production of particulates is primarily a surface effect.
160 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition
System
checks
100
Core monitor deflection % of scale

Trip
90 Test filter
80 checks Test filter
70 check
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

0 2 3
(a) Time (h)
100
Core monitor deflection % of scale

90
80
Trip
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2
(b) Time (h)
100
Core monitor deflection % of scale

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

0 1 2 1 2 3 4 5
(c) Time (h)

Figure 7.4 Typical core monitor responses: (a) machine with overheating
conductor bar, (b) machine with a core fault and (c) machine with no
overheating but heavy oil contamination

The device, however, does have some practical difficulties:

(i) Monitor output fluctuates with cooling gas pressure and temperature,
(ii) Monitor responds to oil mist that may be present in the circuit of any hydrogen-
cooled machine due to faulty hydrogen seals, see Carson et al. (1978),
(iii) Monitor is non-specific; that is, it cannot distinguish between the materials
being overheated.
 Online chemical monitoring 161

Items (i) and (ii) affect the background signal from the monitor, which any signal
due to damaging over-heating must exceed. Figure 7.4(c) shows a typical core
monitor trace from a machine affected by oil mist. Item (iii) affects the attitude of a
machine operator to an alarm from the core monitor, since there will be less con-
fidence in the monitor if it is not known from that part of the machine the detection
originated.
A more advanced monitor, described by Ryder et al. (1979), has been devised
to overcome problems (i) and (ii) by using a differential technique. This monitor
consists of two identical ion chambers in series in the gas flow line with an inter-
mediate particulate filter between them. The monitor displays the difference
between the ion currents in the two chambers and thereby eliminates fluctuations
due to pressure and temperature.
The sensitivity of a core monitor to oil-mist can be reduced if the ion chamber
is kept at an elevated temperature (Figure 7.5). It has been proposed that oil mist is
only produced by overheating, so that its detection may be useful, and the use of
heated ion chambers was not initially encouraged, however, current thinking is that
heated ion chambers are essential for reliable detection. However, the amount of oil
in a turbo-generator casing varies widely and can be particularly high. In this case it
has been found that there can be frequent false core monitor alarms, so the use of a
heated ion chamber gives a significant advantage. In order to completely vaporise
an oil mist, it is necessary to raise the ion chamber temperature above 120
C. The
monitor described in Ryder et al. (1979) has heated ion chambers and the authors’
experience, using these set to 120
C, was that they gave an adequate protection
against spurious oil mist indication. Using a heated ion chamber also means that

Solenoid c/o Needle

valve µF1
valve
H2 gas inlet H2 gas outlet

µF2 Filter
Primary Secondary
Sample rate
ion chamber ion chamber
needle flowmeter
Test
Sample rate filter Electrometer Electrometer
needle valve

Differential Chart
Solenoid c/o
amplifier recorder
valves
o/p

Sample valves Alarm

unit

H2 gas o/p
exhaust

o/p
Auto test and
sample control

Figure 7.5 Diagram of a differential core monitor with heated ion chambers
162 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

some of the droplets produced by over-heating will be vaporised, or at least reduced

in size, and this must result in a consequential loss of sensitivity. However,
laboratory tests can quantify this loss of sensitivity, which at 120
C has been
shown to be 20%. Braun et al. have shown more recently by careful tests, the
deleterious effects of using heated ion chambers on the core monitor sensitivity, see
Ryder et al. (1979).
The use of core monitors in the early 1970s was advocated in the United States
as a panacea for the early detection of major core and winding faults. Since then,
however, although there have been some notable detection successes, such as those
traces shown in Figure 7.4(a) and (b), there have also been false alarms, many
caused by oil mist, see Figure 7.4(c).
The authors are not aware of the core monitor being used on air-cooled
machines, or machines without a closed cooling circuit at all, although, apart from
the short time constant of the indication from the monitor, there seems to be no
reason why it should not be used for these applications. Experience has shown that
the core monitor cannot be relied upon, on its own, to give incontrovertible evi-
dence of an incipient fault. It is a valuable device that does detect pyrolised insu-
lation, but its indications need to be considered alongside those of other monitoring
devices. In particular, the core monitor needs to be complemented by an offline
technique to chemically analyse the particulate material causing the detection, as
described in the following section.

7.4.2 Particulate detection – chemical analysis

Many authors have advocated taking a sample of the particulate material when a
core monitor indicates an alarm. In order to collect a detectable amount of parti-
culate matter within a short time, it is necessary to have a very large gas flow-rate
through the filter. This is achieved by venting the pressurised casing of the machine
through the filter to atmosphere. There is not such close agreement about the
method of analysis, however. Carson et al. (1973) described a method whereby the
pyrolysis products are collected upon a small charge of silica gel and are then
released into a gas chromatograph upon the application of strong heat. This tech-
nique is applicable only when sampling is carried out immediately upon detection
of local overheating. This is because it is designed especially to collect the parti-
culates and heaviest pyrolysis products, which are present for only a limited time in
the gas, sometimes for only a few minutes. There is also a problem with the gas
chromatographic analysis of the pyrolysis products as these contain a very large
number of different organic compounds and the resultant chromatogram is difficult
to interpret, Figure 7.6 taken from Dear et al. (1977) gives an example. The most
arduous test would be to distinguish the products of pyrolised insulation from the
overheated oil that is generally present in any electrical machine. Further work on
this from Dear et al. (1977) on the gas released from pyrolisation is shown in
Figure 7.7. Some have used a mass spectrometer in association with the gas chro-
matograph on the particulate matter, to obtain precise identification of individual
compounds. But the problem then arises of how to distinguish between the very
 Online chemical monitoring 163
9

1 C10H14 (aromatic) 16 Benzene

2 C11H14 17 C7H16
3 Methyl ethyl benzene 18 Trichloroethane
4 Methyl ethyl benzene 19 Butanone (mek)
8 10
5 C10H20 20 Ethyl acetate
6 C10H22 21 C6H12
7 Xylene 22 C6H14
11
12 13 8 C10H22 23 C5H8
9 Xylene 24 Acetone
10 C9H18 25 Propan-2-ol
11 C8H20 26 C5H10
7
12 C8H16 27 Ethanol
13 Toluene 28 C4H8

6 14 C8H18 29 Acetaldehyde
15 C7H14

14
45
3 15
16
17
2 18
19 20
1
21 22 24 25
23 26 27 28 29

24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Time (min)

Figure 7.6 Gas chromatogram of generator hydrogen impurities described from a

Tenax GC pre-column. Taken from Dear et al. (1977)

large numbers of organic compounds that are obtained and how to associate a
pattern of compounds with the over-heating of a particular insulation material but
as yet this has not proved practicable. We shall return to this in the analysis of the
gas released in pyrolisation.
An alternative is to reduce the amount of chemical information obtained from
the pyrolysis products by using detection techniques that are less sensitive or only
sensitive to pyrolysis products. One technique makes use of the fact that many
organic materials fluoresce when irradiated with ultraviolet light. The resultant UV
spectrum is far less complex than the chromatogram produced by the same com-
pounds going through a gas chromatograph. Figure 7.8 gives an example taken
from Ryder et al. (1979), which should be compared with Figure 7.7. The filter is
illuminated by a UV lamp, of a given wavelength, and the fluorescent light from
the collected organic particles can be viewed with a UV spectrometer. It has been
claimed that pyrolised insulation can be clearly distinguished from oil by this
technique, to date a commercial version is not available.
It must be stressed that despite the various techniques described here, to the
authors’ knowledge there is, as yet, no definitive way to identify conclusively
material collected on a core monitor filter. A way out of this difficulty was sought
by tagging components in the machine with compounds, which when overheated
164 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

E H A 55.5 A 24.9
D D
B 50.0 B 23.0

G C 45.3 C 19.3

C F D 41.0 D 17.9
E 39.0 E 14.5
A
I F 36.1 F 4.4
C F
G 31.5 B
B
A K H 28.0 E

J I 24.0
J 18.0
K 6.1

(a) Time (min) (b) Time (min)

E A 37.8 F A 41.8
B 33.0 B 38.0
E
C 27.3 C 34.0
D 22.0 D 29.4
E 17.0 E 24.1
F 22.9
D
G 16.4

AB C C
AB G

(c) Time (min) (d) Time (min)

Figure 7.7 Comparison of gas chromatograms taken from the pre-column

samples from hydrogen-cooled generators with overheating of various
insulation components: (a) main wall insulation, (b) epoxy rating,
(c) alkyd enamel paint and (d) generator hydrogen coolant gas
background. Taken from Ryder et al. (1979)
IEEE (1979)

give off material with easily identifiable chemical compositions. This technique has
been used in the United States by Carson et al. (1973).

7.4.3 Gas analysis offline

An alternative to detecting and analysing the particulate matter is to detect the
gaseous products of pyrolysis, such as the hydrocarbon gases or carbon monoxide
and carbon dioxide in the cooling gas. There may be two advantages in doing this.
First from Section 7.2, it is clear that some gases are given off at lower tempera-
tures, before particulates, so an earlier warning of overheating may be given.
Second, in a closed cooling circuit, where particulates have a short lifetime of only
15–30 min, gaseous products will have a much longer lifetime of many days,
 Online chemical monitoring 165

Intensity

330 340 350 360 370 380

Wavelength (nm)

Figure 7.8 Typical ultraviolet spectrum of hydrogen impurities due to pyrolised

insulation. Taken from Tavner et al. (1986)

depending upon the coolant gas leakage factor, t1r , so it will not be necessary to
detect simply a short-term change. On the other hand, whereas the concentration of
particulates will be zero in the absence of burning insulation, there will always be a
small and possibly variable background concentration of gases, due to impurities in
the make-up, and this will effectively determine the threshold for the detection of
burning by this technique.
The gas analysis method, which has received attention for large hydrogen-
cooled generators, uses a gas chromatograph and flame ionisation detector (FID) to
measure the total hydrocarbon content in the hydrogen. Early work showed that
most organic compounds present in the cooling gas could not be detected without a
concentration technique. A number of such techniques have been reported but the
most widely used is a pre-column method in which the impurities are absorbed on a
gas chromatographic stationary phase contained in the short tube.
Another offline method of gas detection that has been used in modern large air-
cooled machines is to measure the ozone concentration to detect the onset and
progress of slot discharge erosion caused by PD activity. Large epoxy insulated
166 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

windings in an air-cooled environment experience this problem, which can lead to

major insulation failure, see Chapters 2 and 10. The technique has been success-
fully used on large hydro generators, which operate at stator voltages as high as
24 kV in an air-cooled environment, where stator winding bars are subjected to
high slot forces and PD activity is consequent upon mechanical damage, leading to
the production of ozone gas. The ozone concentration in the coolant air can be
measured by taking a gas sample and using a Draeger tube.

7.4.4 Gas analysis online

The advantage of performing gas analysis continuously online is that, because of the
long residence times of gases due to overheating in the cooling system, it may be
possible to obtain earlier warning of incipient damage to the machine. The dis-
advantages are the inherent complexity of continuous chemical gas analysis equip-
ment and the difficulty of translating the analysis into a single electrical signal.
Bearing in mind the experience of Kelley et al. (1976), shown in Figure 7.9, a
continuous monitor was devised for application to hydrogen-cooled generators,
using an FID to measure the total organic content of the hydrogen. This is the type
of detector used in chromatography for the detection of organic species. The gen-
erator hydrogen gas is introduced into a hydrogen/air flame. The flame forms part
of an electrical circuit and normally presents a very high resistance. When organic
species are introduced organic ions containing carbon are formed and the resistance

4N

c
3N
Relative COP

b
2N

e
a
1N

0N
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28
Time (days)

a 1 N is equivalent to normal concentration of organic product (COP)

b Significant increase in COP accompanied by a core monitor deflection
c Core monitor alarm, load reduction initiated
d Unit off line for inspection and maintenance
e Generator synchronised, COP back to normal

Figure 7.9 Plot of concentration of organic products during and after a generator
overheating problem
 Online chemical monitoring 167

of the flame decreases linearly with the amount of organic compound introduced.
The device is very sensitive and can detect increases as small as 0.2 parts per
million by volume (vpm). But its usable sensitivity is reduced because of the pre-
sence of background levels of organic compounds that can be 10–50 vpm with a
variability of 20%. However, one considerable advantage of the continuous
monitor over the core monitor is that it shows the trend of any increase in the
products of over-heating, as shown in Figure 7.10. The total organic content is
measured in vpm of methane (CH4) equivalent. However, Figure 7.10 also shows
the very considerable background level against which faults need to be detected.
The sensitivity of the monitor has been calculated theoretically based upon the
methane equivalent content of typical insulation materials.
This shows that the pyrolysing of 24 g of insulation would produce about 32 l
of methane equivalent hydrocarbons, which on a large hydrogen-cooled generator
(500 MW) would give a concentration of about 15 vpm of methane equivalent on
the FID. The amount of hydrocarbons produced depends not only on the tempera-
ture of the insulation but also on the part being overheated. The mass of insulation
per unit volume in the laminated core is relatively small. Whereas, on a winding if
overheating takes place a very large proportion of the volume involved will be
insulation and this will give a correspondingly large indication on the FID.
Overheating would be considered to be serious if the rate of increase of total
organics exceeded 20 vpm/h.
An alternative to the FID detector, for the detection of organic content in
hydrogen, has been proposed using a commercial photoionisation detector (PID)
for flammable gases. The detector contains an ultraviolet lamp that ionises the gas
stream as it passes through. A potential is applied across electrodes in the detector
and the conductivity is measured as in the FID. The device detects the heavier
hydrocarbon compounds in the gas stream and it has been shown that a fault
involving over-heating of about 2 g of organic material would produce a deflection
of 1 or 2 vpm on the device fitted to a large generator. Typical background levels of
7–10 vpm were measured.
More recent work by Sorita et al. (2000) using a quadrupole mass-spectrometer
on the gases evolved from faults has identified methods for analysing and classi-
fying faults from turbo-generator faults.
On air-cooled machines an overheating incident will produce a large volume of
carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as well as the light hydrocarbon gases. An
instrument has been produced to detect overheating by measuring the carbon
monoxide concentration. The instrument contained an auxiliary pump that drew air,
through tubes from a number of motors that are being sampled, to a commercial
infrared detector. The detector measured the carbon monoxide content using the
principle that the vibration of the carbon monoxide molecule corresponds with a
known wavelength in the infrared region.
Within a totally sealed motor enclosure, the air should recirculate with a long
residence time, tr , but because of leaks in a practical enclosure, a substantial pro-
portion of the total volume of air is exchanged with the environment every minute.
Thus, any carbon monoxide in the cooling stream produced by overheating will be
168 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

100

90
Core monitor deflection % fullscale

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 24 48
(a) Time (h)

700

600
Total organic content vpm CH4 equivalent

500

400

300

Load perturbation
200

100

0
0 24 48
(b) Time (h)

Figure 7.10 Comparison of the traces from a continuous gas monitor with the
response of a core monitor on a 500 MW alternator following an
over-heating incident: (a) core monitor response and (b) continuous
gas response
 Online chemical monitoring 169

diluted fairly rapidly. This is in contrast with the detection problem in the sealed
cooling system of a hydrogen-cooled generator. However, the infrared analyser was
capable of detecting concentration of carbon monoxide down to less than 1 vpm.
Calculations have shown that 180 g of insulation heated to 300
C will introduce a
1.5 vpm rise in the concentration of carbon monoxide in the cooling air. Therefore,
the analyser has sufficient sensitivity to detect localised overheating on motor
windings.

7.5 Lubrication oil and bearing degradation

The shafts of smaller electrical machines are supported by ball or roller bearings
lubricated with grease and faults in such bearings could be detected by shock
pulse techniques as described in Chapter 8. But high-speed machines above about
300 kW and low-speed machines above about 50 kW use oil-lubricated rolling
element bearings and still larger sizes need sleeve bearings with a continuous oil
supply. A number of authors including Evans (1978) and Bowen et al. (1976) have
suggested that the continuous monitoring of that oil supply could provide early
warning of incipient problems either in the oil itself or in the bearings.
The normal mode of failure of rolling element bearings is by fatigue cracking
of the rolling elements or their raceways, although other wear mechanisms like
fretting, scuffing and abrasion will also generate debris. For white-metalled sleeve
bearing failures are not usually progressive. Debris is likely to be released in short
bursts when the bearing is transiently overloaded or if an oil-film momentarily
ruptures. Quite substantial damage can be tolerated whilst the bearing continues to
be fed a copious supply of cooled lubricating oil. Nevertheless, there are many
potentially damaging situations that could be diagnosed by analysing the lubricat-
ing oil including fatigue failure or cavitation at the white metal surfaces and cor-
rosion in the lubrication system. Any incipient bearing failure is likely to lead to
local heating and degradation of the lubrication oil at the wear site.
A particular problem associated with electrical machines is the flow of currents
through bearings and oil films, which pit the bearing surface, producing metallic
debris and degrading the lubrication oil. This sort of activity is caused by magne-
tically induced shaft voltages induced within the machine, whose cause and effects
are summarised very thoroughly by Verma et al. (1981). Photographs of this type
of damage are shown in Chapter 2, Figure 2.14(a) and (b).
The two approaches that could be used on the lubrication oil to detect these
various types of incipient failure activity are therefore:
● the detection of oil degradation products,
● the detection of bearing degradation products or wear debris detection.

7.6 Oil degradation detection

The chemical detection of oil degradation has been used most effectively for the
CM of transformers, see Rogers (1978), where the oil is used for insulating and
170 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

cooling purpose and is sealed within the transformer enclosure. But in that case the
mechanisms of degradation are clearly defined, being distinguished by the different
temperatures reached. The technique is offline gas-chromatograph analysis of the
transformer oil, done at regular intervals during the plant life. Such rigorous ana-
lysis is necessary to distinguish between the complex products produced in the oil.
But the mechanisms involved in bearing oil degradation are not so clearly defined
and the analysis that would be necessary would be more complex and less easily
prescribed. However, standard offline oil analysis procedures are available com-
mercially but the authors do not know of any programmes that have experienced
particular success with electrical machines. The typical parameters to be screened
in bearing oil analysis are given in Neale (1973).

7.7 Wear debris detection

7.7.1 General
The offline monitoring of wear debris in lubricating oils has been widely used for
some time, particularly for rolling element bearings and gears, in the military and
aviation fields. This has particularly made use of the ferromagnetic attraction of
debris particles. In fact, passive magnetic plugs fitted to lubricating oil sumps have
been used, for many years, to collect ferromagnetic debris and regular inspection
gives an aid to indicate when full maintenance should be carried out on helicopter
gearboxes. But these techniques have now advanced so that online detection of the
debris content in oil is possible. Work has also been done to extend the capabilities
of online detection so that other debris, produced for example from the soft material
of white-metal bearings, can be detected. These techniques are described in the
following two sections. When reading these sections it should be borne in mind that
oil is supplied to the bearing from a closed-loop lubrication system, which will
contain oil filtration equipment. That equipment will remove a proportion of any
debris entrained so that, following a wear incident, the concentration of debris will
increase and then decay away as the filters do their work. Thus, the ability to detect
wear debris is dependent upon volume and residence time factors similar to those
that control the detectability of chemicals in cooling gas, as described in
Section 7.3.

7.7.2 Ferromagnetic techniques

The normal mode of failure of rolling element bearings is by fatigue cracking and
spalling of the rolling elements or raceways producing fragments up to a millimetre
or more in size in the oil. An online device has been developed that can be inserted
into the full-flow oil line from a bearing and count the number of ferromagnetic
particles present in the oil flow, with a certain size band. The detector is based on
the induction unbalance principle used in metal detectors. A pair of carefully
screened coils surround the oil line and form two arms of an AC bridge circuit.
Magnetic or conducting particles entrained in the flowing oil cause the bridge to
 Online chemical monitoring 171

unbalance, first on one side of null, as the particle approaches the device, and
second on the other side of the null as the particle recedes. Figure 7.11 shows a
section through the sensor as described in Chapter 4 and by Whittington et al.
(1992). The phase of the bridge unbalance enables ferromagnetic particles to be
discriminated from other conducting particles. The sensitivity of the system varies
according to the shape of the particles but for approximately spherical particles the
sensitivity can be adjusted to separately record the passage of particles at two size
levels, small from 200 mm to 2 mm in diameter, in an oil flow velocity of 1 to 12 m/s,
that is an oil flow of up to 20 l/s. The output is in the form of a counter reading in
each of the two size ranges and the output could be made available to a data acqui-
sition system. This robust device has been widely used on jet engine installations,
where its performance in a high temperature, pressure and vibration environment has
been proved. There is no record, however, of this device being used on an electrical
machine.

Output cable

Sensor coils

Oil flow

Unobstructed
oilway Main body tube

Sensor

Oil flow
Power
Airborne integrated
supplies Sensor
signal data systems

Amp

Inductance AC DC
Oscillator Demodulator Counter
bridge

Figure 7.11 Structure of a inductive debris detector

172 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

A device that can produce a greater amount of information about ferro-

magnetic wear debris is the instrumented magnetic drain plug. Conventional
magnetic plugs usually consist of a bar magnet with a pole projecting into the
lubricating oil. In an instrumented plug, it is necessary to measure the change in
field strength at the magnet pole as debris is collected. Because of the difficulties
of measuring those changes a horseshoe magnet has been adopted instead of the
bar magnet. As particles are attracted to the gap between the poles of the magnet
they increase the field within the gap, while at the same time increasing the total
flux in the magnetic circuit. Two differentially connected, matched field sensors,
sampling each of these fields, can thus give additive, particle-dependent signals,
whilst cancelling out fluctuations due to temperature and magnetic field strength.
Figure 7.12 shows the arrangement of the device. Another device, an instru-
mented oil drain plug, gives an analogue voltage proportional to; the amount of
debris deposited, the rate of accumulation of debris and the temperature of the
oil. The device can detect masses of ferromagnetic debris attracted to the pole
pieces ranging from 10 to 600 mg, with a resolution of 10 mg in an oil flow
velocity of 0.1 to 0.5 m/s.

Hall-effect sensor plus

temperature-compensating
sensor

Permanent magnet Pole piece

Permanent magnet

Epoxy resin Brass sleeve

Figure 7.12 An instrumented magnetic drain plug

 Online chemical monitoring 173

Set 8: accidental overload

1.0
Set 8: annual overhaul, a thrust
bearing and a journal bearing
0.8 found to be damaged
Sn–Fe ratio

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
0 200 400 600 800 1 000 1 200
Cumulative running hours (from 3/9/78)
Sets 1–7 Set 8

Figure 7.13 Ratio of tin-to-iron in the oil filter deposits from eight 60 MW
turbo-generator sets. Taken from Lloyd et al. (1981)

7.7.3 Other wear debris detection techniques

The ferromagnetic techniques described in the previous section are appropriate for
rolling element bearings but not for the white-metalled sleeve bearings that are
used on larger electrical machines. Lloyd et al. (1981) have investigated the pro-
blem of detecting wear in the bearings and hydrogen seals of large turbo-generator
sets. They describe an investigation that characterised the debris circulating in the
oil system of a number of 60 MW turbo-generators and correlated the results with
plant condition. A major feature in this correlation was the presence of white-metal
in the machine bearings that typically contain 85% tin.
The results of their investigation showed that by determining the ratio of tin-to-
iron in the debris an operator could see how much bearing damage was occurring,
compared to normal running wear; see Figure 7.13. However, if information was
available about running time, monitoring of tin content alone would be adequate.
Lloyd et al. (1981) then proceeded to investigate how the oil system could be
automatically monitored to provide early warning of bearing damage. In particular,
they considered X-ray fluorescence (XRF) detection and the measurement of the
electrical properties of the oil. Their investigation showed that XRF would be
feasible but would be prohibitively expensive as an online technique.

7.8 Conclusions

This chapter has shown that chemical and wear analysis have been demonstrated to
be effective global monitoring techniques for electrical machines which can pro-
duce narrow bandwidth (<1 Hz) signals. Chemical degradation of insulating
materials and lubricants is detectable and can give bulk indications of the condition
174 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

of an electrical machine. This is particularly important when it is considered how

central insulation and lubrication integrity are to the long-term life of a machine.
However, the detectability criteria for these techniques are difficult and the
chemical analysis processes involved are complex and expensive and the quantity
of data generated by chemical analysis currently confine their application to only
the largest machines in the case of the winding or the core, this tends to throw the
user back towards lower cost, more pervasive modern thermal monitoring techni-
ques, eg FBG, described in Chapter 6. However, the disadvantage of point tem-
perature techniques compared to chemical methods is that they cannot provide an
overview.
 Chapter 8
Online vibration monitoring

8.1 Introduction
An electrical machine, its support structure and the load to which it is coupled,
form a complex electromechanical system. It can receive impulsive excitations that
vibrates it at its own natural frequency, or it can be forced, by the exciting air-gap
electromagnetic field or torque spectrum of the driven or driving machine, at many
different frequencies. These frequencies may cause the machine to emit an unac-
ceptably high level of acoustic noise, or cause progressive mechanical damage, due
to high cycle fatigue, which ends in a machine failure mode.
Consequently, a great deal of effort has been applied to try to determine the
principal sources of vibration in electrical machines, and a large literature, span-
ning nearly one hundred years, has accumulated. A representative selection of
papers and articles is included in the references.
The principal sources of vibration in electrical machines are:
● Stator core response to the attractive force developed magnetically between the
rotor and stator,
● Rotor dynamic behaviour transmitted to the bearings as the machines rotates,
● Shaft-bearing responses, influenced by the machine structure and foundation
support, to vibration transmitted from the rotor,
● Stator end winding responses to the conductor electromagnetic forces.
These four areas are interrelated; for example, bearing misalignment or wear
can result in eccentric running, which will in turn stimulate stator and rotor vibra-
tion modes, furthermore air-gap-induced radial vibration is coupled to the end-
windings, which are effectively embedded encastré in the stator core.
Before examining the specific monitoring techniques, we shall first look at the
characteristic features of the frequency responses of the machine elements listed above.

8.2 Stator core response

8.2.1 General
The stator and its support structure comprise a thick-walled cylinder, slotted at the
bore, resting inside a thin-walled structure, which may be cylindrical for smaller or
176 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

gas-pressurised machines but is usually of box structure for larger air-cooled

machines. A stator in its cylindrical support structure is illustrated schematically in
Figure 8.1. Analysis of a three-dimensional structure such as this, in response to the
complex imposed force distribution, is a formidable problem, even for powerful
numerical techniques. Fortunately, the main features of the response can be
developed using simplified models.
Jordan (1950) and Alger (1965) considered the machine to be reducible to an
infinitely long, thin-walled, cylinder representing the stator core. This simplifica-
tion allows a qualitative assessment of response to be made. A fuller treatment of
the mechanical system is provided by Erdelyi et al. (1956) and Yang (1981) gave a
detailed analysis of stator displacements, taking into account higher frequency
effects due to slot passing.
The forces acting on the stator core are the result of the interaction between the
air-gap flux wave and the currents flowing in the windings embedded in the stator
slots. The forces acting on the end winding are due to the interaction between the
end region leakage flux and the winding currents.
It is apparent, therefore, that the precise nature of the applied force waves will
be a function of the form of the current distribution and the geometry of the air-gap
and end regions. Disturbances to either, due to rotor eccentricity or damaged areas
of the rotor or stator windings, for example, will alter the harmonic components of

Slotted region Stator core annulus

Support ribs Casing

Figure 8.1 A machine stator and its supporting structure

 Online vibration monitoring 177

the force wave and initiate a different response from the stator core, particularly if
the applied forces stimulate any of the natural modes of the system.

8.2.2 Calculation of natural modes

For a simple thin-walled cylinder of infinite length the radial and peripheral dis-
placements, ur(q, t) and uq(q, t), of the structure at a radius fixed at the mid-wall
value, may be written as:
X
1
ur ðq; tÞ ¼ fan ðtÞ cosðnqÞ þ bn ðtÞ sinðnqÞg (8.1)
n¼even

And:
X
1
uq ðq; tÞ ¼ fcn ðtÞ cosðnqÞ þ dn ðtÞ sinðnqÞg (8.2)
n¼even

If it is further assumed that the deformations are inextensible:

@uq
¼ ur (8.3)
@q
Then:
bn an
cn ¼ and dn ¼ 
n n
During deformation by the deflections in (8.1) and (8.2), the system accumu-
lates volumetric elastic strain potential energy, V‘ , per unit length given by the
expression:
ð  2 
1 p EJ @ ur
V‘ ¼  ur dq (8.4)
2 p ð1  n2 Þr2 @q2
where
E ¼ Young’s modulus of the material,
n ¼ Poisson’s ratio of the material,
J ¼ the polar moment of inertia of the core cylinder.
Equation (8.4) reduces to:
p EJ X1   h 2
2 2 2
i
V‘ ¼ 1  n a n ðtÞ þ bn ðtÞ (8.5)
2 ð1  n2 Þr n¼1

Timoshenko (1974) shows that the kinetic energy of the system, T‘ , per unit
length is given by:
ð
w p  2 
T‘ ¼ u_ r þ u_ q 2 dq (8.6)
2g p
178 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

where w is the weight per unit length per unit circumferential angle of the cylinder
and g is the acceleration due to gravity. Substituting (8.1) and (8.2) into (8.6) gives:
1  
pw X 1 h i
1 þ 2 a_ n 2 ðtÞ þ b_ n ðtÞ
2
T‘ ¼ (8.7)
2g n1 n

If it is necessary to include the vibration of the core, enclosure and frame

building bars of the machine, then these can also be incorporated. So, for example,
the total elastic strain energy, V‘ , would be given by:
V ‘ ¼ VE þ VS þ VF (8.8)
where the subscripts E, S and F refer to the enclosure, the stator core and the frame
building bars, respectively.
The total kinetic energy of the system would be given by:

T‘ ¼ TE þ TS þ TF (8.9)

However, the calculation of these quantities for the enclosure and frame
structures is complex. The equation of motion can now be formulated. It is given
for free vibration by the Euler–Lagrange equation:
 
@ @T‘ @V‘
 ¼0 (8.10)
@t @ a_ n @ a_ n
If the forced vibration response is required directly, then the right-hand side of
(8.10) becomes a forcing function. For example, if we are interested in the system
response to the mth harmonic of the radial force wave f (q, t), the forcing function
becomes the work function, W, given by:
X
1
W¼ fm ðq; tÞ urm ðq; tÞ (8.11)
m¼1

Generally, fm(q, t) has the form of travelling wave:

fm ðq; tÞ ¼ Fm cos ðwm t  mqÞ (8.12)
Erdelyi et al. (1956) show how the Rayleigh–Ritz method can be used to solve
(8.10) to yield the natural frequencies of the system, under the assumption that time
variations are harmonic. That is, the coefficients an(t) and bn(t) are given by:
an ðtÞ ¼ An sin wn t
(8.13)
bn ðtÞ ¼ Bn sin wn t
Under this assumption, (8.10) becomes a polynomial in wn whose roots give
the natural frequencies. Some of the natural circumferential mode shapes of the
radial vibration of the stator are shown in Figure 8.2.
Besides these circumferential modes, it is also possible for the radial vibration
of the stator to vary as a function of machine length. The mode shapes for a
 Online vibration monitoring 179

Kc = 0 Kc = 1 Kc = 2

Kc = 3 Kc = 4

Figure 8.2 Radial mode shapes of a stator in a circumferential direction

KL = 0 KL = 1

KL = 2 KL = 3

Figure 8.3 Radial mode shapes of a stator in a longitudinal direction

cylinder vibrating in this way are illustrated in Figure 8.3. In practice, however,
only the kL ¼ 0 case need be considered for machines of normal proportion. Very
long machines may exhibit vibrations at the higher modes, but the most important
mode shapes are those due to the circumferential radial vibrations. It is easily
recognised that the cases for kC ¼ 0 and kL ¼ 0 and are identical.
180 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Approximate formulae for the natural frequencies of a simple single ring stator
have been reported by Yang (1981) in the form given here. For kc ¼ 0, the corre-
sponding natural frequency f0 is given by:
  12
1 E wy
f0 ¼ (8.14)
2prmean r wy þ wt þ wi þ ww
where r is the density of the core, and wy, wt, wi and ww are the weights of the core
yoke, teeth, insulation and windings, respectively, rmean is the mean radius of the
core, excluding the teeth. For kc ¼ 1, the natural frequency f1 is given by:
2 312
2
f1 ¼ f0 4 n o5 (8.15)
2 wy
1 þ 12rt0mean
S
2 wy þ wt þ wi þ ww

where t0 is the radial thickness of the stator core annulus and S is a constant related
to the stiffness of the winding, insulation and slot components:
   2 !
Ns wt þ wi þ ww 1 t0 t0
S ¼1þ þ þ at ht 3 (8.16)
2pJrmean wt 3 2ht 2ht

where
Ns ¼ number of stator slots,
J ¼ the polar moment of inertia of the core,
at ¼ cross-section of area of the teeth,
ht ¼ tooth depth.
The higher natural frequencies, fm, may be calculated from:

f0 t0 mðm2  1ÞGðmÞ
fm ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (8.17)
2
3 rmean ðm2 þ 1Þ

where the function G(m) is given by:

8 n  o912
< t0 2
12rmean 2 ð m2
 1 Þ m 2
4 þ
wy M
wy þ wt þ wi þ ww
=
GðmÞ ¼ 1 þ (8.18)
: ðm2 þ 1Þ ;

It is clear that the calculation of the natural frequencies of complex mechanical

structures, as represented by the stator core and frame of an electrical machine, is a
difficult matter.
However, this could be resolved experimentally by carrying out separate
mobility tests of the stator and rotor components and then a mobility test of the
composite assembly. By these means, it is possible to determine the modes of the
structure.
 Online vibration monitoring 181

8.2.3 Stator electromagnetic force wave

In order to anticipate changes in stator core frame and winding vibrations due to
electrical or mechanical anomalies in the machine, it is important to determine the
exciting forces. The problem of calculating the forces exerted on the stator and
 in the air-gap of the machine. This can
rotor reduces to calculate the flux density B
be achieved using numerical techniques, such as the finite element method, and
requires that a solution be found to the following equation for the machine:
 

@B
   
r  r  B ¼ s v  B  m (8.19)
@t
where s is the electrical conductivity of the region, and v is the velocity of the rotor,
relative to the travelling flux wave produced by the stator. The solution of (8.19),
even in the two dimensions, representing a cross-section in the radial and cir-
cumferential directions of the machine, requires significant computational effort if
the slotting of both rotor and stator are to be taken into account. If good accuracy is
required, however, it is the only suitable path to follow, using a detailed explanation
of the solution of (8.19) for a linear machine, using the finite element technique.
The finite element method can be used to account for any distribution of
windings, and any radial or peripheral geometrical variations, simply by increasing
the complexity of the model. However, there are limits to the accuracy of finite
element modelling determined by the accuracy of the precise manufacturing data.
These methods are essentially numerical and therefore quantitative.
However, a qualitative assessment can be more valuable than a full analysis
and this is readily achieved, in certain circumstances, using simpler, although less
accurate methods.
If the rotor and stator surfaces are assumed to be smooth then it is possible to
solve (8.19) in the radial and circumferential plane analytically, provided the
motion term is neglected. This approach allows the effect of individual conductor
currents to be accounted for. Hague (1962) and Stafl (1967) both used separation of
variable techniques to calculate air-gap flux densities for a variety of
configurations.
Many authors have examined the important sources of unbalanced magnetic
pull (UMP) and the effect it has on vibration. Swann (1963) showed how it is
possible to calculate the harmonics introduced into the flux wave due to rotor
eccentricity. He does this by using a conformal transformation to re-centre the
rotor. In addition, Binns et al. (1973) identified the role of static eccentricity in the
production of UMP. A review of a considerable amount of previous work on UMP
may be found in the report by Rai (1974).
Perhaps the simplest, generally useful method of gaining a qualitative assess-
ment of the flux wave form was that used by Yang (1981). Here, the flux wave is
calculated by simply multiplying the stator magnetomotive force distribution, F1,
due to the winding currents, by the permeance, L of the air-gap:
F ¼ F1  L (8.20)
182 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Binns (1968) suggested that this procedure had limited accuracy, but within the
limitations suggested by Lim (1951) the technique is valuable, since it can easily
accommodate geometrical effects and anomalies in winding arrangements.
Williamson et al. (1980) later proposed an analytical permeance-wave method for
calculating the harmonic impedances of a machine and thereby, by the use of
harmonic equivalent circuits, it was possible to predict machine rotor torques.
These and other authors have subsequently, successfully used this method, some-
times incorporating finite element solutions, to allow for three-dimensional com-
ponents that are not tractable by the analytical method. Using such techniques it has
been possible to analyse the effects of winding faults and rotor eccentricity on the
flux density in the air-gap.
Vas (1993) made the point in his book about the all-embracing nature of the
electro-magnetic field in the energy conversion process, stressing the importance of
the air-gap flux density in electrical machine monitoring. This relates to the
emphasis in the published literature to date on the effect of more tractable faults on
the air-gap field.
The permeance variation, taking account of the relative motion of the rotor
with respect to the stator, can be expressed in the form of an infinite series of
harmonics. If both the rotor and stator surfaces are slotted, then the permeance
wave has the form:
X
1 X
1
Lðq1 ; tÞ ¼ b m;n cos ½mNr wrm t  ðmNr  nNs Þq1 
L (8.21)
m¼1 n¼1

b m;n , the peak amplitude of the permeance wave defined above:

With L
m and n ¼ integer slot harmonics
Ns and Nr ¼ number of stator and rotor slots, respectively,
wrm ¼ mechanical angular speed of the rotor.
Similarly, the instantaneous MMF, f1, in the stator air-gap can be expressed as
an infinite series of space and time harmonics. The result, which can be found in
standard texts, is,
X
1 X
1 h  as z i
f1 ðtÞ ¼ b
f s;‘;q cos ‘wse t  qp q1   j‘q (8.22)
‘¼1 q¼1
L

b
f s;‘;q ¼ the stator MMF wave components of the form NI with ‘ time harmo-
nics and q space harmonics
q ¼ the order of the stator winding MMF space harmonic
‘ ¼ the order of the supply time harmonics
wse ¼ the angular frequency of the electrical supply
z ¼ the longitudinal distance from the centre of the machine
L ¼ the active length of the core
as ¼ the skew angle of the stator
f‘q ¼ the phase angle of the stator MMF wave Fs;‘;q
 Online vibration monitoring 183

p ¼ the number of pole pairs

Similarly the rotor MMF, referred to the stator, can be expressed as:
X1 X 1 h  ar z i
f2 ðtÞ ¼ b
f r;‘;q cos ‘swse t  qp q2   j‘q (8.23)
‘¼1 q¼1
L

where
s is the slip of the rotor with respect to the stator magnetic field,
b
f r;‘;q ¼ the rotor MMF wave components of the form NI with ‘ time harmonics
and q space harmonics.
The total MMF can be found by adding (8.22) and (8.23), and the flux wave
calculated by multiplying this sum by the result of (8.21).
Yang (1981) shows that the effect of eccentricity can be incorporated by
modifying the permeance wave expression (8.21). He proposes the following
expressions for dynamic and static eccentricity, stator permeance variations,
Ls;ecc due to static eccentricity being:
X
1
Ls;ecc ¼ L0;ecc cos nq1 (8.24)
n¼1

Stator permeance variations, Ld;ecc , due to dynamic eccentricity:

X
1
Ld;ecc ¼ b 0;ecc cos ðwecc t  nq1 Þ
L (8.25)
n¼1

where wecc is the angular velocity of the eccentricity.

These expressions can be combined with (8.21) to give the permeance wave
for the complete system, and the flux wave found in the manner outlined above.
Ovality of the stator bore can be accounted for in a similar manner. The expressions
and methodology outlined here provide a general and relatively simple method of
calculating the harmonics of the flux wave acting on the stator so that its response
can be determined. The radial and tangential forces applied to the core can be
calculated from the flux density using the method of Maxwell stresses, as described
by Carpenter (1959) from the radial and tangential stresses given by, sr and sq:
Br 2 Bq 2
sr ¼ and sq ¼ (8.26)
2m0 2m0
where Br and Bq are the amplitudes of the radial and tangential flux density waves,
respectively, calculated from the MMF and permeance waves that when integrated
give (8.20).

8.3 Stator end winding response

The end winding structure of an electrical machine has a relatively low stiffness or
compliance but relatively high, non-linear damping coefficients due to frictional
184 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

contact between adjacent conductors in the structure. The stiffness may be

increased by improved methods of bracing, which are used in large turbo-
generators or induction machines with more onerous starting duties. The motion of
the stator end winding is excited by two mechanisms:
● Seismic excitation of the coils, as encastré beams, by the ovalising displace-
ments of the stator core and displacement of the machine by its environment,
● Electromagnetic forces on the coils themselves due to the currents flowing
in them.
The magnetic field of this condition was considered by Ashworth et al. (1961)
and the consequent forces by Brandl (1980). The dynamics of the end winding are
complex, partly because of its complicated geometry but also because of the dis-
tributed nature of the forces applied to it and the non-linear coefficients of its
response. The resultant displacements are at twice the electrical supply frequency,
fse, and it is necessary to carry out a very thorough analysis to determine the mode
shapes of the structures. The dynamic behaviour has been described by Ohtaguro
et al. (1980). Again, when the analysis is difficult, experimental determination of
the structure can be obtained by mobility tests to determine the modal response of
the structure.
A number of utilities have installed triaxial accelerometers on the end winding
structures of large turbo-generators to monitor the amplitudes of 2fsm vibrations at
widely-spaced intervals of time in order to check that the end winding has not
slackened. Displacements of end windings on large turbo-generators of from 1 to
10 mm are quite usual during normal running, even with modern epoxy insulation
systems, and this can lead to fretting of the insulation, slackening and dielectric
damage.
Because of this end winding, monitoring on the very largest synchronous
machines is now being considered for regular online measurement but caution must
be taken as it requires very specialist interpretation to determine from accel-
erometer signals where end winding slackening has occurred, so that remedial
action can take place.
Experience from the work to date on this issue suggests that the measurement
of individual displacements is less important than determining any change in the
vibration eigen values of the end winding structure. In that case weakness in
structural stiffening could be identified and bracing tightened at the next major
outage to resolve the issue.
However, on smaller machines, for example, induction motors, the dis-
placements are not large, but they do require special prediction techniques,
especially for larger motors in the oil and gas production industry, as described
Williamson et al. (1988), and for measurement, see Campbell et al. (1984). This
is particularly important during design for arduous starting conditions when
induction motor winding currents can be very large and displacements could be
significant.
 Online vibration monitoring 185

8.4 Rotor response

We now consider the motion of a rotor in response to:
● Transverse force excitation, due to self-weight, mechanical unbalance, shaft
whirling, dynamic or static electro-magnetic UMP due to eccentricity or a
combination of all four,
● Torsional torque excitation, due to the prime mover drive or electromagnetic
torque reaction.
Transverse forces are due to asymmetries in the machine, whilst torsion is
primarily due to the driving torque, however, both may be affected by electrical or
mechanical faults in the machine itself or electrical or mechanical system dis-
turbances outside the machine.
An important issue is the response of the machine to these applied excitations.
There will also be a coupling between torsional and transverse effects due to the
transfer function or stiffness between these axes of the machine, so torsional
effects, like current faults in rotor and stator windings, can cause transverse effects,
like vibrations, and vice versa.

8.4.1 Transverse response

8.4.1.1 Rigid rotors
In order to examine the response of a rotor to unbalanced forces, a distinction must be
drawn between the rigid and flexible rotors. Rigid or short rotors may be considered as
a single mass acting at the bearings, and it has been shown that the displacement, u, of
the rotor and its bearings can be modelled by the differential equation:
d2 u du
ðM þ Ms Þ 2
þ c þ ku ¼ mrwrm 2 (8.27)
dt dt
where
M ¼ mass of the rotating system,
m ¼ equivalent unbalance mass on the shaft,
Ms ¼ support system mass,
r ¼ effective radius of the equivalent unbalanced mass,
c ¼ damping constant of the support system,
k ¼ stiffness of the support system.
For sinusoidal motion the peak displacement, b u , is given by the solution to
(8.27), and is:
 2
mr wwrm0
b
u¼ vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
)ffi (8.28)
u(  2 2  2
u
ð M þ Ms Þ t 1  wwrm0 þ 4D2 wwrm0
186 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

With w0, the natural frequency of the rotor support system, and D the damping
factor are given by:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
k
w0 ¼
ð M þ Ms Þ (8.29)
c
D ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 kðM þ Ms Þ
If the displacement is divided by the specific unbalance e, given by:
mr
e¼
M
Then the behaviour of the displacement, u, as a function of frequency is as
shown in Figure 8.4. The degree of residual unbalance is denoted by the quantity
G ¼ ewrm and the permissible limits are provided by international standard ISO
1940-1:2003, as shown in Figure 8.5.
For electrical machinery, the appropriate quality grades are towards the lower
end of the values shown in Figure 8.5. For example, G ¼ 2.5 is generally applicable
to machines of all sizes, and G ¼ 1.0 for special requirements.

