ABSTRACT
William T. (Bill) Thomson is Director
Induction motor drives are the most widely used electrical drive
and Consultant with EM Diagnostics Ltd.,
system and they typically consume 40 percent of an industrialized
in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He
nation’s total generating capacity. In the USA the total generating
began as an apprentice electrician and has
capacity is approximately 800,000 MW, consequently induction
40 years’ experience covering the installa-
motor drives are major assets in the process and energy industries.
tion, maintenance, design, performance,
The asset management of electrical drives requires reliable
and condition monitoring of electrical
maintenance strategies that include condition monitoring and
drives. He has worked as an electrician,
R&D engineer with Hoover Ltd., consul- online diagnostics. Due to the complex electromagnetic and
tant, and academic. In 1990, he was mechanical characteristics of an electrical drive system, a unified
appointed Professor at the Robert Gordon monitoring strategy has distinct advantages over monitoring only
University, in Scotland, in recognition of his research and one parameter (e.g., vibration) to diagnose problems. This paper
development work on condition monitoring for electrical drives in focuses on industrial case histories to demonstrate the application
the offshore oil industry and power utilities. of current and vibration analysis to diagnose problems in
Professor Thomson has a BSc (Hons, Electrical Engineering, induction motor drives. The results show how the root cause of a
1973) and an MSc (1977) from the University of Strathclyde. He is problem can be established when a combination of current and
a senior member of the American IEEE, a Fellow of the IEE, and vibration monitoring is used in comparison to only analyzing one
a registered Chartered Engineer in the United Kingdom. He is also signal.
the visiting Professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of
Abertay, Scotland, and has published over 70 papers.
INTRODUCTION
Many operators now use online condition-based maintenance
strategies in parallel with conventional planned maintenance
Philip (Phil) Orpin is Technical Services schemes. This has reduced unexpected failures, increased the time
Manager at Ingenco Ltd., in East Kilbride, between planned shutdowns for standard maintenance, and
Lanarkshire, Scotland. He is responsible reduced operational costs. However, it is still the operator who has
for a team of 60 multidisciplinary en- to make the final decision on whether to remove a machine from
gineers, including the electrical and service or let it run based on information from condition
mechanical condition monitoring support monitoring systems. The root cause (RCA) of the fault has to be
and analysis group. He started his career established and, ideally, the operator also requires a prognosis of
as an engineering apprentice in 1977 at the remaining run life; but the latter is complex and in most cases
Marconi Communications Ltd., working in is an impossible task. Vibration monitoring and analysis are mature
design of digital electronic circuits. Since and effective techniques to diagnose mechanical problems. Current
graduating in 1981, he has been involved in monitoring can detect problems such as broken rotor bars, airgap
the design of data acquisition and measurement systems for eccentricity, and more recently shorted turns in low voltage stator
telecommunications, defense systems, and fiscal metering. In the windings.
mid 1980s, he developed one of the first automatic vibration However there still tends to be a historical culture that
monitoring systems for large turbo-alternators through the SSEB, mechanical faults are the sole domain of the mechanical engineer,
and continued this development with the CEGB North East region and likewise electrical problems belong to the electrical engineer.
into the early 1990s with systems installed in nine major United Signals are often analyzed at different times and separate reports
Kingdom power generating plants. For the past 10 years, he has are presented. With respect to an induction motor drive system, this
continued developing online plant condition monitoring equip- does not make sound engineering sense since an electrical drive is
ment, concentrating on both electrical and mechanical condition an interconnected, electromechanical system, and it is not sensible
monitoring techniques. to analyze signals in isolation. The fault may appear to be electrical
but the fundamental cause may be due to mechanical forces. For
61
62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRTY-FIRST TURBOMACHINERY SYMPOSIUM • 2002
SUMMARY OF PROBLEMS
AND FAILURE MECHANISMS
Broken Rotor Bars or End Rings
in Squirrel-Cage Induction Motors
Broken rotor bars or end rings can be caused by the following as Figure 2. Stator Winding Failure as a Consequence of Rotor Bar
discussed by Bonnet and Soukup (1992) and Finley and Problem.
Hodowanec (2001):
• Direct online starting duty results in high thermal and
• Following a repair or overhaul, the motor can be reinstalled with
unacceptable levels of airgap eccentricity (e.g., an eccentricity
mechanical stresses. level of 25 to 30 percent in a large motor is considered to be
• Pulsating mechanical loads such as coal crushers can subject the severe).
rotor cage to high mechanical stresses.
• In unusual cases thermal bowing of the shaft can cause dynamic
• Imperfections in the manufacturing process of the rotor cage eccentricity.
