Online Diagnosis and Discrimination of Stator Faults in Six-Phase Induction Motors Based on Voltage Symmetrical Components

Abstract

In recent years, multiphase machines have been presented as a good alternative to the classical three-phase machines, mainly due to their ability to operate smoothly under fault conditions. Due to multiple stator phase arrangements, existing fault diagnostic (FD) methods are not sufficiently universal and cannot be applied to the multiple configurations of multiphase machines. In this regard, the current research proposes a universal and effective online diagnostics technique based on the computation and monitoring of a relevant severity factor, which is defined as the ratio of the zero, negative and positive voltage symmetrical components. The Short Time Least Square Prony’s (STLSP) approach is used to implement this method online in LabVIEW environment. In addition to the wide applicability of the method, the obviation of any motor parameter estimation and limited requirements regarding variables measurements make the proposed approach extremely advantageous for motors with high number of phases. This article addresses at stator faults in symmetrical six-phase induction machines (6PIM). The proposed method’s experimental results on six-phase motor drive platforms demonstrate the excellent generalization capability of the proposed method, as well as high accuracy and robustness, along with the ability to accurately distinguish between the occurrence of Inter-Turn Short Circuit (ITSC) faults and the presence of Unbalance Supply Voltage (USV) conditions. A 6PIM is put through its paces in both healthy and faulty conditions. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for diagnosing the occurrence of ITSC faults and USV operating conditions with high reliability, fastness and high precision.