8.4.1.2 Flexible rotors

For long slender rotors operating at higher speeds, as in two pole machines, parti-
cularly large turbo-generators that have restricted rotor radii, the foregoing analysis
is insufficient and the distribution of unbalance must be considered. Again,
Campbell et al. (1984) show how it is possible to calculate the natural frequencies
of general problems of a rotor with a flexural rigidity EJ, and mass per unit length

u
e

1 ω
ω0

Figure 8.4 Displacement per specific unbalance versus normalised frequency

 Online vibration monitoring 187

100

Residual unbalance (µm)

10

1.0
G = 2.5
G = 1.0

0.1
30 300 3 000 30 000
Rotational frequency (Hz)

Figure 8.5 Extract from ISO 1940-1:2003 permissible limits to residual

unbalance

m, which are both functions of axial location, z. The displacement u, for any z, is
given by the solution of:
  X1
@2 @2u
EJ ðzÞ  wrm
2
mðzÞu ¼ fn (8.30)
@z2 @z2 n¼1

where fn is the unbalance forcing function and:

ð
2pfn ¼ wn ¼ mðzÞgn 2 ðzÞdz (8.31)

With gn(z) the nth solution of (8.30). The solution for coupled systems com-
prising several rotors, consisting of the electrical machine and the machine it is
driving or driven by, is extremely complex. It is usual to assume that the stiffness of
couplings between rotors is low and rotors may be considered to be decoupled from
one another, allowing them to be considered individually as described above.
The mode shapes for the rotor shafts will also depend upon the nature of the
bearing supports for the shafts. For example, Figure 8.6 shows the effect of hard
and soft bearings on the first and second modes for a single flexible rotor.
The results for higher modes are readily deduced from these examples. For
nearly all electrical machine vibrations, for which monitoring would be appro-
priate, the bearings may be considered to be hard, although Smart et al. (2000) have
shown how the influence of foundations should be taken into account when
studying the transverse vibration behaviour of a large machine.
188 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Mode 1 Mode 1

Mode 2 Mode 2

Soft bearings Hard bearings

Figure 8.6 Rotor mode shapes for hard and soft bearings

The international standard limits shown in Figure 8.5 are applicable to rigid
rotors operating well below their critical speed. For flexible rotors it has been
suggested that the allowable eccentricity can be modified so that the same standard
applies. Dimentberg (1961) uses the correction:
  !
wrm 2
eflexible < erigid 1  (8.32)
w0

where w0 is the first critical speed of the rotor. This, however, is only applicable for
rotors running at less than w0, that is a hypo-critical machine. When the machine is
operating above w0, it is a hyper-critical machine.
In general, large 2-pole turbo-generators and some induction motors are hyper-
critical machines but most multi-pole machines are hypo-critical.

8.4.2 Torsional response

The torsional oscillatory behaviour of a large rotating electrical machine and
its driven machine or prime mover can be complicated. For example, in a large
turbo-generator, the electrical machine links a complex prime mover to a large
interconnected electrical network in which large quantities of energy are being
transported. The possibility of forced torsional oscillation in the rotor of a turbo-
generator is significant because of its great length and relatively small radius. The nature
of such oscillations will depend upon the form of the disruptions that occur in the
mechanical or the electrical system. Disturbances in the electrical system are particu-
larly important since it has been reported that they can limit shaft life due to fatigue, see,
for example, Walker et al. (1975), Walker et al. (1981) and Joyce et al. (1980).
 Online vibration monitoring 189

Cudworth et al. (1984) have developed a computational model for a turbo-

generator shaft that is very general, and allows a wide variety of fault conditions to
be investigated. The electrical system is represented in phase variables and takes
into account as many static and rotating electrical elements as may be required. For
the mechanical system, the lumped parameter model illustrated in Figure 8.7 is
used. The shaft damping and steam damping effects on the turbine blades are
represented by variable viscous dampers, and material damping is also included.
The waveform shown in Figure 8.8 is representative of the results achievable
using a model, such as the one described above. This shows the oscillations in shaft

Ti1 To1 Ti2 To2 Ti3 To3 Ti4 To4

K12 K23 K34 K4-1,4

J1 J1 J3 J4

C12 C23 C34 C4-1

C1 C2 C3 C

Figure 8.7 A lumped parameter model to determine torsional response

3.0

2.5

2.0
Shaft torque (p.u.)

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.5
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0
LP2 – Generator shaft torque transient Time (s)

Figure 8.8 Calculated shaft torque transients using a turbo-generator rotor

lumped parameter model, dots show the permissible limits of
calculation error
190 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

torque of a 500 MW turbo-generator following a phase-to-phase short circuit on the

transmission system. The lower level oscillations persist for some considerable
time after the major transient has largely died away and this has obvious implica-
tions for the fatigue life of the shaft. It is advisable to monitor such events, and
methods for doing so will be discussed later in this chapter.

8.5 Bearing response

8.5.1 General
Rotor vibration force is transmitted to the stator via the air-gap magnetic field and
the bearings in parallel.
Therefore, it is important to consider the response of the bearings to that
vibration force so that its effect is not confused with vibrations generated by faults
within the bearings themselves.
Rotor vibration force will cause vibration of the rotor relative to the housing
and an absolute vibration of the bearing housing.
This action must be considered for both rolling element bearings and oil-
lubricated sleeve bearings.

8.5.2 Rolling element bearings

A schematic view of a typical rolling element bearing is shown in Figure 8.9 and
these are fitted to machines of output generally below 300 kW, which constitute the
vast majority of electrical machines.
Rolling element bearing failure is the most common failure mode associated
with smaller machines. Because of their construction rolling element bearings

Vibration
accelerometer

Shock pulse
transducer

Roller elements
Shaft
Inner race Outer race
Housing Cage

Figure 8.9 Rolling element bearing assembly

 Online vibration monitoring 191

generate precisely identifiable vibration frequencies. Also, since the oil or grease
film is very thin the relative motion between the housing and the shaft is small. It is
therefore possible to detect on the stator side the vibrations associated with the
bearings using an accelerometer mounted directly on the bearing housing, wsm.
The characteristic frequencies of rolling element bearings depend on the
geometrical size of the various elements, and can be found in many texts; see
Collacott (1979), for example. Table 8.1 summarises these frequencies and their
origins.
Besides the frequencies given in Table 8.1, there will also be higher fre-
quencies generated by elastic deformation of the rolling elements themselves, and
the excitation of the natural modes of the rings that comprise the inner and outer
races. These effects will, however, be secondary to the principal components
defined here. The magnitudes of the components given in Table 8.1 are often lost
in the general background noise when the degree of damage is small, but because
of their precise nature they present an effective route for monitoring progressive
bearing degradation. A simple instrument can be devised using an accelerometer
mounted on the bearing housing to detect the amplitude of vibration at these
characteristic frequencies. Once the characteristic frequencies have been calcu-
lated, it is possible to enhance the performance of the instrument by the use of
highly selective filters and weighting functions, so as to be able to identify bearing
faults at an earlier stage.
When monitoring the vibration due to rolling element bearings it is prudent to
obtain a good vibration baseline. This is because once the bearing becomes worn

Table 8.1 Characteristic transverse mechanical angular frequencies produced by

rolling element bearings

Fault Stator transverse mechanical Comments

frequency, wsm (rad/s)
 
Outer race w ¼ nb  w  1  db cos j Rolling element passing frequency on
sm 2 rm Db
  the outer race
Inner race w ¼ nb  w  1 þ db cos j Rolling element passing frequency on
sm 2 rm Db
  the inner race
Rolling  2 Rolling element spin frequency
element w sm ¼ Db
2db  w rm  1  db
Db cos2
j
 
Train fault w ¼ 1  w  1  db cos j Caused by an irregularity in the train
sm 2 rm Db

Definitions
nb ¼ number of rolling elements
wrm ¼ 2pN
60 mechanical rotational frequency (Hz)
wsm ¼ mechanical vibration frequency on the stator side
N ¼ rotational speed (rev/min)
db ¼ rolling element diameter
Db ¼ rolling element pitch
f ¼ rolling element contact angle with races
192 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

significantly the vibration spectrum it emits becomes more random again, although
at a higher baseline than for a good bearing. If no baseline is available and no
history has been built up and the background noise has risen, then it will be
impossible to detect specific faults.
Machinery will also have a degree of unbalance, which will modulate the
characteristic frequencies of the bearings and produce side-bands at the rotational
frequency. Vibration monitoring is highly suitable for rolling element bearings,
although it is complex but has gained wide acceptance throughout the industry. See
Stack et al. (2004) for a description of the process to classify rolling element
bearing faults.

8.5.3 Sleeve bearings

In sleeve bearings, the shaft is supported by a fluid film pumped, by the motion of
the shaft, at high pressure into the space between the bearing liner and the shaft.
Because of the compliance of the oil film and the limited flexibility of the bearing
housing, vibrations measured at the housing may be of low amplitude. Also,
because the liners of the bearing will inevitably be a soft material such as white
metal, small faults are very difficult to identify by measuring the absolute vibration
of the housing. These factors point to the use of displacement transducers as being
the most effective tool, but they will only be useful at the lower frequencies. Higher
frequencies, for example, multiples of the rotational frequency, are best measured
with an accelerometer mounted on the bearing housing.
It is worth bearing in mind, however, that as the bearing load increases, due
to an increase in rotor load, the oil film thickness decreases with a commensurate
decrease in bearing flexibility. This increases the vibration detectable at the
bearing housing and allows more information to be derived from the
measurement.
An important concern for sleeve bearings is the onset of instability in the oil
film. This can result in oil whirl and subsequently oil whip, in response to unusual
loading of the bearing. Figure 8.10 shows the forces acting upon the shaft in a
sleeve bearing, and illustrates that the shaft is supported by a wedge of oil just at the
point of minimum clearance.
The oil film is circulating at a speed of approximately half the shaft speed, but
because of the pressure difference on either side of the minimum clearance point,
the shaft precesses at just below half speed. This motion is termed oil whirl and is a
direct result of the pressure difference mentioned above, which comes about due to
viscous loss in the lubricant. Instabilities occur when the whirl frequency corre-
sponds to the natural frequency of the shaft.
Under such conditions, the oil film may no longer be able to support the
weight of the shaft. Details of the mechanisms involved in oil whirl, and its
development into the more serious instability called oil whip, which occurs when
the shaft speed is twice its natural frequency, are given by Ehrich et al. (1984).
Care must be taken, therefore, that either the machine does not operate at a speed
higher than twice the first critical speed of the rotor shaft, or if it must, then oil
 Online vibration monitoring 193

Vibration
accelerometer

Shaft rotation
Low-pressure fluid
Y-axis X-axis
proximeter proximeter

F
P

Minimum
R
clearance point

High-pressure fluid

R Reaction P Pressure
F Destabilising components W Whirl force

Figure 8.10 Forces acting upon a shaft in a sleeve bearing

whirl must be suppressed. The following frequency, wsm, is identified in the

literature as caused by oil whirl:
wsm ¼ ð0:43 to 0:48Þwrm (8.33)

8.6 Monitoring techniques

Now that we have discussed the ways in which transverse and torsional vibration
can be produced in electrical machines, and we have outlined, in Chapter 3, the
principal analytical tools at our disposal to measure the effect of vibration, we
can proceed to show how vibration can be used to monitor the health of
machines.
For electrical machine CM, it is important to recognise that mechanical and
electrical faults excite the machine structure in different ways. For example,
● Mechanical faults like self-weight, mechanical unbalance and shaft whirling
will excite transverse motion in the machine frame, detectable by vibration
sensors.
194 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● Dynamic or static electromagnetic UMP due to eccentricity, which may be

caused by bearing wear, will also excite transverse motion in the machine
frame, detectable by vibration sensors.
● Electrical faults in stator or rotor windings will excite torsional motion in the
shaft that will be detectable in the torque signal but not necessarily by vibration
sensors, unless the activity is coupled to transverse motion by asymmetries in
the machine frame.
Because many faults can be identified by more than one method, and because
the internationally agreed standards and limits relate not to specific items of plant,
but to the form of analysis to which measurement is subjected, we shall use the
measurement treatment as the generic identifier. We shall also be principally con-
cerned with so-called online monitoring, that is, we are interested in techniques that
can be applied to machinery that is running and in the predictive power of the
monitoring rather than simply the ability to merely intercept faulty conditions when
they become serious enough to cause damage. There may often be some com-
monality between these objectives.

8.6.1 Overall level monitoring

This simple form of monitoring is the most commonly used technique, although as
an aid to diagnosis of faults in electrical machines its efficacy is limited. The
measurement taken is simply the rms value of the vibration level on the stator side
of the machine over a selected bandwidth. The usual bandwidth is 0.01–1 kHz, or
0.01–10 kHz, and in practice the measured parameter is usually vibration velocity
taken at the bearing cap of the machine under surveillance. The technique has
found favour because over the years a considerable experience has been built up to
relation overall vibration monitoring levels to machinery failure modes. This has
resulted in the publication of recommended vibration standards for running
machinery. These standards do not give diagnostic information, but simply indicate
the overall health of machinery at a given vibration level. Many operators use such
information to develop a strategy for maintenance scheduling.
The guidance given in the past by the German Vibration Standard VDl 2056 is
illustrated below in Table 8.2, however the relevant up-to-date standard is ISO
10816-1:1995. These criteria are based solely on machine rating and support sys-
tems, and utilise a 0.01–1 kHz bandwidth. Essentially it recommends that when
vibration levels change by 8 dB or more care must be exercised, and when the
change exceeds 20 dB action should follow. These limits can be relaxed, however,
if a subsequent frequency analysis shows that the cause of the increase in level is
due to a rise in the higher frequency components. In such cases, changes of 16 and
40 dB, respectively, may be more appropriate. A section of the specification, as it
relates to electrical machines, is given in Table 8.3. Group K signifies smaller,
quiet running plant, Group M is medium-sized plant and Group G is the larger,
noisier plant.
This reflects that electrical machines, when uncoupled from their prime mover
or driven plant, are generally low-noise, low-vibration machines.
 Online vibration monitoring 195

Table 8.2 Vibration standard VDl 2056

Vibration Vibration Group K, Group M, Group G, larger, noisier

velocity velocity smaller, medium-sized plant
(mm/s (dB, ref quiet run- plant
rms) 106 mm/s) ning plant
45 153 Not permis- Not permissible Not permissible
28 149 sible 20 dB (10)
18 145
11.2 141 Just tolerable
7.1 137 Just tolerable
4.5 133 Just toler- Allowable
2.8 129 able Allowable
1.8 125 Allowable Good
1.12 121 Good Large machines with
0.71 117 Good Medium machines rigid and heavy foun-
0.45 119 Small 15–75 kW or up to dations whose natural
0.28 109 machines 300 kW on special frequency exceeds ma-
0.18 105 up to 15 foundations chine speed
kW

Table 8.3 Vibration limits for maintenance as given in CDA/MS/NVSH107

Type of New machines Worn machines,

plant full-load operation

100–1 000 h 1 000–10 000 h Service Immediate

life life level overhaul*
(mm/s rms) (mm/s rms) (mm/s rms) (mm/s rms)
Boiler auxiliaries 1.0 3.2 5.6 10.0
Large steam 1.8 18.0 18.0 32.0
turbine
Pump drives 1.4 5.6 10.0 18.0
Motor-generator 1.0 3.2 5.6 10.0
set
Fan drives 1.0 3.2 5.6 10.0
Motors in general 0.25 1.8 3.2 5.6

*These levels must not be exceeded in any octave band.

Another useful set of criteria was given in the Canadian Government

Specification CDA/MS/NVSH107, no longer issued. This specification relates
primarily to measurements taken on bearings, and it is here that overall level
measurement is most commonly employed. This specification has a broader
bandwidth than VDl 2056, namely 0.01–10 kHz, but still relies on the overall
velocity vibration measurement.
The strength of the overall vibration level technique is its simplicity. It requires
only the simplest of instrumentation applied to the stator side of the machine, and
196 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

because of this it is a common feature in many installations. It also provides an

ideal method for use with portable instruments, but it makes heavy demands upon
technical personnel. The sensitivity of the technique is also low, particularly when a
fault is at an early stage, and there is little help on offer to aid diagnosis without
further sophisticated techniques being employed.
Neale (1973) indicates that it may be possible to affect a limited diagnosis by
taking two overall level measurements, Va, the peak vibration velocity in mm/s and
X the peak to peak displacement in mm. These quantities are then used to define the
parameter, F, as follows:
0:52NX
F¼ (8.34)
Va
where N is the speed in rev/min of the machine. Then the interpretations in
Table 8.4 are appropriate.

8.6.2 Frequency spectrum monitoring

The key to vibration monitoring diagnostics is the frequency spectrum of the signal,
and the past decades has seen a remarkable increase in the range and sophistication
of techniques and instrumentation available for spectral analysis.
There are various levels of spectral analysis commonly used, and these may be
regarded as a continuum extending from the overall level reading to the narrow
band with constant frequency bandwidth presentation, as shown in Figure 8.11.
In the octave band and 1/3 octave band techniques, the spectrum is split into
discrete bands, as defined by Figure 8.12. The bands are, by definition, such that
when the frequency is scaled logarithmically the bands are of equal width. The
constant percentage band is one which is always the same percentage of the centre
frequency, whilst the constant frequency bandwidth is an absolutely fixed band-
width form of analysis that can give very high resolution, provided the instru-
mentation is of a sufficiently high specification.
The effect that the change of bandwidth has on the processed signal output
highlights precisely why the narrow band technique is superior to the overall level
technique as a diagnostic tool. For example, a certain transducer may provide an
output PSD that may be interpreted in the ways shown in Figure 8.13. It is apparent
that the components around frequency f1 dominate the overall level reading, and the
shape of the 1/3 octave result. Important changes, say at f2 and f3 or the presence of
other components, could go largely unnoticed, except by the use of narrow band

Table 8.4 Diagnosis using the overall level measurements based on Neale

Value of F Trend Fault

F<1 Decreasing Oil whirl
F¼1 Steady Unbalance, indicative of eccentricity or perhaps faulty rotor
F>1 Increasing Misalignment, static eccentricity
 Online vibration monitoring 197

Wide band Narrow band

Narrow Narrow
Overall Octave 1/3 Octave constant constant
level band band % of centre frequency
frequency bandwidth

Figure 8.11 Levels of spectral analysis

Frequency

8 900
7 100 1 120
4 000
3 500
2 240 5 600
1 700
1 120
890 2 000
560
450
282 1 400
224
141
121 710
71
56
36.5 365
28
18 180
14
12
90
1/3
O
O
c
c 45
t
t
a
a
v
v 22.5
e
e

Figure 8.12 Octave and third octave bands

methods. This is crucial because the flexibility of the mechanical system may be
such that important components are masked by those closer to resonances in the
mechanical structure of the machine.
The narrow band spectrum also allows the operator to trend the condition of
the machine most effectively. This requires that an initial baseline spectrum is
taken and subsequent spectra are compared with it. The use of digitally derived
spectra means that the results of such comparisons can be computed quickly since
the spectra reduce to a simple sequence of numbers at discrete frequencies, as
closely spaced as required within the limitations of the instrumentation. In this way,
criteria such as VDl 2056 can be applied for each frequency. Because of the large
amounts of data generated using narrow band methods, it is frequently convenient
198 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Overall level
Vibration velocity, waveform PSD

1/3 Octave band

Narrow band
frequency

f3 f1 f2
Frequency

Figure 8.13 Effect of change in bandwidth on the spectral response

Vibration velocity, waveform PSD

Operation limit

Baseline

Monitored record

Lower frequency limits used Higher frequency limits used Frequency

Figure 8.14 Operational envelope around a spectral response

to predetermine the operational limits, on the basis of one of the vibration stan-
dards, and to construct an operational envelope around the baseline spectrum. This
can take account of the wider limits allowable at higher frequencies, and can be
used to automatically flag warnings when maintenance limits are reached. The
basis of this technique is illustrated in Figure 8.14, where the baseline is set at the
 Online vibration monitoring 199

maximum value of vibration expected and the operational envelope at which trips
are initiated, is set above this. The techniques described thus far, in this section, are
relatively general. In order to identify not just unsatisfactory overall performance,
but to pinpoint specific problems, it is necessary to examine discrete frequencies, or
groups of frequencies, as indicated earlier in this chapter. Induction motors in
particular require a high degree of frequency resolution applied to their vibration
signals since the speed of rotation is close to the electrical supply frequency. This
tends to generate side-bands spaced at s and 2s around the harmonics of the supply
frequency, where s is the slip frequency of the machine.
The application of vibration monitoring for fault diagnosis in large turbo-
generators has been described by Mayes (1994) and computer analysis techniques
that can be applied offline to vibration data collected online are described by
Herbert (1986), some of the detail of analysis and the effect of the foundation
response to the machine excitation is given by Smart et al. (2000).

8.6.3 Faults detectable from the stator force wave

Using the techniques in the previous section and verifying by measurement, it has
been shown that UMP can excite stator side vibration components at 1, 2, and 4
times the supply frequency. Dynamic unbalance and coupling misalignment also
produce this effect; see Rai (1974) and Dorrell et al. (1997).
The last reference also suggests that even orders of the fundamental occur in
the frame vibration spectrum due to inter-turn winding faults on the stator. Dorrell
et al. (1997) use the principal slot harmonics as an indicator of eccentric running.
They use the transverse mechanical angular frequency, wsm, measured on the stator
frame, excited by radial forces, given by Yang (1981) and others as:
 
ð1  sÞ
wsm ¼ wse ðnNr  ke Þ q (8.35)
p
where
n ¼ an integer,
q ¼ space harmonic of the stator winding MMF, 1, 3, 5, 7, . . . ,
ke ¼ the so-called eccentricity order number, which is zero for static eccen-
tricity and a low integer value for dynamic eccentricity.
They report tests on a machine with a 51 slot rotor (Nr) and a 4-pole, 3-phase
stator, which exhibits an increase in frame vibration levels of 25 and 17 dB at the
frequencies 1 104 and 1 152 Hz due to the introduction of 50% dynamic
eccentricity.
There are strong indications that frame vibration can be used to monitor a
variety of fault conditions, particularly in induction machines. Caution must be
exercised, however, for vibration transmitted from adjacent, or coupled, plant may
excite a natural mode in the machine, while a forced component from a fault within
the machine may be sufficiently different from any natural frequency to cause only
a slight response.
200 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

This effective signal-to-noise ratio for the detection of faults by frame-borne

vibration can be quantified using the notion of system flexibility, or mobility, the
flexibility being regarded as the sum of the modal responses of the machine, and
the vibration experienced by the machine is the product of the exciting force wave
and this flexibility. See Smart et al. (2000) for an explanation of the interaction of
the foundation response of a turbo-generator to the exciting effect of unbalance
during a rundown.
A number of authors have reported the identification of various vibrational
frequencies associated with faults in induction machines, including Rai (1974),
Hargis et al. (1982), Dorrell et al. (1997) and Nandi et al. (2005). It has been
suggested that, on a machine supplied at fse ¼ 50 Hz, vibration at or near 50, 100
and 200 Hz is indicative of eccentricity, but the picture is confused because other
anomalies also manifest themselves by the production of such frequencies, for
example, misalignment and dynamic unbalance. Dorrell et al. (1997) showed that
on a machine supplied at fse ¼ 50 Hz, the stator frame vibration will exhibit 100,
200, and 300 Hz components due to an inter-turn winding fault or supply voltage
unbalance, including single phasing. They also show that higher order harmonics
occur in the stator frame vibration, due to eccentricity, as derived from (8.35).
However, the exact arrangement of the drive, and the nature of the coupled load,
may be of critical importance, since transmitted vibration may mask the frequency
that one is hoping to measure.
Vibration can occur in electrical machinery as a result of both electrical and
mechanical action. Finally, Trutt et al. (2001) carried out a theoretical review of the
relationships that should exist between electrical winding parameters and the
mechanical vibration of AC machine elements under normal and faulted operating
conditions.
Table 8.5 has been compiled to distil the information to be found in these
various references.

8.6.4 Torsional oscillation monitoring (IAS)

As we have seen previously in Section 8.4.2, there may be a specific need to
monitor the torsional behaviour of a long thin shaft such as on a turbo-generator.
The direct approach to this problem would be to mount suitable strain gauges on the
shaft, together with suitable telemetry, to transmit the gauge output from the
rotating reference frame. This has only been done for experimental purposes and is
not appropriate for long-term use due to the harsh operational conditions the
transducers would need to withstand. An indirect method of monitoring the tor-
sional responses of shafts have been outlined by Walker et al. (1981), in which the
twist of the shaft system is measured by comparing the angular displacement of the
non-drive end of the high-pressure turbine shaft with that of the non-drive end of
the generator exciter. The air-gap torque produced by the machine is calculated
directly from the monitored electrical quantities. The monitor has a modular con-
struction, the two principal elements being concerned with the capture of the
mechanical, or torque transient and electrical transient. The torque transient capture
Table 8.5 Mechanical frequency components related to specific machine faults

Rotational angular Transverse vibration angular Comments

frequency of the frequency on the stator, wsm, rad/s
rotor, wm (rad/s)
Mechanical Oil whirl and whip in – wsm¼ (0.43 to 0.48)wrm Equation (8.33). Pressure-fed lubricated
faults sleeve bearings   bearings only.
Damage in rolling – wsm ¼ n2b  wrm  1  Ddbb cos j Common source of vibration. Also
element bearings   frequencies in the range 2–60 kHz due
wsm ¼ n2b  wrm  1 þ Ddbb cos j to element resonance. Rolling element
  2  bearing faults can also be diagnosed
wsm ¼ 2d Db
b
 wrm  1  Ddbb cos2 j by the shock pulse method.
 
wsm ¼ 12  wrm  1  Ddbb cos j
Static misalignment wrm ¼wse/p wsm¼2pwrm Causes static eccentricity.
of rotor shaft in a
synchronous
machine
Unbalanced mass on wsm¼wrm Very common. Unbalance causes
the rotor of a syn- dynamic eccentricity of the rotor, see
chronous machine below.
Dynamic eccentricity wsm¼wrm Dynamic eccentricity causes UMP in an
in a synchronous electrical machine.
machine
Dynamic displace- wsm¼wrm, 2wrm . . . Causes dynamic eccentricity. Generates
ment of shaft in a clipped time waveform, due to shaft
bearing housing in motion being limited by bearing
a synchronous constraint, therefore produces a high
machine number of harmonics.
(Continues)
Table 8.5 (Continued)

Rotational angular Transverse vibration angular Comments

frequency of the frequency on the stator, wsm, rad/s
rotor, wm (rad/s)
General expression wrm ¼(1  s) wsm ¼ wrm ½ðnNr  ke Þð1  sÞ  pk  Equation (8.35). Side-bands at plus or
for static and nwse/p minus slip frequency may occur and
dynamic eccentri- components due to UMP, see above.
city in an induction
machine
Commutator faults in – wsm¼ 2pkc wrm for lap wound wsm¼ 2kc Unbalanced rotor components also gen-
a DC machine  wave wound
wrm for  erated.
Electrical Broken rotor bar in an wrm  2nsw
p
se
wsm ¼ wrm  2nsw p
se
Difficult to detect because of the small
faults induction machine amplitude. Current, speed or leakage
field have better detection levels.
Stator winding faults – wsm¼pwrm , 2pwrm, 4pwrm . . . Problems can be identified as of elec-
induction and syn- trical origin by removing supply and
chronous machines identifying change. Cannot differ-
entiate winding fault types on vibra-
tion alone, current monitoring also
necessary.
Definitions
wsm¼ mechanical vibration frequency on the stator side p ¼ pole pairs
wse ¼ electrical supply frequency n ¼ an integer,
Nr ¼ integer number of rotor slots ke ¼ eccentricity order, zero for static eccentricity, low-integer value 1, 2, 3 . . .
N ¼ rotational speed in rev/min for dynamic eccentricity
f wrm ¼ 2pN
60 mechanical rotational frequency, Hz
k ¼ space harmonic of the stator winding MMF, 1, 3, 5, 7 . . .
wrm ¼wse/p for a synchronous machine nb¼ number of rolling elements
wrm ¼(17s)wse/p for an asynchronous machine db ¼ rolling element diameter
s ¼ asynchronous machine rotor speed slip, 0–1 Db ¼ rolling element pitch
f ¼ rolling element contact angle with races
kc ¼ number of faulty commutator segments
 Online vibration monitoring 203

unit is triggered by any sudden increase in the air-gap torque, or by sudden changes
in the shaft angular vibration velocities. Similarly, the electrical transient is cap-
tured in response to any sudden change in the value of the line currents. The cap-
tured data can then be transmitted for further analysis and evaluation, Figure 8.15
refers. The software receives the captured data and determines the torsional
response of the shaft and the associated impact on the fatigue life of the set. The
results obtained in this way can be used to plan maintenance intervals on the basis
of need, rather than risk catastrophic failure when there has been a high level of
system disturbances between fixed outages.
The monitoring of torsional oscillations can also be used to detect faults in
induction motors. The speed of an induction motor driving an ideal load should be
constant. Perturbations in load and faults within the rotor circuit of the machine will
cause the speed to fluctuate. If the rotor is defective the speed fluctuation will occur
at twice slip frequency. This is because the normally torque-producing slip fre-
quency currents that flow in the rotor winding are unable to flow through the
defective part. In effect the speed fluctuations complement the twice slip frequency
current fluctuation described in Chapter 9. A defective induction machine with a
rotor of infinite inertia will have twice slip frequency current fluctuations and no
speed variation, whereas a low-inertia rotor will exhibit speed fluctuations but no
current fluctuation. This method developed by Gaydon was reported by Tavner
et al. (1986) and has been investigated further as the instantaneous angular speed
method (IAS) by Ben Sasi et al. (2004), a typical measurement result being shown
in Figure 8.16.

Line current
signals

Data Individual
Line voltage shaft Fatigue life
processing and
signals torsional extrapolation
analysis
responses

Shaft velocity Maintenance

signals scheduling

Figure 8.15 Functional description of the torsional oscillation monitoring system

204 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

0
Rotor speed: 24.2 Hz
−20

−40
1.75
Speed waveform PSD (dB)

−60 Hz 3.5 Hz
Pole pass speed
−80 lower side-band
Pole pass speed
at 20.7 Hz
upper side-band
−100 at 27.7 Hz

−120

−140

−160

−180
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Frequency (Hz)

Figure 8.16 Rotor speed spectrum (IAS) from an induction motor with a rotor bar
fault. Taken from Ben Sasi et al. (2004)

This work has been added to recently by Shahriar et al. (2018), who detected
machine rolling element bearing faults by the detailed analysis of both IAS and
MCSA, proposing the former as effective for detecting rolling element defects, see
Figure 8.17 but note the very small amplitude of the detection signals, which would
be an enormous problem for machine operators.

8.6.5 Shock pulse monitoring

The shock pulse method is used exclusively for detecting faults in rolling element
bearings and is based on the principles described in Section 8.5.2. Since the largest
proportion of electrical machine failures are ascribable to bearing problems, see
Chapter 3, and the majority of machines are smaller than 300 kW then this tech-
nique is important for a large number of machines. As a rolling element bearing
deteriorates, the moving surfaces develop small pits or imperfections and the
interaction between such surfaces generates mechanical stress waves, or shock
pulses, in the bearing material, which propagate into the frame and structure of the
electrical machine. These shock pulses are at ultrasonic frequencies and can be
detected by piezoelectric transducers with a strong resonant frequency character-
istic tuned to the expected frequency of the pulses at around 32 kHz. To increase
the sensitivity of the electronic conditioning of the transducer is tuned to this
resonant frequency. A peak hold circuit enables the maximum value of the shock
pulse to be recorded, which is taken to be a measure of the condition of the rolling
 Online vibration monitoring 205

×10–12 ×10–14
1.2 4

Amplitude (dB)
3
0.8
2
0.4
1
0.0 0
0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16 20
(a) N × speed (rev/min) (b) N × speed (rev/min)

×10–7 ×10–8
3 8
Amplitude (dB)

6
2
4
1
2
0 0
0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 12 16 20
(c) N × speed (rev/min) (d) N × speed (rev/min)

Figure 8.17 IAS detection of induction motor rolling element bearing defects from
Shahriar et al. (2018): (a) small defect at 6 rev/min, (b) small defect
at 120 rev/min, (c) large defect at 6 rev/min and (d) large defect at
120 rev/min

element bearing. This condition of the bearing is assessed by defining a quantity

known as the shock pulse value, SPV, defined as:
R
SPV ¼ (8.36)
N 2F 2
where R ¼ the shock pulse meter reading,
N ¼ shaft speed in rev/min,
F ¼ factor relating to bearing geometry.
Low values indicate bearings in good condition. Generally the technique is
best used in conjunction with the overall vibration level monitoring, and Table 8.6
can be used to give qualitative guidance on the bearing condition.
Tandon et al. (1992, 2007) describe the development of rolling element bear-
ing monitoring including vibration, acoustic and shock pulse methods. There is a
technique for assessing the thickness of the oil or grease film in the rolling element
bearing, based on the experimental evidence that the shock pulse value increases, in
approximately the manner shown in Figure 8.18, as a function of the percentage of
dry contact time per revolution. The dry contact time was measured by monitoring
current flow between the inner and outer races of a test bearing and current flow
taken as an indication of dry contact.
Stack et al. (2004) classify motor bearing faults illustrating the unpredictable and
broadband nature of the effects produced, emphasising its significance, because a
206 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Table 8.6 Shock pulse interpretation

Overall vibra- Shock pulse value trend Comments

tion level trend
Low and rising Remains low No bearing damage
Low and rising Low but rising at the same rate Bearing damage likely
as the overall vibration level
Low and rising High value but constant Bearing damage but another
problem is causing rising vibra-
tion

0
% Dry running time

50

100 Shock pulse value

–40 –30 –20 –10 0 dB

Dry running value

Figure 8.18 Shock pulse value as a function of dry running time per revolution

successful bearing CM scheme must be able to reliably detect all classes of faults. So,
the quantitative evaluation of bearings using the shock pulse method remains
difficult.

8.7 Conclusions

Vibration and associated mechanical measurement has been at the heart of rotating
machine monitoring. However, electrical machines are generally low-vibration
devices, yet they may be coupled to high-vibration prime movers or driven
plant via flexible couplings and mounted on separate foundations via resilient
mounts. The excitation of electrical machine vibration is generally mechanical
unbalance or harmonic electromagnetic forces originating from the machine
 Online vibration monitoring 207

air-gap. The response of the machine to these exciting forces depends on the pre-
cise coupling and mounting of the machine.
Vibration monitoring and shock pulse analysis are non-invasive but use a
number of specialised sensors and broad bandwidth, complex analysis. The precise
selection and location of sensors is very important.
However, because of its wide application in other rotating machines vibration
analysis has established itself as a reliable and widely accepted technique for
electrical machines and shock pulse analysis also, particularly for bearings, because
it is capable of differentiating between mechanical and electromagnetic excitation
forces and this is invaluable in detecting root causes before they develop into
failure modes. Motor speed has been analysed using IAS to detect rotor electrical
faults but has not been widely used by the operators.
The following chapters will show the close relation between vibration and
electrical monitoring of the machine.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 9
Online current, flux and power monitoring

9.1 Introduction
Chapter 1 explained that electromechanical protective relays were the earliest
electrical technique for monitoring motors. The technology of these devices is
dated, their purpose was exclusively to detect gross perturbations in the electrical
quantities at the terminals of the machine to protect against catastrophic damage.
They are now largely being replaced by digital protection devices detecting the
voltage and current perturbations, as described in Chapter 1, see Figure 1.2.
Within the machine, the magnetic flux varies, circumferentially in the air-gap,
periodically in space and, for an AC machine, periodically with time, as described
in Chapter 8. Under ideal conditions, this magnetic flux waveform will be sym-
metrical but electrical faults in the machine will distort it. Rotor faults could be
detected by the electrical sensors fixed to the rotor, and stator faults could be
detected by electrical sensors fixed to the rotor. Faults on either rotor or stator
disrupt the radial and circumferential patterns of flux in the machine causing
changes to the power being fed to the machine, which can detected via its terminal
‘performance’ quantities, voltage, current and power, measured outside the
machine to give an indication of its condition. Each disturbance probably repre-
sents a power of <mW, but they do indicate the health of the machine and affect its
operation. In effect monitoring, these disturbances are a detailed more and pro-
longed process than can be detected by a digital protection relay.
In the following sections, we describe a number of these techniques.

9.2 Generator and motor stator faults

9.2.1 Generator stator winding insulation detection
The most significant technique in this area is online discharge detection, which is
dealt with in Chapter 11.

9.2.2 Stator current monitoring for stator faults

This work, mostly concerned with motors, is connected to the earlier work
described in Chapter 8 on the effect of faults on vibration, which also considered
rotor eccentricity but now extended to consider stator winding faults, see the works
210 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

by Rai, R. B. (1974), Schlake et al. (1981), Hargis et al. (1982), Hargis (1983),
Dorrell et al. (1997) and Nandi et al. (2005). This work is also closely associated with
the detection of rotor winding faults described in Section 9.4.3. The theoretical work,
verified by laboratory experiments, was started by Penman et al. (1994) and continued
with Penman et al. (1996), who concentrated primarily on stator winding faults.
Thomson et al. (1998) and Thomson et al. (1999) then took up the practical
application of this work to machines in industrial applications but with the parti-
cular intention to detect rotor eccentricity, which could indicate the deterioration of
machine bearings, one of the common failure modes of electrical machines, set out
in Chapter 3.

9.2.3 Brush-gear fault detection

Brush-gear, in those machines that use it, requires a steady maintenance commit-
ment if good performance with minimum of sparking is to be maintained. Poor
performance can be detected by measuring brush or brush-holder temperature, but a
more direct method would be to detect the radio frequency energy generated by
sparking, as described by Michiguchi et al. (1983). They used a wide bandwidth
dipole antenna connected to an RF amplifier with a bandwidth from 10 to
100 MHz, the output of which was rectified and the processing electronics mea-
sured the area under any pulses of RF power that enter the monitor as a result of
sparking activity at the brushes. The monitor thereby produces a chart record
showing the average area of sparking pulse and Michiguchi et al. (1983) related
this to a spark number indicating an intensity of sparking. Maintenance staff can
use this indication to decide when brushes should be changed.

9.2.4 Rotor-mounted search coils

We have not found any techniques reported for detecting stator faults by search
coils mounted upon the rotor. No doubt the usefulness of this technique would be
affected by the need to mount expensive instrument slip rings on the rotor, however
that could be mitigated by modern work, see Kumar et al. (2018), to extract the
signals from the rotor by wireless technology. Its effectiveness will be limited by
the reliability of the measurement equipment, which from experience measuring
shaft voltages, as will be described in this chapter, can be notoriously poor.

9.3 Generator rotor faults

9.3.1 General
The rotors of large turbo-generators are particularly highly rated because of the
large mechanical and electrical stresses placed upon them, in particular, the high
centrifugal forces on the winding and the relatively high temperatures attained in
the winding insulation. Consequently, that part of the machine is particularly
prone to faults that, as Chapter 2 has said, tend to develop over a long period of
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 211

time. The rotor is also relatively inaccessible both for obtaining signals during
running and for removal for repair if a fault is detected. These facts, taken together
with the high value of turbo-generator plant, have meant that monitoring techniques
for generator rotors have been developed to a high degree of sophistication. Some
of the techniques described below are also applicable to smaller output machines,
but have yet to become fully accepted.

9.3.2 Earth leakage faults on-line

A single earth leakage fault on a generator rotor winding is not serious in itself,
because it cannot cause any damage as the earth leakage current is limited to
leakage resistance of the excitation supply. However, if two well-separated earth
faults occur then large currents can flow, leading to significant damage to the
winding, its insulation and the rotor forging. The aim of a rotor earth fault detector
is to apply a DC bias voltage to the rotor winding and monitor the current flowing
to the rotor body via an alarm relay, see Figure 9.1(a). If such an alarm occurs many
utilities would consider that the machine should be shut down so that the rotor can
be investigated. However, operational pressures are such that this is often not
possible, and it is necessary to continue running the unit. The next step then is to
monitor the earth leakage current and manually trip the unit if there is any further
increase, indicative of a second earth fault.
An alternative method is to use a potentiometer fed to earth via a sensitive
galvanometer making a bridge circuit, as shown in Figure 9.1(b). As the earth fault
location alters or a second fault occurs, the bridge unbalances and an indication
occurs on the meter. The problem is that the second earth fault may arise close to
the location of the first fault and the resultant change in earth leakage current may
not be particularly large.
A more sensitive indicator of the onset of a second earth fault is the resistance
of the winding to earth, measured from either terminal. Such a technique has been
described using two voltmeters, V1 and V2, as shown in Figure 9.1(c). When the
switch is open the fault position, K, defined as the fractional position up the
winding from the negative slip ring, can be calculated as:
V1
K¼ (9.1)
V1 þ V2
When the switch is closed to A, the voltages V1 and V2 will change by an amount
depending on the fault resistance, Rf, and the current flowing through the fault, If,
so that now the apparent position K0 is given by:
V1 0
K0 ¼ (9.2)
V1 þ V 2 0
From the apparent change in fault position DK ¼ K0  K, the voltage across the
fault resistance can be calculated and finally the fault resistance itself. This pro-
cedure can be repeated, by connecting the voltmeters to the other terminal of the
212 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Rotor body

Rf

Slip ring Rotor winding Slip ring

DC bias R Relay Rf is leakage
voltage resistance to
Exiter earth at fault site
(a)

Rotor body

Rf

Slip ring Rotor winding Slip ring

M Meter

Exiter
(b)

Rotor body

Rf

Slip ring Rotor winding Slip ring

V1 V2
Rm
Rm is a
Switch A measurement
B Open resistor
(c)

Figure 9.1 Detecting rotor earth faults: (a) use of an earth leakage relay,
(b) monitoring of an existing earth fault using a potentiometer and
(c) monitoring for a second earth fault by measuring resistance to
earth from each end of the winding

winding, by closing the switch to B. The choice of terminal connection is governed

by the initial fault position, the objective being to optimise the measurement of the
fault resistance, Rf. The scheme can be implemented using a microprocessor-based
unit, which makes the measurement at each terminal of the winding at approxi-
mately one second intervals, processes the results and presents information for the
operating staff as well as initiating relay indications if necessary.

9.3.3 Turn-to-turn faults on-line

9.3.3.1 Air-gap search coils
Turn-to-turn faults in a generator rotor winding may lead to local overheating and
eventually to rotor earth faults. In addition, the shorting of turns causes unequal
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 213

Figure 9.2 Photographs of two typical search coil installations in large

generators

heating of the rotor leading to bending and an unbalanced pull, which together
cause increased vibration as described by Khudabashev (1961). Such faults can be
detected offline by the method of recurrent surge oscillography (RSO), described in
Section 9.3.4, but a way of detecting them online was first described by Albright
(1971) using a stationary search coil fitted in the air-gap of the machine. The search
coil, of diameter less than the tooth-width of the rotor, is fixed to the stator usually
in the air-gap, and detects either the radial or circumferential component of mag-
netic flux. Examples of two types of air-gap search coil installation are shown in
Figure 9.2.
Figure 9.3 shows typical waveforms obtained from a radial search coil in a
two-pole generator operating on load.
A normal two-pole rotor will have an even number of winding slots and will
produce a radial flux wave, B, in the air-gap as follows:

X X
B¼ Bn sin nwt þ Bm sin mwt (9.3)
n¼1;3;5;::: m even

This is the normal MMF wave tooth ripple.

214 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

EMF, E waveform

Time

(a)
Flux waveform = integral of E wrt time

Time

(b)

Figure 9.3 Typical voltage and flux waveforms obtained from a generator air-gap
search coil: (a) search coil voltage waveform and (b) flux waveform
obtained by integrating (a)

The search coil normal EMF waveform per turn of the search coil will be:
dB X
enormal ðtÞ ¼ A ¼ AnwBn cosnwt
dt n¼1;3;5;...
Xnormal MMF wave
þ AmwBn cos mwt (9.4)
m even
normal tooth ripple MMF wave
where A is the effective search coil area. The n odd harmonics are due to the wave
shape of the MMF wave in the air-gap and are dependent upon the spread of
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 215

winding slots over the rotor pole pitch. The m even harmonics are due to the rotor
tooth ripple that is present in the voltage waveform.
When a shorted turn occurs two things happen. First, it disturbs the MMF
distribution, causing low-order even harmonics or an asymmetry in the flux and
search coil voltage waveforms. Second it disrupts the nth-order slot ripple harmo-
nics. This is shown in the search coil faulty waveform as follows:
X
efault ðtÞ ¼ AnwBn cos nwt
n¼1;3;5;...
normal MMF wave
X
þ A‘wB‘ cos ‘wt
‘¼2;4;6;... dependent on fault location
fault asymmetric MMF wave
X (9.5)
þ AmwBm cos mwt
m even
normal tooth ripple MMF wave
X
þ Aðm þ pÞwBn cosðm þ pÞwt
p¼1;3
fault tooth ripple MMF wave
The heights of the corresponding peaks and troughs in the ripple will change so that
the search coil voltage will no longer be symmetrical about zero.
In principle, the changes in the heights of the peaks and troughs can be used to
determine the number and location of any shorted turns and this is what Albright
(1971) did in his original paper. He identified faults by measuring the peak heights
of the ripple from stored oscilloscope waveforms, recorded under open and short
circuit test conditions. He did not consider that waveforms obtained with the gen-
erator on load could provide the sensitivity required to detect shorted turns. Since
that time a considerable number of large steam turbine-driven generators have been
fitted with air-gap search coils and a great deal more experience has been obtained
of detecting shorted turns. The detection technique has therefore been refined to
deal not only with the different types and locations of search coils but also to detect
shorted turns under both off-load and on-load conditions.
New techniques have been developed utilising a digital storage oscilloscope
connected to the search coil to give an initial indication of the development of an
inter-turn fault. Secondly, more detailed analysis techniques can then be performed
offline on the stored and downloaded waveforms to positively identify and locate
the faults. The online method measures the sum of the first four even harmonics of
the search coil waveform. The purpose is to identify any asymmetry in the MMF
waveform caused by shorted turns. The monitor produces an analogue signal on a
chart recorder and the monitor can be adjusted so that any increase above a preset
level gives an alarm, which can be used to initiate a more detailed analysis. The
setting of that preset level depends upon the generator itself, its history and the type
of search coil fitted. Again, one is faced with the problems of determining back-
ground levels.
216 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

The three main methods of detailed analysis of the search coil waveforms yield
the following results:
● the difference between the search coil voltage waveform and a delayed version
of itself,
● the amplitude of the increments in the tooth ripple in the search coil voltage
waveform, using the method of Albright (1971),
● the flux waveform by integrating the search coil voltage waveform.
Before these can be done, the waveform is Fourier analysed into its real and ima-
ginary components. It has been shown that the waveform obtained from a search
coil at one radial position in the air-gap can be modified to predict the waveform if
the coil were at another position closer to the rotor. This is particularly helpful for
coils fitted close to the stator surface, where the rotor tooth ripple may be very
small. It also allows results from different sizes and designs of machines to be
compared on a common basis. The difference waveform can be calculated from the
digitised components of the search coil voltage and this waveform can be plotted
out to show the presence of a fault as shown in Figure 9.4.
The incremental voltages are calculated by measuring the voltage height
between the peaks and troughs of each tooth ripple associated with each pole of
the winding and the heights are measured on the side of the ripple furthest from the
pole face. These incremental voltages can be plotted out as a histogram over the
rotor surface together with a histogram of the differences between the voltages over
one pole and the next, as shown in Figure 9.5.
The flux waveform is found by integrating the voltage waveform. Distortions
of the flux waveform can be brought to light either by direct inspection or by
carrying out the difference procedure described above for the search coil
waveform.
Computer simulations and the practical experience of measuring search coil
voltage waveforms suggest that the magnitude of the asymmetry in the search coil
waveform produced by a fault depends upon the load as well as the location and
number of shorted terms. This is because the degree of saturation affects the
magnitude of the rotor tooth ripple, which varies with load and with position
around the rotor circumference. In the absence of saturation, the asymmetric
component would be expected to be proportional to rotor current. However, mag-
netic saturation of the shorted turn has a significant effect, so that for some loads
and locations of shorted turn the magnitude of the asymmetry actually decreases
with increasing rotor current.

