Transformer winding fault detection by vibration analysis methods

Abstract

In this paper, the vibration of power transformer windings is studied with the aim of identifying the winding structural condition. A winding vibration model coupled with electromagnetic force analysis is proposed to obtain the steady-state vibration distribution along the axial direction. During the experiment, the model was validated on a full size, 50MVA, three phase power transformer. Good agreement was found between the measured vibrations and the vibrations that were calculated from the model developed in this study for a healthy winding. The effect of the winding clamping force on vibration is studied to assess the winding clamping state, and different types of winding deformations were simulated to extract diagnostic information. The preliminary study shows that it is feasible to predict the mechanical faults of transformer windings with the vibration method.