Time-dependent system reliability analysis for mechanical on-load tap-changer with multiple failure modes

Abstract

To regulate voltage level, the mechanical on-load tap-changer is a crucial series system of the ultra-high-voltage converter transformer. Whether its motion is reliable throughout the whole process is vital for the safe operation of converter transformer. Therefore, the time-dependent system reliability analysis is carried on for the mechanical on-load tap-changer with multiple failure modes based on the first-passage method. First, the failure modes of the mechanical on-load tap-changer are comprehensively analyzed according to the safety requirement, and then, the output error of each failure mode related to the moving mechanism of the system is modeled based on the motion equation to establish the varied limit-state functions of the time intervals over the whole motion. Then, the first-passage method is leveraged to solve this time-dependent reliability problem with multiple failure modes, in which the analytical formula of the outcrossing rate, the crucial element of the first-passage method, is derived by introducing the first-order moment of the doubly truncated multivariate Gaussian distribution. On this basis, the time-dependent system kinematic reliability is calculated using the Simpson integration algorithm. Finally, a numerical case is studied first, and in what follows, the practical engineering application to the mechanical on-load tap-changer is showcased in detail to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method by comparison with previous methods.