9.3.3.2 Circulating current measurement

An alternative way of monitoring shorted turns, which is still under development,
uses the stator winding itself as the search coil. The principle of this technique, first
suggested by Kryukhin (1972), has been developed and fitted to a number of
generators in the United Kingdom. This technique makes use of the fact that
in large two-pole generators, each phase of the stator winding consists of two
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 217

b Faulted coil

EMF waveform

20 ms

(a) Faulted coil

a

a b
EMF difference waveform

b b
20 ms

(b)

Figure 9.4 Effect of delaying and adding the waveform from a search coil fitted to
a faulty machine: (a) predicted search coil voltage close to the rotor
surface and (b) difference waveform obtained by delaying (a) half a
cycle and adding

half-phase windings in parallel. Any asymmetry in the rotor MMF will induce
counter-MMF currents in the stator winding with a twice fundamental frequency,
which will circulate between the half-phases. The presence of shorted turns is
detected by measuring those even harmonic currents. The size of the currents
depends upon the severity of the shorted turns, the coupling between rotor and
stator and the impedance of the stator winding to the currents. This approach has
been developed by others with supporting analysis, for example, by Poyhonen et al.
(2003), but has been subsumed into the analysis of induction motors, which for
some reason appears more popular to researchers than synchronous generators,
despite the fact that very large amounts of capital are invested in the latter
machines.
218 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

EMF increments

(a)

1
Difference in EMF increments

6
4 6 −7
1

1
6 −7
4
6

(b) Slot numbers showing a fault 1

Figure 9.5 Method of incremental voltages proposed by Albright (1971):

(a) incremental voltages obtained from the previous figure and
(b) differences in incremental voltages between the poles
obtained from (a)

It can be shown that the EMF, e(t), induced across a stator half-phase winding,
due to a single shorted turn, spanning an angle, 2b, on a two pole rotor is given by:

4m0 w X1
1
e ðt Þ ¼ NI rair-gap L kwn sin nb cos ðnwtÞ (9.6)
pCg n¼1;3;5;:::
n

where
NI is the ampere-turns of the short
w is the rotational frequency
N is the number of stator turns in series per half-phase
rair-gap is the mean radius of the air-gap
L is the active length of the rotor
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 219

C is the Carter factor to account for slotting

g is the width of the air-gap
b is the half-angle subtended by the shorted turn
n is the harmonic number
kwn is the stator winding factor for the nth harmonic.
The EMF induced in the opposite half-phase winding, on the same phase, will be
of the same form but the term cos(nwt) will be replaced by one of the form
cosðnwt  npÞ. The odd harmonics of the EMFs in the two half-phases will
therefore be of the same sign and so when the half-phases are connected in
parallel they will aid one another, forming the terminal voltage due to that
shorted turn. The even harmonics will be of opposite sign and so will drive the
circulating currents between the half phases. The currents are flowing in the
stator winding, rotating at the same speed as the rotor, effectively replacing
the rotor shorted turn. The second harmonic circulating current that flows in the
stator, i2C, can be related to the second harmonic EMF, e2, induced by the
shorted turn, providing the second harmonic impedance, X2, of the winding is
known. Now, the impedance to second harmonic currents, X2, is given by:
X2 ¼ Xm2 þ X‘2 (9.7)
where
Xm2 is the second harmonic magnetising reactance
X‘2 is the second harmonic leakage reactance.
For a typical large machine, it has been shown that X2 ¼ 0.516 pu. Therefore, for a
single shorted turn spanning an angle of 2b on the rotor the second harmonic cur-
rent circulating in the stator winding is approximated by:
e2 sin 2b
i2C ¼ (9.8)
0:516
The currents are detected using air-cored Rogowski coils wrapped around the
winding and a diagram of an online monitor for doing this is shown in Figure 9.6.
An advantage of this new technique, compared to air-gap search coils, is that
the current transducers can be installed without the need to remove the rotor from
the generator. For many generators the half-phase windings are joined within the
cooling pressure casing in a fairly restricted space that requires special arrange-
ments to gain access. But on some machines, the half-phase windings are joined
outside the casing, so fitting of the Rogowski coils becomes simpler. Care must of
course be taken to provide appropriate high-voltage insulation and electrostatic
screening between the Rogowski coil and the conductor.
A disadvantage of the circulating current method, however, is that it does not
give information on the turn location, whereas the air-gap search coil method does.
Neither the air-gap search coil nor the Rogowski coil methods appear to have been
applied to multi-pole hydro-type generators or even 4-pole turbine-type machines. No
doubt applications will evolve as operational circumstances demand them.
220 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Line end
One phase of generator
stator warning

Chart recorder

100 Hz
Differential band
amplifier pass filter Rectifier

Integrators

Neutral end
Meter

Figure 9.6 Continuous monitor for use on circulating current Rogowski coils

9.4 Motor rotor faults

9.4.1 General
The rotors of other electrical machines can be highly stressed, though perhaps not
to the same degree as turbo-generators. Table 2.4 from Chapter 2 shows that large
induction motors can have mechanical, electrical or magnetic loadings higher than
larger machines and squirrel cage or wound rotors have had problems, as the
experience of Tavner et al. (1986) shows. A number of both electrical and
mechanical techniques have been developed to monitor these problems. This sec-
tion deals with the electrical techniques.

9.4.2 Air-gap search coils

The work on air-gap search coils, described in Section 9.3.2, was all on turbo-
generators but there is no reason why such methods could not be successfully
applied to smaller machines. Indeed Kamerbeek (1974) successfully used the
method experimentally on small induction motors but for measuring torque rather
than machine faults. A paper by Seinsch (1986) then applied this technique to
induction motors using a distributed coil on the stator.

9.4.3 Stator current monitoring for rotor faults (MCSA)

Although the technique of using a stator search coil has not been widely used, it is
possible to use the stator winding itself as a search coil, in a somewhat similar way
to the method described for generators in Section 9.3.3. Any rotor fault in an
induction motor will cause a characteristic swing in the supply ammeter reading,
which maintenance staffs have come to recognise as indicating that trouble is on its
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 221

way. Careful measurement of the stator current will therefore enable such a fault to
be monitored.
The current drawn by an ideal motor should have a single component of supply
frequency. Changes in load will modulate the amplitude of the current to produce
side-bands. Faults in the rotor circuit will generate a side-band below the supply
frequency and displaced from it by twice the slip frequency.
This effect was described in Hargis et al. (1982), Hargis (1983), the references
in Tavner et al. (1986) and an explanation is given here. A motor winding with p
pole pairs and supply frequency wse produces a fundamental stator radial MMF
wave, f1, at mechanical angle q1 containing odd harmonics only. Consider the
fundamental MMF wave:
f1 ðtÞ ¼ N1 I1 sinðwse t  pq1 Þ (9.9)
where
N1 is the number of stator turns
I1 is the stator current.
The angle, q2 , on the rotor is given by:
q2 ¼ q1  wrm t (9.10)
where
wrm is the angular speed of the rotor
the rotational speed N ¼ 60wrm =2p.
So that for a p pole rotor the rotor sees the MMF:
f1 ðtÞ ¼ N1 I1 sinððwse  pwrm Þt  pq2 Þ (9.11)
This MMF rotates forward with respect to the rotor at the slip speed, however,
under normal circumstances the rotor carries induced currents, which establish a
fundamental rotor MMF wave, f2, to counter the stator MMF and moving at the
same speed:
f2 ðtÞ ¼ N2 I2 sinððwse  pwrm Þt  pq2 Þ (9.12)
If the rotor has a fault, such as a broken bar, the MMF due to the rotor current is
modulated by sin 2pq2 so that:
f2 ðtÞ ¼ N2 I2 sinððwse  pwrm Þt  pq2 Þsin 2pq2 (9.13)
Therefore, for a p pole-pair machine:
N2 I2
f 2 ðt Þ ¼ fcosððwse  pwrm Þt  3pq2 Þ cosððwse  pwrm Þt þ pq2 Þg (9.14)
2
Referring this MMF to the stator, as the counter to (9.11), using (9.10) gives:
N 2 I2
f1 ðtÞ ¼ fcosððwse þ 2pwrm Þt  3pq1 Þ cosððwse  2pwrm Þt þ pq1 Þg (9.15)
2
222 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition
 
Which if we use the fractional slip s ¼ wse pw
wse
rm
for a p pole pair induction
machine gives:
ð1  sÞ
q2 ¼ q1  wse t (9.16)
p
N 2 I2
f 1 ðt Þ ¼ fðcosð3  2sÞwse t  3pq1 Þ ðcosð1  2sÞwse t  pq1 Þg (9.17)
2
Note that these fundamental MMF wave equations (9.11) and (9.17) echo (8.22) and
(8.23) in Chapter 8, where all harmonic MMFs were considered in the excitation of
stator core vibrations by the air-gap MMF wave acting on the bore of the core.
Now, the first component of MMF in (9.17) induces zero sequence EMFs in
the three phase stator winding, because it contains 3wse t and 3q1 , and gives rise to
no current contribution from the supply. The second component of MMF, however,
induces a proper 3-phase set of currents at the normal supply frequency but con-
tains a component, or side-band, 2swse below that frequency.
This is the twice slip frequency modulation of the supply current that is seen as
the swing on the ammeter reading. Such a cyclic variation in the current reacts back
onto the rotor to produce a torque variation at twice slip frequency that, if the rotor
does not have an infinitely high inertia, gives rise to the 2spwrm variation in speed
or 2swse variation in mechanical vibration, that can also be used for fault detection
as described in Chapter 8, Section 8.6.4. This speed effect reduces the lower side-
band, ð1  2sÞwse , current swing and produces an upper side band at ð1 þ 2sÞwse ,
enhanced by modulation of the third harmonic flux in the stator and it can be shown
that other side-bands at ð1  2nsÞwse are also found. The ratio of the lower side-
band amplitude to the main supply frequency component gives a straightforward
indication of the extent of rotor damage, as first described by Jufer et al. (1978).
The supply current can be monitored very easily, without interfering with the
machine, simply by fitting a clip-on CT or Rogowski coil around the supply cable
to the motor or around the cable of the protection CT used to monitor the motor
current, see Figure 9.7. The normal procedure is to use a spectrum analyser package
in a PC connected via an A/D converter to the CT. Surveys of the supply currents to
a number of motors can be taken at regular intervals, or when a fault is suspected.
Figure 9.8(a) and (b) shows the PSD for the current from two identical machines.
The motor in Figure 9.8(a) had a rotor fault corresponding to three fractured cage
bars, shown by spectral components at about 48, 49, 51 and 52 Hz, that is a slip
frequency of 0.5 Hz for n ¼ 1 or 1 Hz for n ¼ 2 and a slip s of 1%, with side-bands
described by ð1  2nsÞfse . The lower side-band due to the MMF modulation can
clearly be distinguished from the supply frequency and an estimate of the fault
severity can be made by taking the ratio between the amplitudes of the lower side-
band and the fundamental frequency. Because the current measuring technique
looks into the motor from the terminals it is also possible to see beyond the elec-
trical circuits and detect faults on the mechanical load train, such as worn gear
teeth, which the motor is driving. Figure 9.8(b) shows a wider frequency range
current spectrum from the motor, with no (1  2s) component, indicating rotor
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 223

Motor
Load
3-Phase supply

Occasional monitor
spectrum analyser
A

Regular portable monitor

To alarm system
and control room
A-to-D Digital Software to
converter spectrum detect spectral
analyser peaks

Figure 9.7 Detecting side-bands in the supply current of an induction motor

damage, but other side-bands due to the motor driving a load through a damaged
gear-box.
Interpretation of the current spectrum requires a relatively skilled operator to
carry out a machine survey and it cannot be considered as continuous monitoring.
The normal practice would be to carry out a survey whenever ammeter swings
indicate that a problem is imminent. Where motors of high value are at risk, more
frequent monitoring may be necessary and in extreme cases of great operational
importance, such as in a nuclear power station or online oil and gas plant, con-
tinuous monitoring could be considered.
Detection can be more difficult when the motor speed is varying rhythmically
because of the driven load, such as on a belt or mill drive, or if the frequency
variation is significant, for example, on a relatively small power system.
The technique has stimulated a surge in investigations in the literature as
analysts seek to describe the precise conditions under which faults can be detected,
examples include Menacer et al. (2004) and Li et al. (2006), who make a com-
parison between current, vibration and acoustic methods of detection.
Appendix B gives a draft guide to the application of the MCSA method.

9.4.4 Rotor current monitoring

The rotor circuits of wound rotor motors are usually poorly protected in most
installations. Faults in brazed joints and slip-ring connections have sometimes
224 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

No ±2sf1 side-bands
f1 = 50.156 Hz

Current waveform PSD (dB)

Gearbox in the drive Gearbox in the drive
components due to components due to
mechanical phenomenon mechanical phenomenon

44 50 56
(a) Frequency (Hz)

f1 = 50.156 Hz
–2sf1 (0.719 Hz) +2sf1 (0.719 Hz)
Current waveform PSD (dB)

Components due to Components due to

36.2 dB

mechanical mechanical
phenomenon phenomenon

44 50 56
(b) Frequency (Hz)

Figure 9.8 Supply current spectra from induction motor drive trains: (a) with a
fault in an attached gearbox and (b) with a rotor cage defect.
Taken from Thomson et al. (2001)

caused severe damage because they have not been detected promptly. Overheating
of rotors can also be caused by current imbalance in the external resistors or circuits
connected to the slip rings. The low frequency of these currents makes measure-
ments with conventional CTs inaccurate. Faults of these types were some of the
reasons that encouraged the development of proprietary leakage flux technique that
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 225

Motor
Load
3-Phase supply
Slip rings

Rotor
resistances

To alarm system
and control room
Integrators

Summer

Comparators Processing
electronics

Figure 9.9 Continuous monitor of rotor current in a wound rotor induction motor

is described later in Section 9.5, see Rickson (1983). However, low-frequency

currents can be measured accurately by Rogowski coils. These have been used to
monitor the rotor resistance currents in variable speed wound rotor motors as
shown in Figure 9.9. The signals from the Rogowski coils are integrated to give a
voltage proportional to rotor current. These signals are summed to give the mean
current in all three phases of the rotor and are compared to the individual phase
currents. Processing electronics then detects whether severe unbalance is present
and provides amplitude and alarm signals to the control room. The approach
described in Penman et al. (1980) was based upon a protection philosophy, in that
indications from the monitor are used to trip the machine. In practice, however, the
instrument has been used to provide monitoring indications that assist in deter-
mining when motors should be taken out of service for repair.

9.5 Generator and motor comprehensive methods

9.5.1 General
The reader should be able to see, both from the ‘Introduction’ section to this
chapter and the methods that have been described, that electrical techniques have
much in common. There would seem to be some advantage in devising a single
226 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

electrical technique that is capable of detecting all electrical faults, whether they
are on the rotor or stator. Trutt et al. (2001), Kohler et al. (1999) and Sottile et al.
(2002) have advocated this generalised approach to the monitoring of the terminal
‘performance’ quantities of induction machines and Sottile et al. (2006) have
applied the same technique to three phase synchronous generators.
We describe below four techniques that detect faults by measuring the effect
they have on the machine terminal ‘performance’ quantities.

9.5.2 Shaft flux

Shaft flux, or more generally axial leakage flux, occurs in all electrical machines. It is
produced because no machine can be constructed with perfect symmetry. There will
always be, for example, slight differences in the reluctance of magnetic circuits due to
building tolerances, core-plate anisotropy, and plate thickness variation, see Tavner
et al. (2005). This asymmetry is reflected in the impedances presented by the various
phase groups, or coils in the machine stator, and will cause slight variations between
the currents flowing in the coils. It is also the cause of homopolar fluxes in the
machine shaft that can lead to shaft voltages as described in a later section.
This asymmetry, together with small differences in the electrical properties of the
conductors, and variations in the physical disposition of the conduction in both the
active length and end regions of machines, will give rise to a net difference between
the currents flowing in one section of the end winding when compared with the
corresponding section diametrically opposite. The imbalance leads naturally to a net
axial flux component. A similar argument can be applied to the rotor circuits; hence
one can expect to measure axial flux, even in machines that are in ‘perfect health’.
It is a simple extension of the above to consider what happens when certain
fault conditions arise in a machine. Faults, such as winding short circuits, voltage
imbalance, and broken rotor bars, represent severe disruptions to the internal
symmetry of the machine. It is logical to conclude, therefore, that the effect on the
production of axial flux will be readily observable. Any gross change of magnetic
circuit conditions, such as the formation of an eccentric air-gap due to bearing
wear, will, by the same token, be reflected with a corresponding change in axial
leakage flux.
The purpose of axial flux monitoring is therefore to translate observed differ-
ences in the nature of the axial leakage flux into an indication of fault condition.
The production of such fluxes in squirrel cage rotor induction machines was studied
by Jordan (1964) and Jordan et al. (1965) with particular emphasis on the changes
occurring due to static eccentricity, Erlicki et al. (1971) showed that it is possible to
detect the loss of a supply phase through axial flux monitoring.
In the 1970s in the United Kingdom, a large power station boiler auxiliary
induction motor, equipped with two stator windings for two-speed operation, was
operating on one winding with a shorted turn on the idle winding. Circulating
currents in the faulty idle winding, induced by the energised winding, caused
degradation of the insulation, charring and the generation of flammable gases, see
Section 7.2. Eventually these gases entered the terminal box, ignited, bursting the
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 227

terminal box and causing a fatality. This incident galvanised interest in the United
Kingdom in motor monitoring, because it was quickly realised that the faulted idle
winding could have been detected by monitoring the axial leakage flux of the
machine, particularly by mounting a search coil around the rotor shaft.
Rickson (1983) developed a protection device based on this principal. Penman
et al. (1980) showed that more discrimination could be achieved between a variety
of fault conditions by carefully processing the axial flux signal and this initiated
their work on machine CM.
The technique relies upon examining the changes in the spectral components
of the axial flux. These components arise as described below. Since the fluxes are
produced by winding currents, the frequency of these flux components must be
related to the frequencies of the currents. Rotor currents are also induced by the air-
gap flux, so the net air-gap flux will be modified as a result. While the rotor is at
rest the air-gap field results solely from the currents flowing in the stator; hence
only the time harmonics present in the line currents will appear in the axial flux.
Once the rotor moves, however it does so with an angular speed,
wrm ¼ ð1  sÞwse =p, with respect to the stator, where p is the number of pole pairs
in the machine. The air-gap flux components will consequently be frequency fil-
tered. For example, in the normal three-phase stator winding, the air-gap field
produced, bstator, can be approximated up to the seventh harmonic by the form:
b 1 cosðwse t  pq1 Þ þ B
b1 ðtÞ ¼ B b 5 cosðwse t þ 5pq1 Þ

b 7 cosðwse t  7pq1 Þ þ   
B (9.18)
We can transform this expression into a frame of reference moving with the rotor
by considering Figure 9.10, which shows the relationships between a fixed point in
the stator and a fixed point on the rotor:
q2 ¼ q1  wrm t (9.19)
But for an induction machine with p pole pairs:
ð1  sÞ
q2 ¼ q1  wse t (9.20)
p
Using these expressions, it can be shown that the nth term of the air-gap field in the
stator frame is:
b n cos½ð1  ð1  sÞnwse tÞ  npq1 
bn1 ðtÞ ¼ B (9.21)
The rotor frame expression corresponding to (9.18) is:
b 1 cosðswse t  pq2 Þ þ B
b2 ðtÞ ¼ B b 5 cosðð6  5sÞwse t  5pq2 Þ
Bb 7 cosðð7s  6Þwse t  pq2 Þ þ    (9.22)

The first air-gap harmonic produces currents at s times the supply frequency, the
fifth air-gap harmonic produces time frequencies of (6  5s) times and so on.
228 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Stator

Rotor
Stator ref.
f

q2

Rotor ref. q1

q2 = wrmt

Figure 9.10 Rotor and stator frames of reference

It is now apparent that the axial flux spectrum is rich in harmonics, even in a
well-constructed, healthy machine. Moreover, because fault conditions, such as
shorted turns, loss of phase, eccentricity and so on, cause changes in the space
harmonic distributions in the air-gap, such conditions will be accompanied by a
corresponding change in the time harmonic spectrum of axial flux. Furthermore, by
effectively using the stator winding as a search coil to detect rotor faults, and the
rotor winding to detect stator faults, it is possible to gain insight into the harmonic
changes to be expected for a given fault condition.
Let us follow a typical fault condition through the diagnostic procedure. If we
assume that an inter-turn short circuit exists in the stator winding then this condi-
tion can be represented as a single pule of MMF, similar to that shown in
Figure 9.11, results. The components of the stator air-gap field bstator generated by
this distribution are:
X
b 1 ðt Þ ¼ b n cosðwse t  nqÞ
B (9.23)
n¼1;3;5; ...

The nth component in the rotor frame will therefore be:

  
b n
bn;2 ðtÞ ¼ B n cos 1  ð1  sÞ wse t  nq2 (9.24)
p
These harmonics will induce currents in the rotor circuits, and because there are
asymmetries in the rotor magnetic and electric circuits, they will appear as addi-
tional components in the spectrum of axial flux.
Table 9.1 at the end of the chapter summarises the angular frequency compo-
nents arising in the axial flux.
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 229

H(Θ)

Θ
Θ Π/2 Π 3Π/2 2Π

Figure 9.11 MMF due to a single fully pitched coil

Table 9.1 Axial flux angular frequency components related to specific induction
machine asymmetries (9.24), taken from Vas (1993)

Space harmonic of the stator winding MMF

k¼1 k¼3 k¼5 k¼7

Angular frequency components (rad/s)

Stator asymmetry swse (3s  2)wse (5s  4)wse (7s  6)wse
(2  s)wse (4  3s)wse (6  5s)wse (8  7s)wse
Rotor asymmetry swse (3  2s)wse (5  4s)wse (7  6s)wse
(2s  1)wse (4s  3)wse (6s  5)wse (8s  7)wse

Figure 9.12 illustrates the comparable results from a small four-pole squirrel
cage induction machine using the technique. Only the spectral components below
500 Hz are shown, but faults, such as inter-turn short circuits, broken rotor bars, or
negative phase sequence in the supply, are visible in the spectra and have been
identified.
The axial flux monitoring technique is still embryonic but essentially it
requires the collection of an axial flux signal, using a search coil wound con-
centrically with the shaft of a machine. This signal is then spectrally analysed and
on the basis of the appearance of certain harmonic groups a decision is made as to
the condition of the machine. The attractions of the method are that it is completely
non-invasive and a single sensor can be used for a variety of fault types. It is,
however, a complex technique requiring specialised equipment and is, as yet,
relatively untested.
230 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

500 2 000
Axial coil EMF amplitude

Axial coil EMF amplitude

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400 500
(a) Frequency (Hz) (b) Frequency (Hz)

2 500 500
Axial coil EMF amplitude
Axial coil EMF amplitude

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400 500
(c) Frequency (Hz) (d) Frequency (Hz)

Figure 9.12 Typical spectra taken at identical gains from an axial flux search coil
fitted to an experimental motor: (a) good rotor, no faults, no load,
(b) broken rotor bar, no other faults, (c) good rotor, large stator
shorted turn 1 A, no load and (d) good rotor, small stator
negative phase sequence, no load

Little further work has been done on this technology since its inception in the
1980s, therefore it cannot be recommended to operators. However, some new
industrial application, such as traction, electric cars or aerospace, could make it
exceptionally appealing because of its ease of fitting and universality.

9.5.3 Stator and rotor currents

Stator current has been shown in Sections 9.2.2 and 9.4.3 to be a viable CM tech-
nique. The results of Figure 9.10(a) have also shown that it also has the capability
to look beyond the electrical machine itself and detect faults in the mechanically
driven load. A further example of fault detection in the driven machine by current
analysis was shown, for a VSD downhole pump, in Figure 5.10 by Yacamini et al.
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 231

(1998) and Ran et al. (1996), where the wavelet analysis was used to deal with the
non-stationary behaviour of the signal.
There is now a more extensive literature on the current analysis method
including Joksimovic et al. (2000) and Stavrou et al. (2001), who investigated the
fundamental magnetic field effects on the air-gap, Bellini et al. (2001) and Bellini
et al. (2002), who give a good account of the present state of the art, together with
Henao et al. (2003) and Henao et al. (2005).
Table 9.2 summarises the angular frequency components that can be detected
in the stator current and their relation to machine faults.

9.5.4 Power
Work by Trzynadlowski et al. (1999) showed that the power spectrum may be an
effective monitor of machine health and it may simplify some of the complexities
of the stator current and axial flux spectra. This was a technique pioneered by
Hunter et al. (1982) but also considered more recently on wind turbine induction
generators by Watson et al. (2010). The process can be considered as follows,
instantaneous power, p1, delivered to or from a three-phase machines is given at the
stator terminals by:
X
3 X
1 X
1 
p1 ðtÞ ¼ b nq sinðqnn ÞbI mq sin qmm þ jmq
V (9.25)
q¼1 n¼1 m¼1

where qnn or qmm are defined as follows:

2pk
q‘k ¼ ‘wse t þ ðq  1Þ (9.26)
3
where
b nq is the peak of the nth harmonic of the phase voltage in the qth phase
V
assuming that the phase voltages are angularly spaced by 2p/3
bI mq is the peak of the mth harmonic of the phase current in the qth phase
assuming that the phase currents are angularly spaced by 2p/3
q is the phase number
n is the voltage harmonic number
m is the current harmonic number
fnq is the phase angle between the phase current, bI nq , and the phase voltage, V
b nq .

If the load on the machine is perfectly balanced between the three phases and the
voltages and currents contain no harmonics, then the expression for instantaneous
power reduces to:
X
3
b 1bI 1
p1 ðtÞ ¼ V sinðq11 þ jÞ (9.27)
q¼1

b 1bI 1 X
V 3
 
p1 ðtÞ ¼ cos j  cos q2;2 þ j (9.28)
2 q¼1
Table 9.2 Electrical angular frequency components related to specific electrical machine faults

Current Flux Power

Angular frequency components (rad/s)

Mechanical faults Oil whirl and whip in sleeve bearings wse(0.43 to 0.48)/p wse(1 þ (0.43 to 0.48))/p
Unbalanced mass on the rotor of a synchronous machine wse/p wse/p wse(1 þ 1/p)
Dynamic eccentricity in a synchronous machine 2wse/p 2wse/p wse(1 þ 2/p)
Dynamic displacement of shaft in bearing housing of a wse/p, 2wse/p, . . . wse/p, 2wse/p, . . . wse(1 þ 1/p þ 2/p þ )
synchronous machine
Static misalignment of rotor shaft in a synchronous machine wse/p,
 2wse/p, 3wse/p, . . . wse/p,
 2wse/p, 3w
 se/p . . . wse(1 þ 1/p þ 2/p þ )
     
Static and dynamic eccentricity in an induction machine wse ðnNr  ke Þ ð1sÞ
p  k wse ke ð1sÞ
p  k

wse 1 þ ke ð1sÞ 
p  k
 
 
Electrical faults Broken rotor bar in an induction machine w se 1  2ns
p  swse . . . 2nswse/p
(2s  1)wse . . . 2n(1  s)wse/p
Stator winding faults in a synchronous machine wse, 2wse, 4wse, . . . wse wse, 3wse
Stator winding faults in an induction machine wse, 2wse, 4wse, . . . swse . . . -
  (2 –s)wse . . .  
 
Electrical and mechanical Stator or rotor winding and mechanical faults in a wound wse h ð1sÞ
p  k – 
wse j  h ð1sÞ 
p  k
faults, Zappala et al. (2019) rotor induction machine

Definitions
wsm ¼ stator mechanical vibration frequency
wse ¼ stator electrical supply frequency
Nr ¼ integer number of rotor slots
N ¼ rotational speed (rev/min)
f wrm ¼ 2pN
60 mechanical rotational frequency (Hz)
wrm ¼ wse/p for a synchronous machine
wrm ¼ (1  s)wse/p for an asynchronous machine
s ¼ asynchronous machine rotor speed slip, 0–1
p ¼ pole pairs
n ¼ a positive integer
ke ¼ eccentricity order, zero for static eccentricity, low integer value 1, 2, 3, . . . for dynamic eccentricity h ¼ ðnNr  ke Þ
j ¼ supply harmonics
k ¼ space harmonic of the stator winding MMF, 1, 3, 5, 7, . . .
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 233

The second term in brackets sums to zero because the three-phase components are
spaced in phase at 4p=3 rad. The net balanced power delivered to or from the stator
of the machine is therefore as expected:
3 bb
P1 ¼ V I cosj (9.29)
2
Consider the case where the peak phase voltages are balanced and include har-
monics, Vn, but the phase currents are unbalanced and also include harmonics.
(9.27) can be rewritten in terms of the peak positive, negative and zero sequence
harmonic currents, bI þm ; bI m and bI 0m , respectively, as follows:
X
1 X
1 
p1 ðtÞ ¼ b n sinðqn ÞfbI þm sin qþm þ jþm
V
n¼1 m¼1

þ bI m sinðqm þ jm Þ þ bI 0m sinðq0m þ j0m Þg (9.30)

where in this case:
qn ¼ nwse t
qþm ¼ þmwse t
Equation (9.30) reduces to:
X
1 X
1
p1 ðtÞ ¼ b nbI þm cosq
fV
 
ðmnÞðmnÞ þ fþm  cos qðmþnÞðmþnÞ þ fþm
2
n¼1 m¼1

b nbI m 
V  
þ cos qðmnÞðmnÞ þ fm  cos qðmþnÞðmþnÞ þ fm
2
b nbI 0m 
V  
þ cos qðmnÞn þ f0m  cos qðmþnÞn þ f0m g
2
(9.31)
When m ¼ n, a DC contribution is made to the power in each phase as shown in
(9.29). For harmonic components of power, however, because of the presence of
the phase factor, (q  1)2p/3, a contribution to the power only occurs when (m  n)
or (m þ n) are multiples of 3, or are triplens. These contributions will be at
(m  n)wset or (m þ n)wset, depending on whether the positive or negative
sequence currents are contributing to the power.
From inspection of the last term in (9.31), it can be seen that there will be no
zero sequence contribution to the ripple in instantaneous power. This is because for
all values of n, the term in (q  1)2p/3 in q ensures that the summation over three
phases always comes to zero.
An application of these equations to the power CM of an electrical machine
would be a three-phase induction motor with a broken cage. We already know from
Table 9.1 that at a fundamental supply voltage angular frequency of wse the fun-
damental supply current will contain components at ð1  2sÞwse .
234 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Therefore for the first and (1  2s)th harmonics of voltage

ðm  nÞwse ¼ 2swse
ðm þ nÞwse ¼ 2ð1  sÞwse
So, the power spectrum due to the fundamental supply voltage will contain com-
ponents at 2swse and 2(1  s)wse.
An example of this was simulated by Trzynadlowski et al. (1999), as shown in
Figure 9.13, for a 6-pole induction motor with a damaged rotor fed at fse ¼ 60 Hz

–20
Current waveform PSD (dB)

–40

–60

–80

–100
0 50 100 150 200 250
(a) Frequency (Hz)
0

–20
Power waveform PSD (dB)

–40

–60

–80

–100
0 50 100 150 200 250
(b) Frequency (Hz)

Figure 9.13 Spectra from a simulation of an induction motor with broken rotor
bars: (a) the upper curve shows the current spectrum with the typical
fault side-bands and (b) the lower graph shows the power spectrum
with the fault side-band shifted down to DC
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 235

with a very large slip at this operating condition of 15.8%, therefore the side-bands
on the current PSD spectrum due to damage are positioned above and below the
60 Hz fundamental, at 41 and 79 Hz, whereas on the power PSD spectrum the
damage side-band is positioned at 19 Hz.

9.5.5 Shaft voltage or current

Many electrical power utilities have attempted to monitor the voltages induced
along the shafts of electrical machines in the hope that they may be a useful indi-
cator of machine core or winding degradation and because they can give rise to
large shaft currents, which are damaging to bearings.
Figure 9.14 shows how a voltage can be induced between contacts sliding on a
rotating machine shaft whenever fluxes in the machine are distorted, either from the
normal radial and circumferential pattern, or from the normal axial pattern. These
sliding contacts may be the result of rubs on defective bearings or seals or could be
brushes placed to detect flux distortion. The brushes would normally be placed at
either end of the machine to embrace the complete shaft flux circuit. If a fault,
such as a rotor winding shorted turn, produces a rotating distortion of the field in
the radial and circumferential plane then an AC or pulsating shaft voltage results.
If a fault produces a distortion of the field in the axial direction, then this gives
rise in effect to a homopolar flux that produces a DC shaft voltage. In steam-
turbine driven machines, shaft voltages can also be produced by electrostatic
action, where the impingement of water droplets on turbine blades charges the
shaft. Verma et al. (1981) have given a full report on the mechanisms for the
production of shaft voltages and currents and the faults they may indicate.
Methods of monitoring shaft voltages usually include making AC and DC
measurements of the voltage and sometimes analysing the harmonic content of
the waveform. Verma proposed a comprehensive shaft voltage monitor and
Nippes (2004) a more up-to-date version.
Our experience, however, is that shaft voltage has not proved to be a useful
parameter for continuous monitoring. The voltage is difficult to measure con-
tinuously, because of the unreliability of shaft brushes, particularly when they are

Stator
X X X

Rotor M

I I I

Figure 9.14 Production of shaft voltages due to asymmetries in the magnetic field
of the machine
236 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

carrying only a small measurement current. In addition, it has been shown by

authors’ colleagues that any damage to the core and winding would need to be
substantial before a significant variation in shaft voltage occurred.
This should not detract, however, from the normal regular maintenance pro-
cedure of measuring shaft voltages at bearing pedestals, from time to time, in order
to check the pedestal insulation and to confirm that there is no tendency for large
shaft currents to flow.

9.5.6 Mechanical and electrical interaction

As can be seen in Section 9.6.4, there is considerable commonality between the
approaches described in this section and those of Chapter 8, concerned, respectively,
with the electrical and mechanical responses to faults in the electrical machine.
This commonality arises from the air-gap magnetic field and it will be important
for future CM strategies on electrical machines to have a clear understanding of the
link between the electrical and mechanical root causes of faults and their effect on the
air-gap field.
Mechanical engineers will tend to look for faults via the vibration spectrum
and electrical engineers will look via the current, flux or power spectra.
The reality is that all these spectra are closely coupled as set out in these
chapters and it may be better to look for some faults via the vibration signal and for
others via the flux, voltage, current or power signals.
A great deal more work has been done recently on mechanical and electrical
interaction, particularly on generators used by wind turbines by Ibrahim et al.
(2018) and Zappalá et al. (2019), who used particularly precise electrical and
mechanical transducers to establish the consequences of mechanical and electrical
interaction from faults.
These papers substantially increase earlier knowledge from Rai (1974), Hargis
et al. (1982), Dorrell et al. (1997) and Nandi et al. (2005), showing that both
mechanical and electrical measurements, torque, speed, vibration, current and
power, detect fault air-gap field effects and their electrical and mechanical
consequences.
A number of contributors, including Zappalá et al. (2019), describe how
mechanical spectra are noisier than corresponding electrical spectra, partly due to
instrumentation sensitivity but also because mechanical signals are influenced not
only by air-gap excitation but by the machine frame response as well, see
Chapter 8, which may mask fault responses.
However, experienced machine operators have high confidence in mechanical
monitoring, for example, speed and vibration, and these can be combined with less
understood, though stronger, electrical signals, power and current, to enhance their
credibility, this will be dealt with in a later chapter.
In Table 8.6, we gave a summary of the lateral vibration angular frequencies
caused by various faults.
In Tables 9.1 and 9.2, we now give a similar summary respectively of current
and flux angular frequencies caused by various faults.
 Online current, flux and power monitoring 237

9.6 Conclusions
This chapter has shown that electrical techniques are powerful tools for the CM of
electrical machines, particularly axial leakage flux, current and power, offering the
potential to provide a general CM signal for the machine.
The availability of high-quality, digitally sampled, mechanical vibration and
electrical terminal ‘performance’ data from electrical machines opens the possibi-
lity for more comprehensive monitoring of the machine and prime mover or driven
machine combinations. However, these signals generally require broad bandwidth
(>50 kHz) and a high data rate for adequate analysis. Therefore, the principal
difficulty of applying these techniques is the complexity of the necessary spectral
analysis and interpretation of their content.
This situation is made more difficult if VSDs are involved because time-
domain signals may no longer be stationary and will also be polluted by harmonics
from the power electronic drive, see Chapter 5.
Comprehensive monitoring of an electrical machine can be achieved by mea-
suring shaft flux, current, power and electrical discharge activity. These are broad
bandwidth (generally >50 kHz) signals requiring complex analysis.
Shaft flux, current and power signals are capable of detecting faults in both the
electrical and mechanical parts of a drive train. Shaft voltage or current is an
ineffective CM technique for electrical machines.
Shaft flux monitoring is non-invasive and uses a single sensor, but it is
complex to analyse and untested in the field.
Current monitoring is also non-invasive, but uses existing sensors and has
established itself as MCSA, a reliable and widely accepted technique for machine
monitoring. This technique is demonstrated at work in an AI example in Chapter
14.7. Power monitoring is also non-invasive, uses existing sensors but requires less
bandwidth (<10 kHz) and less complex spectral interpretation to detect faults but is
not yet widely accepted, so it deserves investigation for future development.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 10
Online partial discharge (PD) electrical
monitoring

10.1 Introduction
Chapter 9 discussed about the perturbations to current, flux and power at the
terminals due to faults in the machine, the electro-magnetic effect.
However, something else is at work in high-voltage electrical machines and
that is perturbations to the voltage and current wave fed to the machine as a result
of electrical disturbances or discharges in the insulation system, the dielectric
effect.
PD occurs only in high-voltage machines with disturbances occurring at local
peaks of electric stress. In general, in normal ambient conditions at sea level PD
does not occur at winding phase voltages greater than 3 kV. Each individual PD
represents a charge transfer of picocoulombs (pC), with an individual energy of pJ,
a power of <pW, however there may be many PDs in each voltage half-cycle.
Therefore, dependant on machine design, particularly winding insulation, applica-
tion, voltage and environmental conditions, over time these PDs can damage the
machine insulation.
This chapter deals with a more specialised, higher bandwidth electrical terminal
‘performance’ analyses than considered in Chapter 9, which have the potential to
detect those discharge activities present in high-voltage machine winding insulation.
One of the reasons discharge monitoring has received so much attention is
because the insulation system lies at the heart of every electrical machine and its
deterioration can be relatively slow, as described in Chapters 3 and 4. Therefore, it
should be a good target for CM, however, there are numerous very high-frequency
events occurring embedded within complex winding and insulation systems, which
any monitoring method must be able to detect and locate.

10.2 Background to discharge detection

Discharge behaviour is complex and can be categorised in the ascending order of

energy and damage as:
● Corona discharge,
● PD,
240 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● Spark discharge,
● Arc discharge.
A well-made insulation system will exhibit low-level corona discharge on the
surface of the insulation at AC voltages above 3 kV to ground, see Figure 3.8. If there
are voids inside the body of the insulation system, those voids will also exhibit PDs at
the points in the voltage cycle when the local electric field strength exceeds the
Paschen curve level for the gas in the void at that temperature. Neither that surface or
body activity is necessarily damaging unless the activity is sufficiently powerful to
degrade the insulation system, as can occur thermally or chemically, Chapters 6 and 7.
This activity can progressively worsen depending on the quality of the insulation, the
local strength of the field and the mechanical, thermal and electrical conditions to
which the material is subjected. There are certain parts of high-voltage winding
insulation systems that are particularly vulnerable to discharge activity, namely:
● Stator slot wall where PD activity can erode and damage the main wall
insulation.
● Slot emergence where coils emerge from the earth protection of the slot and
the insulation system is exposed to surface discharge activity.
● End winding surfaces, which can be subjected to damaging discharge activity,
particularly at the phase separation regions, when the surface is wet or dirty
or both.
A study of the failure mechanisms in Chapter 3 shows that electrical discharge
activity is an early indicator of many electrical faults in machine stators, the
activity is also be related to the remanent life of the insulation system.
The accurate detection of discharge activity could therefore give valuable early
warning of failure and could provide information about the remaining life of the
insulation.
Electrical discharges are transitory, low energy disturbances that radiate elec-
tromagnetic, optical, acoustic and thermal energy from the discharge site. That
conducted energy causes perturbations to the waveforms of the voltage and current
both within the machine and at the machine terminals. The earliest applications of
PD detection were to isolated insulation components, such as transformer and high-
voltage machine bushings or most successfully to the stop joints in oil-cooled EHV
cables, see Wilson et al. (1982), where the insulation under inspection is close to
the coupling circuit and is energised solely at the phase voltage of the cable.
After successful application on cable stop joints the method was then applied
to the windings of HV turbo- and hydro-generators. However, an electrical machine
winding, see Figure 10.1, represents a much more complex insulation system than a
stop joint.
For example,
● The insulation is distributed throughout the length of the winding, which may
represent many hundreds of meters in length,
● It is energised with a distributed potential, applying full-line voltage between
the winding ends but zero voltage at the neutral point,
 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 241

Induced Coupling
currents capacitors Discharge
HV terminals
currents

a
a
a

R Y B

Windings
b Discharge
Stator core site
Current Neutral earth
transformer connection

Figure 10.1 Complex structure of a machine stator winding

● The winding is complex from a propagation point of view:

* Containing propagation path bifurcations:
* at coil connections,
* where sections of the winding are connected between phases,
* where individual phases consist of parallel paths,
* It also contains many surge impedance transitions throughout its length,
see Figure 10.2:
* as it enters and emerges from the slot,
* as the coupling varies between winding components, in slot and end
winding portions,
* as it connects to the main terminals of the machine.
The following description traces the development of electrical machine
winding PD detection up to the present day and demonstrates the value of and
difficulties of discharge detection techniques.