Although broken rotor bars do not initially cause an induction A catastrophic failure can occur if the airgap eccentricity is at a
motor to fail, there can be serious secondary damage due to broken level such that the resultant unbalanced magnetic pull causes a
parts of the bar hitting the stationary stator winding at high rotor to stator rub.
velocity. The photos shown in Figures 1 and 2 show the case of a
broken bar in a 450 hp/336 kW, four-pole, three-phase, induction Mechanical Problems in Induction Motor Drives
motor-coal crusher drive and the consequential damage to the There is a very substantial knowledge base on vibration
stator winding that resulted in a $50,000 complete rewind of the monitoring to detect mechanical problems, but what is not so well
3.3 kV stator winding. These motors had not been previously recognized (via condition monitoring) are the electrical problems
monitored to detect broken bars via motor current signature that can be caused by mechanical phenomena. The classical
analysis (MCSA). In hazardous environments, sparking at the fault mechanical problems in induction motor drives are as follows:
site (during the degradation process) can be a potential safety
hazard. • Bearing wear and failure. As a by-product of bearing wear,
airgap eccentricity can increase, and there is the potential for a
rotor to stator rub, serious stator core damage, and stator winding
failure.
• High mechanical unbalance in the rotor—increased centrifugal
forces on the rotor winding
• Looseness—decreased stiffness in the bearing pedestals can
increase the forces on the rotor winding.
• Shaft/coupling misalignment—results in forces on the bearings
and on rotor and stator windings.
• Problems in gearboxes—forces and vibration transmitted to the
induction motor
• Cavitation in pumps—cause disturbances to rotor alignment
reflected into stator current.
• Oil whirl/whip in plain bearings
Figure 1. Broken Rotor Bar. • Critical speeds/shaft resonances—increased forces and vibration
on the rotor core and winding
Airgap Eccentricity in Three-Phase Induction Motors
Stator Winding Failures
Airgap eccentricity is kept to a minimum and typical maximum
levels for a large induction motor are between 5 to 10 percent. Only a brief summary is given and further details are presented
There are two types of airgap eccentricity, namely static and by Bonnet and Soukop (1992), Thomson (1999), and Thomson
dynamic. In the former, the minimum airgap is fixed in space and, (2001). There are four main root causes of failure:
in the latter, the minimum airgap revolves with the rotor. In
practice there will always be an inherent level of both types due to
• Normal ageing and thermal stresses
manufacturing tolerances, but abnormal levels can occur due to: • Mechanical forces and stresses
• Incorrect onsite installation of a large motor causing abnormal • Electrical overloads and switching transients
airgap eccentricity that results in vibration and bearing wear. • Environmental pollution
CURRENT AND VIBRATION MONITORING FOR FAULT DIAGNOSIS 63
AND ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS OF INDUCTION MOTOR DRIVES
Within these categories there are various subdivisions and combi- bar severity under full-load conditions can be given by the
nations of these that enhance the probability of failure. For following equation, as presented by Thomson and Rankin (1987)
example, vibration is probably one of the major causes of and Hargis, et al. (1982):
premature degradation of a high-voltage stator winding. The
sources of vibration can come directly from electromagnetic forces n≈ R ( N / 20
+ p) ≈ × ( 50 / 20
+ )= (2)
or via transmitted vibration from stator core and teeth vibration, or
external vibration from mechanical problems. where:
R = Number of rotor slots
CURRENT AND VIBRATION MONITORING— N = dB difference between the sidebands and the supply
INDUSTRIAL CASE HISTORIES frequency component
p = Pole pairs
Justification
Taking account of the fact that the motor was on reduced load,
An induction motor drive is a complex electrical and mechanical hence the rotor current was less and the estimate was that at least
system. For example, mechanical forces and consequential one bar was broken. It is important to note that if this had been a
vibration from a mechanical load such as a coal crusher or recip- two-pole motor with the sidebands at 50 dB down, there would not
rocating compressor are transmitted to the motor, and be a broken bar problem. The number of bars would be consider-
electromagnetic forces from the motor act on the rotor system. ably less (e.g., 46 is a typical value) and the broken factor n = 0.29,
Vibration signals therefore include a combination of components which corresponds to a healthy unit. The photo in Figure 4 shows
from mechanical and electromagnetic sources. A disturbance to the that there was one broken bar. The broken bar was repaired and the
airgap flux waveform can result in additional flux components motor drive was reinstalled. Figure 5 shows the current spectrum
being produced, which in turn can induce current components in after the repair, and there are no sidebands present. This was a
the stator winding. These components can be detected via current successful outcome for the diagnosis of the problem.
signature analysis with the current being sensed via a current
transformer around one of the supply cables. By analyzing the
current and vibration signals, the electromechanical health of the
drive system can be assessed and the root cause of a problem can
be established.
f sb = f1 ( ± s) Hz (1)
Figure 3. Twice Slip Frequency Sidebands in Current Spectrum. Unfortunately, following the reinstallation it was observed that
the bearing vibration on the motor had changed from 0.05 in/sec
In the USA these sidebands are often referred to as the pole pass peak (0.9 mm/sec rms) to 0.33 in/sec peak (5.9 mm/sec rms) at the
frequencies. The sidebands are 50 dB down on the supply drive-end and from 0.03 in/sec peak (0.5 mm/sec rms) to 0.1 in/sec
frequency component, but with a rotor having 112 slots this peak (1.9 mm/sec rms) at the nondrive-end. Clearly the motor had
indicates the early signs of a broken rotor bar problem. The drive been incorrectly reinstalled. The current was immediately analyzed
was running in the high-speed mode (12 pole configuration), but and a comparison made between the spectra before and after the
the motor was operating on a reduced load with an operational reinstallation. The most likely cause was that an increase in airgap
current of 57 A compared with a full-load current of 78.5 A. It has eccentricity had been introduced, but current analysis would
been proven via industrial case histories that an estimate of broken confirm if that was indeed the case. Abnormal airgap eccentricity
64 PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRTY-FIRST TURBOMACHINERY SYMPOSIUM • 2002
( )
f ec = f1 R p ( − s) ± nws ± f1 ( − s) p (3)
where f1, R, s, and p are defined above and nws = integer values of
1, 3, 5, 7, . . .
