Stator Inter-Turn Short-Circuits Fault Diagnostics in Three-Phase Line-Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors Fed by Unbalanced Voltages

Abstract

This paper addresses the diagnostics of stator faults in three-phase line-start permanent magnet synchronous motors. More traditional fault diagnostic methodologies are unable to properly diagnose stator inter-turn short-circuit faults in three-phase motors under unbalanced supply voltage conditions, since both conditions impact the fault indicators used for inter-turn short-circuit fault diagnostics in a similar way. In this paper, the relation between the symmetrical components of the three-phase quantities and the harmonic components of the Extended Park’s Vector Approach (EPVA) is established. It is proved that the negative component and the EPVA harmonic component at a frequency twice the supply frequency are directly related to the fault occurrence. It is also proved that the healthy motor negative impedance is constant and not load-dependent. Based on this, the negative impedance/admittance is indirectly analyzed, through the combined use of the Extended Park´s Vector Approach of both voltage and current, and is explored for the fault diagnostics. Experimental results, obtained for different load torques, unbalanced supply voltage values, and fault severity levels, show that inter-turn short-circuit fault diagnostics can be achieved even under unbalanced supply voltage conditions based on the analysis of the motor admittance, at a frequency twice the supply frequency, that is the negative sequence admittance.