10.3 Early discharge detection methods

10.3.1 RF coupling method
The earliest work, summarised by Godwin et al. (1979), described a technique
developed by Westinghouse in the United States to detect the presence online, of
 End
winding End winding
portion 1 turn
portion Slot portion
Ls Ls
Le 2 2 Le
1 turn
Le Le
Ls Ls Cke Cke
Cks Cks
Ce Ce 2 Cs 2 Ce Ce Ce Ce Cs Ce Ce
2 2
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

(a) (b)

Me Me
Ms Ms
Ls Ls Ls Ls Ls Ls
Le 2 2 Le 2 2 Le 2 2 Le

Ce Ce Ce Ce Ce Ce Ce Ce
2 2 Cs 2 2 Cs 2 2 Cs 2 2

(c)
1 turn

Figure 10.2 Electrical structure of one turn of a typical stator winding and complex coupling arrangements: (a) simple model, one
turn represented by a tee; (b) increased complexity, one turn represented by a series of tees and (c) further complexity,
with core and end winding coupling approximated
 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 243

Electrical
machine
stator

High-frequency CT

Neutral resistor RI-FI meter Chart recorder

if fitted

Figure 10.3 Detection of discharge activity in a generator. Taken from Emery

et al. (1981) ’ IEEE (1981)

sub-conductor arcing in the stator windings of large steam turbo-generators, by

measuring perturbations in the winding current. Arcing activity produces very
wide-band electro-magnetic energy, some of which propagates into the neutral
connection of the star-connected winding. Emery et al. (1981) used a ferrite-cored
RF current transformer (RFCT) wrapped around the neutral cable to couple to this
activity, which he detects using a quasi-peak, radio interference field intensity
(RIFI) meter, as shown in Figure 10.3. The neutral cable was chosen a good mea-
surement location because it is a low potential with respect to ground and because
arcing at any location in the generator causes RF current to flow into the
neutral lead.
The radio frequency CT (RFCT) has a frequency response from 30 Hz to
30 MHz and the RIFI meter has a narrow bandwidth of ~10 kHz centred at about
1 MHz. The centre frequency is nominally tuned to match resonances in the winding
that the arcing activity excites; the RIFI meter effectively measures the average peak
energy received by the instrument. The RFCT and RIFI meters are proprietary items
and a simple monitoring system can be assembled using these components.
Westinghouse also developed a specialised RF monitor based on this technique that
is fully described in Emery et al. (1981). The monitor interface with a remote panel
located in the machine control room and provides a permanent record of arcing
activity, with alarm indications to the operator when a severe increase occurs.
Godwin et al. (1979) had shown, with later details by Emery et al. (1981) and
244 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Harrold et al. (1986), positive proof of the detection, not only of sub-conductor
arcing, but also of sparking in other parts of steam-turbine-driven generators.
However, the change in signal level when arcing occurs, from the RIFI meter
tuned to 1 MHz, is not dramatic. An increase of <50% of the unfaulted indica-
tion is typical and this makes the setting of alarm levels for such a monitor
difficult.
Timperley (1983) used this technique and applied it not only to steam turbo-
generators but also to hydro-generators in the American Electric Power service. He
appears to have used wider bandwidth quasi-peak RIFI instruments connected to
the neutral RFCT because he analyses the received signal in both the frequency and
time domains. Using the technique he has shown some evidence of the detection of
slot discharge activity on hydroelectric machines and other forms of unexpected
corona activity.

10.3.2 Earth loop transient method

Wilson et al. (1982), in the United Kingdom, devised a similar technique to that
of Emery et al. (1981) as a cheap method of detecting discharge activity online in
a wide range of high-voltage plant. Initially it was applied to a relatively small,
identifiable section of insulation, such as a stop joint in an oil-insulated EHV
cable, and was known as an earth loop transient monitor. It has since been
applied to the insulation of generator and motor stator windings and aims to look
for PD activity in the bulk of the winding. It uses a Rogowski coil, wrapped
around the neutral cable of the machine winding, and the detector is a narrow
band instrument that measures the average peak energy received by the instru-
ment as shown in Figure 10.4. The Rogowski coil is an air-cored solenoidal
search coil that is closed on itself round a current carrying conductor. The
manufacture of these coils was patented in the UK by Ward et al. (1993) and they
are called Rogowski coils to distinguish them from their ancestor, the Chattock
potentiometer, which is not a wrap-around coil as needed for current measure-
ments. The frequency response of the Rogowski coil is relatively wide but the
detector has a narrow bandwidth of
15 kHz centred at a value determined by
the application and the background radio noise, but usually for a generator or
motor winding this would be 1 MHz.
The monitor is calibrated in pCs and is provided with alarm circuits, so that
when the discharge level exceeds a warning threshold an alarm signal can be
transmitted to the plant control room. Wilson et al. (1982) explained that when
applying this technique to a distributed insulation system, such as a machine
winding, care must be taken in the calibration, because energy may be propagated
to the instrument from a number of different discharge sites in the insulation
simultaneously. Geary et al. (1990) provided a theoretical model for the manner in
which energy, in the frequency band detected by the instrument, is propagated from
the discharge site in to the winding neutral and he has shown how this propagation
depends critically on the configuration of the winding and the size of the stator
core, as described in Section 10.2.
 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 245

Electrical
machine
stator

High-frequency CT
or Rogowski coil

Detector Peak hold Chart

Neutral
circuit recorder
resistor Logarithmic
if fitted amplifier
To alarm
circuit

Alarm
circuit

Figure 10.4 Continuous monitor of discharge activity using an earth loop

transient monitor. Taken from Wilson et al. (1982)

10.3.3 Capacitive coupling method

An alternative technique, where perturbations in voltage waveforms are detected at
the machine terminals, has been described by Kurtz et al. (1979) and applied pri-
marily to hydro-generators in Canada aimed at detecting the slot discharge activity
with which these high-voltage air-cooled windings are afflicted. Connection to the
winding is made through coupling capacitors connected to the line terminals of the
machine as shown in Figure 10.5. Discharge pulses are coupled through these
capacitors to a specialised pulse height analyser, which the analyser electronics
captures up to 80 MHz, sufficient to capture PD pulses with rise times of the order
of 1 to 10 ns. In the early days of this technique capacitative couplers had to be
connected to the machine during an outage but in a later publication Kurtz et al.
(1980) describe how capacitative couplers can be permanently built into the phase
rings of the machine so that the measurements can be made without service inter-
ruptions. In addition, these permanent couplers are also intended to ensure that
discharge activity from the electrical supply system, to which the machine is con-
nected, is rejected. However, the pulse height analysis of discharges by this method
is still carried out at intervals during the life of the machine rather than con-
tinuously online. Kurtz et al. (1979) and (1980) have not shown how the electro-
magnetic energy from a discharge site is propagated through the winding to the
coupling capacitors but have shown empirically that the method is capable of
246 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Permanent
coupling Upper
capacitor threshold
Monostable Q
B

Monostable Q Monostable To pulse

A C counter
Lower
threshold

Neutral resistor
if fitted

Figure 10.5 Detection of discharge activity using a coupling capacitor.

Taken from Kurtz et al. (1980)

detecting slot discharges and the steady deterioration of winding insulation

with time.

10.3.4 Wide-band RF method

The techniques for detecting insulation deterioration described in Sections
10.3.1–10.3.3 operate at relatively low frequencies (1–80 MHz) and detect the
electromagnetic energy propagated along the winding to the neutral or line end
connections, see Tavner et al. (1986). They are generally known in North America
as electromagnetic interference (EMI) detection methods.
In any healthy machine, there will be a background of corona and PD activity
that will vary from machine to machine and also varies with time. Tavner et al.
(1986) described a technique, developed by Malik, following the approach of
Emery et al. (1981) and Harrold et al. (1986) but demonstrating that more dama-
ging discharge pulses, such as sparking or arcing, have faster rise-times than
background corona and PD activity and therefore produce a wider frequency band
of electromagnetic energy (10–350 MHz). This work showed that if this energy is
detected, at as high a frequency as possible, the ratio of damaging discharge signals
to background activity is increased, see Figure 10.7. Frequencies of electro-
magnetic energy >4 MHz propagate from the discharge site by radiation from the
winding, not by propagation along the winding as in the case with the lower
 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 247

frequency techniques. This radiation can be detected by a radio frequency (RF)

aerial located either inside the enclosure of the machine or outside, close to an
aperture in it. The technique is similar to that proposed by Michiguchi et al. (1983)
for detecting the faults in brush-gear. A monitor for detecting damaging turbo-
generator stator winding sub-conductor arcing activity was described based on this
idea, as shown in Figure 10.6. It receives the energy from an aerial and amplifies it
before detection. The monitor contains a band-pass filter tuned above the cut-off
frequency of background activity (~350 MHz), avoiding interference from nearby
radio or radar stations, to the part of the spectrum that is of interest. The output of
the monitor is a chart record that shows the instants in time at which the energy due
to damaging discharge activity exceeded a threshold value. This threshold can be
set according to the level of background activity in the machine.
The monitor has been used successfully on large operational steam-driven
turbo-generators, where the aerial was fitted outside the cooling casing by mount-
ing it close to the neutral point connection bushing. The instrument positively
identified proven sub-conductor arcing and has been shown to detect other forms of
damaging discharge activity. Its advantage over the other techniques is that by
detecting at higher frequencies the signal-to-noise ratio of damaging activity to
background is larger and this makes it much easier to determine alarm settings for
the instrument, as shown in Figure 10.7.

RF aerial

Signal-processing
electronics

Attenuator Tunable RF amplifier Detector Recorder

bandpass
filter

Figure 10.6 Detection of damaging discharge activity using RF energy

248 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

EMI in US parlance
RFI in European parlance
RF power signal density (dB)

Damaging PD PD activity
Background PD activities in an on HV plant
activity in a healthy electrical machine
environment
Bandwidth of Bandwidth of
LFPD devices HFPD devices
Isolated radio
or radar signals

0 10 10 10 10
Frequency (MHz)

Figure 10.7 Radio frequency energy from background and damaging discharge
activity

On the other hand, the received signal loses information so the relationship to
discharge pC magnitude and time is lost and the method is subject to interference
from commercial radio and radar transmissions, although these can be screened out
when their specific frequencies are known.
This wide-band RF data collection technique is similar to that currently used in
monitoring PD activity in large sub-stations with various spatial aerial/sensor
arrangements and generally termed RFI detection, see Figure 10.7. However, in the
case of PD monitoring in large sub-stations, with spatial sensor arrangements, more
sophisticated time and frequency domain data processing allows preservation of
some relationship between pC magnitude, timing and location. So far, this has not
been possible in electrical machines.

10.3.5 Insulation remanent life

Besides identifying specific faults, PD detection and measurement has held out the
possibility of determining the insulation system remanent life and this has occupied
a considerable amount of the literature as described by Stone et al. (2014). This
process requires measurements of insulation resistance, polarization index, capa-
citance, dissipation factor tip-up, PD magnitude, and discharge inception voltage as
well as online PD activity and is a difficult and elusive objective.

10.4 Detection problems

Lower-frequency work (1–80 MHz), called EMI in North America, involving
propagation along a homogeneous conductor, suggests that a discharge site can be
located by timing the arrival of discharge pulses received at a number of different
sensors. This has now been demonstrated, as shown in the next section on modern
techniques, but reflections at each discontinuity in the winding or variation in its
 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 249

insulation and connection, see Figure 10.2, make pulse identification at the term-
inals extremely difficult. Low-frequency RFCT devices (EMI) produce an output
calibrated in pCs of discharge activity, because the response can be related directly
to the amplitude of a discharge calibration pulse. This allows the user to see the
measured activity in discharge terms so that he can decide what level of activity he
considers to be damaging. Various PD detectors have been investigated, including
the portable Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) probe and discharge locator (DL),
by Sedding et al. (1989) and the stator slot coupler (SSC), Sedding et al. (1991),
which can be mounted above the stator conductor in the slot beneath the wedge, see
Figure 3.4. These confer some advantages in enabling the operator to locate the
discharge activity.
The Rogowski coil developed by Ward et al. (1983) was shown to be easier to
fit than the RFCT but initially suffered from low sensitivity and for a time was little
used, but Rogowski coil and amplifier design has now improved, they are therefore
commercially available and have become industrially accepted, they are now
widely used for the detection of PD activity.
More recently PD measurement has also been made using a standardised
capacitive coupler, a robust power engineering component based on the Canadian
experience of Kurtz et al. (1979) and Stone et al. (1992), whose capacitance C can
easily be calibrated in Qm, the discharge value in millivolts across the coupler,
where Qm in millivolts ¼ Q/C, where Q is the discharge value in pC.
The higher signal-to-noise potential of wideband RFI techniques at frequencies
(100 MHz–1 GHz) described in Section 10.3.4 has been investigated further by
Stone et al. (2014) and from this work there would appear to be the potential for
discharge site location by the use of directional aerials. But at the frequencies
involved, the dimensions of such an aerial, diameter from 0.6 to 6 m, would be
impracticably large for use in electrical machines and in any case the complex
machine structures cause reflections and local resonances would disrupt that loca-
tion. However, this method has been used successfully in transformers using three
or more RF sensors located in positions on the surface of the transformer tank to
triangulate the location of defects. This work has then led to the development of
wide-ranging substation and HV plant PD detection described above.
Ultrasonic detection of the noise emitted from discharges has also been
demonstrated on switchgear sites and transformers to be a more effective fault
locator than PD methods in rotating electrical machines. So despite the potential of
wideband RF techniques their lack of location ability means that the technique has
now largely been superceded for the rotating machines.
It must be made clear at this stage that there is less value in being able to detect
discharge activity if, when the machine is taken out of service, that activity is
impossible to locate. It would be preferable to allow damaging discharge activity to
continue until it had reached such a pitch that the damage was observable, see
Figures 3.8 and 3.9. This highlights the problem of what constitutes a significant
level discharge activity.
In all PD detection systems, it is necessary to shield the desired PD activity
signal from the external noise, either due to PD activity in the connections and
250 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Table 10.1 Probability distribution of Qm in mV from a database of results from a

set of air-cooled machines using 80 pF capacitive couplers,
taken from Stone et al. (2014)

Machine-rated voltage

2–5 kV 6–9 kV 10–12 kV 13–15 kV

Cumulative probability (%) 25% 8 29 34 50
50% 20 70 77 113
75% 63 149 172 239
90% 228 288 376 469

switchgear of the electrical machine or due to sparking in brush-gear or harmonic

activity due to nearby power electronics. In some cases, when the electrical
machine is connected to the system via a lengthy, low-discharge XLPE cable, that
provides the necessary filter, but it is not always so. These noise and calibration
issues are dealt with by Geary et al. (1990), Stone et al. (1992), Wood et al. (1993),
Campbell et al. (1994) and Kemp et al. (1996).
Another fundamental problem for all PD detection systems is that the dis-
charge activity of identical windings in different machines exhibit large variations
in background activity, due to variations in ambient conditions, differences in
insulation manufacture and homogeneity and in noise conditions. Therefore, one
cannot say with any certainty what the background discharge activity for a winding
should be, and this activity will vary naturally with time, regardless of whether any
damaging activity is taking place.
An example of PD detection results taken from a database of a number of air-
cooled machines in the US, measured using capacitive couplers, is shown in
Table 10.1, which shows the percentage cumulative probability of PD variations,
measured in Qm millivolts, with rated voltage between machines. Thus, for a rating
of 13.8 kV, 25% of machines had a Qm <50 mV and 90% had a Qm <469 mV,
therefore if a measurement of Qm of 500 mV occurred in such a machine, the
operator knows that it has a PD higher than 90% of all similar machines.

10.5 Modern discharge detection methods

Modern online discharge detection methods for rotating electrical machines have
developed from the early work described in Section 10.3, improved to resolve some
of the problems described in Section 10.4 and can now be divided into two
techniques:
● The hydro-generator partial discharge analyser (PDA), based on Section 10.3.3
above, see Figure 10.8 and Lyles et al. (1993).
● The motor or turbo-generator analyser (TGA), based on Sections 10.3.1
and 10.3.2, which adopts a variant of the PDA to improve the signal-to-noise
 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 251
External noise
Fault pulse pulse mV
mV
ns
PT cubicle Grid
ns
80 pF Fault 80 pF
Ring bus
B1 Circuit parallel B2
To cancel noise:
B2 + L2 = B1 + L1
(travel time in ns)
Generator Neutral

L1 L2 B2 + L2

B1 + L1

PDA

Figure 10.8 Diagram of the coupler connections and electronics for the PDA.
Taken from Lyles et al. (1993) ’ IEEE (2004)

Fault pulse External noise

mV PT cubicle pulse mV

Delay rs
ns
Generator Fault Grid
80 pF 80 pF

Same
L1 L2
length

TGA

Figure 10.9 Diagram of the connections and electronics for the turbine generator
analyser (TGA). Taken from Stone et al. (1996) ’ IEEE (2004)

ratio of PD detection on windings of the types found in motors and turbo-

generators, see Figure 10.9. Experience with this technique is described in
Stone et al. (1996).
A standard has also been devised, IEEE Std 1434 (2014), to regularise the
measurement of PD on rotating machines.
252 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Work continues to improve PD detection methods, including work on lower

voltage, 4 kV, motors by Tetrault et al. (1999), work on large machines by
Kheirmand et al. (2004) and an example of an insulation monitoring system that
detects insulation leakage currents by measuring machine terminal voltages on an
induction motor by Lee et al. (2005).
Perhaps, the most exciting recent development in PD electrical machine
detection results from the application of expert systems or AI to the classification of
discharge occurrences, as described by Contin et al. (2011). Electrical machine
insulation failure mode descriptions in Chapters 3 and 4 showed that PD occurs at
specific points in a stator winding insulation and at specific times in the voltage
waveform. On a test 13.8 kV stator coil, Contin has shown that by fast recording
and storage of individual PDs, then classifying their duration, frequency content
and whether they occur in the positive or negative voltage half-cycle. Then it
should be possible to infer their location and detect the onset and progress of
damage at known sites of insulation weakness. Figure 10.10, taken from Contin
et al. (2011), shows how this could be possible, segregating coil PD into separate
types and locations, A and B.
In this way the electrical machine PD problem, of a distributed insulation
energised by varying potential over great length, could be resolvable by the use of
powerful expert systems or AI. However, authors of this book recommend that we
must not underestimate the scale of extending such an approach to a full-scale,

450

400
A
350

300
Time (ns)

250

200

150 B

100

50
2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0
Frequency (MHz)

Figure 10.10 Time–frequency segregation of PD, showing separate types and

locations, A and B. Taken from Contin et al. (2011) ’ IEEE
 Online partial discharge (PD) electrical monitoring 253

realistically manufactured winding, exposed to moisture and oil contamination in

an operating environment where stator voltages may alter with time.

10.6 Conclusions
Discharge measurement has shown itself to be the most problematic electrical
method of electrical machine CM. It requires special sensors, wide bandwidth
(>100 kHz) and very complex analysis for fault detection. It can only be recom-
mended where a specific and costly high-voltage failure mode is being searched for
in a known location on a large machine.
It addresses one of the most vital parts of the electrical machine, it can detect
global effects, including possibly remanent life of the machine insulation and it
does give a long warning before failure occurs. Yet, the analysis of
Chapter 4 shows that, with modern materials, the proportion of machine failures
due to insulation faults are now less than a third. Furthermore, the detection
methods rely on the most advanced signal processing to extract useful indications,
which are then open to wide interpretation by PD measurement experts.
This has made it extremely difficult to increase the confidence of machine
operators in the value of this type of monitoring because of their need to refer to
differing expert opinion.
PD monitoring was first applied to isolated insulated components, such as
bushings and cable stop joints where it had and continues to have a vital role to
play. Its greatest impact to date has been on transformers, sub-station plant, gas-
and air-insulated switchgear, where specific Failure Modes in particular locations
are being searched for using both wide-band RFI and narrow-band EMI techniques,
with support from acoustic measurement.
However, when applied to the distributed, multi-path, multi-connection, vari-
ably stressed insulation system of an electrical machine winding, shown in
Figures 10.1 and 10.2, it has a much more difficult task.
These methods have been valuable on large machines such as hydro-generators
where stator winding fault locations are limited to particular machine ends and their
connections, allowing the precise location of sensor couplers, the tailoring of signal
processing to that failure mode and where the asset value justifies the application of
complex techniques.
Work still continues to develop this method, including the use of AI, see
Chapter 14, to determine the overall deterioration of a winding insulation system
but that objective has not yet been reached.
However, the most thorough treatise to navigate this complex but promising
technology is undoubtedly Stone et al. (2014).
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 11
Online variable speed drive machine monitoring

11.1 Introduction
VSDs are being applied to increasing numbers of electrical machines of all types.
This edition of the book was prepared on the basis that it includes the specific
problems of condition monitoring VSDs. Electrical machines in VSDs have been
reported to be less reliable than those fed direct-on-line from the grid mains, see
Montanari (2017). This is because the voltage supply imposes extra stresses when
synthesised by a power electronic converter; in particular, the voltage waveform
contains fast switching edges with high dV/dt. Two main problems, both of a wear-
out nature, have been an industry focus:
● Stator winding insulation failures,
● Drive-side shaft-bearing failures.
These are more likely to occur when an old machine which has been in service
is retrofitted with a variable voltage and frequency supply to achieve speed control
and improve the energy efficiency.
Our focus here is on drive systems using voltage source converters (VSC)
where the DC link is capacitively smoothed. Two-level pulse-width-modulation
(PWM) is usually used in low-voltage drives for machine voltages up to 690 Vrms
line–line. Multi-level converters may be used in MV drives for motors up to 11 kV,
see Stone et al. (2014). In addition to voltage source converters, there are also
current source converters with an inductively smoothed DC link for large motors
rated at tens of MW. Harmonics and inter-harmonics in the inverter output and
machine windings also increase machine stresses through electrical, thermal and
mechanical effects.
Growing areas of VSD application are electric traction, including rail and
electric vehicles, where both induction and permanent magnet motors are used but
reliability and CM are obviously important. Another area that has become sub-
stantial in recent years is renewable power generation, particularly wind turbine
systems with induction, doubly fed induction or permanent magnet generators.
Reliability and maintainability have become increasingly important as more vari-
able speed wind turbines are deployed offshore. In this chapter, we will outline
some major and common issues of electrical machines in VSDs or generator sys-
tems and describe the available techniques for monitoring the major fault
256 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

mechanisms which are new to VSDs. The working principles of these techniques
will be analysed to understand their capabilities and limitations.

11.2 Operation and fault mechanisms

It is useful here to identify the key mechanisms that CM could detect from VSD
drives:
● When supplied from a VSD all terminal ‘performance’ quantities of the elec-
trical machine, voltage, current, power and axial flux will be polluted by har-
monics generated by the drive. Filtering this pollution will be essential to
obtaining a good signal-to-noise ratio with CM signals from such a machine,
● If the speed of the drive remains constant for substantial periods of time, then
spectral analysis of flux, voltage, current, power or vibration, as described in
Chapters 8 and 9, can still be done provided that the results are interpreted for
the speed and base frequency when the measurements were made,
● However, if the speed is varying then non-stationary techniques, such as
spectrograms over short time intervals, wavelets or Wigner–Ville techniques,
dependent on the rate of change of speed, will need to be used with the mon-
itoring signals because the spectra will not be stationary,
● If speed is varying under control in-loop action then the frequency content of
monitoring signals will be affected by the bandwidth of the controller, as
described by Bellini et al. (2000). In this case, it is possible for the drive
controller to suppress fault harmonic signals in the flux, voltage, current,
power or vibration. However, Bellini et al. (2002) have shown that it is still
possible to extract CM information from signals derived inside the controller,
and in Bellini’s example this was done from the direct axis current, id.
Chen et al. (1994) demonstrated a CM system for variable-speed induction
motors using the power line as his communication channel. This is a brave attempt
to achieve universal monitoring and wisely the author has avoided monitoring the
electrical signals but concentrated upon monitoring winding temperature.

11.2.1 Insulation degradation mechanisms

Figure 11.1 shows the insulation structure of random and form wound stator
windings. Proper insulation strengths need to be maintained between phase wind-
ings, between winding conductor and core through a semiconductive coating and
the ground-wall insulation, between turns of the same phase and between core
lamination sheets. In operation, the insulation tends to age through four types of
stresses:
● Thermal,
● Electrical,
● Ambient, environmental,
● Mechanical.
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 257

Insulated magnet wire

Coil separator

Ground insulation
or slot cell

Wedge or
(a) top stick

Strand insulation

Bottom packing Turn insulation

Groundwall insulation
Midstick packing
Semiconductive coating
Top packing

(b) Slot wedge

Figure 11.1 Stator winding insulation structure: (a) random-wound winding and
(b) form-wound winding

These are collectively referred to as TEAM. Compared to an AC machine with

a pure sinusoidal supply, an inverter supply exacerbates these stresses. The inverter
type used most widely is the voltage source inverter operated in the PWM mode.
The additional impacts of such a voltage supply are:
● The amplitude of the voltage applied to the machine is determined by the DC
link voltage rather than the phase angle in a fundamental cycle,
● Without over-modulation, the DC link voltage must be higher than the peak
value of the fundamental line–line voltage on the AC side,
● As a result, the winding insulation is constantly subject to high transient
electric field levels, which can also affect PDs that may occur, see Montanari
(2017).
Chapter 3 stated that in normal ambient conditions at the sea level PD does not
occur at sinusoidal winding phase voltages <3 kV. However, presence in a VSD
output high dV/dt switching edges in the output waveform excite high-frequency
resonances, depending on the inverter machine connection cable and distributed
winding characteristics. As a result, even higher peak voltages can be expected,
particularly near the machine terminals and the high-frequency alternating electric
field inside the insulation material induces power loss which can cause increased
temperature rise, Stone et al. (2014). However, modern LV 2- or 3-layer polyimide
winding wire coatings can resist the effects at phase voltages up to 3 kV. There is
258 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

increasing intent, with multilevel converters, to apply higher voltages to larger

machines, particularly in the expanding wind power and traction environments, so
we can expect an increase in issues of winding insulation degradation in these
industries.
Supply harmonics in the relatively low-frequency range can cause mechanical
vibrations as well as additional power losses in the windings and magnetic cores,
see Tsypkin (2017). This tends to loosen the lamination structures and cause
abrasion against the winding insulation. It is particularly harmful when an excita-
tion frequency coincides with a core or winding structural resonance.
Since the mid-1990s, industry has tried to understand and manage the addi-
tional stresses arising from inverter supplies. From a winding insulation point of
view, the most important modification is perhaps to use a semi-conductive coating
in the slot section of the coil to prevent discharge in the air pockets between the coil
and core. However, it has been discovered that this coating itself can degrade over
time, due to diverted leakage current flow, Sharifi et al. (2010) or due to abrasion
Tsypkin (2017). Cost permitting, the semiconductive layer has been used more
widely in high-reliability machines to eliminate locally high electric fields, see
Barater et al. (2017).
Figure 11.2(a) shows the discharge activities detected and related to the phase
angle of 50 or 60 Hz sinusoidal voltage. When the same machine was supplied
from a PWM voltage source inverter, the pattern of PD is then changed to that
shown in Figure 11.2(b); see Montanari (2017). Now the PDs tend to occur around
switching edges of the inverter voltage and occur at higher amplitudes due to the
voltage ringing effect. However, the switching edges introduce noise which makes
the measurement more difficult.
The consequence of insulation degradation or failure is increased winding
leakage currents, or an eventual short circuit which sits in a strong and alternating
magnetic field. An unchecked fault current flows in the machine but cannot easily
be detected by differential or over-current relays. This may quickly lead to over-
heating and destruction of the machine. With an inverter supply, the supply current
may also increase upon insulation breakdowns. This can prevent further damage to
the machine but will inevitably lead to a whole system shut-down.

11.2.2 Bearing current discharges

The damaging effect of bearing currents on a VSD machine system is now widely
known. The bearing current consists of many pulses corresponding to inverter
switching actions. They may be of a conduction nature in which case the current is
not harmful. But at a high rotating speed, lubricant films are formed to act as
insulation between the bearing rollers and the races. The bearing then behaves more
like a capacitor. The bearing current spikes can be constantly induced by the high
dV/dt edges in the common mode nature between the inverter phases, or DC link,
and the ground, or motor frame. The current can be of a capacitive nature across the
insulation layers formed by the lubrication oil film. The current through the bearing
can also be of a resistive nature when metallic contacts are present between the
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 259

3.00E–1

2.00E–1

1.00E–1
Amplitude (V)
0.00E+0

–1.00E–1

–2.00E–1

–3.00E–1
0 90 180 270 360
(a) Phase (°)
4.00E–1

3.00E–1

2.00E–1
Amplitude (V)

1.00E–1

0.00E+0

–1.00E–1

–2.00E–1

–3.00E–1

–4.00E–1
0 90 180 270 360
(b) Phase (°)

Figure 11.2 Measured motor PDs, from Montanari (2017): (a) sinusoidal mains
supply and (b) PWM inverter supply

rollers and races. Actual damage is caused by the discharges or dielectric break-
down in the oil film, causing electric discharge machining and chemical changes in
the lubricant, see Erdman et al. (1996). The corresponding bearing current is no
longer caused by the dV/dt but by too great an instantaneous voltage across the
lubricant film, resulting in a discharge spark in the lubricant. Depending on the film
thickness, dielectric breakdown occurs with a threshold voltage, across the film, in
the order of 5–30 V, see Muetze et al. (2011).
Consequently, the surfaces of both the bearing rollers and races will roughen
more quickly with a voltage source inverter supply, causing damages to other parts
in the mechanical drive train. Figure 11.3(b) shows a micrograph image of a
bearing race subject to the discharge bearing current effects. The traces caused by
normal running of the ball roller, indicated by 1, and the spots caused by dis-
charges, indicated by 2, are clearly distinguishable and the discharge spots or micro
260 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(a) (b)

Figure 11.3 Comparing bearing effects of conventional shaft currents with fast
dV/dt VSD currents: (a) photograph showing sleeve-bearing electro-
pitting due to the flow of mains frequency generator shaft current
and (b) micro-graph showing 1. ball-bearing race wear and
2. micro-pitting, due to fast dV/dt VSD currents, source: SKF

craters, will be harmful during normal running. Compare both the images in
Figure 11.3(a) and (b) to see the different effect of electro-pitting product of a
sleeve bearing by mains frequency bearing current, see earlier Figure 3.19, with the
discharge product of high frequency VSD dV/dt. The surface roughness in
Figure 11.3(b), due to VSD dV/dt, affects the lubrication film as well as the nature
of the discharge taking place. It has been reported that the discharge activities
depend on the operating condition of the drive system, and the health condition of
the bearing itself, Muetze et al. (2011).
Figure 11.4 shows the possible paths of VSD-bearing currents, see Chen et al.
(1998):
● Common mode current through capacitive coupling,
● Circulating current due to the distribution gradient of the common mode cur-
rent in the axial dimension,
● Discharge-bearing current due to high electric field strength.
The voltage across a lubricant film causes the discharge, may be initiated by
the other two current modes. In some systems, brush-slip ring kits can be used to
bypass the bearing and prevent the damaging discharge. But many low-voltage
motors do not have such an arrangement which, in the presence of a shaft voltage,
may also be undesirable because a large circulating current would be constantly
present. A choke, or filter, may be used to damp the common mode bearing current,
provided that this does not introduce high earthing resistance between the inverter
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 261

Mode 2
Stator

Inverter frame

DC + Coupling
U
Rotor
V
W
Discharge
DC –

Mode 1
PE Mode 3

Figure 11.4 Possible paths of VSD-bearing currents

and motor frames, see Ogasawara et al. (1996). But this adds to cost and usually
impedes the drive performance in other aspects.
In addition to these specific ageing-to-failure mechanisms, motors fed by
inverters are also subject to degradation common in mains-fed motors.
It has also been recognised that many motors fed by inverters are under speed
or torque control which are implemented by inner current loops. The controller
structure and response would inevitably affect the CM signatures extracted from
motor current and/or vibration measurements. The chapter will also provide a
discussion on this issue.

11.3 Bearing current discharge detection

In a VSD motor, the presence of high-frequency current spikes coupled to the
bearings from the winding supply can be an issue. Almost every switching event in
the inverter will excite such a current spike if the bearing is not bypassed by a
brush-slip ring kit or the inverter modulation scheme is modified to reduce common
mode voltage. From a CM point of view, the bearing discharge current needs to be
detected and collected for data analysis, because this type of current is damaging to
bearing surfaces and the chemical composition of the lubricant. It is therefore
important, Ran et al. (1998), to understand the features of the two different types of
bearing current:
● Discharge-bearing current,
● High-frequency bearing current, caused by inductive coupling.
Figure 11.5 compares these two types of bearing current. They are both
attributed to inverter switching common mode voltage, but are related to different
parts of the common mode voltage waveform. While the high frequency is caused
by switching edge dV/dt and is oscillatory in nature, the discharge-bearing current
is associated with insulation breakdown as the voltage build-up across the lubricant
262 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

vcom vcom

Common mode Common mode

current current

Voltage across
bearing Voltage across
bearing

Discharge Common mode current

bearing current through bearing

Figure 11.5 Features of discharge- and switching-induced bearing current

Receiving Signal Pulse

Filter
antenna detector counter

Figure 11.6 Detection scheme of discharge-bearing current

film exceeds the critical value, which is ~4 kV/cm and affected by contamination
and moisture, Niskanen et al. (2014).
A condition for the discharge bearing current to occur is that lubricant oil or
grease films have been formed between the bearing ball/race interface. There is no
longer an ohmic path for current to flow. Even under this condition, high-frequency
bearing current caused by inductive coupling, and excited by dV/dt, can still flow but
its amplitude will be much smaller. The oscillating frequency of this current is typical
in a range from 100 kHz to a few MHz depending on the size of the machine and the
length of the cable, see Ran et al. (1998). Although the drive system will radiate
electromagnetic waves, the efficiency of the system as a transmitter antenna is low in
this frequency range. In contrast, the discharge bearing current is the result of an
activity similar to that in spark gap. The signal frequency is much higher and hence
can be more efficiently radiated out, typically in the range of 90–400 MHz, Zhang
et al. (2015). Such differences in amplitude and frequency band can be used to dif-
ferentiate these two types of bearing current spikes which can be detected using a
receiver antenna, as shown in Figure 11.6, from Muetze et al. (2011) and Niskanen
et al. (2014). The RF antenna has consistently been placed at the drive end of the
machine.
To analyse the detected discharge bearing current spikes, the strength of the
signal and the frequency of occurrence can be correlated to the drive system
operating parameters. The signals are particularly sensitive to the shaft speed and
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 263

6 000

5 000

Discharge activity (1/s)

4 000

3 000

2 000

1 000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Days

Figure 11.7 Discharge activities in operation

bearing temperature. Figure 11.7 shows a set of measured discharge activities over
an extended period of time when the motor speed and temperature may be chan-
ging, Muetze et al. (2011). It is worth pointing out that in a VSD machine without
forced ventilation, the temperature changes with shaft cooling fan speed.
Figure 11.7 shows the detection results of discharge activities, i.e. number of
discharges, over a relatively long experimental time period and large variations of
discharge activity were observed. Classification of the discharge activities in terms
of RF signal strength may help to extract bearing condition information. More
specific capture of bearing current events, representing transition between the
conductive and capacitive bearing modes during operations could also be used to
more clearly indicate what is happening inside the bearing.
In spite of such progress and the general knowledge about causes of discharge
bearing currents, more investigation and particularly experience are needed to define the
threshold values for bearing monitoring. This requires further understanding of the impact
of discharges and ideally the establishment of a lifetime model. Implementation in
combination with other monitoring techniques such as vibration signature and lubricant
chemical analyses would be entirely appropriate, although the latter are monitoring the
consequences rather than the cause of the damage.

11.4 Insulation degradation detection

11.4.1 PD measurement
According to the winding insulation system, electrical machines are categorised
into Type I or II where different insulation standards apply. Type I machines use
organic insulation, such as polyamide-imide or polyester with a polyamide-imide
overcoat. The rated voltage is usually below 700 V and is in general random
wound, which is prone to inter-turn insulation degradation under an inverter supply.
Type I machines are not supposed to withstand PD during operation because of the
264 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

very thin organic insulation on the wire, see Yang et al. (2012). Therefore, the
procedure to guarantee insulation performance is offline testing to determine the
repetitive partial discharge inception voltage (RPDIV) as described in standards
such as IEC 60034-18-41. The standard defines the experimental procedure,
measurement method and pass or failure criterion. For both phase-to-ground and
phase-to-phase voltages, the switching spikes are measured using wide bandwidth
differential voltage probes, and the values at which repetitive PD occurs are
compared with the maximum DC link voltage in normal operation, for a two-level
inverter. A pulsed voltage generator is needed to vary the amplitude and the rise-
time of the test voltage applied to the machine and this could be another voltage
source converter. The machine under test is temporarily taken out of service. The
ratio is then used to judge whether the machine can pass the test; the higher the
RPDIV the better. The procedure allows to check, step-by-step, phase-to-ground
and turn-to-turn insulation health conditions, see Tozzi et al. (2010).
Detection of PD is also a commonly used technique for online monitoring the
insulation condition of electrical machines particularly Type II machines which
include hybrid organic/inorganic insulation and usually have form-wound windings
for medium-voltage levels. Normally, Type II insulation will use mica paper tape
for the coil insulation and have a mica-based ground-wall insulation system to
withstand the PD expected during voltage impulses, see Stone et al. (2014).
Figure 11.3 has previously shown the slot structure and the insulation components
in a Type II machine, see Stone et al. (2014) and Zoeller et al. (2017).
Detecting PD in a noisy environment is challenging and can lead to false
diagnosis, Chapter 10 refers. PD, as the partial breakdown of gas or liquid inclu-
sions in a solid insulation material, tending to produce high-frequency electro-
magnetic signals which can be picked up using an ultra-high frequency antenna or a
wide bandwidth (up to 1 GHz) current probe placed in the neutral or leakage cur-
rent path. Modern digital signal processing is now being used to identify the true
PD bursts and reject the noise pick-up, see Cavallini et al. (2003). Furthermore, the
true PD signals can be classified as due to internal discharge, surface discharge or
corona by analysing the signal characteristics in terms of its shape in the time
domain, frequency components and its correlation with the supply voltage. Such
results of classification can give insight into the degradation process and hence are
valuable from prognosis and maintenance points of view. A time-domain signal is
associated with each possible PD event. The signal needs to be sampled at a very
high sampling rate because the signals are typically in the frequency range of
hundreds of MHz. Therefore, a triggered sampling and analysis scheme, as shown
in Figure 11.8 is recommended so that each event is processed immediately and the
storage is only needed for the classified type and strength of each true PD event.
The results can then be used for trend analyses, etc.
For a machine with a sinusoidal supply, it has been found that PD activities
tend to concentrate around certain phase angles of the associated supply voltage.
For an VSD machine, it is important to understand that PD may occur with dif-
ferent patterns, as shown in Figure 11.2. The frequency of PD occurrence is no
longer clearly related to the fundamental voltage phase angle. Figure 11.9 shows
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 265

v(t)
Condition Trend
Level
monitoring analysis
detection
Enable
Trigger
level
t
Noise rejection Event
HF sample classification
and feature and partitioned
and hold
extraction storage

Figure 11.8 A triggered sampling and signal-processing scheme

Cm
dx
ima(x,t) M¢dx
ia(x,t) Rdx Ldx ∂ia
ia + dx
∂x

iLa(x,t) C'dx ∂ua

ua(x,t) ua + dx
M¢dx M¢dx ∂x

Cm
C'dx
imb(x,t) dx C¢dx
ib(x,t) Rdx ∂i
Ldx ib + ∂xbdx

iLb(x,t) ∂ub
ub(x,t) Cdx ub + dx
∂x
M¢dx
Cm
C'dx
dx
imc(x,t)
ic(x,t) Rdx ∂ic
ic + dx
∂x
Ldx Cdx
iLc(x,t) ∂uc
uc(x,t) uc + dx
∂x

dx

Figure 11.9 Element of a distributed winding model

part of a possible equivalent circuit of the stator windings of an induction machine

which could be used to estimate the high-frequency voltage and current response,
Clerici et al. (2010), compare with Figures 10.1 and 10.2 in the chapter on
PD propagation. The windings are indeed a distributed system with mutual
magnetic and electrostatic coupling between different winding sections. When a
sudden change of voltage is applied to the terminal, depending on the switching
edge (dV/dt), resonance will lead to uneven distribution of electric field inside the
machine, triggering PD activities. Figure 11.2 showed the PWM waveform of one
machine phase. If all three phases were shown, it would be possible to see that the
PD activities are more likely to occur following rather than prior to a switching
event in the inverter. This, if confirmed, could be used to reject some random noises.
266 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

11.4.2 Capacitance and dissipation factor measurement

While PD detection monitors the motor insulation ageing development from a
microscopic point of view, the degradation can also be detected using macroscopic
signatures. Increases of stray capacitance and dissipation factor are usually used to
signify the degradation of either groundwall insulation or turn-to-turn insulation.
The change of such parameters can be 20%–25% before the end of the lifetime, see
Zoeller et al. (2017). Some of the online monitoring techniques can simply use the
same voltage and current sensors that are also used to control.
Figure 11.10(a) shows the connection of an induction motor drive, with the
neutral point of the star-connected machine floating. The common mode voltage
and current are calculated as:
Icom ¼ ðIa þ Ib þ Ic Þ (11.1)
Vcom ¼ ðVa þ Vb þ Vc Þ=3 (11.2)
where the high-frequency common mode current is regarded as being driven by
the common mode voltage to flow through the leakage path including the stray
capacitance across the groundwall insulation. The obtained current and voltage
signals are then subject to a Fourier series analysis, and the frequency-domain

Motor frame

A IU
B IV
C IW
VU VV VW

Inverter frame
(a) PE

Icom
IC

Vcom
(b) IR

Figure 11.10 Insulation degradation detection by common mode capacitance

and dissipation factor: (a) measurement arrangement and
(b) phasor diagram
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 267

components are used to further calculate the equivalent capacitance Ceq and dis-
sipation factor DF:
Ceq ¼ Icom ðjwÞ=ð3wVcom ðjwÞÞ (11.3)
IR
DF ¼  100% (11.4)
Icom
where Icom ðjwÞ and Vcom ðjwÞ are the amplitudes of the harmonic components of the
common mode current and voltage, respectively, at angular frequency w (rad/s). IR
is the vector component of the harmonic current in-phase with the harmonic vol-
tage, as shown in Figure 11.10(b), see Zhang et al. (2015).
Selection of the frequencies for calculation should be carefully considered.
With PWM switching, the harmonic frequencies in the common mode voltage
and hence current are around integer multiples of the switching or carrier frequency
wc (rad/s), modulated by the output supply frequency to the motor wo , see Ran et al.
(1998). Therefore, we recommend to use:
mwc  nwo ; m ¼ 1 and n ¼ 0; 1; 2; . . . (11.5)
With m ¼ 1; we recommend focusing on the relatively low excitation common
mode signal frequencies. This is because at very high frequencies, the distributed
parameter effects of the machine, shown in Figure 11.10(a), become dominant invali-
dating the assumptions for (11.3) and (11.4), although a spectral monitoring approach
could be used to directly analyse the leakage current spectra in the MHz range, see
Zoeller et al. (2017). In this regard, further validation and modification may be neces-
sary with future high switching frequency inverters built on wide band-gap power
semiconductors.

11.4.3 Built-in winding insulation degradation detector

Zhang et al. (2015) reported that more than 30% of machine failures can be traced
to the winding insulation, whereas this book suggested in Section 4.6 from the
earlier work 13%–37% could be associated with stator windings. With the wider
onset of the use of VSDs, it is not surprising that these proportions are rising.
It is logical to enhance or build-in redundancy in the insulation system, parti-
cularly for high reliability applications. Barater et al. (2017) describes a design of
permanent magnet surface mounted motor system using polymer cable for the
stator winding. This is for aerospace application where the expected reliability is
very high. Figure 11.11 shows the structure of the winding cable. Two semi-
conductive layers are used to smooth the electric field distribution and avoid local
extreme stresses. As the semiconductive layers follow the cable to form the stator
winding, the outer semiconductive layer forms another set of winding phases which
have almost the same inductance values as the main copper winding but with higher
resistances. These winding phases are not connected to the inverter output but their
neutral point can be connected to the centre-tap of the DC link, as shown in
Figure 11.11(a). Now if degradation occurs in the cable insulation layer, a leakage
268 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Insulation Outer semiconductive layer

Stranded conductor

(a) Inner semiconductive layer

ia a Ra La ea
+

–
VDC va″ a″
+

–
Ra″ La″ ea″
VDC/2 ia b Rb Lb eb
+
–

vb″ +
–

b″ Rb″ Lb″ eb″

ic c Rc Lc ec
+
–

c"
+
–

vc″ Rc″ Lc″ ec″

(b)

ia Ra1 La1 ea1 Ra2 La2 ea2

+ +
–

Rf if
VDC va″ a″
+ +
–

R ″a1 L″a1 e"a1R″a2 L″a2 e″a2

VDC/2 ib b Rb Lb eb
+
–

v″a +
–

b″ R″b L″b e″b

ic Rc Lc ec
+
–

c″
+
–

if
v″c R″c L″c e″c
(c)

Figure 11.11 Detection scheme built in system design: (a) cable insulation
structure for machine winding, (b) circuit model for healthy motor
and (c) circuit model for degraded motor

path is formed as shown in Figure 11.11(b). The main machine model is now
noticeably modified and the response in normal control would then change. CM
can therefore be achieved in the control loops. Without the double semiconductive
layers, such a single insulation failure would not be detectable. The inverter supply
is also a necessity for the detection scheme to work.
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 269

This is an example of building the possibility of CM in the system design,

which also enhances the winding insulation performance.

11.5 Control in-loop machine fault detection

Vector- or field-oriented control of induction or permanent magnet machines is
now widely available in industrial drives. Figure 11.12 shows the block diagram of
a typical control scheme for an induction machine where the voltage applied to the
machine terminals, by the inverter output, is determined by the speed or torque
demand while the internal flux amplitude is usually maintained constant, also by
the inverter control. Therefore, the typical control block diagram has two loops, for
speed/torque control and flux control.
A feature of vector- or field-oriented control is that it depends upon the
machine model and parameters. The model equations are used to calculate the
output voltage of the inverter. Numerical observers are built into the controller to
update the model parameters. If condition degradation causes the machine to deviate
from the model known to the controller, the parameters will be updated and this is
usually different from the normal variation of the machine parameters due to tem-
perature or slight saturation of the core. The unusual variation of parameters, often
accompanied by currents exceeding limits, can be used to indicate the machine
condition. Such a method was first suggested by Ran et al. (1998) for conducting
EMC investigations, then for machine monitoring by Bellini et al. (2000).
Although machine phase current under closed-loop control is subject to control
limits, this is usually intended for protecting the inverter rather than the machine.
However, machine insulation breakdown, such as an inter-turn short circuit fault or
core faults may cause internal circulating currents which do not appear externally
to the machine. CM needs to detect such situations and rotor unbalance, VSD in-
loop control allows us to do this.