In Equation (3), the part given by f1(R/p(1⫺s) ± nws) = frs =
rotor slot passing frequencies in the current spectrum were induced
by rotating flux waves due to rotor slotting, which are also a
function of airgap eccentricity. In Equation (3), the part given by
f1(1⫺s)/p = fr = rotational speed frequency component of current
was induced by a rotating flux wave—a function of dynamic airgap
eccentricity and interaction (modulation) with static eccentricity Figure 8. High Bearing Vibration at the Drive-End after
flux waves as proved by Thomson and Barbour (1998). Reinstallation and Effect of Tightening Bolts.
Equation (3) therefore gives the rotor slot passing frequencies
(frs) with ± rotational speed frequencies (fr) around the slot passing Case History Two—
frequencies, and it is this pattern that can be used to characterize Witness Tests
abnormal airgap eccentricity. There is a series of these slot passing
frequencies and they are spaced at twice the supply frequency apart. Bearing vibration measurements are carried out during witness
For this motor, operating on reduced load and at this particular slip, testing as part of a manufacturer’s quality analysis and quality
the rotor slot passing frequencies occur at 780, 880, 980, 1080 Hz control procedures, and to provide the client with a record to prove
and the rotational speed frequency is at 8.27 Hz (496 rpm). The that the levels are within the specified standards. By applying
rotor slot passing frequency with the highest dB value was selected, current signature analysis, the quality of the rotor winding and any
and Figures 6 and 7 show the current spectrum before the outage operational airgap eccentricity problems can also be determined.
and after reinstallation when the vibration had increased by nearly The client is also provided with baseline signature patterns at the
a factor of six at the drive-end bearing. Examination of these two time of manufacture.
spectra clearly shows there are no rotational speed frequency Motor specification: three-phase, 6.6 kV, 60 Hz, 3.95 MW/5295
components around 880 Hz before the outage, but that two distinct hp, 404 A, 3540 rpm (two-pole), SCIM, efficiency = 95.4 percent,
components at ±8.27 Hz (± rotational speed frequency) are present rotor slots = 46, stator slots = 60. Vibration velocity (rms over the
after the reinstallation. These components are 32 and 36 dB down range 10 Hz to 1 kHz) in the vertical, horizontal, and axial
on the rotor slot passing frequency, and in this case is indicative of directions to not exceed 2.67 mm/sec (0.15 in/sec peak).
an increase in airgap eccentricity. It was not possible to remove the
motor from service due to strategic operational demands on the Vibration Results
unit, but the bolts at the drive-end were tightened and the vibration Drive-end bearing: 1.1, 0.5, 1.5 mm/sec in the vertical,
dropped from 0.33 in/sec peak (5.9 mm/sec rms) to 0.27 in/sec peak horizontal, and axial directions, respectively. Nondrive-end
(4.8 mm/sec rms) as shown in Figure 8. It is therefore likely that the bearing: 1.2, 1.1, 1.2 mm/sec in the vertical, horizontal, and axial
incorrect size of shims had been installed. The motor is under close directions, respectively. Note: 1 mm/sec = 0.056 in/sec peak, 1.5
surveillance and will be checked at the first available opportunity. mm/sec = 0.084 in/sec peak. These values were well within the
Note that the motor is operating in the 12-pole mode and it is not a upper limit and the rotor was running smoothly. The stator core
high-speed machine. This case history is a classic case of what can structure is shown in Figure 9.
happen at an outage and reinstallation. One problem was corrected
but another was introduced. However, by the use of current and
vibration monitoring, the root cause of the high vibration was
established and, equally important, when and how it was introduced
was identified.
(
f rs = f1 R p ( − s) ± nr ) (4)
CONCLUSIONS
The case histories demonstrate the advantages of using an
integrated monitoring strategy via vibration and current analysis to
diagnose faults and establish the root cause of problems. In
electrical drive systems it is better to simultaneously analyze
electrical and mechanical signals such as vibration and current, and
in high-voltage motors (4.16 kV and above) partial discharges
should also be monitored to ascertain the health of the stator
winding. In addition, temperature sensing on bearings and windings
should be included and, where appropriate, the use of thermo-
Figure 16. Current Spectrum—9.8 mils (0.25 mm) Misalignment. graphic surveys is a useful technique. Electrical and mechanical
CURRENT AND VIBRATION MONITORING FOR FAULT DIAGNOSIS 67
AND ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS OF INDUCTION MOTOR DRIVES