Voltage
equations
DC – DC +
Machine
parameter Vd Vq
estimation
Flux demand
+
ψ* i*d + V ′d + V ′d V*a
Scaling PI control
2 V*b –
–
ω* or T* i*q + V ′q + + V ′q 3 V*c ~
Scaling PI control
Speed
or torque –
demand From field θ
id iq orientation
ia
2 ib
3 ic

Figure 11.12 Vector control block diagram for an AC machine

270 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Using the method of detection VSD control in-loop based on Bellini et al.
(2000), described above, Zaggout et al. (2014) developed current and power
monitoring methods for detecting wind turbine DFIG rotor unbalance. This was
based on Chapter 9, Figure 11.13, albeit on a test rig with limited experimental
results. Under both fixed and variable speed conditions, Zaggout was able to
monitor rotor winding unbalance by measuring rotor current converter feedback
signals, id and iq from Figure 11.14, comparing his result against a control simu-
lation. In so doing during variable speed operation he obtained the benefit of the
closed loop gain, as recommended by Bellini et al. (2002), increasing the fault

0
Amplitude (dB)

–30 (1 – 2s)f
–60
–90
–120
–150
(a) (b)
Amplitude (dB)

–30
–60 2sf
–90
–120
–150
–180
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
(c) Frequency (Hz) (d) Frequency (Hz)

Figure 11.13 Measured healthy and faulty stator current and power spectra from
a DFIG with an unbalanced rotor fault, Zaggout et al. (2014):
(a) current healthy, (b) current faulty, (c) power healthy and
(d) power faulty

80 80
Sensitivity (dB)

Sensitivity (dB)

60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
(a) Rotor electrical asymmetry (%) (b) Rotor electrical asymmetry (%)
Stator current Stator total power
d-rotor current error q-rotor current error

Figure 11.14 Detectability of a DFIG unbalanced rotor fault from simulated

or measured stator current and power signals, noting increased
detectability with id and iq, Zaggout et al. (2014): (a) simulated and
(b) measured
 Online variable speed drive machine monitoring 271

detectability and detection confidence, Figure 11.14, although the measured results
proved less significant than the simulation.
This is a considerable step towards in-loop monitoring of VSD-fed machines,
proposed by Bellini et al. (2000).
Turning now from the issue of bearing or rotor un-balance faults to those in the
laminated core of a machine, Figure 11.15 shows the path of circulating current
following an inter-laminar fault in the stator core of an AC machine, see Wittek
et al. (2010).
Traditionally, stator cores are checked against such a fault during maintenance,
see Chapter 12. A test AC voltage is applied to excite the stator core using loop
turns as shown in the figure. The power loss is measured and the leakage flux
pattern is plotted around the core using a Rogowski coil, see Chapter 12. The
changes against historical record are used to indicate the inter-laminar insulation
degradation. This usually requires the rotor to be removed therefore is only used for
large machines during overhauls. Online monitoring of inter-laminar insulation
usually relies on chemical techniques, the cost and sensitivity of which can be
questionable for many drive machines in the kW range.
Figure 11.16(a) shows a technique for a VSD-fed machine which senses stator
core loss under pulsating rather than rotating flux excitation, hence capable of
monitoring stator core inter-laminar faults, see Wittek et al. (2010) and Lee et al.
(2010).
Such a testing mode can be built into the VSD control scheme shown in
Figure 11.12, with the speed reference set to zero, during which the rotor does not
need to rotate. A pulsating component is added to the flux reference whose angle
stepped around the machine frame to check different angular sections of the stator
core. Figure 11.16(b) shows a test result indicating a rise of core loss when the test
flux is aligned at about q ¼ 3p=2 with respect to the stator core, suggesting a core
fault at this position.

Cirulating
fault current

Wattmeter Interlaminar
Core short circuit
W
yoke
flux
Volt-
V meter Loop turns

A
Ammeter

Figure 11.15 Offline test for a stator core fault

272 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

DC + W′ V′
U θ
V
W
DC – V W
(a) U′

P′in Faulty core

P′in0

Healthy core

(b) /3 2/3  θ

Figure 11.16 Using VSD control in-loop to detect a core fault, Lee et al. (2010):
(a) applying pulsating stator core flux, stepped through angular
positions and (b) core loss test results

11.6 Conclusions

This chapter has presented specific CM methods, which can detect issues to which
VSD-supplied machine are susceptible:
● Insulation PD,
● Bearing current discharge,
● Control in-loop detection of rotor unbalance or stator core defects.
The fast-switching edges produced by VSDs exacerbate the first two
mechanisms in VSD-fed machines but VSD control in-loop signals clearly enable
improved detection of rotor winding unbalance and the continuous monitoring of
progressive stator core deterioration due to interlamination breakdown due to those
fast-switching edges.
 Chapter 12
Offline monitoring

12.1 Introduction
Offline techniques were excluded from the first and second editions partly because
the authors felt that online techniques were more important. At the conception of
this edition, however, the institution asked that offline techniques should be
included for completeness and the authors have added this chapter to widen their
earlier focus.
Many offline techniques, but not all, focus on machine-winding insulation
systems and it would be reasonable to classify the areas for offline monitoring as
follows:
● Stator core related,
● Stator winding related,
● Rotor core and winding related.
As a general principle, offline methods seek to measure ‘design’ parameters such
as reactance or resistance, whereas online methods seek to measure ‘performance’
parameters from electrical machine terminal, recalling the comment by Jones (1967).
There is an extensive literature on offline monitoring of non-rotating electrical
machines, i.e. transformers, and this is summarised in Abu-Siada, Ed (2018), some
of whose techniques are similar to those set out here.
The methods are summarised in the following sections but the authors refer in
particular to Stone et al. (2014) for their thorough coverage of individual tests.

12.2 Stator core

12.2.1 General
The integrity of large stator cores became an operational issue in the early 1970s as
machine sizes, air-gap flux densities and stator current loadings rose, see Table 2.2
and Figure 2.2. In particular, magnetic loadings above 1 T and electrical loadings
above 100 A/mm can lead to faults in the associated core of large turbo-generators,
see Figure 2.5(a), and large hydro-generators, see Figure 2.5(b). An example of
such a fault is shown in Figure 3.17.
The first paper to describe core faults was by Tavner et al. (2005) and the
following summary is taken from it. A core fault has the approximate shape of a
274 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

cylindrical ellipsoid in the stator core with its major axis perpendicular to the core-
plate. Under extreme conditions, melting of core-plate material occurs within the
ellipsoid and a cavity is formed. A core fault may be initiated by:
● Core constructional defects,
● Thermal factors,
● Electrical factors,
● Operational factors, such as over-fluxing, pole-slipping or foreign bodies
introduced into the machine air-gap during operation,
● A core fault may not grow immediately after it is initiated and its growth can
be influenced by a complex interplay of electromagnetic, mechanical, thermal,
material and constructional factors, which may not be operative at the time of
initiation but worsen with the passage of time.
● A core fault grows axially in the core along its major axis. The radius of the
cavity increases with length but this is not the main axis of growth because that
is limited by core cooling.
● A core fault grows axially until heating at the circumference of the cavity
damages the main stator winding insulation, causing a stator earth fault and
tripping, or the core fault extends to the core end.
Three mechanisms have been identified which control core faults:
● Core faults tend to if the initiating defect is >1 cm in diameter,
● Mechanism I, yoke flux diversion, which circulates current within the fault,
● Mechanism II, yoke flux linking, which circulates current between the fault
and the core frame and this is the most powerful core fault growth mechanism
but appears to be active in relatively few faults. It can be limited or eliminated
by introducing a high resistance between the stator core and its frame and some
manufacturers do this.
The currents flowing in a core fault can be as large as the current circulated in
the core frame by the core leakage flux, that is up to 20 kA. The tendency of a
laminated core to be subject to core faults can be reduced by maintaining the
highest quality of core construction by:
● Ensuring correct core-plate insulation quality and thickness,
● Deburring individual core-plates,
● Avoiding introduction of particularly metallic foreign bodies into the core
construction,
● Applying uniform and adequate clamping pressure to the stator core,
● Carrying out a recorded visual and electromagnetic/thermal inspection on
completion of core build,
● Insulating the core frame from the core can eliminate the effect of the yoke
flux linking mechanism, once a fault is initiated,
● Lowering the magnetic loading below 1T to reduce the effect of the yoke flux
diversion mechanism, but this has to be consistent with other machine design
requirements,
 Offline monitoring 275

● Lowering the electrical loading below 100 A/mm will reduce a risk of core
faults, however, if this limit has to be exceeded for larger machines, for design
reasons, it will be necessary pay closer attention to core-plate insulation quality
and cooling intensity to reduce core fault risk,
● Providing radial cooling ducts in the core with high-resistance/insulating duct
spacers to resist the axial growth of the fault. This approach is as yet unknown
in the industry and would involve expensive materials,
● Ensuring that the machine is not operated at an excessive field or armature
current and consequently core flux density and is not subjected to pole
slipping,
● Early warning of core faults during an operation can be given by the use of
core monitors, see Chapter 8.
Operators realised that the early signs of core damage can be detected by
thorough core tests. Stator cores are subjected to a high flux test (HFT) during
manufacture using infrared thermography to identify hotspots in the bore and ends
of the core. Manufacturer’s certificates to this effect are available in machine data
packs. Initially when core fault problems occurred in the 1970s, HFTs were con-
ducted in the field but were costly and time-consuming, because of the need to have
a controllable high-voltage supply and the need to wind large capacity cables
through the core, see Figure 12.1.
However, when a core is energised the disturbance to the magnetic potential
around the core bore, due to a fault, should be detectable, even at low flux densities.
Low-voltage stator core testing method development was therefore initiated on
2-pole turbo-generators in the 1970s and 1980s, Bertenshaw (2014) has given a
good summary of these different techniques which evolved as follows. El CID,
Sutton (1980), was the first and still dominant LV method. In this test, the stator

Figure 12.1 High flux test (HFT) on a 2-pole air-cooled turbo-generator stator
276 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

core is circumferentially magnetised by current, Ie, at rated frequency but at 5% of

rated flux. A Chattock potentiometer or search coil, from which the Rogowski coil,
Figure 5.32, was developed, is used bridging one slot and two teeth, together with
an axial calibration search coil, to detect the disturbance to the magnetic potential
across the slot and teeth, see Figure 12.2. The detection is the in-phase component,
d, of the magnetic potential disturbance, caused at the core bore by the fault and
detected by the Chattock potentiometer.

Excitation
current Ie
Stator
core
a
Chattock
– +
Excitation and
fault magnetic
field

(a) Fault current d

Phase axis
d

Id a Ie

Phasor rotation

Quad axis
(b)

Figure 12.2 Principle of LV stator core test: (a) application of the excitation, Ie,
and position of Chattock potentiometer and (b) phasor diagram of El
CID, showing the detection signal, d and its relation to the Chattock
potentiometer detection current, Id, and the excitation current, Ie
 Offline monitoring 277

The test provides hard copy of the Chattock potentiometer axial position, as it
moves through the core, and the measured magnetic potential, Id a Ie, across each slot
and adjacent teeth, corrected for phase by the axial search coil signal, to form the
detection signal, d. These test results involve some calibration and interpretation.
The following methods are derivatives and possible improvements of El CID:
● ABB DIRIS method,
● ICEMENERG PROFIM method,
● GE Racer method,
● Siemens SMCAS method,
● Russian EMK method.
The following sections describe briefly the application of LV stator core test-
ing methods to turbo-generators and hydro-generators.

12.2.2 Turbo-generators
El CID-type methods were initially applied to large 2- or 4-pole turbo-generator
stator cores of rating 200 MW or greater, Figure 12.3(a) and (b).

12.2.3 Hydro-generators
It became apparent in the 1990s that there were significant issues applying LV
stator core testing methods like El CID to large, slow speed, multi-pole, large
diameter hydro-generator machines in service, as shown in Figure 12.3(c), despite
the fact that there is a pressing operational need to confirm the integrity of such
cores. The specific problems experienced were as follows:
● Large diameter stator cores, segmented to facilitate on-site assembly, resulting
in core segment gaps and a magnetic potential drop between those segments,
causing anomalies in the compensation of the detection signal, d, close to those
segment gaps,

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 12.3 El CID stator core tests being undertaken: (a) original testing on a
500 MW turbo-generator, 1980, J Sutton on the left, (b) modern
version of testing a turbo-generator and (c) modern version of testing
a hydro-generator
278 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● Presence in the stator of large numbers of parallel winding circuits, resulting in

circulating currents induced in parallel stator windings when the core is mag-
netised by ring excitation, Figure 12.2. This can obscure the signal, d,
● Large size rotors, difficult to remove for inspection resulting in LV stator core
testing over sections of the stator core with a rotor pole piece removed to allow
Chattock potentiometer access to the stator core air-gap. This can result in
unusual detection signals, d.
These issues were explained by Ridley (2007), based upon a previous work by
Sutton (2008) and Bertenshaw (2014), and organised by analysing phasor diagrams
from El CID results, see Ridley (2017).

12.3 Stator windings

12.3.1 Summary of offline tests

Table 12.1 sets out the offline stator winding tests.

12.3.2 Frequency response analysis

Frequency response analysis (FRA) testing of transformer windings has been used
for some years, see Jayasinghe et al. (2006) and Abu-Siada (2018), as a means of
determining winding location changes, particularly because transformers can
undergo severe short circuits, due to grid conditions, causing primary or secondary
windings to move significantly axially with respect to the laminated core. The
method applies a test voltage to the transformer winding and sweeps the frequency
of that voltage over a predetermined range to identify changes in the impedance
spectra, resulting from winding positional changes with respect to the core.
Some consideration has been given to applying such methods to turbo-
generator and hydro-generator windings for measuring their impedances under
transient operational conditions, see Sen et al. (1956).
This was later proposed, following transformer experience, as a method for
determining stator winding movement, especially after a machine had sustained a
severe service fault. However, the method has not progressed into practical appli-
cation, simply because in rotating electrical machines both stator and rotor wind-
ings are mounted within steel slots, where winding movement is physically more
restricted than between the concentric windings and core of a transformer. Rotating
machine winding movement does occur but is only significant in the end windings,
where weaker electromagnetic fields are in play than in a transformer, so con-
sequential winding forces and movement are proportionally smaller.

12.4 Rotor windings

12.4.1 Summary of offline tests
Table 12.2 sets out the offline rotor winding tests.
Table 12.1 Offline stator winding tests, based on Stone et al. (2014)

Name of Description Difficulty to perform Effectiveness Relevant

the test standards
Insulation Apply DC voltage for 1 min to Easy Only locates contamination or IEEE Std 43:2013
resistance measure the leakage current serious defects
(IR)
Polarisation Ratio of 1 min and 10 min IR Easy
index (PI) readings
DC high Apply high DC voltage for 10 min Easy Only locates serious defects IEEE Std 95:2002
potential
AC high Apply high AC voltage for 10 min Moderate due to the need for More effective than DC high NEMA MG-
potential a large AC transformer potential 1:2016orBS EN IEC
60034-27-4:2018
Capacitance Apply low or high voltage to Moderate Moderately effective at finding –
measure the winding capacitance thermal or water leak problems
to earth
Dissipation or Apply low or high voltage to Moderate IEEE Std
power factor measure the insulation loss 286:2000orBS EN
Power factor Differences in insulation loss from Moderate Effective to find the widespread 60034-27-3:2016
tip-up high to low voltage thermal or contamination
problems in stator winding
Offline PD Directly detect PD voltages at rated Difficult Finds most stator winding problems IEEE Std 1434:2014
winding voltage except end winding issues
Surge Apply simulate voltage surge Difficult to determine if a Effective for finding inter-turn IEEE Std 522:2004
comparison puncture occurs in the insulation problems in stator
stator winding insulation winding
Blackout test Apply high AC voltage to the stator Moderate Effective for identifying the IEEE Std 1434:2014
winding and look for the discharges due to contamination
discharges during the blackout problems
Wedge tightness Tap wedges to identify the Moderate Effective for identifying loose stator –
looseness winding coils
Slot side Insert feeler gauge between stator Easy when wedges removed –
clearance coil and slot side
Table 12.2 Offline rotor winding tests, based on Stone et al. (2014)

Name of Description Difficulty to Types of Effectiveness Relevant

the test perform rotor winding standards
Insulation Apply DC voltage for 1 min Easy All types Only locates contamina- IEEE Std 43:2013
resistance to measure leakage current tion or serious defects
(IR)
Polarisation Ratio of 1 min and 10 min IR Easy All types
index (PI) readings
DC high Apply high DC voltage for Easy All types Only locates serious IEEE Std 95:2002
potential 10 min defects
AC high Apply high AC voltage for Moderate due to the All types More effective than DC NEMA MG-
potential 10 min need for a large high potential 1:2016orBS EN
AC transformer IEC 60034-27-
4:2018
Open circuit Measure the generator output Moderate, repeat of All types Effective only for BS EN IEC 60034-
voltage as a function of commissioning generators. 2-1:2014
field current to identify the open circuit test Needs comparison with
shorted rotor turns commissioning mea-
surement
Impedance Apply 50 or 60 Hz current Moderate All rotors with Effective –
and measure V/I at slip rings
different speeds to find
turn short circuits
Pole drop Apply 50 or 60 Hz current Easy Salient pole Only finds short circuits –
and measure voltage drop rotor wind- present even when the
across each ing rotor is stopped
Surge test Find turn and ground faults Difficult Round rotor Effective if close to a dead –
by measuring discontinu- windings short circuit
ities in surge impedance
 Offline monitoring 281

12.4.2 Synchronous rotor surge tests

Surge techniques have been used for many years by transformer manufacturers for
locating turn-to-turn and earth leakage faults in transformer windings. Turbo-
generator manufacturers have used similar techniques for pin-pointing faults in
their rotor windings, as a quality control check immediately after a rotor has been
assembled. Work in the United Kingdom showed that such a technique can be used
to detect both earth leakage and turn-to-turn faults on generators during their ser-
vice lives, originally using a mercury-wetted contact relay or now a fast electronic
switch to develop recurrent, rapid rise-time surges (approximately 20 ns) injected
into the winding between the slip-ring and the earthed body of the rotor.
Figure 12.4(a) shows this recurrent surge generator, which is switched on and off at

10k S R
To slip rings

24 V
100 µF 10k discharge
(typical)
generator

To rotor body

‘S’ is a mercury-wetted relay

source voltage and ‘R’ must
be selected so that relay
rating is not exceeded
50 Hz multivibrator
drive circuit

(a)

Rotor body

Rotor winding
Slip ring Slip ring
R 1

Recurrent surge 2
generator see (a)

Channel 1
To oscilliscope Channel 2
(b) Frame

Figure 12.4 Arrangements for obtaining an RSO from a rotor winding:

(a) recurrent surge generator and (b) connection of the recurrent
surge generator to a rotor winding
282 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

a frequency of 50 Hz, while Figure 12.4(b) shows the connection of the generator to
the rotor winding. The winding approximates to a simple transmission line where
the propagation is dominated by the geometry and insulation of the winding con-
ductor in the rotor slot. Mutual coupling between turns of the winding will cause
dispersion but this effect has been found to be small in solid steel rotors. When the
surge is injected at one end it has a magnitude determined by the source impedance,
R, of the recurrent surge generator and the surge impedance of the winding, Zo. The
surge propagates to the far end of the winding in a time, t, determined by the length
and propagation velocity of the winding. The surge is reflected at the far end, its
magnitude determined by the reflection coefficient, kr. For a winding with the far
end open-circuited, kr ¼ þ1 and with it short-circuited kr ¼ 1. The reflected surge
returns to the source and if the source impedance equals the surge impedance of the
winding (kr ¼ 0 at source), it is absorbed without further reflection. This is shown
in Figure 12.5.
When an insulation fault to earth, or a turn-to-turn fault, is encountered, this
reflection pattern will be disrupted and may be observed on the oscilloscope. The
pattern on the oscilloscope is known as a recurrent surge oscillograph (RSO) and
this has become the name of the technique. The rise time of the surge will affect the
method’s sensitivity and must be less than the propagation time of the surge-front
through a single winding turn for sharp reflection to occur.
Figure 12.4(b) shows the results obtained from the practical application of this
method. The source impedance R was adjusted to be equal to the winding surge
impedance and a surge of between 10 and 100 V was applied with a rise time
of 20 ns.
The surge was injected into each end of the winding, with the far-end open-
circuited, and two reflection traces were obtained as shown in Figure 12.5(b) (i) and
(ii), either of which should be compared to the ideal response of Figure 12.5(a) (i).
The results show the distortion of the trace as a result of dispersion and the lack of
surge sharpness. Faults are indicated by superimposing the two traces and obser-
ving any deviations between them, as shown in Figures 12.5(b) (ii) and (iii).
Earth faults may be located, approximately, by taking the ratio of the times for
reflections from the fault and from the end of the winding. Similarly, the electrical
length of the winding can be estimated by measuring the time for the surge to make
a single pass through the winding. This can be done by short circuiting the far-end
of the winding to obtain a trace like Figure 12.5(a) (ii). Any shortening of the length
indicates that shorted turns are present in the winding.
The surge impedance of a rotor winding lies between 20 and 30 W. A deviation
becomes observable on the RSO trace when the impedance to earth of the fault is a
significantly small multiple of the surge impedance. In general, the technique can
detect faults with impedances to earth of less than 500–600 W. Similarly, the
technique can detect a turn-to-turn fault that has a resistance significantly less than
the surge impedance, say in the order of 10 W down to zero.
To carry out RSO measurements, the generator must be isolated, the field de-
energised and the exciter connection disconnected. It is known that many rotor
faults are affected by both gravitational and centrifugal forces upon the conductors
 Offline monitoring 283

Voltage step Voltage step

Response

Voltage

Voltage
E E
Response

0 t 2t 3t 4t 0 t 2t 3t 4t
Time Time
(i) Open-circuit line (ii) Short-circuit line
t - time to traverse one length of the winding
E - start of reflection from winding end
(a)

Y1

0 2t 0 2t 0 2t

Y2

0 2t 0 2t 0 2t

Y3 E
E F E F

0 2t 0 2t 0 2t
(i) (ii) (iii)

X = 10 µs/div X = 10 µs/div X = 5 µs/div

Y1 = slip ring 3 to earth Y1 = slip ring 1 to earth ditto
Y2 = slip ring 4 to earth Y2 = slip ring 2 to earth
Y3 Y1 and Y2 superimposed Y3 Y1 and Y2 superimposed
E - start of reflection from
winding end (open circuited) RSO for faulted rotor winding

F - start of reflection from

fault
Speed rpm
Winding type: progressive

RSO for healthy rotor winding

(b)

Figure 12.5 Ideal and typical practical RSOs obtained from generator rotor
windings: (a) ideal response of generator rotor windings and
(b) typical responses for generator rotor windings
284 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

during rotation, so it is common to carry out the tests stationary, at barring and at
speed for comparison purposes. The test has now been applied by many utilities as
a routine technique for assessing the operational state of machine windings,
although it is clear it cannot be used for brushless machines without the rotor being
stationary.
The advantages of the technique are that with the oscillographs it provides a
permanent record of the state of a rotor throughout its service life and it can detect
both earth and inter-turn faults before their resistance falls to a value where large
fault currents flow. Experience has shown that the deterioration of a winding can be
assessed by a comparison between oscillographs obtained from the same rotor. It is
not possible, however, to make comparisons between oscillographs from different
rotors, even if they are of the same design, because of the effects on the surge
propagation of quite small variations between the insulation and rotor body prop-
erties of different rotors.
The disadvantages are that it detects faults of high resistance and is unable to
differentiate between faults that are operationally significant and those that are not.
Also, it cannot be used online, testing the winding under truly operational
mechanical and thermal conditions. This is in contrast to the effectiveness of the
air-gap search coil or circulating current method that can provide online informa-
tion. There a number of modern references that cover this and other techniques
including Ramirez-Nino et al. (2001) and Streifel et al. (1996).

12.5 Conclusions
Offline testing for electrical machines has developed considerably over the last
30 years and this is represented in the summary tables above but also in the avail-
ability of a number of internationally recognised standards. But a review of the tables
shows that the most developed off-line techniques are associated with the stator cores
and windings and rotor windings of larger turbo-generators and hydro-generators. Not
all offline tests are easy to perform and many cannot duplicate operational conditions.
In many ways, the authors suggest that offline testing, particularly for larger
machines, provides the background diagnostic information which should be used to
direct the focus of subsequent online CM.
 Chapter 13
Condition-based maintenance
and asset management

13.1 Introduction
The primary objectives of CM are to provide early detection of faults and
advanced warning of failure so that preventative action can be taken. For late
detections of severe faults, this action might be to shut down the machines before
catastrophic failure. However, a more valuable approach is to schedule main-
tenance in advance of failure. So far, this book has been concerned with the
process of early detection through CM. Greater benefits can be achieved from
CM if the information from sensors and systems is used to inform and schedule
maintenance, allowing planned shut-downs so that the life of plant, of which the
electrical machine forms a part, can be extended whilst the durations and impacts
of shut-downs are reduced. This is the process of CBM, first described in
Chapter 1. It is important to note that it would be unusual to consider only the
electrical machine within a system when applying CBM planning since the
benefits of an improved strategy will only be realised by an approach that
encompasses the whole plant or system. Hence, this chapter includes examples of
electrical machines in context, particularly conventional power generation and
wind energy. However, further benefits can be realised if decisions on main-
tenance scheduling are taken to reduce total life-cycle costs of the whole machine
and plant it serves. This requires an estimate of the variable costs of operating
and maintaining the plant throughout its life and, increasingly, reliable perfor-
mance measures, such as energy production, against which to evaluate costs.
With this knowledge, the plant or asset owner can operate, maintain, or dispose of
that asset on the basis of the information available from these processes. This is
asset management. This chapter describes how CBM, life-cycle costing and asset
management could be applied to rotating electrical machines.

13.2 Preventative maintenance

Preventative maintenance demonstrates how the costs of CM can be justified in

terms of the influence of CM on plant failure. Preventative maintenance is gen-
erally performed at fixed intervals, much as a car is serviced after a given time
286 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

period or number of miles. The purpose is to prevent the majority of failures based
on likely component or system lifetimes. This approach has a lot of value, parti-
cularly in cases where confident estimates of average lifetimes are known with
certainty, courtesy of large populations. Some failures will still occur, but most will
be prevented through maintenance or replacement of non-repairable parts.
However, such an approach is unlikely to be optimal. Figure 13.1 shows the
degradation of three systems over time, each degrading at a different rate (fast,
average or slow) but being maintained at a fixed preventative maintenance interval.
The preventative maintenance interval could be assumed to be optimised for the
average case to coincide with deterioration reaching a particular threshold. The
fast-deterioration system fails before the fixed-interval preventative maintenance
action occurs, resulting in down-time and, potentially, catastrophic or cascading
failure. The slow-deterioration system is maintained far in advance of likely failure,
meaning that maintenance actions are being conducted unnecessarily. Both cases
will lead to additional or unnecessary costs. These costs can justify the installation
of CM systems to allow maintenance to be planned and conducted on the basis of
machine condition and not simply after, for example, a given number of
operational hours.
An extension of the basic preventative maintenance approach is perhaps better
described as reliability-centred maintenance. The problem of system components
aging at different rates has been considered by various authors. A particular
example for electrical machines is given in Queiroz (2017). Here, a criticality value
is estimated for the various system components based on eight criteria:
● Health, safety and environment,
● Cost of lost production,
● Time between potential failure detection and the moment of functional failure,
● Repair costs,
● Ease of access to the equipment manufacturer,
● Redundancy level,
● Ease of access to workforce,
● Age of equipment.
Each of these eight criteria are assigned an importance factor relative to
each of the other criteria to form a prioritisation matrix. After applying weights
to the criteria and their factors, the time between maintenance for high-
criticality system components is calculated from their failure rates. A similar
approach is taken for medium-criticality and low-criticality systems.
Effectively, the method groups components by importance and allows operators
to conduct preventative maintenance at different time intervals for different
groups of components.
This approach is moving the operator towards CBM in that maintenance
scheduling is now based on an estimate of likely condition, estimated based on
experience. It does not yet incorporate information describing the current state of
components or systems.
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 287

Average deterioration rate

Breakdown level

Condition threshold
Vibration

Preventative
maintenance
interval

tPM = tCBM < tfailure

Time tCBM = tPM tfailure

Slow deterioration rate

Breakdown level

Condition threshold
Vibration

Preventative
maintenance
interval

tPM < tCBM < tfailure

Time tPM tCBM tfailure

Fast deterioration rate

Breakdown level

Condition threshold
Vibration

Preventative
maintenance
interval
tCBM < tfailure < tPM

Time tCBM tfailure tPM

Figure 13.1 Advantage of CBM, which can extend or reduce preventative

maintenance intervals by providing extended warning of
deterioration in machine condition
288 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

13.3 Condition-based maintenance

CBM is a process of planning plant maintenance on the basis of machine condition
information obtained through CM and, in some cases, inspection. Rao (1996)
provided a description of CBM in terms of the expected outputs of the approach:
lower maintenance costs, higher availability, reduced severity of in-service failures.
CBM requires the application of specifically-designed software to specific pieces
of plant within a clearly-defined plant structure. The software receives condition
data from the plant and collates this to present it in a way that assists maintenance
engineers in planning maintenance actions.

13.3.1 Signals and data for condition-based maintenance

The data which CBM software needs to record when monitoring rotating electrical
machines and making maintenance decisions includes signals of global significance
to the machine alongside any application-specific monitoring signals. Globally-
important signals are largely related to operational conditions and include:
● Running hours,
● Number of starts and stops, particularly for induction motors and standby
generators,
● Cumulative kWh (energy) consumption or generation over time.
There are more targeted signals which might also be considered to be of global
significance for electrical machines, including:
● Power, current and voltage,
● Speed,
● Torque.
Examples of specific monitoring signals to enable confident and precise
detection and diagnosis include:
● Bearing or frame vibration with time at specified positions, related to likely
fault conditions,
● Winding and bearing temperatures with time,
● Shaft vibration with time,
● Winding discharge level, for high-voltage machines.
Examples of sensor and system configurations are available on the websites of
most CM system manufacturers. To take just one example, Brüel and Kjær Vibro
provides a diagram of its monitoring system applied to a hydro-electric power plant,
and it is interesting to observe the large number of sensors and measurements related
to the electrical generator alone, Figure 13.2, as well as the faults detected using these:
● Four absolute and four relative vibration sensors,
● Tachometer,
● Air gap length, magnetic flux and partial discharge,
● Lubrication/bearing temperatures.
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 289

Magnetic flux Air gap length

Vibration
Relative
Partial discharge
Absolute

Process
Oil analysis
Temperature
Tacho

Magnetic Process
Vibration Air gap
flux values
Unbalance
Mechanical and bearing

Misalignment
Rotor rub
Foundation problems
Loose bearings
Oil and lubrication
Stator/rotor bar problems (loose, shorted)
Stator bar/core vibration
Generator

Air gap abnormalities

Rotor/stator out-of-roundness
Loose/shorted stator bars

Figure 13.2 Outline of Brüel and Kjær Vibro condition monitoring system applied
to a hydro-electric generator

These signals will be acquired or sampled in different ways depending on the

particular application. Some will be recorded continuously to allow detailed eva-
luation against time or operating condition. Other signals, particularly high-
frequency vibration or electrical discharge measurements, might be sampled at
specified internals or under specific operational conditions to allow direct com-
parison with historic observations.
There are numerous data acquisition systems and approaches that can support
the data requirements of CBM. Many of these are specific to particular machine
types or applications; however, there are common themes to their operation. Most
data for CBM planning is collected by SCADA systems. These systems are present
in most large-scale electrical machine applications in some form, either for generic
plant monitoring (e.g. speed, power and temperature) or to collect more specific
condition-related information (e.g. vibration and shaft position). Whilst raw data
might be sampled at high frequencies, SCADA systems tend to down-sample or
resample the raw data to provide averaged or instantaneous values at given
290 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

intervals, typically every few minutes or, at most, every second. In some systems,
additional information can be extracted to add detail to the averaged values,
including standard deviations, maxima and minima. To provide an idea of the range
of systems available in just one operational environment, Chen (2014) presented a
review of SCADA systems for wind turbines reporting on 26 systems of varying
type. Several of these are simply data acquisition systems that allow operators to
visualise the data from different wind turbines and farms. Ten of the systems were
developed by industrial software companies while six were developed in-house by
wind turbine manufacturers. The majority of the surveyed systems include some
form of data processing, either through simple trending and time-series analysis or
through artificial intelligence methods as discussed in Chapter 14.
Whilst much of the data required for CBM planning can be acquired through
SCADA systems, there are cases where independent CM systems are installed to
either perform a function that is perhaps specific to a particular machine or to
collect more detailed information from existing sensors. Most modern CM systems
have developed from systems for high-frequency vibration monitoring and spectral
analysis. An example of this is the SKF CM system that was developed for vibra-
tion monitoring of bearings and gears in conventional applications before being
extended incrementally to accept other signals, such as oil debris counts, for
application to wider technologies, such as variable-speed drive wind turbines.
Again, there is an extensive range of systems available. To return to the wind
turbine example, another survey conducted in 2014 identified 36 CM systems
specifically for wind turbine application, mainly focused on rotating electrical
machines and gearboxes, Crabtree (2014). A suitable monitoring system must be
selected for any given application depending on the systems that are of interest
within that application.

13.3.2 Targeted monitoring

As described in Section 13.2, preventative maintenance strategies can benefit from
planning maintenance based on the criticality of a given system component. It is
logical to take a similar approach when considering which systems should be
monitored and by what means in order to achieve CBM. Wear of carbon brushes in
electrical machine brush gear, for example, can be monitored by considering spring
pressure, machine speed, rotor current, brush material, slip ring surface finish and
temperature. However, brushes and similar components are perhaps unlikely to
wear in a consistent manner and deteriorate steadily over time, except in very
exceptional circumstances. Brushes are also relatively low cost components so the
costs of monitoring hardware, data communication and processing software
development are unlikely to be justified. Here, a fixed-interval maintenance
approach is most likely to be cost-effective.
Conversely, large generator bearings are expensive and their wear is likely to
be driven and accelerated by abnormal conditions. The consequences of failure are
also more significant as bearing failure could lead to catastrophic generator failure
and shaft damage, for example. In this case, there is likely to be a compelling
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 291

financial argument for vibration or temperature-based CM and investment in the

required monitoring hardware and software.
Machine-related electronic systems, such as power converters, may offer a
particular challenge. They are likely to be critical to plant operation but their failure
modes can easily develop without significantly or obviously affecting operation.
Functional failure might therefore appear to occur quite suddenly with little
advanced warning. Figure 13.3 illustrates this concept for mechanical and elec-
tronic components. Mechanical components generally degrade noticeably and
steadily over an extended period of time, allowing fault signatures to develop and
be observed in monitoring signals such that operators can be confident that failure
is not imminent. The performance of electronic components, however, may not be
obviously degraded until just before failure, meaning that monitoring systems

Electronic systems
Apparent component health

Mechanical systems

Failure Time
Component
installed
Apparent component health

Remaining life
Fault detection using
chosen method

Time to fault detection

Failure Time
Component
installed

Figure 13.3 Detectability of faults in mechanical and electronic systems.

Large-scale electrical systems such as windings are likely to follow
the mechanical curve
292 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

might struggle to provide advanced warning of failure despite the criticality of the
systems to electrical machine operation.
For large systems which comprise multiple sub-systems or components, man-
ual monitoring is likely to be impractical, especially where multiple signals are
recorded, so operators must either select components for monitoring based on a
criticality list or invest in automated signal and alarm handling software to reduce
the complexity of the incoming data and information. This requires a strong cost
justification.

13.4 Economics of maintenance strategies

Maintenance is a costly activity and can contribute significantly to the costs of
operating any plant. Ultimately, any costs incurred will affect the price of the plant
output. Consequently, any maintenance strategy must be justified against certain
criteria, the specific details of which will depend on the particular application. For
example, a coal crushing and handling plant in a conventional power station might
be critical to overall plant operation and the resulting risk to energy production,
extended down-time and reduced production leading to lost revenue, is likely to
justify the presence of a permanent maintenance team rather than a complex,
remote monitoring system. Some plant scenarios will have a relatively simple cost
justification: the high cost of a single failure justifies a monitoring system with
human involvement to interpret data. Other situations are more complex and
require detailed life-cycle cost models to understand the benefits, or otherwise, of
different monitoring and maintenance strategies.

13.4.1 Basic economic justification

Before considering detailed studies of the economic benefits, or otherwise, of
CBM, it is worth considering by intuition whether or not an operator is likely to
benefit from applying CBM strategies to their particular plant. There are certain
plant characteristics that will generally yield benefits when CBM is applied instead
of a reactive or preventative strategy. Beneficial characteristics that are likely to
justify the costs of monitoring and CBM include applications with:
● Very high plant repair or replacement cost,
● Significant risk of common-mode or cascading failure,
● Challenging accessibility,
● Continuous operation that is critical to wider plant operation,
● High component lead times, or where carrying spares cannot be justified,
● High down-time costs, such as significant lost production or financial
penalties.
It is unlikely, for example, that an easily accessible, low cost electrical system
will justify the cost of CBM on its own. However, if this system supports a major
plant function, the effects of its failure on wider plant operation may well justify the
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 293

costs of CBM. Kerres et al. (2015) examine these effects by considering a 660 kW
onshore wind turbine under three maintenance strategies:
● Run to failure, corrective maintenance,
● Annual inspections,
● CBM.
Under the corrective maintenance strategy, components are only replaced once
failure has occurred. With annual inspections, component replacement is carried
out if a defect is observed. To understand the effects of CBM, a CM system is
modelled with an assumed detection success rate of 90% while the time of detec-
tion is modelled as a random variable. The study assumes that there are no false-
positive detections.
Figure 13.4 shows probability distributions of lost energy sales for the three
scenarios from Kerres et al. (2015). As the maintenance approach shifts from
corrective to condition-based, the probability of high lost sales reduces. Logically
this means that the probability of lower lost sales increases. However, this clear
shift does not have a dramatic effect on the overall cost of maintenance and lost
production; due to the relatively low failure rates of generators and gearboxes, the
corrective and CBM strategies are remarkably similar in cost, being 1060k SEK

0.30 0.30
0.25 0.25
0.20 0.20
Probability

Probability

0.15 0.15
0.10 0.10
0.05 0.05
0.00 0.00
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Lost sales (k SEK) Lost sales (k SEK)

0.30
0.25
0.20
Probability

0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0 50 100 150 200
Lost sales (k SEK)

Figure 13.4 Probability of lost energy sales due to the generator and gearbox
failures under: (top left) corrective maintenance; (top right) annual
inspections; (bottom) CBM; based on Kerres et al. (2015)
294 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(Swedish Krone) and 1057k SEK, respectively. This is a result of the ease with
which the machines can be accessed for inspection and maintenance. Kerres et al.
(2015) compare these findings with a similar study by Andrawus (2008) and
observes that any such study is highly sensitive to the factors listed earlier in this
section, specifically component lead times and accessibility. This is a complex
issue even for conventional electrical machine applications. In conventional power
stations, accessibility is largely irrelevant to cost estimates. On the other hand, the
large machines in conventional stations, perhaps 600 MW rather than 600 kW,
means that spares may not be carried and lead times could be significant. The costs
of lost production will also increase:
● A 24-h period of down-time for a 6 MW offshore wind turbine with a high
capacity factor of 40% might lead to energy production losses of 58 MWh
valued at around £5k,
● A 600 MW conventional unit at 80% usage over 24 h would lose 11 520 MWh,
valued at around £1M.

13.4.2 Life-cycle costing

Life-cycle costing, also called whole-life costing, is a technique used to establish
the total cost of ownership of plant throughout its lifetime. This includes plant
capital, installation, monitoring and maintenance costs. It is a structured approach
to managing all cost elements and can be used to produce a spend profile over the
anticipated plant lifetime. The subject was initially hampered by a lack of inter-
national standardisation; however, standards have now existed for some time. IEC
60300-3-3:2017 provides the latest guidance.
A detailed life-cycle costing can be used to help managers decide upon the
most appropriate maintenance option by evaluating the effects of, for example,
break-down, planned or CBM on long-term costs. The accuracy of any such costing
diminishes as it projects further into the future, so it is most valuable as a com-
parative tool when the same long-term assumptions are applied to all the options.
The resulting analysis might not be accurate, but it will allow the impact of dif-
ferent options to be compared.
Life-cycle costing is an innovation of the last 30 or 40 years, reflecting a desire
from plant owners to maximise the value of returns from their investments by
sweating their assets. It is born of an operational environment where the costs of
initial capital investment and operations and maintenance labour are high. It is used
in developed countries as they attempt to compete with developing countries with
lower labour costs.
On a more industry-specific level, life-cycle costing is used in privatised
national utilities, like railways, water and gas, as private operators attempt to
deliver profitability in a highly regulated environment. Most recently, it has
become essential in electrical power generation applications where cost of energy
is critical to the funding and success of a project in a changing market. Forms of
distributed generation, for example, are particularly sensitive to operations and
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 295

maintenance costs, as previously mentioned, since the financial and reputational

losses resulting from individual failures do not provide an implicit justification for
significant expenditure on monitoring equipment.
However, life-cycle costing offers a further benefit beyond the relatively
simple economics of failure; it raises the possibility of creating measurable exten-
sions to plant life by reducing overall costs through investment of initial capital into
monitoring systems and the application of CBM to reduce through-life costs.
Life-cycle costing has also developed in other industries, for example defence
where high weapon programme costs force governments to demand better field
performance, and also aerospace, where the costs of failure due to loss of business
and litigation can be terminal for private companies.
In order to achieve life-cycle benefits, it is necessary to:
● Understand the life-cycle costs and devise a management system to
control them,
● Monitor machine condition,
● Maintain the machine on the basis of condition where possible,
● Assess long-term plant condition on the basis of monitoring signals and man-
age that plant accordingly.
One relatively recent application for which life-cycle costing is of utmost
importance is offshore wind, where complex electrical systems surround critical
rotating machines in a hostile and inaccessible environment. A particular paradox
for maintenance and machine lifetime is that the highest energy capture and rev-
enue returns are achieved at the windiest and most challenging sites, meaning that
reliability and maintenance issues are the driving factors in operational planning.
For any electrical energy generation plant, whether conventional or renewable,
the regulatory environment and consequent competitive contracting means that cost
of energy is often the metric against which projects are evaluated. This in turn
means that any life-cycle costing to justify the selection of monitoring systems,
maintenance methods and, in fact, machine type is driven by a complex combina-
tion of reliability analyses, energy resource/capture estimations and maintenance
models. As mentioned, long-term estimation of any of these variables is likely to be
challenging and imprecise; however, a comparative study can be conducted by
applying consistent assumptions and parameters to all models.
The difficulty of this cost estimation is borne out by a comparison of different
studies of levelised cost of energy (LCOE) from wind by capital and operational
expenditure (OPEX). Figure 13.5 shows six studies conducted by various major
industry stakeholders, Crabtree et al. (2015). The contribution of OPEX to LCOE
varies from 25% to 40%, depending on which components each study included in
its estimations. The LCOE calculation includes initial capital cost, the lifetime
costs of operations and maintenance, a fixed charge rate and, importantly, the
annual energy production, each of which are sensitive parameters. However,
comparisons within each study are possible by ensuring that parameters are com-
parable between cases.
296 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition
(c) (e)
100
Other (b) O&M Other
(non-
90 Transmission physical) Fixed
charge
O&M O&M
80 O&M
O&M
70 O&M (physical)
Planning and Other
60 development Electrical Planning and
Percentage

infrastructure Other development

Electrical Electrical
foundations Electrical
50 infrastructure infrastructure
and other infrastructure
Installation
40 Foundations (a) Foundations Capital
Foundations
Support
30 structure

20 Turbine and
Turbine Turbine
installation Turbine
Turbine (inc. tower)
10
(d)
0
Ernst and Coultate The Crown Heptonstall GL Garrad DECC
Young (2012) Estate et al. Hassan (2013)
(2009) (2012) (2012) (2013)

CAPEX OPEX

Figure 13.5 Offshore wind LCOE breakdown by CAPEX and OPEX

from six studies, Crabtree et al. (2015): (a) array cables,
(b) decommissioning, (c) seabed rent, (d) pre-development and
(e) variable O&M

13.4.3 Cost–benefit analysis of condition monitoring

for CBM
There is a clear opportunity for CBM to reduce these OPEX costs. Remote CM and,
preferably, automated fault detection could reduce the number of manual inspec-
tion visits and could lead to more targeted maintenance actions, McMillan et al.
(2008), Andrawus (2006). A reduction in the number of physical visits to site is
also beneficial from a safety point of view. There is, of course, a risk element to this
approach whereby undetected failures could cause significant maintenance actions
to be required so the success rate of the CM system must be factored into any
estimation of cost benefit. This point has been the subject of a number of studies for
wind energy applications. Wind energy provides an excellent demonstration of the
importance of CBM due to its delicate cost balance.
The ability of a CM system to detect faults can be represented in calculations
in a number of ways. A detailed analysis is provided by May et al. (2015), who
model a wind turbine’s electrical and mechanical systems as a hidden Markov
model. Numerous texts on Markov modelling are available however the concept is
relatively simple to explain, even if the reality of modelling is more challenging. At
any point in time, the electrical and mechanical systems can be healthy or faulty
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 297

Table 13.1 Indicative condition monitoring costs for a wind turbine machine,
May et al. (2015)

Vibration Oil Acoustic

Capital cost £6 550 £9 200 £8 150
Annual costs £570 – –

Table 13.2 Lifetime savings resulting from CBM using condition monitoring,
May et al. (2015)

Drive train monitoring Lifetime saving compared to

system fixed-interval maintenance
Vibration only £12 000 000
Vibration and oil sensing £19 100 000
Vibration and acoustics £18 900 000
Vibration, oil and acoustics £20 300 000

and the probability of moving between these states depends on the failure rate (l(t))
and repair rate (m(t)) of components. As an aside, this instantly introduces two other
factors on which CBM justification relies: the reliability of systems and the ease
with which they are repaired. If the Markov model determines that a system has
failed, an additional layer decides whether or not that failure is observable by the
CM system. This is effectively governed by a detection rate. The model also allows
false positives to be observed. These are occasions when the system is healthy, but
the monitoring system believes it has detected a fault.
Example CM costs for typical electrical machine and drive train systems are
given in Table 13.1. Using these values and their hidden Markov model, May et al.
(2015) demonstrated clear benefits of using CM systems to inform a CBM strategy
over the 20-year lifetime of a 20-turbine, 60 MW offshore wind farm. The lifetime
savings compared to fixed-interval maintenance of using various combinations of
different drive train monitoring systems for CBM are given in Table 13.2.
Figure 13.6 illustrates the effect of CM system detection rate on lifetime savings
and demonstrates that savings can be achieved even when a monitoring system has
a detection rate of only 60%.

13.4.4 Asset management

In general, the approaches discussed throughout this chapter are the component
parts of the process of asset management. This is a business, rather than an engi-
neering, process which provides a forecasting framework for decision-making
based on the behaviour or performance of an asset. Asset performance is itself
derived from economic and engineering data. Asset management incorporates an
economic assessment of trade-offs between alternative investment options and uses
298 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

£13.0

£12.9
Levelised lifetime savings over PM strategy (millions)

£12.8

£12.7

£12.6

£12.5

£12.4

£12.3

£12.2

£12.1

£12.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Detection rate (%)

Figure 13.6 Savings due to condition monitoring and CBM against detection rate
for a wind drive train and structural condition monitoring system,
May et al. (2015)

this information to make cost-effective investment decisions. In the context of this

book, the degree to which CM should or should not be applied depends on per-
formance. The value that can be obtained from its use is a key factor in many asset
management decisions for electrical machines and related power and drive train
systems. Hodges (1996) provided an introduction to asset management and a pre-
diction about its progress past the turn of the last century, which proved to be quite
accurate, see Figure 13.7, the implication of which is that asset management is a
step change approach to maintenance and planning. It includes corrective main-
tenance, CBM and life-cycle costing to produce the best support for machines and
their operators.
Proactive asset management exploits CM to assess the conditions of assets, to
control their operation and plan maintenance, replacement or disposal. In parti-
cular, it ensures that maintenance work is carried out only when needed but before
assets deteriorate. The ultimate aims are to avoid costly failure and maximise the
return on investment by developers and operators. Asset management is now
standard practice and developing industries are driven towards it because of:
● Changes in the economic environment and pressure from investors and
shareholders,
● Changes in public expectations,
● Advances in instrumentation and computing technology.
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 299

100 000

10 000

1 000
Comparative
state of maintenance
development 100

10

1
1851–1900, 1901–1950, 1951–1970, 1971–1990, 1991–2000, 2001 onwards,
corrective routine condition condition- life-cycle asset
maintenance overhauls monitoring and based costing management
preventative maintenance towards
maintenance terotechnology

Period

Figure 13.7 Development of maintenance, condition monitoring, CBM, life-cycle

costing and asset management, based on Hodges (1996)

The issue of public expectation is an interesting one which could form the
basis of a lengthy text in its own right. Public expectation has a particular influence
over power generation and transmission owners and operators. Increases in the cost
of electricity are publicly opposed (both by the public and by government) so
operators must sweat aging assets using asset management techniques.
Comprehensive specialist software is essential to expert asset management,
building upon software used for CBM and extending it to a network of assets or
plant. Software must incorporate life-cycle costings, asset health and performance
information, and management information and be capable of presenting this engi-
neering and financial information to business managers and decision-makers in a
way that assists in planning maintenance, replacement or disposal of the assets.
Asset management reflects a level of long-term care for engineering plant that
is closer to the healthcare of human beings by a general practitioner. It is a long
way from breakdown maintenance and requires a significant management and
resource commitment in itself. In conventional electrical engineering, the greatest
advances in asset management have been made with transmission assets; Brown
et al. (2005) have given an overview as has Morton (1999). The degree of progress
towards industrialisation of the process is indicated by the relatively small number
of academic studies in recent years, suggesting that operators are now considering
asset management as standard practice. Transmission assets for which most pro-
gress has been made, in relation to CM, include:
● Transformers, using transformer gas-in-oil analysis, Dominelli et al. (2006),
● Transformer windings, using partial discharge data, Judd et al. (2002),
● Transmission line, using voltage and current monitoring, Zhang et al. (2014).
300 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

It is not surprising that transformer monitoring has been so successful. Its

major advantages over other electrical machines are that there are no moving parts
and that the transformer is completely contained within its tank. This contained
environment means that techniques of global significance to the transformer, such
as gas-in-oil analysis, partial discharge and acoustic detection, are highly effective
for asset management. These techniques are particularly applicable to a life cycle
and CBM approach.
The application of asset management techniques to electrical machines in large
power stations is now standard although it is worth noting that these assets are of
such importance that shut-downs at regular intervals are scheduled to prevent major
failures in the mechanical systems. In such a critical operational environment,
where the costs of failure are extremely high, key components, such as turbine
generator rotors, can be monitored and spares held to be installed in faulty
machines when CM signals suggest that precautionary measures need to be taken.
This is a standard practice, with Kohler et al. (1999), for example, providing details
of the possibilities over 20 years ago.
Modern electrical industries have followed suit. Large hydroelectric power
stations have very similar operational characteristics to conventional plant, in terms
of scale, types of machines and the impact of failure, so are able to adopt similar
practices. Wind energy, the dominant form of renewable energy in Europe, has
developed from small-scale, onshore wind farms of only a few 600 kW wind tur-
bines into a multi-billion pound business featuring Megawatt-scale offshore wind
turbines in farms of some GW. Onshore, reactive or breakdown maintenance was,
initially, the standard approach to maintenance but as the industry developed,
installing larger turbines and increasing energy production, CM techniques from
other industries began to be adopted. By 2007, before the development of large-
scale offshore wind, the certification body Germanischer Lloyd, now DNV GL had
been established, with the issue of certification guidelines for wind turbine CM
systems, GL (2013). As the preface to those guidelines says, the importance of CM
to wind energy was recognised as early as 2003, suggesting the industry had
learned from other electrical industries and was targeting asset management from
the start. By 2010, the first IEC standard for collecting CM data from wind turbine
systems was issued, BS EN IEC 61400-25-6:2016. Asset management in offshore
wind is now standard and has allowed developers and operators to dramatically
reduce the cost of electricity from offshore wind in Europe to well below the
industry target of £100/MWh.

13.5 Conclusions
The era of CBM, life-cycle costing and asset management is firmly upon us yet
there are remarkably few published results to confirm the efficacy of techniques
when applied to rotating electrical machines across different industries.
There are, however, studies of the application of CBM and asset management
which demonstrate that significant value can be obtained through the application of
 Condition-based maintenance and asset management 301

such techniques. The greatest value is always likely to be obtained in the higher risk
industries, whether these are physical failures or financial penalties and loss risks,
and these industries with remote assets; conventional power generation and off-
shore wind are good examples of these risk categories. Applying CM to detect
progressive deterioration in remote or high-risk assets has been shown to be valu-
able by a number of academic studies and is showing through in industrial metrics,
such as cost of energy reduction.
Monitoring techniques that will have the greatest impact are those which
monitor the most critical components, such as those which may cause cascading
failures through the plant or catastrophic damage. Studies have shown these mon-
itoring signals to include ‘performance’ parameters of global significance, such as:
● Electrical power and current for electrical condition;
● Winding, coolant and bearing temperature rise for thermal condition;
● Speed, torque and vibration, for rotor, bearing & structural dynamic condition.
Life-cycle costing studies have demonstrated the importance of selecting the
most suitable CM approaches for the particular situation by estimating the life-
cycle value of applying techniques individually and in various combinations. To
ensure that asset management can be successfully achieved, the metrics against
which maintenance and monitoring scenarios are assessed should reflect the needs
of the particular situation, whether it be reducing the cost of energy produced or
maximising plant throughput.
Asset management using CM is now essential to the success of any large,
capital-intensive project and should be considered from the outset.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 14
Application of artificial intelligence techniques
to CM

14.1 Introduction
In earlier chapters of the book, we have presented various CM techniques. It can be
seen that most faults have predictable symptoms during their development, from
root cause to failure mode, which can be detected by mechanical, electrical, elec-
tromagnetic, optical or chemical sensors.
CM has to establish a map between the input signals and output indications of
the machine condition. Classifying the machine condition and determining the
severity of faults from the input signals have never been easy tasks and they are
affected by several factors.
Return to our simple analogy in Chapter 5 of an engineer collecting data and
acting on that data. Until recently, it was believed that in the final, diagnostic stage
experienced human engineers can still out-perform most computerised CM sys-
tems. This has become questionable in recent years, as the successes of AI con-
tinues to surprise, usually pleasantly, human beings versus a machine in the
AlphaGo game being one of the most convincing examples, see Lee (2018). It has
been recognised that CM of electrical machines together with prognostics and
health management (PHM) could be an ideal field for AI because of the ‘mapping’
feature of the problem.
Intelligence is about information acquisition and decision-making based on the
information acquired. Behind this is usually a knowledge base and inference engine
to make use of that knowledge. When the knowledge had to be provided by a
human, it was easy to argue that AI could not replace human intelligence entirely.
However, if the development of knowledge is part of intelligence, one can rea-
sonably imagine that a computerised system might be more capable of extracting
the knowledge from the data which could be overwhelmingly large by a human
standard Xin et al. (2018).
As for decision making, a CM system should provide, in a progressively more
specific order, the following functionalities:
● Raise an alarm when necessary,
● Predict the remaining machine useful life,
● Plan maintenance.
304 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Except for alarms, the other two CM outcomes, prediction and maintenance
planning, require considerable intelligence, taking account of in-service stress and
holistic approach consequences. This is a high-dimensionality optimisation pro-
blem subject to many variable and uncertainty combinations. An automated AI
system could be extremely capable of decision-making in the case of such
complexities.
It is of course the human benefit that decision-making process should try to
maximise. This is almost a philosophical point which this book cannot address. But
it is a matter of fact that experienced engineers have been retiring, while new,
complex electrical machine systems continue to appear, providing services in new
environments and usually with very low safety margins Barater et al. (2017). In
such circumstances, the importance of AI-based CM techniques cannot be stressed
enough, and this must be the future trend for CM electrical machines, especially in
environments where more machines are being incorporated into VSD systems, rich
in data, and being applied to high-integrity environments such as electric vehicles,
rail traction and ship propulsion.
One application area of importance in utility and process industries, including
water and electricity suppliers, is asset management, see Chapter 13. Electrical
machines are inevitably applied to other apparatus, pumps, fans, generators and
propulsion systems. A feature here is the widespread use in those systems of sen-
sors transferring large amounts of data, made possible only by recent IT technology
developments, see Sarantakos et al. (2017) and Sabin et al. (2017). The objective of
asset management systems is to manage reliability, warranty and maintenance costs
and to defer new asset investment. AI-assisted electrical machine CM will be an
essential ingredient for power and process asset management systems. In recent
years, there has been considerable effort to develop AI systems that can play a role
that is currently performed by humans in electrical machines monitoring. This is
important for at least two reasons:
● Electrical machines, both motors and generators, are now used as elements in
larger systems where operators may be inexperienced in their design,
● Human experts can be subject to influences that make quick and consistent
judgement impossible, particularly in systems with many machines. Correct
judgement may also depend on the expert knowledge and experts may not be
available at the time of faults.
AI can take different forms, but the core problems are ‘learning’ and ‘classi-
fication’. Learning can be from existing knowledge or raw data that contains
knowledge. An educated AI-system can then be used to classify a set of input data
that may or may not be directly covered in the learning process. It is classification
that is related to the CM outcome and to decision making. In this chapter, we will
present the fundamental concepts of machine-based learning and classification.
We start from the simple case of looking at multiple signals at the same time,
multi-parameter monitoring.
We then progress to the more complex case of programming existing knowl-
edge to scan the input data so that a classification can be achieved. This is the
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 305

structure of an expert system that mimics experienced engineers. Presentation of

knowledge and heuristic reasoning are key parts of an expert system, whose lim-
itations are:
● Adaptation of the knowledge base usually needs human intervention,
● System cannot easily handle complex numerical calculation, which may not be
clearly formulated.
We then recognise that some human knowledge is inherently vague and
uncertain, but this can be a strength when dealing with complex situations. Fuzzy
statements and fuzzy reasoning can be used to enhance such expert systems.
Finally, we progress to the use of ANNs (artificial neural networks) which,
with on-line training, which can learn and obtain knowledge through data-mining.
For CM of electrical machines there have been two traditional AI approaches,
see Lee (2018).
‘Rule-based’ methods that mimic mathematical transforms using symbolic or
Expert Systems attempting to teach computers to ‘think’ by a series of logical rules.
‘Neural network’ methods that mimic the human brain’s underlying archi-
tecture to deduce relationship from a wide range of given data.
The first method can advance if simple mathematical expressions are avail-
able, which is clearly possible from the data in Tables 9.1 and 9.2 for IAS
and MCSA.
On the other hand, the second method requires:
● Large amounts of wide ranging and relevant data,
● A strong algorithm with a narrow domain,
● A concrete goal.
In the early stages of development of CM, the model-based approach provided
insights into the physical mechanisms giving rise to CM signatures. The data-
driven approach has been used to conduct the trend analyses but has struggled to
interpret the signal significance.
Nowadays, there is little doubt that a sensible way is to combine both so that
more informative results can be obtained under operational uncertainties, see
Garcia-Escudero et al. (2017).

14.2 Multi-parameter monitoring

A step on the path to the use of AI for CM is to compare and contrast multiple CM
signals on the same machine, which was called multi-parameter monitoring by
Tavner et al. (1986). Figures 14.1–14.3 show three different examples of this type
of fault detection using the disparate signals, as follows:
● Figure 14.1(a) and (b) used two different chemical monitoring methods to
show detection of a stator core fault in a 500 MW turbo-generator using a core
monitor, Sd, or smoke detector, and a total organic matter gas detector, VOC.
These signals are the result of core overheating and related to generator MW
 100
90

Core monitor deflection

80
70

% fullscale
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 24 48
Core monitor response Time (h)

700

600
Total organic content vpm

500
CH4 equivalent

400

300
Load perturbation
200

100

0
0 24 48
(a) Continuous gas response Time (h)

800 Hydrogen gas monitor, VOC Load, MW

signal values, MW, MVAr, K, %

Load, MVAr
Load and condition monitoring

700 Core end plate temp rise, K

Core monitor smoke alarm, Sd , %
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
–100
–200
–300
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
(b) Time (h)

Figure 14.1 Multi-parameter monitoring of a 500 MW 2-pole turbo-generator

stator: (a) comparing in hydrogen coolant core monitor smoke, Sd, %
and total gas organic measurement, VOC and (b) load perturbation
from full-load lag to lead power factor, triggering core end-plate
temperature rise, K, and consequent internal smoke, Sd, and VOC
increase. Taken from (a) above
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 307

Period ‘A’ Period ‘B’ Period ‘C’

0.50
0.45
Enveloped axial vibration magnitude (g)

0.40
0.35

0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
(a) 0 500 1 000 1 500

2 000 Bearing
replacement
1 500
Particle count

1 000

500

0
(b) 0 500 1 000 1 500

700
600
Particle count

500
400
300
200
100
0
(c) 0 500 1 000 1 500
Cumulative energy generated (MWh)

Period A: rolling element bearing wear, vibration increases

Period B: collapse of rolling element cage
Period C: replacement of rolling element bearing and cage without filtering the lubrication oil

Figure 14.2 Multi-parameter monitoring a WT 6-pole generator gearbox rolling

element bearing fault, comparing bearing vibration and gearbox oil
particulate measurements
 HI HP
SI 18 SP
18
16 16
14 14
12 12
10 10

D1

D1
8 8
6 6
4 1 610 4 1 610
2 1 590 2 1 590
0 1 550 0 1 550
150 1 530 Speed 1 530 Speed
175 200 225 250 1 500 150 175 200 225 250 1 500
275 300 (rpm) 275 300 (rpm)
REU fault level (%) REU fault level (%)
a, Is e, Av

Comparing current, Is, and vibration, Av,signals from a rotor-faulted (REU) DFIG generator at increasing loads

HI and HP
SI and SP
18
16
14
12
10
D1

8
6
4 1 610
2 1 590
1 550
0
150 1 530 Speed (rpm)
175 200 225 1 500
250 275 300
REU fault level (%)
a, Is and Av

Data fusion of Is and Av signals on a rotor-faulted DFIG generation at different loads with comparison of signals
to improve REU detectability

Figure 14.3 Multi-parameter monitoring of a WT DFIM 4-pole generator rotor fault, comparing stator current, Is, and bearing
vibration, Av, with data fusion over a range of fault levels and generator loads
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 309

and MVAr load and core temperature rise, K, see Ryder et al. (1979) and
Tavner et al. (1986),
● Figure 14.2 monitoring a WT 6-pole generator gearbox bearing fault using
both bearing vibration, Av, and gearbox oil debris, Og, to measure the pro-
gression to failure, Feng et al. (2012),
● Figure 14.3 monitoring a wind turbine DFIG using both stator current, Is and
stator-bearing vibration Av to measure rotor unbalance, see Zappalá et al.
(2019). Note the similarity of this work too that by Shahriar et al. (2018) on
rolling element bearing analysis comparing IAS and MCSA results but those
authors did not realise that this method can lead to increased detectability and
detection confidence.
In each of the three cases, Figures 14.1–14.3, electrical machine fault condi-
tions were monitored simultaneously by disparate chemical, temperature, electrical
or mechanical CM signals, indicating fault presence and progression. In each case
the combination of disparate signals delivered a higher detectability and increased
detection confidence.
This book’s authors propose that much greater management confidence can be
placed on diagnosis from disparate CM signals than reliance on one measurement
method alone, this has been the basis for multi-parameter monitoring and should
form a significant part of an expert system for the AI of electrical machines and CM.

14.3 Expert systems

Expert systems were perhaps the first AI techniques applied to CM. Although
modern asset management systems are more sophisticated, expert systems are
usually an important component in such systems, Ma et al. (2015).
An expert system treats the CM of an electric machine like a medical doctor
diagnosing a patient. Some surface evidence is used to form hypotheses about the
machine condition, i.e. the possible faults. Then further evidence is searched to
narrow down the judgement and increase the confidence when a more specific
judgement is made. When engineers do this, they apply their knowledge. In an
expert system, such knowledge should now be represented in a way that can be
interpreted by a computer. This is not an easy task, however, because the knowl-
edge is usually heuristic in nature, based on ‘rules of thumb’ rather than absolute
certainties. Furthermore, human knowledge has complex linguistic rather than
precise numerical structures, and most of it is almost subconscious. There is no
doubt that we need to obtain a substantial amount of knowledge in order to build an
expert system that provides usable CM outcome. Close interaction between
machine experts and software engineers is necessary.
The knowledge to be used in the expert system can be represented in a number
of ways:
● Frame-based systems, representing knowledge in data structures called frames
which describe the typical situations or instances of entities,
310 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● Semantic networks, representing knowledge in a graphical structure where

nodes represent concepts and beliefs about the system while arcs represent
relationships between these concepts and beliefs,
● Rule-based systems, representing the knowledge as ‘If-Then’ rules in the
computer memory, see Birmingham et al. (1986).
All representations have been used but the rule-based knowledge scheme is
probably the most common in practice. Typically, the rules will not have certain
conclusions; there will be just certain degree of certainty that the conclusion will
hold for given input conditions. Statistic methods are used to determine these
certainties [14.9]. Figure 14.4 shows the general architecture of a rule-based expert
system.
Declarative and imperative knowledge need to be represented as rules:
● Declarative knowledge tells the expert system what it could believe, with a
degree of certainty. For example, a negative sequence component above a
certain level in the input current of an induction machine implies stator
winding shorted turn fault or unbalanced supply,
● Imperative knowledge, on the other hand, tells the expert system what to do
next, e.g. looking into the data which may indicate that supply imbalance is not
in fact present.
This gives rise to the ability for heuristic reasoning. Human experts are dis-
tinguished not only by the quantity of knowledge that they possess but also by the
way that the knowledge is applied skilfully. For the reason described at the
beginning of this section, an expert system for CM needs to perform both forward
and backward reasoning.
A feature of the architecture shown in Figure 14.4 is that case specific data and
the general knowledge base are separated. This allows the expert system to be used
in different cases, provided that the rules in the knowledge base are adequate. They

Expert system shell

Explanation
system
Case-specific
data

User Inference
interface engine
Knowledge
base
Knowledge
base editor

Figure 14.4 Expert system architecture

 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 311

are both separated from a more general part of the architecture called expert system
shell. We can usually find commercial shell software with appropriate character-
istics, to develop the expert system by programming rules into the system and
setting the user interface. The shell shown here has an explanation sub-system
which allows the expert system to explain its reasoning to the user. The knowledge
base editor allows the rules to be modified when necessary and hence makes the
expert system developed maintainable.
Stone et al. (1997) developed an expert system for monitoring stator insulation
in generators and motors. The majority of stator windings, rated 4 kV or above,
fail as a result of gradual electrical insulation deterioration. We have described in
Sub-section 3.6.3 the dominant mechanisms leading to stator winding insulation
failure. It can be seen that several interacting factors, including high electric field,
vibration, over-heating and moisture contamination, are involved in the degrada-
tion process and insulation failure can occur in different parts of the winding. As
some factors cause air pockets in the winding insulation structure, PD occurs
leading to further damage to the insulation. PD can therefore be monitored, from
the stator terminals or neutral ground, to indicate the insulation condition. The main
measurement techniques have been described in Section 10.2. PD signals are
generally high frequency spikes, in 100 MHz range, which can be easily confused
with noise from adjacent machines or that caused by adjacent switchyard and
switchgear arcing or corona activities. Expert knowledge is important to ensure the
reliability of the PD measurement data, by checking, for example, the dV/dt rate.
Stephan et al. (2003) confirm this by showing that the measurement data can be
badly contaminated by loose brush-gear contacts, meant to ground the generator
shaft. They also show that the data reliability can be improved by considering the
correlation of PD events with the phase angle of the generator terminal voltage;
however, this becomes more complicated in machines fed from variable frequency
drives. Given the reliability of the acquired PD data, conclusions can only be drawn
based on the trend analysis, comparison with other generators in the power plant,
maintenance record, earlier off-line test results, present operating point, vibration
and temperature measurement, visual inspection and fleet experience, etc. Such
aspects are best taken into account using expert knowledge, represented in rules, as
it is extremely hard to establish algorithmic solutions to the problem.
The output of an expert system gives an index of the health condition of the
machine in one aspect or overall, which is expressed as a relative position between
good and bad. This can be used in comparison with other machines to determine the
one that is most in need of maintenance. An expert system usually provides a list of
mechanisms which might be occurring. The probabilities of such mechanisms may
be indicated, and these are estimated statistically using expert experience and
knowledge. Other auxiliary information may also be displayed to further aid the
operator, Stone et al. (1997).
In practice, expert systems can be made modular with each module focusing on
one aspect of the machine condition. Modules are then integrated to provide entire
machine monitoring. Figure 14.5 shows the architecture of a system for steam
turbine synchronous generators. Interactions between different modules are taken
312 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Operating condition,
Remote access historical data, etc.

Local platform

Partial Shaft Rotor flux

discharge Stator end voltage/ for rotor
Stator water
for stator winding current for winding
temperature
winding vibration rotor short
insulation assessment detection

Figure 14.5 Configuration of a modular expert system

into account and these modules may overlap in their functionalities. For example,
the condition of shaft grounding can affect PD as mentioned above. High end-
winding vibration may indicate looseness in the end-winding support which among
other things can cause cracks in the end winding corona protection, leading to PD
in this region, by including an end-winding vibration monitoring module additional
information is provided. Combining information from all the modules in a syn-
chronised manner allows for correlation and check for plausibility of different
effects, see Stephan et al. (2003).

14.4 Fuzzy logic

To some engineers, the health condition signatures described previously in this
book may imply that CM could be carried out in an unambiguous manner. But this
is unfortunately not usually realistic in practice. Taking stator winding shorted turn
fault in an induction motor as an example, an obvious signature would be the
negative sequence component in the input current, or acoustic vibration measured
on the motor frame. Assuming a balanced voltage supply and perfect manufactur-
ing of the machine, such signals can be confidently associated with the stator
winding fault as described in Chapter 9. However, supply imbalance and manu-
facturing imperfections always exist; a brand new machine will inevitably show
some negative sequence current and vibration. Unless we have already defined the
threshold values, the information we acquire could be better described as ‘negative
sequence current quite large’. The condition of the machine that is being monitored
can therefore also be described in a linguistic manner. For instance, the machine is
not necessarily ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but may fall into some intermediate range, fuzzy
logic is therefore suitable in such cases.
In fuzzy logic, input signals for CM are associated with certain membership
functions. A membership function allows a quantity to be associated with a lin-
guistic variable to a certain degree of truth or confidence. For example, Figure 14.6
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 313

μ
N S M L
1

Normalised negative
sequence current

0 1

Figure 14.6 Illustration of membership functions for induction motor negative

sequence current

shows membership functions for the negative sequence current measured on an

induction motor that is running in the steady state. The horizontal axis is the
negative sequence current normalised to the rated current. The vertical axis indi-
cates how the negative sequence current is associated to four linguistic variables
denoted as ‘negligible (N)’, ‘small (S)’, ‘medium (M)’ or ‘large (L)’. Therefore,
four membership functions are proposed.
In Boolean logic, the current would be judged either ‘true’ or ‘false’ with
respect to any of the linguistic variables. But in fuzzy logic, such a concept is
extended to allow the current to be associated with these linguistic variables to any
degree between 0 (fully false) and 1 (fully true). The same input value is mapped to
more than one membership functions, implying that different statements can be
simultaneously true but to different degrees of truth. For example, a negative
sequence current may be judged as ‘medium’ by a degree of 0.6 while at the same
time as ‘large’ by a degree of 0.3. It is also considered not being ‘negligible’ or
‘small’ if the corresponding membership function values are zero. Other input
signals, for example, negative sequence supply voltage, can also be represented in
this way, as fuzzy sets by means of membership functions.
Different membership function shapes can be chosen. Obviously, the con-
struction of the membership functions requires significant insight into the physical
meaning of the signals and the linguistic variables selected. Practical experience
and experiments in the laboratory or industrial environments are usually the only
way to gain such insight, see Benbouzid et al. (2001). However, there is no doubt
that fuzzy logic does provide an alternative and powerful tool of information
representation and processing.
Associating input signals with membership functions is called fuzzification.
The power of fuzzy logic is more evident during the operation and inference stages,
which derive new results which then progressively provide more precise informa-
tion about the actual machine condition. As in Boolean logic, basic fuzzy logic
operation includes ‘AND’, ‘OR’ and ‘NOT’. But instead of producing ‘true’ or
‘false’ as an outcome, fuzzy logic operations result in a degree value (between 0
and 1) to which the combined statement of the logic operation is true. For example,
consider the two statements:
314 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● A: motor negative sequence current is ‘small’ with a membership function

value of 0.7,
● B: negative sequence supply voltage is ‘negligible’ with a membership func-
tion value of 0.5.
One way to define a fuzzy logic ‘AND’ operation is to use the smaller value of
the involved membership functions. Therefore, the degree of the following state-
ment being true is 0.5.
(A) AND (B): (negative sequence current is ‘small’) and (negative sequence
voltage is ‘negligible’)
A fuzzy logic ‘OR’ operation may be similarly defined by using the maximum
(greater) membership function value while fuzzy logic ‘NOT’ operation may be
defined as 1
m, where m is the membership function value of the operand state-
ment involved.
Fuzzy inference is applied to the statements, with or without fuzzy logic
operators, to imply the degree to which a consequent statement is supportable. This
usually takes the form of ‘If-Then’ rules. For example, one of the many rules that
could be used in a CM system for stator winding shorted turn fault detection could
be expressed as:
Rule (i): If [(negative sequence current is ‘small’) and (negative sequence
voltage is ‘negligible’)] Then (shorted turn fault is present)
Because the condition or antecedent of this rule is not 100% true, the output
statement, which is also linguistic, is not 100% true either. For the output statement,
we are not particularly interested in the extent to which it is true. What it means to
the actual machine condition is of more importance. We apply a procedure called
fuzzy implication for this purpose. The process is illustrated in Figure 14.7. In the
final plot, the horizontal axis is fault severity, e.g. a measure of inter-turn resistance
during fault development, which may be normalised. It may be considered that the
shaded area represents a probabilistic distribution of the fault severity.
There may be several rules associated with the same output statement and a
CM system may have several output statements regarding the machine condition.
For instance, another rule output statement could be ‘shorted turn fault is
serious’, while the input signals are also associated with different membership
functions.

N S Just present
AND

Fault severity Fault severity

– Sequence voltage – Sequence current
Implication

Figure 14.7 Illustration of application of fuzzy inference to negative sequence

current caused by an induction motor winding fault
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 315

All rules are scanned by a fuzzy logic inference engine, generating the corre-
sponding output implications which are aggregated to form a single overall fuzzy
set regarding the shorted turn fault severity. The order of all the rules being exe-
cuted does not matter, since the aggregation procedure should always be
commutative.
Three ways of aggregation are commonly applied to the output implications of
all the rules: maximum selection, probabilistic OR i.e. a þ b
ab, and summation.
Weighting factors can be introduced to reflect the relative importance of each rule.
A de-fuzzification procedure can then be used to obtain a single normalised index
for the particular fault severity that is being monitored. One way is to calculate the
centroid of the aggregated overall distribution.
Caldara et al. (1997) describe a fuzzy diagnostic system for a linear induction
motor drive, the expert system having a configuration outlined in Figure 14.8.

Knowledge base
Knowledge source

Expert Historical Analytical

knowledge data knowledge

Knowledge
acquisition

Rule Membership
base functions

Data
acquisition and Fuzzy
processing inference

Plant under Condition

diagnosis information

Figure 14.8 Block diagram of a fuzzy diagnostic system

316 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

14.5 Machine learning using ANNs

14.5.1 What can be learned for CM?
Machine learning, as a subset of AI, is to acquire knowledge by using pattern
recognition and inference with as little human intervention as possible. In CM of
electrical motors or generators, the targeted knowledge generally includes that in
two related aspects:
● Extraction of measurement features or signatures, and derivation of a quanti-
tative relationship between the health condition and such signatures,
● Understanding of electrical machine degradation dynamics and health condi-
tion as affected by in-service stresses and the health condition itself.
Such knowledge could be obtained from experimental or operational data,
and machine learning is to establish algorithms for this purpose. An adequate
number of data samples need to be available to facilitate the learning process. In
most cases, the data size can be increased by aggregating electrical machines of the
same design in similar fleets, for example, the electrical generators in different
wind farms.
A difficulty is to define the machine condition. An unhealthy condition
could be set according to events occurred in the past, see Qiu et al. (2015).
But ultimately it should be defined based on the remaining useful lifetime,
RUL, Krummenacher et al. (2018), that is the second aspect of machine
learning listed above. In many cases, the measured signature itself contains
information about the remaining useful life as shown in Figure 14.9, taking a
single dimension of the health condition and a single condition signature as
example.
It is a general phenomenon that as the system or component ages, the rate
of degradation also increases under the same operating condition. This is implied in
the empirical laws of the physics-of-failure, such as the Arrhenius rate law, see
Lai et al. (2016), which states that the rate of a chemical reaction process, k driven

Health condition

Maintenance
Time
Condition signature

Time

Figure 14.9 Health condition and condition signature changes between

maintenance cycles
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 317

by temperature, increases with the temperature T according to an exponential

relationship:

k ¼ Ae
Ea =RT (14.1)

where A is a constant, Ea the activation energy and R the ideal gas constant.
This is directly relevant to insulation degradation in electrical machines
because dielectric loss usually increases and heat dissipation reduces as the insu-
lation degrades, leading to a rise of temperature. Other degradation, for example,
rotor eccentricity, also tends to exacerbate the relevant ageing mechanisms through
e.g. unbalanced magnetic pull, see Dorrell (2011).
Based on such understanding about the significance of measured condition
signatures, particularly their rates of change with respect to time and in-service
duties, the condition of the electrical machine in the corresponding aspect can be
assigned a seriousness value, for example:
● Healthy condition, no degradation,
● Minor degradation which requires occasional attention, long RUL,
● Modest degradation which requires continuous attention, modest RUL,
● Serious degradation which requires close attention, short RUL,
● Very serious degradation which requires immediate action, virtually
no RUL.

14.5.2 Supervised learning through ANN

ANNs have been used for many different applications, and have become the most
widely used tool in machine learning in general. The results of signal processing
and fuzzy logic operations can be used as the input to the ANN. The output can
often be a direct estimate of the remaining useful life of the component or electrical
machine being monitored, under its in-service stresses, as defined above. In recent
years, ANN has also been used for feature extraction from the raw transducer data
as a time series, see Krummenacher et al. (2018). This reduces the need for tradi-
tional signal processing, to some extent.
The feature of ANNs that is attractive in CM is their capability of representing
complicated, nonlinear relationships through a large number of simple and identical
algebraic operations. Of all neural network structures, the multi-layered perceptron
(MLP), trained using the back-propagation (BP) algorithm, is one of the earliest
and perhaps most widely used. MLP training can be viewed as a gradient descent
optimisation and therefore, to analysts, it possesses a high degree of credibility,
although the local minimum problem needs to be dealt with during the training
process, see Penman et al. (1994).
Figure 14.10 shows an MLP network that was used in an early development by
to detect the number of broken rotor bars in induction motors, see Filipetti et al.
(1995). The network consists of an input layer that accepts six signals:
● Slip (s, no unit),
● Slip as a ratio to the rated slip (s=sr , no unit),
318 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

1
n/nm Output layer
Weighted connection

3 15 16
1 2 Hidden layer

Bias
Weighted connection

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Input layer
^ Pr
S NI I Pa Bias
S
Sr NmI Ir Pr Pb

Figure 14.10 A neural network structure for broken rotor bar detection

● A quantity dependent on the ð1
2sÞf current bI : ðN bI Þ=ðNm I Þ, where I is the

fundamental current and N the total number of rotor bars that is normalised to
a maximum bar number, say Nm ¼ 100,
● Fundamental current I as a ratio to the rated current Ir ,
● Input power Pa as a ratio to the rated power Pr and finally,
● Rated power Pr as a ratio to a selected base power Pb , say Pb ¼ 100 kW.
Above the input layer is a hidden layer of 15 neurons which perform the same
algebraic operation. Setting the number of hidden neurons is empirical and often
requires ‘trial and error’ iterations. One common nonlinear function that is per-
formed by the hidden neurons is the sigmoid ‘squashing’ function and the output of
each hidden neuron is calculated as:
1
F ðx i Þ ¼ ; i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; 15 (14.2)
1 þ e
xi
P
where xi ¼ 7j ¼ 1 wij uj is the weighted summation of all the input signals towards
the hidden neuron i. wij represents the weight from input j to hidden neuron i, and
uj , j ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; 7, represents the inputs.
This neural network also has an output layer consisting of only one neuron,
which calculates for an estimation for the number of broken bars as a ratio to a
maximum broken bars number, which was arbitrarily set to nm ¼ 10. The calcu-
lation is based on the same function as (14.2) and there are also weighting gains
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 319

from the hidden neurons to the output neuron. In Figure 14.10, there are two bias
nodes which affect the hidden and output neurons directly. The bias nodes can be
manually set for calibration purposes.
In order for a neural network, so structured, to have the intelligence that we
wish, it must go through a learning process. This is to find proper values for the
weights in the connections. This requires data from practical recording, experiments
or detailed simulation models which can represent machine defects with high fide-
lity. The learning process of an MLP network, like the above, usually requires
supervision in which the data are all labelled, i.e. the meaning of the output is
explicitly stated, as described in sub-section 14.4.1. In this case, the number of
broken rotor bars is always known in the data set. In other words, the desired output
for a given input pattern should be explicitly stated in the learning process. The data
set should cover both the normal and fault conditions the neural network will
encounter. The weights are adjusted in the learning process until the error is mini-
mised. A typical fitting error function is the sum-of-squared error as shown below,
where Ndata is the total number of input–output pairs in the data set to be learned.
XNdata
Error ¼ i¼1
fOutputcalculated
Outputdesired g2 (14.3)

A way of adjusting the weights is to use the back-propagation (BP) training

algorithm detailed by many authors including Halpin et al. (1997). In this algo-
rithm, the error regarding the final output of the neural network is used to modify
the weights based on a sensitivity-like principle. How quickly the weights can be
modified is controlled by the two parameters: the learning rate and momentum,
which can help avoid a local minimum problem or aid convergence. The weights
closest to the output layer are modified first and the error is gradually propagated

Normal
Defect 1
Defect 2

Defect n

Measurement Extracted Permutation Condition

CNNs
channels features of features outputs

Figure 14.11 Structure of a multi-channel neural network system for CM

320 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

back towards the input layer to modify other weights. The procedure is iterated
until the overall error defined in (14.3) is minimised.
This is for one failure mechanism. In an electrical machine, several failure
mechanisms could co-exist and progress simultaneously. Figure 14.11 shows a
system of multiple ANNs working together to provide monitoring and prognosis,
see Krummenacher et al. (2018). Returning to our analogy of medicine, examina-
tion of a patient usually includes different parts of the body. In the structure shown
in Figure 14.11, different ANNs, which are multi-layer convolutional neural net-
work (CNN) type, Sze et al. (2017), and will pick up symptoms of different failure
mechanisms that can also be cross-coupled. Therefore, the features extracted from
each measurement by a CNN, e.g. temperature, vibration or current, are then
treated together by another downstream neural network to analyse the cross-
coupling between these failure mechanisms. Each network, CNN or MLP network
at the output stage, can be trained individually.

14.5.3 Unsupervised learning

A neural network can also learn unsupervised, see Penman et al. (1994).
Unsupervised learning, compared to supervised system, provides a significantly
different neural network approach to identification of abnormal conditions. The sys-
tem can proceed through the learning stage without provision of classifications for
each input set of data, whereas the connection weight adaptation in the MLP network
is driven precisely by just such knowledge. The possibility of training a network on a
set of data , with no labelled inputs and outputs or only a fraction of which are labelled
clearly, offers significant advantages for electrical machine systems in unfamiliar
environments with unclear ageing-to-failure mechanisms, such as renewal energy
systems in early deployment stages. However, to interpret such outputs and use them
for classification, knowledge of the training data set is still required. Nevertheless,
unsupervised networks require fewer training iterations, since they do not require
exact optimisation for their decision-making.
The unsupervised network implementation described here is based on the well-
known Kohonen feature map, presented in the 1980s, derived from observation of
the human brain cerebral cortex fine structure, and created during algorithm
learning which promotes self-organisation. Kohonen’s algorithm mimics such
processes. It creates a vector quantiser by adjusting the weights from common input
nodes to the output nodes, which are arranged in a two-dimensional grid like net-
work, as shown in Figure 14.12. Such a map is usually from a higher-dimensional
input space into a low-dimensional output space.
As shown in Figure 14.12, n inputs x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xn are mapped onto m output
nodes y1 ; y2 ; . . . ; ym which have been arranged in a matrix, for example, dimen-
sioned 5  5. Each input unit i is connected to an output unit j through weight wij .
The continuous valued input patterns and connection weights will give the output
node j continuous-valued activation value Aj :
Xn
Aj ¼ w x ¼ Wj X
i¼1 ij i
(14.4)
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 321

Output
nodes j

Connection
weights wij
Input
x1 x2 xn nodes i

Figure 14.12 Structure of a self-organising feature map

where X ¼ ½x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xn  is the input vector and Wj ¼ ½w1j ; w2j ; . . . ; wnj T is the
connection vector for output node j.
A competitive learning rule is used, choosing the winner c as the output node
with weight vector closest to the present input pattern vector:
kX
Wc k ¼ minj kX
Wj k (14.5)
where kk denotes the Euclidean distance, or norm between the two vectors. Both
the input and connection vectors are normalised.
It is noted that the data presented for the learning purpose consist only of inputs
not outputs. When an input pattern is presented to the neural network without
specifying the desired output, the learning process will find a winning output node
c according to (14.5), and subsequently updates the weights associated with the
winning node and its adjacent nodes. The weights are updated in such a way so that
if the same input is presented to the network again immediately afterwards, the
winning output node will still fall into the same neighbourhood of the output node
picked up earlier, and with an even greater winning margin when (14.5) is used to
select the winning node this time. In other words, the feature of the input pattern is
enhanced by updating the corresponding connection weights. A typical learning
rule is:
8 h i
< Dwðijk Þ ¼ aðk Þ xði k Þ
wðijk Þ
; j  Nc (14.6)
: ðkþ1Þ ðk Þ ðk Þ
wij ¼ wij þ Dwij

where superscript k denotes the number of the input pattern presented for learning.
Nc denotes the neighbourhood around the winning node c with respect to the pre-
sent input pattern. aðk Þ is the learning rate that is used in this step of learning.
As more input patterns are presented for the network to learn, the learning rate
gradually decreases to guarantee convergence. The initial weights can be randomly
322 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

set, but normalised, and the input patterns can be iteratively used with several
repetitions until convergence is reached. After training, each output node is asso-
ciated with a fixed set of weights, that is, Wj ¼ ½w1j ; w2j ; . . . ; wnj T . Each input
pattern can then be measured for its distance to all the output nodes. Similar input
patterns will show relatively short distances to the same output nodes that are
already grouped in the output space. The features of the input patterns are conse-
quently identified. The structure and the learning scheme of the neural network
give rise to its ability of self-organising mapping (SOM), Sze et al. (2017).
Penman et al. (1994) describe the details of the construction and learning
process of such networks for CM of induction motors. Figure 14.13 shows the
vibration signal feature maps for three machine conditions:
● Normal,
● Unbalanced supply,
● Mechanical looseness of frame mounting.
In each case, the input to the neural network is a large number of vibration
components obtained from accelerometer output FFTs. These components are then
used to calculate the distances from this input pattern to all of the 20  20 output
nodes and the results are shown in Figure 14.13. The ground plane of which
represents the 20  20 output node space and the vertical axis indicates the distance
calculated. It can be clearly seen that the three conditions give distinctively dif-
ferent feature maps. Of course, the physical meanings of such maps depend on
further knowledge that has not been embedded in the training process.

14.6 Deep learning with big data

The concept of deep learning was introduced to capture complex relationships from
large amounts of data, which are usually subject to random noise. It would be
necessary, in a conventional ANN, to create many hidden layers each with many
neurons. It is therefore more appropriate to first extract a relatively small number of
features from the big data set, and the features are then used to derive CM infor-
mation such as the remaining useful life (RUL). Deutsch et al. (2018) documented

5 10
4 4
8
3 3 6
5 2 10
1 4
4 1 8 2
3 3
6
2 2 4
1 1 2
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
(a) (b) (c)

Figure 14.13 Kohonen feature map of machine conditions: (a) normal;

(b) unbalanced supply and (c) mechanical looseness
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 323

the details of such an approach and the following outlines the main aspects
and steps.
Deep learning was stimulated by the introduction of a deep belief network
(DBN), Hinton et al. (2006), which was proposed to permit training of the afore-
mentioned complex network, one layer at a time.
A DBN consists in general of several layers of a restricted-Boltzmann-machine
(RBM) which are stacked together, as shown in Figure 14.14 with two RBMs. Each
RBM has a visible layer and a hidden layer, while the hidden layer becomes the
visible layer of the RBM above it. The visible layer of the bottom RBM is used to
input the original data with random errors. The hidden layer of the top-most RBM
represents the most distinctive features extracted from the input data. As the data
information is passed from the bottom towards the top, the features are gradually
extracted.
This is usually unsupervised learning, which is built in the dynamic training of
each RBM. As new input data continuously come in during operation, the outcome
of the training process, that is, the weights (wÞ and biases (a and bÞ in the RBM are
updated. The weights are bidirectional, that is, wij ¼ wji , where i indexes nodes/
neurons in the visible layer and j indexes the nodes/neurons in the hidden layer.
At each time-step, the training is conducted from one RBM to the next above
it, with all the RBMs forming the DBN. For any of the RBM, the ability of unsu-
pervised learning is due to the objective function of training, which is to maximise
the probability that the RBM assigns to the visible (input) vector v:
1 X
Eðv;hÞ
P ðv Þ ¼ e (14.7)
Z h

where Z is the normalisation constant which is the sum of the possible pairs of
visible and hidden vectors:
XX
Z¼ v h
e
Eðv;hÞ (14.8)

Hidden layer 2
Bias unit h21 h22
a2j Bias unit
RBM2 b2j

V21 V22 V23 ... 2

Vm
Visible layer 2

Hidden layer 1
Bias unit h11 h12 h31 ... h1m
Wij Bias unit
a1j
RBM1 b1j

V11 V12 V13 ... V1i ... V1n

Visible layer 1

Figure 14.14 A DBN with two restricted-Boltzmann-machines

324 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Output

RULt+L

H1 H2

Input

Figure 14.15 A feed-forward network to predict CM output using the features

extracted by the DBN

and the energy function of the combination ðv; hÞ is:

Eðv; hÞ ¼
aT v
bT h
vT wh (14.9)

Finally, the features extracted at the top of the DBN are used to drive a con-
ventional two layer feedforward ANN to indicate the health condition – such as the
predicted RUL, as shown in Figure 14.15 which can be trained using back-
propagation.
The number of neurons in each RBM layer and the number of RBMs in the
DBN are matters of arbitrary selection. But as long as the network is adequately
dimensioned, it can handle complicated relationship mined in big data.
Deutsch et al. (2018) have shown the use of such networks to predict the
remaining useful life of gears and bearings.

14.7 An AI example
14.7.1 Systems incorporating AI
The following section has been contributed by Geoff Walker of Faraday Predictive
to give an example of how AI is beginning to influence the CM of electrical
machines, in particular Model-based voltage and current (MBVI) systems.
MBVI includes devices such as the Bently Nevada AnomAlert, the Artesis
motor condition monitor (MCM) and the Faraday Predictive S200, which all
incorporate AI techniques. These systems work on the same underlying principles
as MCSA, see Chapter 9, relying on the fact that machine current is distorted by a
wide range of phenomena affecting the motor and driven equipment system but
incorporate AI techniques.
The added dimension brought by MBVI systems is that the analysis is done on
the basis only of current waveform distortions, not generated by voltage waveform
distortions, and therefore must be caused by phenomena within the motor and/or
driven equipment.
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 325

In a situation where the supply voltage is perfectly sinusoidal, all distortions

in the current waveform must come from phenomena within the motor and driven
equipment system, but in most real-world power supplies, the supply voltage is
itself distorted to some degree. This is particularly true for inverter driven
equipment, where the voltage waveform can be highly distorted. Figure 14.16
below shows two figures demonstrating how far from a sinusoidal shape the
voltage waveforms can look in industrial situations. The first, Figure 14.16(a),

400

300

200

100
Voltage (V)

–100

–200

–300

–400
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Time (ms)

(a)

Voltage (V) Current (A)

× 103
1

0.5

–0.5

–1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (ms)
(b)

Figure 14.16 Practical three phase voltage and current traces from rotating
machines: (a) distorted mains voltage waveform from a North Sea
oil platform and (b) distorted mains voltage and current waveforms
from an inverter-fed motor-driven water pump showing severe
distortion
326 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

is the voltage trace from a North Sea oil platform, and shows the voltage profile
that would be experienced by all the supplied equipment. It is clearly a long
way from a pure sinusoid, and contains a significant level of other harmonic
components.
The second trace, Figure 14.16(b), is of the voltage and current measured in the
feed from an inverter-fed motor driving water pump, which clearly shows an
enormous amount of distortion. Carrying out a straight frequency analysis of this
current waveform, as would be done in a conventional MCSA process, will show
up huge peaks at many frequencies, and would suggest all sorts of problems with
the motor, whereas in reality the distortions to the current waveform have mainly
arisen from the distorted voltage and do not indicate any faults in the rotating
equipment.

14.7.2 How an MBVI system works

Separating the effects of voltage distortions is done by creating a mathematical
model of the relationship between voltage and current, and then using this to pre-
dict the expected current for the given shape of voltage waveform, as shown in
Figure 14.17. The difference between measured and predicted current, the residual
current, is then analysed for frequency components in a manner analogous to
vibration analysis. The resulting spectrum can then be analysed to match observed
frequencies against characteristic equipment frequencies.
MBVI systems can either be portable, for periodic testing, such as the Faraday
Predictive P100, Figure 14.18(a), or be permanently installed CM systems such as
the Faraday Predictive S200, Figure 14.18(b).

In order to understand the outputs, it helps to understand the

underlying way MBVI system work
Voltage input – shape / size Resulting current – shape /
Motor-Compressor system size

Linear mathematical model

Measured
Volts in current

Predicted
current

Residual current

Expert analysis FFT

Spectrum (PSD)
Automated,
Simple
first-cut
rules
diagnoses

Figure 14.17 Process for removing voltage distortion and analysing residual
current spectral features
 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 327

(a)

(b)

Figure 14.18 Examples of MBVI systems: (a) a complete portable system and
(b) a permanently installed system

Either system generally measures both voltage and current on all three phases.
The installation of the equipment is generally done at the machine switch-gear,
typically in a clean, dry, accessible switch-room. As a result, the system is invul-
nerable to dirt, flammable atmospheres or risk of damage during maintenance
work. Permanently installed systems monitor the condition of the equipment
around the clock and communicate continuously with software. They display the
current state of the equipment, together with alarms if an unacceptable condition is
reached and trend graphs to display the rate of deterioration. Typical systems can
give an automated diagnosis at the level of unbalance, misalignment, bearing pro-
blems, rotor and stator problems based on the location of spectral peaks. They are
also able to give direct electrical outputs such as rms current and voltage, active
power, power factor, current balance, voltage balance, total harmonic distortion and
the levels of harmonic distortion at individual odd harmonics up to thirteenth. In
addition, they typically provide outputs with an overall assessment of the condition
of the equipment and the electrical supply.

14.7.3 An MBVI system and AI

Despite only measuring voltage and current drawn by the motor, MBVI systems are
able to detect a wide range of mechanical and operational factors in the driven
equipment as well as the motor mechanical and electrical behaviour.
328 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

The diagnostic process can use a number of steps that can be regarded as AI,
including automated mathematical model building, machine learning and rules-
based reasoning. Further developments in the use of machine learning using neural
networks are expected to give more precise diagnostic capability, and the ability to
compare the behaviour of one item of equipment against an individually tailored
group of similar equipment.
The diagnosis and trending functionality is comparable to vibration monitor-
ing, and the same rules apply to the frequencies at which faults show up – for
example, unbalance will show up at 1 rotational speed, vane passing will show up
at the appropriate multiple of n rotational speed, where n is the number of vanes,
and bearing features will show up at exactly the same characteristic frequencies as
would be seen by vibration monitoring, see the Table in Figure 14.19.
The signals detected by MBVI systems are not identical to those detected by
vibration systems, since the motor current is sensitive to torsional signals, whereas
vibration detects radial signals or axial signals, depending on sensor orientation.
This makes MBVI systems less sensitive than vibration to unbalance, but more
sensitive to things like internal deterioration in centrifugal pumps, affecting internal
flow patterns. MBVI systems also seem to be more sensitive than accelerometers to
journal bearing features and rubbing behaviour. They are particularly good at
picking up belt drive signals.
Because torsional signals are un-attenuated along a rotating shaft, MBVI sys-
tems can detect phenomena at the far end of long shafts. So, for example, in the
case of a vertical axis centrifugal pump with a long shaft, where the pump is
mounted at the bottom of a liquid reservoir and motor mounted at the top in a dry
location, many meters above, MBVI can still clearly detect phenomena all the way
along the shaft from within the pump. This makes them particularly suitable for

Feature Accelerometer Motor Comments The motor outputs

sensitivity sensitivity are generally MORE
Unbalance sensitive to torsional
Misalignment signals and LESS
sensitive to radial
Looseness
signals than
Rubbing Integer sub-harmonics conventional
Rolling accelerometers.
element
bearings They are surprisingly
Journal sensitive to both
bearings journal bearing
Flow phenomena and REB
turbulence phenomena.
Cavitation
Internal And of course also
corrosion provide info on
Belt drives electrical phenomena

Figure 14.19 MBVI systems identify similar phenomena to accelerometers

 Application of artificial intelligence techniques to CM 329

submerged or bore-hole pumps, where accelerometer mounting can be difficult and

expensive.
Virtually all of these systems also have the capability to provide full MCSA
analysis, producing the outputs of similar format, with the same guidelines on
acceptability, in terms of decibels difference between fundamental and pole-pass
frequency.

14.8 Conclusions
The techniques of AI have been potentially valuable for the CM of electrical
machines, because the underlying physics of machine operation and dynamics is so
rich in fundamental rules, see Chapters 8 and 9, and these can be exploited by an
expert system.
This chapter has shown that these techniques could be used to improve the
signal-to-noise ratio in a fault situation, particularly in the complex area of mon-
itoring terminal ‘performance’ conditions and the difficult sub-set of that, the
detection and measurement of PD activity.
An abiding lesson from this chapter is to understand the importance in CM of
relating various monitoring signals with one another, what was described in the first
edition of this text as multi-parameter monitoring. It is clear, however, that the
future of machine CM will be heavily affected by multi-parameter monitoring and
by the application of AI to that process.
The chapter has outlined three AI techniques, which could improve the elec-
trical machines CM:
● Expert systems,
● Fuzzy logic,
● ANNs also extended to include deep learning from big data to un-mine the
information in complex relationships.
An example of the use of AI in electrical machine CM is set out in this chapter
using model-based voltage and current (MBVI) systems.
These AI techniques must be the future trend for CM electrical machines,
especially in environments where machines are being incorporated into VSD sys-
tems, rich in data, and being applied to integrated engineering systems, in high
integrity environments, such as electric vehicles, rail traction and ship propulsion.
Perhaps the best outcome for AI would be if it could use data to close the loop
between monitoring a machine and deriving its reliability, relating measurements
directly to failure rate, availability and asset management. Some of the largest
installations with the potential to make that like are our distributed and expanding
renewable energy generation assets, such as wind and tidal power farms.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 15
Safety, training and qualification

15.1 Introduction
This book is mainly concerned the science and technology of electrical machine
CM. However, since our first edition, this has now become a significant industry in
support of our use of electrical machinery for generation and general plant.
As the appendices show there are now international standards applicable to
CM of electrical machinery, although these are still in early stages of development.
Consequently, industry is demanding a level of expertise from its CM operatives
commensurate with the importance of the task in hand. Therefore, this final chapter
briefly summarises the safety, training and qualifications that should be expected of
staff undertaking CM.
They may not need to be experts in electrical machinery but must be safe and
competent in the operation of monitoring equipment and in the recording and
accurate presentation of the information that arises from it, if their work is to make
a sound contribution to condition-based maintenance and asset management.

15.2 Safety

When planning and undertaking CM activities on electrical machines regardless

of whether these activities are intrusive or non-intrusive, there are three key human
areas that should be considered, summarised in Figure 15.1, and there are three
overarching risks:
● Risk of injury and or long-term illness to person(s) undertaking the CM activity,
● Risk of damage to the plant or equipment subject to the CM activity,
● Risk of damage to the CM equipment being used.
Failure to address the hazards and associated risks of a specific CM activity
could potentially result in harm to people, damage to plant or equipment, business
interruption, organisational reputational damage and damage to CM equipment and
the subsequent costs for repair or replacement.
The hazards presented to persons undertaking CM activities fall into two
categories:
● General safety hazards, associated with the working area and environment, e.g.
slips, trips and falls, vehicle movements, working at height, working outside
and lone working,
332 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

Figure 15.1 The main safety risks in carrying out electrical machine CM

● System derived hazards, associated with the process, e.g. electricity, steam,
gas, water, chemicals and stored energy. Most organisations use safe systems
of work and working practices to manage risks to persons from both general
safety and system derived hazards. Safe systems of work can encompass
training and competence requirements, requirements for risk assessments and
method statements prior to work, setting to work procedures, application of
safety rules for isolation and subsequent work or testing of plant items and
returning equipment to service procedures. It is recommended that electrical
CM tasks are planned and undertaken in accordance with a suitable safe system
of work.
Through inappropriate application or incorrect set-up of electrical CM equip-
ment, it is possible to damage plant or equipment subject to the activity.
This risk exists predominantly when the tool or technique applied is intrusive, for
example the injection of excessive current or voltage into a piece of electrical
equipment can lead to component, conductor or electrical insulation system damage.
Similarly, it may also be possible to damage the CM equipment through
incorrect application or set-up, for example undertaking a voltage measurement
with equipment that is not rated for that voltage.
It is therefore essential that prior to undertaking a CM activity, the specific
application is assessed and deemed appropriate. Plant or equipment under test and
the test equipment must be suitably rated for the activity. When setting up the
monitoring equipment, test connections and test settings, for example, injection
voltages in insulation resistance tests should be checked and confirmed as correct.
The function of any in-built protection measures, such as overloads, should also be
confirmed operational prior to commencing. For more complex CM activities the
preparation of a step-by-step procedure, detailing the specific equipment connec-
tions, settings and test durations may be appropriate.

15.3 Training and qualification

There are as yet no standards for training and qualification of operatives for CM of
electrical machines and drives, however there are well-developed standards for
vibration and MCSA monitoring, see the list at the end of the book.
 Safety, training and qualification 333

A categorisation, from ISO 18436 Part 2, of the training and qualifications

required for vibration monitoring, would be instructive for any prospective standard
on CM of electrical machines and drives training and qualification, as follows.

15.3.1 Training and qualification categories

Individuals recognised or certified for vibration monitoring should be classified in
one of four categories depending upon their qualifications. They shall have
demonstrated competence in the concepts of machinery vibration CM and diag-
nostics of machines for their classification as described in the following sections of
ascending competence.

15.3.2 Category I – data collector

Individuals meeting the requirements for Category I are recognised as being qua-
lified to perform a range of simple single-channel machinery vibration CM and
diagnostics of machines activities in accordance with ISO 17359 and ISO 13373-1.
They should neither be responsible, for example, for the choice of sensor or for any
analysis to be conducted, nor for the assessment of test results, except for identi-
fying alert conditions against a pre-established alert setting or settings. They shall
be qualified to:
● Operate portable instrumentation on pre-assigned or pre-programmed routes,
● Acquire readings from permanently installed instrumentation,
● Input results into a database and download monitoring routes from a computer,
● Conduct testing under steady-state operating conditions following predefined
procedures,
● Be able to recognise that no signal is present,
● Be able to compare overall or single value vibration measurements against pre-
established alert settings.

15.3.3 Category II – specialist

Individuals certified to Category II are qualified personnel who are certified to per-
form industrial machinery vibration measurements and basic vibration analysis using
single-channel measurements, with or without phase trigger signals, according to
established and recognised procedures. Personnel certified to Category II require all
the knowledge and skills expected of Category I and shall also be qualified to:
● Select the appropriate machinery vibration measurement technique,
● Set up instruments for basic resolution of amplitude, frequency and time,
● Perform basic vibration analysis of machinery and components, such as shafts,
bearings, gears, fans, pumps and motors, using the spectrum analysis,
● Maintain a database of results and trends,
● Perform basic (single-channel) impact tests to determine the natural
frequencies,
● Classify, interpret and evaluate the test results (including acceptance tests) in
accordance with applicable specifications and standards,
334 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

● Recommend minor corrective actions,

● Understand basic single-plane field balancing concepts,
● Be aware of some of the causes and effects of bad measurement data.

15.3.4 Category III – analyst

Individuals certified to Category III are qualified to perform and/or direct and/or
establish programmes for vibration CM and diagnostics of machines in accordance
with ISO 17359 and ISO 13373-1. Personnel classified to Category III require all
the knowledge and skills expected of personnel classified to Category I and
Category II and shall also be qualified to:
● Select the appropriate machinery vibration analysis technique,
● Specify the appropriate vibration instrumentation hardware and software for
both portable and permanently installed systems,
● Measure and perform diagnosis of single-channel frequency spectra, as well as
time domain plots such as waveforms and orbits, under both steady-state and
unsteady-state operating conditions, with or without a phase trigger,
● Establish vibration monitoring programmes, including determination of
machines for periodic/continuous monitoring, frequency of testing,
route plans,
● Establish programmes for the specification of vibration levels and acceptance
criteria for new machinery,
● Measure and analyse the basic operating deflection shapes,
● Understand and be able to direct the use of alternative CM technologies, such
as acoustic emission, thermography, motor current and oil analysis,
● Recommend field corrective actions, such as balancing, alignment and repla-
cement of machine parts,
● Be able to use acceleration enveloping or demodulation,
● Perform basic single-plane field balancing,
● Report to management regarding programme objectives, budgets, cost justifi-
cation and personnel development,
● Prepare reports for appropriate personnel on machine condition, recommend
the corrective action and report on the effectiveness of repairs,
● Provide instructions and technical direction to vibration trainees.

15.3.5 Category IV – expert

Individuals certified to Category IV are qualified to perform and/or direct vibration
CM and diagnostics of machines in accordance with ISO 17359 and ISO 13373-1
and all types of machinery vibration measurements and analysis. Personnel certi-
fied to Category IV require all the knowledge and skills expected of personnel
certified to Categories I, II, III and shall also be qualified to:
● Apply vibration theory and techniques, including measurement and inter-
pretation of multi-channel spectral results such as frequency response func-
tions, phase and coherence,
 Safety, training and qualification 335

● Understand and perform signal analysis, including understanding of frequency

and time domain processing, including orbits and their limitations,
● Determine the natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping of systems,
components and assemblies,
● Determine the operating deflection shapes of machines and connected struc-
tures and recommend means for correction,
● Use generally recognised advanced techniques for vibration analysis, para-
meter identification and fault diagnosis,
● Apply the basic principles of rotor-bearing dynamics to vibration diagnosis,
● Conduct basic two-plane field balancing,
● Recommend advanced two-plane influence coefficient or static/couple balancing,
● Recommend corrective actions and/or design modifications, including com-
ponent change or repair, isolation, damping, change of stiffness and change
of mass,
● Provide technical guidance to vibration trainees,
● Interpret and evaluate published ISO codes of practice, International Standards
and specifications,
● Recognise vibration caused by gas pulsation in machines such as reciprocating
machines and screw compressors, and to measure the necessary parameters and
recommend means for correction,
● Recommend corrective actions for resilient mounting and other holding-down
and foundation problems.

15.4 Conclusions

As the CM industry has developed there has been an increasing interest in stan-
dardising the techniques used, see Chapter 14. There has also been interest in
developing a standard approach to safety, training and qualification and this is
exemplified by the development of guides to carrying out CM tasks, pioneered by
the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT), a first draft example of
which is shown in Appendix B.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 16
Overall conclusions

16.1 CM techniques
Chapters 1–4 have explained how the interpretation of electrical machine condition
must be informed by causality and our view is that an important change in CM over
the last 40 years is ensuring that it is firmly directed towards detecting and prog-
nosing real machine failure root causes. In so doing, successful CM directly
addresses, at the earliest practicable stage, machine unreliability and, more
importantly, gives the operator a prognosis, which can be used to improve
availability.
Chapters 2–4 introduced the physics of electrical machines their failure modes
and reliability, Chapter 5 dealt with signal processing and instrumentation, Chapters
6–10 dealt with a range of online techniques, Chapter 11 dealt with monitoring
variable speed machines whilst Chapter 12 deals with offline techniques.
This book has described the following major monitoring techniques for elec-
trical machines, in the following ascending order of usefulness:
● Shaft voltage or current has been suggested as universal panaceas for com-
prehensive electrical machine monitoring but have not been proven as reliable
CM techniques.
● Shaft flux, current and power signals are capable of detecting faults in both the
electrical and mechanical parts of a drive train.
● Shaft flux monitoring is non-invasive, broad bandwidth (5 Hz–20 kHz) and
uses a single flux coil sensor, but it is complex to analyse and untested in the
field. Little further work has been done on this technology since its inception in
the 1980s, therefore it cannot be recommended to operators. However, some
new industrial applications, such as traction, electric cars or aerospace, could
make it exceptionally appealing because of its ease of fitting and universality.
● Motor speed has been analysed to detect rotor electrical faults, IAS, it is simple
and requires a low bandwidth signal (<1 kHz) but has not been widely used by
operators.
● Vibration and shock pulse monitoring and analysis are non-invasive but use widely
available sensors and broad bandwidth with complex analysis (5 Hz–50 kHz). The
precise selection and location of these sensors is very important as they are
generally distant from the seat of any defect action and signals maybe attenuated
by machine and bearing enclosure responses.
338 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

However, because of its wide application on rotating machines in the engi-

neering industry, with a comprehensive set of standards and training proce-
dures, vibration analysis and shock pulse analysis for rolling element bearings
have established themselves as reliable and widely accepted techniques for
electrical machine operators.
● Chemical and wear analysis have been demonstrated to be effective global
monitoring techniques for electrical machines producing narrow bandwidth
signals (<1 Hz), but the high cost of the equipment needed and large quantities
of data generated by chemical analysis currently confine their application to
only the largest electrical machines where such analyses can be processed.
● Electrical discharge activity requires wide bandwidth (up to 10 MHz). PD
measurement has shown itself to be the most problematic electrical method of
machine insulation CM. It requires special sensors and complex analysis for
fault detection. However, it addresses one of the most vital parts of the elec-
trical machine, it can detect global effects, including possibly remanent life of
machine insulation, and it does give a long warning before failure. Yet analysis
shows that with modern materials the proportion of machine failures due to
insulation faults is now less than a third. Furthermore, the detection methods
rely on the most advanced signal processing to extract useful indications,
which are then open to wide interpretation by PD experts. When applied to the
distributed, multi-path, multi-connection, variably stressed insulation system
of an electrical machine winding it has a difficult task. Work still continues to
develop this method, including AI, particularly to the largest electrical
machines, turbo-generators and hydro-generators, to determine overall wind-
ing insulation deterioration but that objective has not yet been reached reliably.
● Current monitoring is also non-invasive, but uses existing sensors, requires
significant bandwidth (5 Hz–20 kHz) and has established itself, as MCSA, as a
reliable and widely-accepted machine monitoring technique for operators.
Power monitoring is also non-invasive, uses existing sensors but requires less
bandwidth (<10 kHz) and less complex spectral interpretation to detect faults
than MCSA, but it is still not widely accepted by operators and thus deserves
investigation for future development by operators.
● Temperature detection ( C), a low bandwidth (<0.1 kHz) simple measurement,
has repeatedly been shown to be an effective global monitoring technique for
electrical machines and is widely used by operators, because temperature
limits the withstand capabilities of magnetic and insulation materials, at the
heart of electrical machines.
Temperature rise (DK) is particularly valuable because it is directly
related to power loss, an important indicator of core and winding fault
development.
Therefore, temperature measurement, both  C and DK, should be employed
more widely by operators making use of temperature imaging and modern
sensor technology such as fibre optics. Experience shows that by tying such
measurements to learnt thermal models could make such monitoring much
more effective at predicting deterioration and can be linked to CBM.
 Overall conclusions 339

● Comprehensive monitoring of an electrical machine can be achieved by mea-

suring current, power, vibration, chemical, wear, temperature and PD activity.
Together these signals contain inter-related information. We have seen how
closely electrical and vibration signals follow one another, although the
vibration is attenuated by machine and bearing enclosure responses. The
availability of high-quality, digitally sampled, mechanical vibration and elec-
trical terminal ‘performance’ data from electrical machines opens the way to
comprehensive machine and prime mover monitoring. However, these signals
require a high data rate and broad bandwidth (up to 50 kHz) for adequate
machine analysis, but in VSDs these signals may already be available from the
VSD controller.
Information from these wide bandwidth signals requires complex analysis,
which must take account of the inter-relationship between electrical and
mechanical signals to accurately detect faults, provide fault prognosis and
contribute to CB. This process is still in its infancy, but it is notable that
electrical and mechanical signals give more immediate indication of machine
damage, whereas chemical, wear and temperature signals integrate damage
progression, have a lower bandwidth and are probably closer to the relation-
ship between root cause and failure Mode. This could also benefit from wider
bandwidth but fundamental information available from PD.
● Future CM of electrical machines must be oriented more closely towards the
detection of known, identified machine failure root causes, including bearing
faults. Future research on CM of electrical machines should reflect the above
and concentrate more on proving the effectiveness of new techniques on
operating plant.

16.2 AI and ML

Chapters 13 and 14 have shown that AI and ML are likely to play an increasingly
important role in the CM of electrical machines, especially as an increasing number
of them are being supplied from VSDs, which already have a rich store of signals
being monitored by VSD controllers. This is emphasised by the increasing impor-
tance of AI provided data for asset management of capital plant that incorporates
large numbers of electrical machines, particularly in the oil and gas, conventional
and renewable power generation, metropolitan and high-speed rail, aerospace and
ship propulsion industries. However, this book has shown that there are a few
important lessons to be learned from experience to date, as follows:
● Application of simple well-understood CM methods, such as MCSA and
MBVI, will be employed by many traditional operators and continue to be of
importance,
● The availability of a wealth of application of diverse signal analysis, e.g.
vibration, IAS, MCSA and MBVI expressions in this book facilitate progress
in the direction of multi-parameter monitoring. This has proved very success-
ful in bridging the knowledge gap between operating engineers and managers
340 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

to improve the response to monitoring signals and should continue to pave the
way to more complex AI,
● Simplistic ‘Rule-based’ AI methods are more likely to gain application in the
initial stages of AI because they are easier for practical engineers and man-
agers to understand,
● Complex ‘Neural network’ AI methods, while potentially more powerful,
maybe difficult to apply because of resistance by practical engineers and
managers, in spite of having the potential to deliver more comprehensive
results with clearer and longer prognoses,
● Improving management confidence in more complex AI methods to facilitate
CBM, LCC and Asset Management techniques applied to electrical machine
drives will be of key importance in the future. This will be influenced by the
capital value of complex plant and the large potential savings such techniques
could deliver. There will be an important need in the future to provide much
clearer evidence of the cost and prognosis benefits of these methods,
● The areas where the above techniques, CM, AI and CBM, are likely to be
applicable in the emerging technologies of electrical drives in the oil and gas,
conventional and renewable power generation, metropolitan and high-speed
rail, aerospace and ship propulsion industries, where Asset Management is
very important.

16.3 Standards, training, safety and qualification

Standards have now been developed for the industry, see Appendix Standards, but
training, safety and qualification knowledge in electrical machines CM is, as yet
embryonic. Our Chapters 15 and Appendix B aim to improve the knowledge in these
areas, which will be essential as we transition to AI methods for CBM and asset
management of complex VSD and electrical machine installations in oil and gas,
conventional or renewable power generation, metropolitan or high-speed rail, aerospace
and ship propulsion industries.

16.4 The future importance

AI and ML techniques applied to electrical machine drives will be successful in the
future if they exploit the comprehensive signals and fundamental physical rules
included in this book in a safe, repeatable and trainable way.
AI and ML techniques should also use multi-parameter monitoring to raise
signal-to-noise ratio and increase operator confidence in CM interpretation and will
provide powerful interpretive information for machine-drive systems in the future.
PD monitoring has started to use these techniques and MBVI has shown that
these methods can be valuable.
At the moment the industry is still in a learning phase but there is a lot that
could be done in machine CM, especially in future support of CBM and asset
management of plant in high capital value industries.
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 Standards

BS EN IEC 60034-1:2010 Rotating electrical machines. Rating and

performance.
BS EN IEC 60034-2-1:2014 Rotating electrical machines. Standard methods
for determining losses and efficiency from tests, excluding machines for
traction vehicles.
BS EN IEC 60034-2-2:2010 Rotating electrical machines. Specific methods
for determining separate losses of large machines from tests. Supplement to
BS EN 60034-2-1:2014.
BS EN IEC 60034-14:2004 Rotating electrical machines. Mechanical vibration
of certain machines with shaft heights 56 mm and higher. Measurement,
evaluation and limits of vibration severity.
BS EN IEC 60034-18-42:2017 Rotating electrical machines. Partial discharge
resistant electrical insulation systems (Type II) used in rotating electrical
machines fed from voltage converters – Qualification tests.
BS EN IEC 60034-27-1:2018 Rotating electrical machines. Off-line partial
discharge measurements on the winding insulation.
BS EN 60034-27-3:2016 Rotating electrical machines. Dielectric dissipation
factor measurement on stator winding insulation of rotating electrical
machines.
BS EN IEC 60034-27-4:2018 Rotating electrical machines. Measurement of
insulation resistance and polarization index on winding insulation of rotating
electrical machines.
BS EN IEC 60085:2007 Electrical insulation – Thermal evaluation and
designation.
BS EN IEC 60300-3-3:2017 Dependability management – Application guide –
Life cycle costing
BS EN IEC 60812:2018 Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA and
FMECA).
BS EN IEC 61400-25-6:2016 Communications for monitoring and control of
wind power plants – Logical node classes and data classes for condition
monitoring.
CDA/MS/NVSH107 Canadian Government Vibration Specification, no longer
issued.
GL Renewables Certification 2013. Guideline for the certification of condition
monitoring systems for wind turbines, Hamburg, Germany.
362 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

IEEE Std 43:2013 Recommended Practice for Testing Insulation Resistance of

Electric Machinery.
IEEE 56:2016 Guide for Insulation Maintenance of Electric Machines.
IEEE Std 95:2002 Recommended Practice for Insulation Testing of AC
Electric Machinery (2300 V and Above) With High Direct Voltage.
IEEE Std 117:2015 Standard Test Procedure for Thermal Evaluation of
Systems of Insulating Materials for Random-Wound AC Electric
Machinery.
IEEE Std 286:2000 Recommended Practice for Measurement of Power Factor
Tip-Up of Electric Machinery Stator Coil Insulation.
IEEE Std 433:2009 Recommended Practice for Insulation Testing of AC
Electric Machinery with High Voltage at Very Low Frequency.
IEEE Std 434:2006 Guide for Functional Evaluation of Insulation Systems for
AC Electric Machines Rated 2300 V and Above.
IEEE Std 493:1997 Gold Book – Recommended Practice for Design of
Reliable Industrial & Commercial Power.
IEEE Std 522:2004 Guide for Testing Turn Insulation of Form-Wound Stator
Coils for Alternating-Current Electric Machines.
IEEE Std 1434:2014 Guide for the Measurement of Partial Discharges in AC
Electric Machinery.
ISO 1940-1:2003 Mechanical vibration – Balance quality requirements for
rotors in a constant (rigid) state Part 1: Specification and verification of
balance tolerances.
ISO 10816-1:1995 Mechanical vibration – Evaluation of machine vibration by
measurements on non-rotating parts – Part 1: General guidelines.
ISO 10816-3:2009 Mechanical vibration – Evaluation of machine vibration by
measurements on non-rotating parts – Part 3: Industrial machines with
nominal power above 15 kW and nominal speeds between 120 and 15 000
rev/min when measured in situ.
ISO 18436 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – Requirements
for training and certification of personnel – Part 2: Vibration condition
monitoring and diagnostics.
ISO 13372:2012 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Vocabulary.
ISO 13373-1:2002 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Vibration condition monitoring – Part 1: General procedures.
ISO 13374-1:2003 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – Data
processing, communication and presentation – Part 1: General guidelines.
ISO 13374-3:2012 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – Data
processing, communication and presentation – Part 3: Communication.
ISO 13374-4:2015 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machine systems –
Data processing, communication and presentation – Part 4: Presentation.
ISO 13379-1:2012 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – Data
interpretation and diagnostics techniques – Part 1: General guidelines.
 Standards 363

ISO 13379-2:2015 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – Data

interpretation and diagnostics techniques – Part 2: Data-driven applications.
ISO 13381-1:2015 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Prognostics Part 1: General guidelines.
ISO 17359:2018 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – General
guidelines.
ISO 18129:2015 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Approaches for performance diagnosis.
ISO 18434-1:2008 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Thermography-Part 1: General procedures.
ISO 18436-1:2012 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Requirements for qualification and assessment of personnel – Part 1:
Requirements for assessment bodies and the assessment process.
ISO 18436-2:2014 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Requirements for qualification and assessment of personnel – Part 2:
Vibration condition monitoring and diagnostics.
ISO 18436-3:2012 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Requirements for qualification and assessment of personnel – Part 3:
Requirements for training bodies and the training process.
ISO 20958:2013 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machine systems –
Electrical signature analysis of three-phase induction motors.
ISO 22096:2007 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – Acoustic
emission.
ISO 29821:2018 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines –
Ultrasound – General guidelines, procedures and validation.
MIL-HNDBK 217:1991 Military Handbook: Reliability Prediction Of Electronic
Equipment, no longer issued.
NEMA MG-1:2016 Motor Generator Standard.
VDI 2056:1997 Assessment standards for mechanical vibrations of machines,
no longer issued.
This page intentionally left blank
 Appendix A
Failure modes and root causes in the
rotating electrical machines

Based on the machine structure shown in Figure 4.8.

Sub- Component Failure mode Root cause Early indicators

assembly of the fault
Enclosure Heat Failure of heat ex- Defective material Higher winding
exchanger changer pipework temperature
Defective installation Higher coolant
temperature
Corrosion Moisture and lowered
insulation
resistance
Vibration Increased winding
discharge activity
Shock Vibration
Failure of heat Defective material
exchanger tubes Defective installation
Corrosion
Vibration
Shock
Electrical Insulation failure of Defective material Increased connector
connec- the connector discharge activity
tions Defective installation
Excessive dielectric stress
Excessive temperature
Mechanical failure Defective material Higher winding
of connector temperature
Defective installation Vibration
Vibration Altered machine
Shock performance
Bushings Insulation failure of Defective material Increased bushing
bushing Defective installation discharge activity
Excessive dielectric stress
Excessive temperature
Vibration
Shock
(Continues)
366 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(Continued)

Sub- Component Failure mode Root cause Early indicators

assembly of the fault
Mechanical failure Defective material
of bushing Defective installation
Vibration
Shock
Bearings and Loss of lubrication, Lubrication system Higher bearing
seals grease or oil failure temperature
Lack of maintenance Bearing vibration
Failure of seals Bearing noise
Mechanical failure Loss of lubrication
of the bearing Vibration
element Shock
Overload
Excessive wear Loss of lubrication
Vibration
Shock
Overload
Electrically Shaft voltage Higher bearing
provoked failure temperature
of the bearing Vibration Bearing vibration-
element Shock Bearing noise
Electrical fault Shaft current
Stator core Frame Vibration Defective design Vibration
Defective installation
Vibration in the driven
load or prime mover
Circulating current Defective design Higher frame
temperature
Core Core hot spot Defective design Higher core
temperature
Defective manufacture
Contamination or debris
Excessive vibration
Circulating current
Excessive temperature
Core slackening Defective design Vibration
Defective manufacture,
faulty assembly
Excessive vibration
Component failure
Core clamp Clamp hot spot Defective design Higher clamp
temperature
Defective manufacture
Circulating current
Excessive temperature
Core clamp failure Defective manufacture Vibration
Excessive vibration Higher clamp
temperature
Excessive temperature
Stator Conductors Failure of conductor Defective design Vibration
winding cooling hoses Defective manufacture
Excessive vibration
Excessive temperature
 Failure modes and root causes in the rotating electrical machines 367

(Continued)

Sub- Component Failure mode Root cause Early indicators

assembly of the fault
Failure of sub- Excessive vibration Vibration
conductors Shock Increased winding
discharge activity
Component failure Increased winding
arcing activity
Failure of the Excessive vibration Vibration
conductor bar Shock Increased winding
discharge activity
Component failure
Insulation Insulation failure of Defective design Increased winding
the main wall discharge activity
insulation Defective manufacture
Overtemperature
Excessive dielectric stress
due to overvoltage
Excessive vibration
Excessive temperature
Insulation failure of Defective design
the sub-conductor Defective manufacture
insulation Overtemperature
Excessive dielectric
stress, due to high
dV/dt
Excessive vibration
Excessive temperature
End winding End winding insula- Defective design Vibration
tion failure Defective manufacture Increased winding
discharge activity
Excessive temperature
Excessive dielectric stress
due to overvoltage
Excessive dielectric
stress, due to high
dV/dt
Excessive vibration
Contamination or debris
End winding move- Defective design
ment or fretting Defective manufacture
Excessive vibration
Contamination or debris
End winding Oil in enclosure
contamination Moisture in the enclosure
Contamination or debris
Rotor Conductors Failure of sub- Excessive vibration Vibration
winding conductors Shock Increased winding
discharge activity
Component failure Increased winding
arcing activity
Excessive temperature
Failure of conductor Excessive vibration Vibration
bar Shock Increased winding
discharge activity
Component failure
Excessive temperature
(Continues)
368 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(Continued)

Sub- Component Failure mode Root cause Early indicators

assembly of the fault
Insulation Insulation failure Defective design Increased winding
of main wall discharge activity
insulation Defective manufacture
Overtemperature
Excessive dielectric stress
due to overvoltage
Excessive vibration
Excessive temperature
Insulation failure of Defective design
sub-conductor in- Defective manufacture
sulation Overtemperature
Excessive dielectric
stress, due to high
dV/dt
Excessive vibration
Excessive temperature
End winding End winding insula- Defective design Vibration
tion failure Defective manufacture Increased winding
discharge activity
Overtemperature
Excessive dielectric stress
due to overvoltage
Excessive dielectric
stress, due to high
dV/dt
Excessive vibration
Excessive temperature-
Contamination or
debris
End winding move- Defective design
ment or fretting Defective manufacture
Excessive vibration
Contamination or debris
End winding band- Defective design
ing failure Defective manufacture
Overspeed
Overload
Excessive vibration
Excessive temperature
Contamination or debris
Rotor Shaft Shaft failure Torsional vibration Cracks located by
body NDT or run Down
tests
Shock loading Vibration
Overload
Rotor core Core hot spot Defective design Higher core
and body temperature
Defective manufacture
Debris in core
Excessive vibration
Circulating current
Excessive temperature
 Failure modes and root causes in the rotating electrical machines 369

(Continued)

Sub- Component Failure mode Root cause Early indicators

assembly of the fault
Core slackening Defective design Vibration
Defective manufacture,
faulty assembly
Excessive vibration
Core clamp failure
Integrity failure of Defective design Cracks located by
body or wedges NDT or run Down
tests
Defective manufacture
Excessive vibration Vibration
Slip rings Sparking Defective maintenance Increased brush-gear
arcing activity
Overheating Defective brushes Increased brush wear
Damaged slip rings Excessive temperature Increased brush-gear
temperature
Commutator Sparking Defective maintenance
Overheating Defective brushes
Damaged Excessive
commutator temperature
Brush-gear Overheating Defective maintenance
Damaged Defective brushes
brush-gear
Excessive temperature
This page intentionally left blank
 Appendix B
Draft CM good practice guide, MCSA

B.1 Introduction

B.1.1 What this series of guides is about

● This is proposed to be the first of a series of the British Institute of Non-Destructive
Testing (BINDT) Good Practice Guides that seeks to set out a standard to be
followed by the users, practitioners and vendors of this technology for monitoring
the condition of electrical machines using condition-monitoring techniques,
● This guide is currently in draft, under discussion and has not yet been issued,
● The objective is to help the users adopt the most appropriate technique for their
requirement, and to apply it in a safe and an effective manner,
● It also aims to provide a framework for informed discussions between tech-
nology providers, practitioners, asset owners and operators, which informs
condition-monitoring output end-users. This is so that the monitoring expec-
tations of all parties can realistically be achieved, and the nature, reliability and
specificity of results obtained, are aligned before commercial contracts for the
work are agreed,
● This guide suggests that MCSA readings, taken regularly at perhaps 1 year
intervals, can be used to monitor the integrity of a large electrical machine assets
as proposed by ISO 17359 (2018) in the manner set out by ISO 20958 (2013),
● These good practice guides are intended as guides rather than a detailed
technical manual.

B.1.2 What this particular guide is about

This guide covers motor current signature analysis (MCSA) applied to electrical
motors and generators.

B.2 Overall description

Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is an electrical condition-monitoring

technique for detecting electrical and mechanical defects in rotating machines by
making accurate measurements of the stator current and identifying and analysing
the frequency components within this current.
372 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

The air-gap of an electrical machine is the clearance between a rotating rotor

and the fixed stator core. The magnetic field of the machine crosses this air-gap and
modulates the stator current, whether it is a motor or generator.
Any defect in the machine, which affects that air-gap magnetic field, will
modulate the machine current signature and can be detected by measurement of
those modulations. This is MCSA, which is performed using equipment such as
shown in Figure B.1.
Various types of defects can be detected by MCSA for various types of
machines, see Table B.1, including:
● Faulty air-gap eccentricity due to worn bearings of the machine or inaccurate
manufacture,
● Unbalanced phase current caused by machine stator winding defects,
● Altered phase currents caused by the machine rotor winding damage, whether
it is squirrel cage broken bars, such as Figure B.2, or defects in a traditional
winding.

(a)

Motor

Signal Spectrum
Current conditioner analyser
transformer

3-Phase
supply
(b)

Figure B.1 Typical MCSA set-up in the field: (a) measurements in the field and
(b) MCSA data collection system
 Draft CM good practice guide, MCSA 373

Table B.1 Typical air gap values for a range of machine types and MCSA
applicability

Machine type Rating, MW Air-gap Applicability

size, mm
AC induction <0.1 1–2 Applicable
motors 0.1–3 2–3
or generators >3 >4
AC synchronous 0.1–3 7–10 Applicable requiring careful analysis
machines 3–50 10–30 Applicable but more care required
>50 >30 At the limit of MCSA applicability
DC machines Various sizes Not yet considered for MCSA
and ratings but could be applicable

Broken bars—Note: Bars have lifted from slots

Ventilating ducts
End ring

Rotor shaft spider assembly Rotor core

Figure B.2 Type of fault that could be detected by MCSA ’IEEE

The seriousness and growth rate of these defects can also be detected and
measured against time by means of MCSA.
Information on the motor size/rating, voltage, current and whether it is single
phase or three phase, is typically found on the motor plate that is fixed to the motor
by the supplier. However, air-gap is rarely shown on such motor plates.
The method involves:
● Record details of the electrical machine being monitored,
● Take measurements on a section of cable supplying the machine, using current
sensors around the cable, where the phases are separated and not encased in
armouring,
● Obtain readings of frequency side-bands present in the current signal,
● Record those readings and compare with historical results.
374 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

B.3 Scope
MCSA is applicable to all rotating electrical machines, although it is most often
used on AC machines.
DC machines pose greater MCSA measurement and signal interpretation
issues and at present this is confined to university use.
The ability of MCSA to detect defects is dependent on the variations in the
magnetic field in the machine air-gap.
For any given magnitude of disturbance to the magnetic field, the shorter the
air-gap the more intense the change in the magnetic field intensity associated with
this disturbance, and hence greater the amplitude and the broader the bandwidth of
the modulations.
Therefore, the usefulness of MCSA to different machines can be classified as
follows:
● MCSA has been most effective and most widely applied to machines with
short air-gaps, 1–4 mm, such as squirrel cage induction machines,
● Machines with larger air-gaps, 4–7 mm, such as wound rotor induction
machines or 4 and multi-pole synchronous generators also display some
modulation of the stator current in the presence of defects. The MCSA effects
are smaller but can still be detected,
● MCSA has not been as effective for synchronous machines with larger air-
gaps > 7 mm, such as large 2- and 4-pole turbo-generators, where the mod-
ulation of stator current by defects is more difficult to extract,
● Motors driven by converters display a much broader bandwidth of signals,
which may still reveal defects but more sensitive measurement equipment may
be required, and interpretation of the results requires a greater depth of
expertise in the analyst,
● MCSA could also be used on DC motors but more sensitive measurement
equipment may be required, and interpretation of the results requires a greater
depth of expertise in the analyst. The use of MCSA on DC motors is not
generally a commercially available service yet,
● MCSA is applicable to single phase, 3-phase or multiphase machines.

B.4 Expected outputs

MCSA is a simple survey technique using equipment such as shown in Figure B.1
to look for the machine defects by the stator current spectral analysis. The mea-
surement of stator current is not made directly but in the secondary of a current
transformer (CT) or Rogowski coil.
The data presented is a stator current spectrum like Figure B.3. This shows the
energy present in the stator current at each frequency. Faults or defects show up as peaks
on this spectrum, which are located either side of the peak that corresponds to the main
supply frequency. These peaks each side, which are referred to as ‘side-bands’, are
separated from the supply frequency peak by the fault frequency. So, for example, in a
 Draft CM good practice guide, MCSA 375

No ±2 sf1 sidebands
f1 = 50.156 Hz

Current waveform PSD, dB

Gearbox in the drive Gearbox in the drive
components due to components due to
mechanical phenomenon mechanical phenomenon

44 50 56
Frequency (Hz)

f1 = 50.156 Hz
–2 sf1 (0.719 Hz) +2 sf1 (0.719 Hz)
Current waveform PSD, dB

36.2 dB

Components due to Components due to

mechanical phenomenon mechanical phenomenon

44 50 56
Frequency (Hz)

Figure B.3 Typical MCSA spectra for a defective induction motor. Taken from
Thomson et al. (2001)

system fed by a 50 Hz supply frequency, a fault with a characteristic frequency of 1 Hz

will show up as a pair of side-bands at 50  1 Hz, i.e. at 49 and 51 Hz. Figure B.3 above
shows a main peak at 60 Hz with side-bands at 58.5 and 61.5 Hz, i.e. indicating the
presence of a phenomenon with a fault frequency of 1.5 Hz.
376 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

An appropriately trained and experienced operator can distinguish between

different types of machine defects by spectral analysis of the machine stator cur-
rent, matching the frequencies detected against the characteristic frequencies of
known defects, indicating the likely sources of these effects.
If MCSA spectral analysis detects particular stator current frequency compo-
nents, seen as peaks on the spectrum, an estimation of the defect magnitude can be
made by comparing the height of the peaks at the fault frequency with the height of
the peak corresponding to the fundamental supply frequency.
The energy associated with faults is generally very small in comparison with the
fundamental frequency, perhaps of the order of one thousandth of the magnitude. A
linear plot of the spectrum would make the peaks corresponding to the fault fre-
quencies so small as to be virtually undetectable. By using a logarithmic scale, the
smaller features are effectively magnified in comparison with the larger peaks, mak-
ing it much easier to identify them. The logarithmic scale is also useful as a more
convenient measure for comparing the relative heights of the fault peaks to the fun-
damental supply frequency, with the difference being expressed in decibels (dB). For
example, in Figure B.3 above, the fault peak at 58.5 Hz has a value of about 35 dB
compared to the height of the fundamental frequency which is positioned by definition
at 0 dB. The peak at 61.5 Hz is about 45 dB. Note that the use of this scale means
that a taller peak (which indicates more energy at that frequency, and therefore a
bigger phenomenon, i.e. typically a worse fault), has a smaller dB rating.
The magnitude of this dB figure can be used to detect and assess the severity of
particular faults. For example, Table B.2 below shows rules of thumb for assessing
the severity of rotor bar problems. Notice how a larger dB figure corresponds to a
BETTER condition of the motor.
When a problem situation is identified, further scheduled MCSA testing may
reveal the rate of further deterioration and guide when shut-down and repair is needed.

Table B.2 Typical MCSA signal values

Category Iline/Ipolepass Assessment Action

1 60 dB or Excellent None
more
2 54–60 dB Good None
3 48–54 dB Moderate Continue surveys, trend
4 42–48 dB Rotor bar crack developing or Reduce survey interval,
high resistance joint(s) trend closely
5 36–42 dB Two bars likely cracked/broken Perform vibration tests
or high resistance joint likely to confirm the pro-
blem source
6 30–36 dB Multiple cracked/broken rotor Overhaul asap
bars or end rings indicated
7 Less than Multiple cracked/broken rotor Overhaul or replace as
30 dB bars or end rings very likely; soon as possible
severe problems throughout
 Draft CM good practice guide, MCSA 377

B.5 Controls and capabilities

Surveying equipment should typically be able to:
● Measure machine stator currents indirectly using a CT or Rogowski coil of
0.1 mA to 5 A,
● Analyse the current signature in the frequency range 1–1 000 Hz,
● Provide appropriately fine spectral resolution (spacing between adjacent
spectral lines). A spacing of 0.1 Hz or less is generally required in order to
detect problems such as damaged rotor bars.
● Present and display frequency spectra of this range on a screen,
● Be able to download such spectra to a computer, printer and storage system for
long-term trending,
● Optionally the equipment should be capable of carrying and implementing the
analysis software to implement present and upcoming defect detection algo-
rithms, based on the amplitude of specific current spectra peaks.

B.6 Issues
The following issues should be considered:
There are a large number of sources of electrical machine stator current
modulation, which may be due to acceptable machine construction irregularities or
the nature of the driven load. Therefore, machine defect investigation should
always be preceded by clear understanding of the current spectrum from a healthy
motor, preferably of the same rating, voltage, number of poles and load;
Electrical machines can be supplied from LV and MV bus-bars, so measure-
ments made on one motor can be affected by conducted interference from other
machines connected to the same bus-bar, resulting in distortions on the voltage
waveform. However, this is not a major problem.
Electrical machines fed by variable-speed drives will contain many high fre-
quency harmonics in their stator current, as a result of drive switching. The MCSA
method could still be used in these cases but great care needs to be taken. At this
time it is generally best to avoid conventional MCSA on inverter driven equipment;
techniques such as mode-based voltage and current (MBVI) systems which auto-
matically compensate for distorted voltage waveforms are more appropriate in
these situations.

B.7 How to apply MCSA

Typically, MCSA is applied to higher criticality equipment. Portable/hand-held
systems are typically used, such as shown in Figure B.1:
● On a regular periodic frequency, typically annually on equipment that is not
known to be encountering particular problems,
378 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition
* As a one-off, to detect whether problems have been created after a sig-
nificant event, for example:
* Exceptional load changes in service due to unusual operational conditions,
e.g. unusual starts or stops under load,
● On a tighter periodicity after a known weakness has been observed, for
example:
* Because of failure in a similar machine,
* Because of known machine load variation problems due to
operational need,
* Survey with increasing frequency if increasing fault signals are detected,
● The person doing the test needs to be familiar with how the equipment should
be used and possible sources of imbalance signals,
● Datasets should be trended by maintaining a library of results.

B.8 Data communication

There is as yet no standard data format but typical graphs showing frequency-
domain current graphs from individual machine phases in the form shown in
Figure B.3 are widely used and displayed in the References.
Tabular output of overall assessments of each machine, typically showing the
dB drop between fundamental frequency peak and the peaks corresponding to the
phenomenon of interest, which is most commonly the pole pass frequency, indi-
cating rotor asymmetry that is associated with rotor problems.
Where an external consultant has carried out the MCSA testing, a written
report including the data, graphs, interpretation of the results and recommended
action may be expected.
Underlying data may be presented in a machine readable form such as CSV
files or in a proprietary format allowing comparison over time.

B.9 Data interpretation

The main indications of machine damage are the current spectra side-bands and the
magnitudes of these side-bands, which are of predictable frequency, indicate the
degree of damage. Some publications have provided very detailed descriptions of
the expected side-band frequencies, see Table 9.2.

B.10 Safety
Surveys will be carried out on operating machines in an industrial, power station or
factory environment and therefore there is the potential for risk of electric shock or
arc-flash if working in or near to open electrical cabinets.
 Draft CM good practice guide, MCSA 379

Connection to the motor is made via low-voltage CTs or Rogowski coils wrapped
around the machine stator winding phase connection cables. So, there should be no
direct exposure to high voltage or current here. However, care must be taken so that:
● If connection is being made using the secondary windings of plant instrument
current transformers, as connections could interfere with the machine protec-
tion system,
● In the case of large MV machines > 1 MW, prolonged human exposure to
local EMC due to electromagnetic fields locally associated with the machine
supply conductors and cables may be a risk,
● Therefore, local safety rules must be obeyed at all times,
● Always maintain safety distances from the energised conductors.

B.11 Skills, competence and training

Three distinct roles can be identified in the MCSA process – those of operator,
interpreter and analyst.
● Operator – the objective is to take a correctly representative reading.
* Operators should be able to perform a range of pre-defined generally
simple measurement or monitoring activities in accordance with estab-
lished procedures.
* When making measurements on operating machines in an industrial,
power station or factory environment, it is recommended that some
competency training in that environment be undertaken with the provision
of a safety passport or similar,
● Interpreter – the objective is to provide useful advice when the situation is
simple and clear cut (some of these aspects may be done automatically by the
test device or other software). The interpreter should:
* Be able to interpret and identify predefined defects and associated
signatures.
* Be able to interpret and evaluate the test results from the routine analysis
in accordance with pre-defined guidelines.
* Have a basic level of ability to interpret data and identify good and bad
measurements.
* Be familiar with the type of test equipment being used
● Analyst – objective is to provide the most useful information from the avail-
able data. The analyst should have:
* The ability to acquire and understand new information, both regarding the
data captured and the nature of the asset being tested,
* The ability to summarise the information in the form of an assessment of
the risk associated with the equipment under test, and a recommendation
for appropriate action.
380 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition
* A broad understanding of the underlying principles of the MCSA concept
and the specific MCSA equipment. In addition, the analyst should be
capable of digesting information about the rotating machinery, and
understanding likely failure modes or fault types. If in-depth interpretation
of data is required, the analyst should be thoroughly familiar with the
material covered by the publications below.

B.12 Taking readings

When planning and undertaking electrical condition monitoring activities regard-

less of whether these activities are intrusive or non-intrusive there are three key risk
areas that should be addressed:
● Risk of injury and or long-term illness to person(s) undertaking the condition
monitoring activity,
● Risk of damage to the plant or equipment subject to the condition-monitoring
activity,
● Risk of damage to the condition monitoring equipment being used.
Failure to address the hazards and associated risks of a specific condition
monitoring activity could potentially result in harm to people, damage to plant or
equipment, business interruption, organisational reputational damage, damage to
condition monitoring equipment and the subsequent costs for repair or replacement.
The hazards presented to person(s) when undertaking condition monitoring activ-
ities are classified into two categories:
● General safety hazards, associated with the working area and environment, e.g.
slips, trips and falls, vehicle movements, working at height, working outside
and lone working,
● System-derived hazards, associated with the process, e.g. electricity, steam,
gas, water, chemicals and stored energy. Most organisations use safe systems
of work and working practices to manage risks to person(s) from both general
safety and system derived hazards. Safe systems of work can encompass
training and competence requirements, requirements for risk assessments and
method statements prior to work, setting to work procedures, application of
safety rules for isolation and subsequent work or testing of plant items and
returning equipment to service procedures. It is recommended that electrical
condition-monitoring tasks are planned and undertaken in accordance with a
suitable safe system of work.
Through inappropriate application or incorrect set-up of electrical condition
monitoring equipment, it is possible to damage plant or equipment subject to the
activity.
This risk exists predominantly when the tool or technique applied is intrusive, for
example, the injection of excessive current or voltage into a piece of electrical
equipment can lead to component, conductor or electrical insulation system damage.
 Draft CM good practice guide, MCSA 381

Similarly, it may also be possible to damage the condition monitoring equip-

ment through incorrect application or set-up, for example, undertaking a voltage
measurement with equipment that is not rated for that voltage.
It is therefore essential that prior to undertaking a condition monitoring
activity, the specific application is assessed and deemed appropriate. Plant or
equipment under test and the test equipment must be suitably rated for the activity.
When setting up the monitoring equipment, test connections and test settings, for
example, injection voltages in insulation resistance tests, should be checked and
confirmed as correct. The function of any in-built protection measures, such as
overloads, should also be confirmed operational prior to commencing. For more
complex condition monitoring activities, the preparation of a step-by-step proce-
dure, detailing the specific equipment connections, settings and test durations may
be appropriate.
This page intentionally left blank
 Appendix C
Electrical machines, drives and condition
monitoring timeline

Key Discoveries
Seminal books
Significant papers
Refer to Drury (2009), Mills (2010) and Chung et al. (2016)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

1820 Oersted Compass needle detects magnetic field around
conductor carrying current.
1821 Faraday Described electro-magnetic field and built two
devices to produce the rotation
1824 Arago Rotation of magnet induces copper disc rotation
Babbage and Rotation of conducting disc induces magnet
Herschel rotation, inverse of Arago and simple precursor
of the induction motor
1831 Faraday Using induction ring discovers electromagnetic
induction
1832 Pixii First magneto-electric machine
1838 Lenz Discovered that a DC generator could also behave
as a motor
1845 Wheatstone and Patented use of electromagnets instead of
Cooke permanent magnets
1870 and Gramme Developed the ring armature for a DC generator
1873 then demonstrated it developing power and
transmitting it over 1 km to a DC motor
1879 Bailey Developed a motor which replaced Babbage and
Herschel rotating magnets by a rotating magnetic
field produced by switching DC electro-magnets,
precursor of the induction motor
1885 Ferraris Demonstrated a rotating magnetic field by
phase-separated single-phase AC flowing into
space-quadrature windings, precursor of the
induction motor
1886 Tesla Developed first polyphase AC induction motor
Hopkinson Paper: ‘Dynamo-electric machinery’ Proc. Royal
First analysis of electrical machine design for a DC Society,
machine London, UK
(Continues)
384 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(Continued)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

1889 and Ferranti World’s first AC central electric power station
1890 at Deptford, London, using slow-speed
reciprocating steam engines to drive LV AC
synchronous generators, supplying single-phase
transformers connected by 10 kV AC HV cables
to central London
Dobrowlsky Developed first 3-phase AC induction motor
working independently from Tesla.
Then, developed a 3-phase AC induction motor
with a polyphase slip-ring rotor connection to
resistors for starting control
1896 Ward Leonard Coupled 2 DC machines though a DC Link to
produce a variable speed system
Paper: ‘Volts vs Ohms, Speed regulation of electric Proc. AIEE
motors’
First proposal for varying the speed of electric motors
1904 Kramer Developed 2 back-to-back AC/DC motor sets to
vary the system frequency, similar to Ward
Leonard
Forerunner of modern current and voltage source
converters
1909 Various Mercury arc rectifier, vacuum-tube rectifier and
industrial thyratron
companies
1911 Schrage Developed a system based on an induction motor
with a rotating commutator to adjust the rotor
winding frequency and vary motor speed.
Used in locomotives, steel-mills, cement-mills and
power stations
1921 Walker Book: The Diagnosing of Trouble in Electrical Library
Machines Press, UK
1923 Number of Developed ignitron, leading to mercury arc
inventors rectifier and thyratron, enabling controlled
rectification of AC to DC
Used to control DC machine voltage, enabling the
Ward Leonard philosophy without additional
rotating machines
1927 de Pistoye Paper: ‘Les pertes parasites aux extrémités du stator Revue
des machines à grand pas polaire, et les moyens de Générale
les reduire de l’Eléc-
(Parasitic losses at stator ends of large pole-pitch tricité,
machines and their means of reduction) France
1930 Number of Established inversion between AC/DC systems, by
inventors means of switched capacitors, using mercury
arc rectifiers and thyratrons, initially switched
once or twice per cycle, effectively forced
commutation by static commutators
1931 Number of Direct AC/AC conversion by the cycloconverter
inventors using static commutation with mercury arc
rectifiers or thyratron switches
(Continues)
 Electrical machines, drives and condition monitoring timeline 385

(Continued)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

1932 Nyquist Nyquist stability control criterion developed
1935 Schwarz Patented variable-speed AC machine, based on a
Schrage motor with rotating commutator
controlled by a parallel, shunt-connected or
Nebenschluss (NS) transformer and
limited-angular-range induction regulator.
Produced at Schorch, Germany, then Laurence,
Scott & Electromotors, UK as an NS variable-
speed motor.
Widely used on steel-mills, water pumps and
power station auxiliaries
1938 Bode Bode stability control criterion developed
1949 Langlois- Book: Étude électromagnétique générale des ma- Eyrolles,
Berthelot chines électriques (Electro-magnetic Machines) France
1950 Number of Introduction of the silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR)
inventors power switch, replacing bulky, inefficient
mercury arc rectifiers by thyristors, initially
switching once or twice per cycle but with the
prospect of increased switching speeds. Thus a
static commutator.
Used in steel-mills, cement-mills and power stations
1950 Jordan Book: Geräuscharme Elektromotoren Springer
(The Low Noise Electric Motor) Verlag,
Germany
1951 Concordia Book: Synchronous Machines Theory and Performance J Wiley,
USA
1955 Moullin Book: Electro-magnetic Principles of the Dynamo Oxford,
Clarendon
Press, UK
1956 Erdelyi et al. Paper: ‘Vibration modes of induction motors’ Trans
First thorough analysis of electrical machine vibra- ASME,
tion modes USA
1957 Shockley–Moll Invention of power drive thyristor and firing
circuits
Number of Back-to-back reversing of a DC drive using a
inventors thyristor bridge with forced static commutation,
switched twice per cycle.
Static commutator will eventually render rotating
commutators obsolete
Used in locomotives
1959 Carpenter Paper: ‘Surface integral methods of calculating force Proc. IEE,
on magnetized iron parts’ UK
Hammond et al. Papers: ‘The calculation of the magnetic field of
rotating machines:
Part 1: The field of a tubular current,
Part 2: The field of turbo-generator end-windings,
Part 3: Eddy currents induced in a solid slab by a
circular current loop,
Part 4: Approximate determination of field and losses
associated with eddy currents in conducting surfaces,
Part 5: Field in end region of turbo-generators and
eddy-current loss in the end plates of stator cores’
(Continues)
386 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(Continued)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

1962 Hague Book: Principles of Electromagnetism Applied to Dover, USA
Electrical Machines
1963 Standard Establishment of the first vibration standards Tech- ISO TC108
nical Committee
1964 Jordan et al. Papers: Electrotech-
‘Messungen des Schlupfes von Asynchronmaschinen nik und
mit einer Spule Zeits-
(Measurements of the slip of induction machines chrift,
using a coil)’ Germany
‘Wellenflusse infolge con schwankungen des Lufta-
palteitwertes (Harmonic fluxes consequent on air-
gap fluctuations)’
First application of current and flux measurements to
induction machine condition monitoring
1965 Alger Book: The Nature of Induction Machines Gordon and
Breach,
USA
1967 Stafl Book: Electrodynamics of Electrical Machines Academia,
Czecho-
slovakia
Jones Book: The Unified Theory of Electrical Machines Butterworth,
UK
1968 Binns Paper: ‘Cogging torques in induction machines’ Proc. IEE,
UK
1971 Albright Paper: ‘Inter-turn short circuit detector for turbine IEEE Trans,
generator rotor windings’ USA
First application of electrical measurement to turbo-
generator condition monitoring
1973 Carson et al. Paper: ‘Immediate warning of local over-heating in IEEE Trans,
electrical machines by the detection of pyrolysis USA
products’
First application of chemical measurement to turbo-
generator condition monitoring
1974 Dickinson Paper: ‘IEEE Reliability Working Group, Report on IEEE Trans,
reliability of electric plant’ USA
First thorough analysis of electrical machine relia-
bility from measured steady-state failure rate,
l ¼ 1/MTBF
Kamerbeek Paper: ‘Torque measurements on induction motors Phillips
using Hall generators or measuring windings’ Technical
First application of torque measurement to induction Review,
machine condition monitoring Nether-
lands
1975 General Electric Invention of new fast-acting semiconductor devices
1978 Jufer et al. Paper: ‘Influence d’une rupture de barre ou d’un SEV/VSE
anneau sur les characteristiques externes d’un Bulletin,
moteur asynchrone à cage Switzer-
(Influence of a cage bar or ring break on the external land
characteristics of a cage induction motor)’
First application of current measurement to induction
machine condition monitoring, the forerunner of
MCSA
(Continues)
 Electrical machines, drives and condition monitoring timeline 387

(Continued)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

1979 Kurtz et al. Paper: ‘In-service partial discharge testing of IEEE Trans,
generator insulation’ USA
First application of partial discharge measurement to
turbo-generator condition monitoring
1980 Scharf and Invention of the inverse gate bipolar transistor
Plummer (IGBT) power switch
Inventors and Replacement of thyristors in drive bridges by
Commercial faster, cheaper, silicon switches including the
Companies insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT),
offering greatly increased switching speeds, way
above once or twice per cycle
Development of PWM IGBT voltage source
converters (VSC) drives and early controllers,
static commutators enabling simple 1-, 2- and
4-quadrant control of electrical machines,
rendering earlier rotating commutators
obsolete
Brandl Paper: ‘Forces on the end windings of AC machines’ Brown-
First consideration of end winding problems Boveri
Review,
Switzer-
land
Joyce et al. Paper: ‘Status of evaluating the fatigue of large steam IEEE Trans,
turbine generation caused by electrical distur- USA
bances’
First identification of torsional vibration as a turbo-
generator failure mode
Penman et al. Paper: ‘Protection strategy against faults in electrical Proc. IEE,
machines’ UK
First application of flux measurement for induction
machine condition monitoring
Lawrenson et al. Paper: ‘Variable-speed switched reluctance motors’
First introduction of the switched reluctance machine
Williamson et al. Paper: ‘Field analysis for rotating induction machines
and its relationship to the equivalent circuit method’
1981 Inventors and Widespread introduction of PWM IGBT VSC
commercial drives to feed both kW and MW range motors
companies to control machine speed in industrial processes
Hammond Book: Energy Methods in Electromagnetism Oxford
Yang Book: Low Noise Electric Motors Clarendon
Press, UK
Lloyd et al. Paper: ‘Monitoring debris in turbine generator oil’ Wear, UK
First application of oil debris measurement to turbo-
generator condition monitoring
1982 Barker et al. Paper: ‘A decade of experience with generator and CIGRE
large motor reliability’
Retrospective of large machine reliability experience
from 1970–82
Rogers Paper: ‘Optical temperature sensor for high voltage Applied Op-
applications’ tics, UK
First application of fibre optics to electrical condition
monitoring
(Continues)
388 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(Continued)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

1983 Hargis et al. Paper: ‘The detection of rotor defects in induction Proc IEE,
motors’ UK
First to show induction machine faults can be
detected by measuring current, speed or vibration
1986 Many inventors Development of digital controllers for PWM IGBT
and commer- VSC drives supplying electrical machines, in-
cial companies cluding direct torque control and flux control
Sophisticated static commutator controllers en-
abling full 4-quadrant control of electrical
machines. Widely used on locomotives, trams,
electrical multiple units, paper-mills, steel-mills,
water pumps, cement mills and power stations
Seinsch Paper: ‘Erkennung und Diagnose von anomalen Schorch
Betriebsbedingungen und/oder Fehlern in rotier- Berichte,
enden elektrischen Maschinen Germany
(Detection and diagnosis of abnormal operating
conditions and/or faults in rotating electrical
machines)’
1987 Tavner et al. Book: Condition Monitoring of Rotating Electrical RSP, UK,
Machines Ed 1, 1987
Based on the work of Jordan, Jufer, Brandl, Joyce, IET, UK,
Dickinson, Penman, Lloyd, Barker, Hargis, Ed 2 2008,
Rogers, Ran and Seinsch above IET, UK,
Ed 3, 2019
1989 Stone et al. Book: Electrical Insulation for Rotating Machines: EPRI, USA,
Design, Evaluation, Aging, Testing, and Repair Ed 1,
Developing work of Albright, Carson, Kurtz and 1989
Stone above IEEE, USA,
Ed 2,
2014
1990 Many commer- Digital-controlled PWM IGBT VSC drives sup-
cial companies plying electrical machines are deployed in all
energy, process, manufacturing and transport
industries using advanced controllers adapted
for specific applications
Geary et al. Paper: ‘Towards improved calibration in the IEEE Trans,
measurement of partial discharges in rotating USA
machinery’
First attempt to calibrate partial discharge measure-
ments to indicate insulation faults
1991 MIL-HNDBK 217 Military Handbook: Reliability Prediction Of Department
Electronic Equipment of Defense,
USA
Mellor et al. Paper: ‘Lumped parameter thermal model for elec- Proc IEE,
trical machines of TEFC design’ UK
First application of thermal modelling and tempera-
ture measurement to induction machine condition
monitoring
1992 Tandon et al. Paper: ‘Comparison of vibration and acoustic mea- Tribology
surement techniques for the condition monitoring Int, USA
of rolling element bearings’
First application of vibration and acoustic measure-
ment to rolling element bearings
(Continues)
 Electrical machines, drives and condition monitoring timeline 389

(Continued)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

1993 Vas Book:, Parameter Estimation, Condition Monitoring Oxford Uni-
and Diagnosis of Electrical Machines versity
Based on the work of Jordan, Jufer, Stafl, Jones, Press, UK
Penman, Hargis, Seinsch above and the develop-
ment of digital controlled VSCs
1994 Mayes Paper: ‘Use of neural networks for online vibration Proc IM-
monitoring’ echE, UK
First application of neural networks to turbo-
generator vibration condition monitoring
1995 Filippetti et al. Paper: ‘Neural networks aided on-line diagnostics of IEEE Trans,
induction motor rotor faults’ USA
First application of neural networks to induction
machine electrical condition monitoring
Thorsen et al. Paper: ‘A survey of faults on induction motors in IEEE Trans,
offshore oil industry, petrochemical industry, gas USA
terminals, and oil refineries’
Comprehensive survey of reliability of electrical
machines across an industry
2000 Number of First Schottky SiC diode to the market
commercial
companies
2001 Benbouzid et al. Paper: ‘A simple fuzzy logic approach for induction IEEE Trans,
motors stator condition monitoring’ USA
First application of fuzzy logic to induction machine
condition monitoring
Thomson et al. Paper: ‘Current signature analysis to detect induction IEEE Indus-
motor faults’ try Appl
First full exposition of motor current signature Mag,
analysis (MCSA) for induction machine condition USA
monitoring,
Based on the work of Jordan, Jufer, Penman and
Hargis above
Trutt et al. Paper: ‘Detection of AC machine winding deteriora- IEEE Trans,
tion using electrically excited vibrations’ USA
First exposition of vibration measurement for induc-
tion machine winding condition monitoring,
Based on the work of Jordan, Erdeleyi, Binns,
Williamson and Brandl above
2005 Nandi et al. Paper: ‘Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of IEEE Trans,
electrical motors – a review’ USA
Retrospective of machine condition monitoring
experience from 1979 to 2005
2007 Levi et al. Paper: ‘Multiphase induction motor drives – a Proc IET,
technology status review’ UK
First full review of the design and application of
multi-phase induction machines.
2009 Drury Book: The Control Techniques Drives and Control IET, UK
Handbook
2010 Number of Application of SiC, MOSFETs, JFETs, BJTs and
commercial GaN power devices to VSDs
companies
Yang and Ran Paper: ‘Condition monitoring for device reliability in IEEE Trans,
et al. power electronic converters: a review’ USA
First retrospective of power electronics condition
monitoring
(Continues)
390 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

(Continued)

Year Originator Discovery Ref

2013 Krause et al. Book: Analysis of Electric Machinery and Drive IEEE Power
Systems Engineer-
Based on the work of Jordan, Hague, Alger, Stafl, ing Series,
Jones, Jufer, Seinsch and Williamson above 4th Ed.
USA
2015 Number of Cost reduction of wide band-gap power devices
commercial Improved performance of SiC power devices
companies Intelligent power stacks
2016 Chung et al. Book: Reliability of Power Electronic Converter IET, UK
Systems
2019 Moses et al. Book: ‘Electrical Steels – Vols 1 and 2’ IET, UK
 Index

accelerometers 124, 128–9, 184, 191–2 multi-parameter monitoring 305–9

AC machines systems incorporating AI 324–6
asynchronous/induction 28–33 assembly structure 87, 93
synchronous 26–8 distribution of failures 91–3
ageing of insulation 50 asset management 297–301
electrical ageing 52 asynchronous machine 31
general 52 auto-correlation function 105
partial discharges 52 availability, definition 79
surface tracking and moisture axial flux monitoring technique 229
absorption 52–3 axial leakage flux: see shaft flux
transient voltages 53–4
environmental ageing 54–5 back-propagation (BP) algorithm
mechanical ageing 54 317, 319
synergism between ageing bearings
stresses 55 current discharges 258–61
thermal ageing 51–2 detection 261–3
aggregate failure rate 85–6 damage caused by shaft voltages 75
air-gap search coils 212–16, 220 failure rates 91–2
aliasing 101–2 faults 73–5
analogue-to-digital conversion lubrication oil analysis 169–73
(ADC) 139 response 190
analyst 334 rolling element bearings 190–2
ANNs (artificial neural networks) sleeve bearings 192–3
supervised learning through 317–20 selection criteria 73–5
artificial intelligence (AI) techniques types 43–7
10, 303 big data, deep learning with 322–4
deep learning with big data 322–4 bitumen-based insulation 56
expert systems 309–12 Boolean logic 313
fuzzy logic 312–15 breakdown maintenance 7
machine learning using ANNs British Institute of Non-Destructive
supervised learning through Testing (BINDT) 335
ANN 317–20 brush-gear 47
unsupervised learning 320–2 fault detection 210
MBVI system 326–7 materials 48
and AI 327–9 brushless doubly-fed machine
and ML 339–40 (BDFIM) 36–7
392 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

bulk measurement 149–51 correlation analysis 105–7

bus-bars 47 cost-effectiveness 9
bushings, insulation failures 72–3 cross correlation function 105–7
current monitoring 338
capacitance and dissipation factor
measurement 266–7 data acquisition 139–41
capacitive coupling method 245–6 data collector 333
carbon brushes 290 data sampling
cause-and-effect diagram 81, 87 aliasing 101–3
cepstrum analysis 108 discrete Fourier transform (DFT) 100
Chattock potentiometer 276–7 time averaging 110–11
chemical and wear analysis 338 data storage 98
circulating current measurement 216–20 DC machines 25–6
commutators 47 DC motors 45
comprehensive monitoring 339 construction 43
condition-based maintenance (CBM) rotor winding faults 71
285, 288 debris measurement
advantage of 287 lubrication oil analysis 169–73
cost–benefit analysis of condition debris sensitive detector 136
monitoring for 296–7 declarative knowledge 310
signals and data for 288–90 deep belief network (DBN) 323–4
targeted monitoring 290–2 deep learning with big data 322–4
condition monitoring definition of terms 78–80
definition of terms 78–80 delamination of insulation 56–7
connection faults 72 digital processors 2
connections: see electrical connections digital relays 3
construction of electrical machines digital signal processors (DSP) 10, 149
43–50 discharge-bearing current,
connections and heat exchangers 47 detection of 261–2
enclosures 46 discharge detection, background to
materials used 48 239–41
rotors and windings 45–6 discharge locator (DL) 249
stator core and frame 44 discharge pulses 245
stator windings 44–5 discrete Fourier transform (DFT)
contamination 54 100, 111
insulation 60–1 displacement transducers 124–7
control in-loop machine fault doubly fed and variable-speed drive
detection 269–72 machines 35–7
convolutional neural network doubly-fed induction machine
(CNN) 320 (DFIM) 36–7
coolant systems 156, 158, 164–6 duration of the failure sequence 79, 81
blocking 67, 73
heat exchangers 47 early discharge detection methods
leaks 63–5, 73 capacitive coupling method 245–6
core monitors 158–62 earth loop transient method 244–5
 Index 393

insulation remanent life 248 enclosures 46–7

RF coupling method 241–4 materials 48
wide-band RF method 246–8 end windings 44–5
earth leakage faults on-line 211–12 bracing 46
earth loop transient method 244–5 failure modes and root causes 71
EHV isolation 149 insulation 60–1
El CID 275–7 materials 48
electrical ageing, insulation 52 stress grading 61
electrical connections 47 environmental ageing 54–5
faults 72–3 environmental conditions 49, 51
electrical discharge activity 388 insulation contamination 54–5, 61
electrical insulation equivalent capacitance 267
contamination 60–1 Euler–Lagrange equation 178
degradation 153–4 expert 334–5
ageing mechanisms 50–5 expert knowledge 311
detectability 154–8 expert systems 309–12
detection methods 158–69
failure modes 55–71 failure, definition 79
bushings 72–3 failure intensity
rotor windings 71–5 definition 79–80
stator windings 56–67 failure mechanism, definition 79
root causes of faults 61–7 failure mode and effects analysis
rotor windings 45–6 (FMEA) 80
stator windings 44–5 failure modes
thermal properties 39–40 bearing faults 73–5
electrical machine protection connection faults 72–3
systems 3 definition 79
electrical machine reliability 77 electrical insulation 55–71
electrical machines 1–2, 5, 17 and machine specification 48–50
drives and condition monitoring probability density function 83
timeline 383–90 and root causes 365–9
power-to-weight ratio of 2 rotor windings 71–5
sources of vibration in 175 shaft voltages 75
structures and types 18–25 stator core faults 71–2
electrical protective relay, stator winding faults 61–7
function of 2 stator winding insulation 56–67
electricity 1 types 82–3
electric motors 1 water coolant faults 73
electromagnetic instrumentation failure rate 84–7
132–6 aggregate 85–6
electromagnetic interference (EMI) life-cycle variation 85–6
detection methods 246 typical 89–93
electromechanical action 2 failure sequence 81–2
embedded temperature detectors Faraday Predictive S200 326
(ETDs) 143–4, 146 fast Fourier transform (FFT) 100
394 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

faults detectable from the stator force generator stator winding insulation
wave 199–200 detection 209
ferrite-cored RF current transformer rotor-mounted search coils 210
(RFCT) 243 stator current monitoring for stator
ferromagnetic debris 137 faults 209–10
ferromagnetic techniques, lubrication generator rotor faults 210
oil analysis 170–2 earth leakage faults on-line 211–12
fibre Bragg grating (FBG) 123, 147 turn-to-turn faults on-line
fibre-optic proximetry 126 air-gap search coils 212–16
fibre-optic temperature sensing 123 circulating current measurement
principle of 147 216–20
field-programmable gate arrays generator stator winding insulation
(FPGA) 10 detection 209
flame ionisation detector (FID) 165, 167 Germanischer Lloyd 300
flexible rotors 186–8 German Vibration Standard VDl 2056
flux waveform 216 194, 197
force and torque instrumentation
129–32 Hall-effect principle 134
frame-based systems 309 harmonics, converter 105
frequency response analysis hazard function 79
(FRA) 278 heat exchangers 47
frequency spectrum monitoring 196–9 heat-sensitive semi-conducting
future CM of electrical machines 339 material 151
fuzzification 313 Hewlett–Packard Journal 6
fuzzy logic 312–15 high flux test (HFT) 275
‘AND’ operation 314 high-order spectral analysis 104–5
‘NOT’ operation 314 hot-spot measurement and thermal
‘OR’ operation 314 images 149
HV motors and generators 72–3
gas analysis 164–9 hydro-generators 59, 62, 71–2, 277–8
gas chromatography 162–4
off-line analysis 165 ignitron 17
oil degradation detection 170 imperative knowledge 310
gearboxes, vibration analysis 108 induction machine, vector
general safety hazards 332 control for 269
generator and motor comprehensive induction motors 68
methods 225 construction 45–6, 68
mechanical and electrical failure rates 90–2
interaction 236 root causes of faults 68
power spectrum 231–5 rotor faults 68
shaft flux 226–30 inductive debris detectors 136, 171
shaft voltage or current 235–6 infrared gas analyser 169
stator and rotor currents 230–1 instrumentation amplifier 138
generator and motor stator faults insulated gate bipolar transistors
brush-gear fault detection 210 (IGBTs) 17
 Index 395

insulation: see electrical insulation Maxwell stresses 183

insulation remanent life 248 mean time between failure (MTBF)
ionising radiation, insulation ageing 54 80, 89–93
mean time to failure (MTTF) 80
Jaguar E-Pace car 1 mean time to repair (MTTR) 80
mechanical ageing, insulation 54
Kalman filter 114–16 mechanical properties 40
key phasors 125 mercury arc rectifier (MAR) 17
Kohonen’s algorithm 320 metal foil-type strain gauge 130
model-based information
leakage flux monitoring 120 extraction 113
levelised cost of energy (LCOE) 295 Kalman filter 114–16
life-cycle costing 294–5 observer 116
life-cycle variation in failure rates model-based voltage and current
85–6 (MBVI) system 324, 326–7
local temperature measurement 143–8 and artificial intelligence 327–9
low-voltage (LV) stator core test 275–7 modern discharge detection methods
lubrication oil analysis 169–73 250–3
modular expert system 311–12
machine faults 201 moisture absorption by insulation
machine learning using ANNs 52–3
supervised learning through ANN monitoring techniques 193–4
317–20 faults detectable from the stator
unsupervised learning 320–2 force wave 199–200
machine-related electronic frequency spectrum monitoring
systems 291 196–9
machine specification and failure need for 4–7
modes 48–50 overall level monitoring 194–6
machine stator winding, complex shock pulse monitoring 204–6
structure of 241 torsional oscillation monitoring
magnetic drain plugs 172 200–4
maintenance regimes 93–4 what and when to monitor 8–10
maintenance strategies, motor condition monitor (MCM) 324
economics of 292 motor current signature analysis
asset management 297–300 (MCSA)
basic economic justification 292–4 application of 377–8
cost–benefit analysis of condition controls and capabilities 377
monitoring for CBM 296–7 data communication 378
life-cycle costing 294–5 data interpretation 378
Markov modelling 296 draft CM good practice guide
material properties 39–43 371–81
electrical steel 44 expected outputs 374–6
stator core and frame 44 issues 377
materials, types for various safety 378–9
components 48 scope 374
396 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

skills, competence and training mechanical and electrical

379–80 interaction 236
taking readings 380–1 power spectrum 231–5
motor rotor faults 220 shaft flux 226–30
air-gap search coils 220 shaft voltage or current 235–6
rotor current monitoring 223–5 stator and rotor currents 230–1
stator current monitoring for rotor generator and motor stator faults
faults (MCSA) 220–3 brush-gear fault detection 210
motor speed 337 generator stator winding
multi-channel neural network insulation detection 209
system 319 rotor-mounted search coils 210
multi-layered perceptron (MLP) 317 stator current monitoring for
multi-parameter monitoring 305–9 stator faults 209–10
multi-phase machines 33–5 generator rotor faults 210
earth leakage faults on-line
‘neural network’ AI methods 305, 340 211–12
turn-to-turn faults on-line 212–20
observer 116 motor rotor faults 220
offline monitoring 273 air-gap search coils 220
rotor windings 278 rotor current monitoring 223–5
offline tests 280 stator current monitoring for rotor
synchronous rotor surge tests 281–4 faults (MCSA) 220–3
stator core 273 online partial discharge (PD) electrical
hydro-generators 277–8 monitoring 239
turbo-generators 277 detection problems 248–50
stator windings discharge detection, background to
frequency response analysis 239–41
(FRA) 278 early discharge detection methods
offline tests 279 capacitive coupling method
offline rotor winding tests 280 245–6
offline stator winding tests 279 earth loop transient method 244–5
online chemical monitoring 153–74 insulation remanent life 248
detectability 154–8 RF coupling method 241–4
gas analysis 164–9 wide-band RF method 246–8
insulation degradation modern discharge detection
detection 158–69 methods 250–3
mechanisms 153–4 online temperature monitoring 143
lubrication oil analysis 169–73 bulk measurement 149–51
particulate detection hot-spot measurement and thermal
chemical analysis 162–4 images 149
core monitors 158–62 local temperature measurement
online current, flux and power 143–8
monitoring 209 online vibration monitoring 175
generator and motor comprehensive bearing response 190
methods 225 rolling element bearings 190–2
 Index 397

sleeve bearings 192–3 piezoelectric accelerometer 128

monitoring techniques 193–4 potentiometer 211
faults detectable from the stator power plants 1
force wave 199–200 power spectral density 105
frequency spectrum monitoring power spectrum 108, 231–5
196–9 power-to-weight ratio of electrical
overall level monitoring 194–6 machines 2, 19
shock pulse monitoring 204–6 pre-set value 2
torsional oscillation monitoring preventative maintenance 285–7
200–4 probability density function 84–7
rotor response 185 prognostics and health management
torsional response 188–90 (PHM) 303
transverse response 185–8 proportional-integral-derivative (PID)
stator core response 175 algorithm 116
natural modes, calculation of protective relaying 2–3
177–80 pulsed voltage generator 264
stator electromagnetic force pulse-width-modulation (PWM) 255
wave 181–3
stator end winding response 183–4 radio frequency current transformer
operational conditions 49 (RFCT) 243
operational expenditure (OPEX) 295 radio interference field intensity (RIFI)
optical debris sensor 137 meter 243–4
optical time domain reflectometry Rayleigh–Ritz method 178
(OTDR) 123 recurrent surge oscillography (RSO)
organic insulation 263 213, 282–3
overall level monitoring 194–6 redundancy 87
ozone detection 165–6 reliability
analysis 84–7
partial discharge analyser (PDA) 250 definition 79
partial discharges (PDs) 52 as a function 79, 84
and analysis 158–64 theory 80
electrical monitoring: see Online reluctance machines 33–4
partial discharge (PD) electrical remaining useful life (RUL) 322
monitoring repetitive partial discharge inception
insulation degradation 154 voltage (RPDIV) 264
internal void discharge 52 resistance temperature detection
measurement 263–5 (RTD) 117, 145
triggered sampling and analysis restricted-Boltzmann-machine
scheme 265 (RBM) 323–4
monitoring 340 RF coupling method 241–4
slot discharge 58–60 rigid rotors 185–6
permanent magnet 33–4 Roebel technique 63
photoionisation detector (PID) 167 Rogowski coil 219, 225, 244, 249, 276
‘picket fence’ effect 101 rolling element bearings 190–2
picocoulombs (pC) 239 root cause analysis (RCA) 79, 82
398 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

root causes safety 331–2

definition 79 self-organising mapping (SOM) 322
types 82–3 semantic networks 310
rotating electrical machines 17 sequence of failure 81–2
AC machines shaft flux 226–30
asynchronous/induction 28–33 shaft flux monitoring 123, 337
synchronous 26–8 shaft voltage/current 235–6, 337
DC machines 25–6 shaft voltages 75
doubly fed and variable-speed drive bearing and lubricating oil
machines 35–7 degradation 75, 169
electrical machines structures and damage caused to bearings 75, 169
types 18–25 shock pulse monitoring 204–6
multi-phase machines 33–5 shock pulse value (SPV) 205
permanent magnet or reluctance signal condition and data acquisition
machines 33–4 systems (SCADA) 10, 289–90
rotor current monitoring 223–5 signal conditioning 137–9
rotor faults 209 signal processing 95
rotor-mounted search coils 210 correlation analysis 105–7
rotor response 185 spectral analysis 99–104
torsional response 188–90 time averaging 110–11
transverse response 185 vibration measurement 127
flexible rotors 186–8 SKF CM system 290
rigid rotors 185–6 sleeve bearings 192–3
rotors slip-rings 47
airgap eccentricity 75, 93 materials 48
bearing types 45–6 slot discharge 58–60
cooling 45–6 smoke detection 158–62
materials 48 specialist 333–4
mechanical design 45–6 spectral analysis
and windings 45–6 aliasing 103
rotor windings 278 basic theory 99–104
broken rotor bars 68 correlation analysis 105–7
detection 105, 111 high-order analysis 104–5
failure modes 71–5 ‘picket fence’ effect 101
failure rates 91–2 vibration measurement 127
faults 67–8 wavelet analysis 111–13
DC machines 71 window functions 100
turbo-generators 69–70 star-connected machine floating 266
winding faults 68–71 statistic methods 310
materials 48 stator and rotor currents 230–1
offline tests 280 stator core 273
root causes of faults 71–5 hydro-generators 277–8
synchronous rotor surge tests 281–4 turbo-generators 277
rule-based systems 310 stator core and frame 44–5
‘rule-based’ AI methods 305, 340 core faults 71–2
 Index 399

materials 48 surface tracking 52–3, 72–3

stator core response 175 surge techniques 281
natural modes, calculation of 177–80 survivor function 79
stator electromagnetic force wave switched reluctance motor 33
181–3 synchronous machine design 26
stator current monitoring synchronous rotor surge tests 281–4
for rotor faults 220–3 synergism between ageing stresses 55
for stator faults 209–10 system derived hazards 332
stator end winding response 183–4
stator slot coupler (SSC) 249 targeted monitoring 290–2
stator winding insulation structure 257 TEAM 256–7
stator windings 44–5, 56–7 technological timelines 10–13
coolant systems 63–5 temperature detection 338
end windings 44–5 temperature instrumentation 117–23
bracing 46 temperature monitoring,
faults 71 approaches to 143
insulation failure modes 61 temperature rise 338
stress grading 61 Tennessee Valley Authority
failure rates 91–2 (TVA) 249
frequency response analysis thermal ageing, electrical insulation
(FRA) 278 51–2, 153–4
insulation failure modes 56–67 thermal properties 39–43
delamination and voids 56 thermal stress 52, 66
end winding faults 65 thermistors 117, 122
end windings 61 thermocouples 117, 145
inter-turn faults 64–5 time averaging 110–11
repetitive transients 61 time between failure (TBF) 80
slot discharge 58–60 time to failure (TTF) 80
transient voltages 61 time to repair (TTR) 80
winding conductor faults 62–4 torsional oscillation monitoring 200–4
winding coolant system faults torsional response 188–90
65–7 totally enclosed fan-cooled (TEFC)
winding faults 61–2 machines 147, 149
materials 48 training and qualification 332
offline tests 279 Category I – data collector 333
root causes of faults 61 Category II – specialist 333–4
winding conductor faults 61–7 Category III – analyst 334
winding coolant system faults Category IV – expert 334–5
65–7 transducer, signal provided by 2
steel used in cars 1 transient voltages 52–4, 61
structural design 87–9 transmission assets 299
sub-assemblies 87 transverse response 185
distribution of failures 92–3 flexible rotors 186–8
supervised learning through ANN rigid rotors 185–6
317–20 trend analysis 110–11
400 Condition monitoring of rotating electrical machines, 3rd edition

turbine generators bearing current discharges

construction 43–7 258–61
failure rates 90 insulation degradation
rotor winding faults 67–70 mechanisms 256–8
turbo-generator analyser (TGA) 250 variable-speed drives (VSDs) 17, 35
turbo-generators 71–2, 277 velocity transducers 127–8
turn-to-turn faults on-line vibration and shock pulse monitoring
air-gap search coils 212–16 and analysis 337
circulating current measurement vibration instrumentation 123
216–20 accelerometers 128–9
2-pole AC synchronous machine 29 displacement transducers 124–7
2-pole DC machine 27 velocity transducers 127–8
Tyndall effect 137 vibration measurement
Type I machines 263–4 signal processing 107–11
Type II machines 264 vibration-monitoring techniques 130
types of rotating electrical machines voids, insulation 56–7, 62
20–3
typical sizes and loadings, of rotating Ward Leonard’s principles 17
electrical machine 24 water and waste systems 2
water coolant faults 73
ultra-violet techniques, chemical wavelet analysis 111–13
analysis 163 wear and debris instrumentation
unbalanced magnetic pull (UMP) 136–7
69–70, 181 wear measurement
unsupervised learning 320–2 lubrication oil analysis 169–73
Wheatstone bridge 131
variable speed drive (VSD) machine whole-life costing: see life-cycle
monitoring 255 costing
bearing current discharge detection wide-band RF method 246–8
261–3 windings 45–6
control in-loop machine fault materials 48
detection 269–72 see also rotor windings; stator
insulation degradation detection 263 windings
built-in winding insulation window functions 100
degradation detector 267–9 wind turbine generators
capacitance and dissipation factor cause-and-effect diagram 87
measurement 266–7 failure rates 90
PD measurement 263–5
operation and fault mechanisms 256 x-ray fluorescence (XRF) detection 173