Airgap Search Coil-Based Detection of Damper Bar Failures in Salient Pole Synchronous Motors

J. Yun, S. Park, C. Yang, Sang Bin Lee, J. Antonino-Daviu, M. Sasic, G. C. Stone

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Damper bars are often used in high output salient pole synchronous motor (SM) rotors for motor starting and stabilization of performance. Several cases of broken damper bars in the rotor of SMs that lead to motor starting failure and/or forced outage have recently been reported. However, detection of damper bar failures is difficult, since the damper bars are active only under the starting or load transients. Damper bar testing in the field currently relies on off-line visual inspection, and there is no means available for detecting failures on-line. In this paper, a new method for detecting damper bar failures based on the analysis of airgap search coil measurements under the starting transient is proposed. Since airgap search coils are being increasingly installed in large SMs for detecting field winding short circuits, the proposed method can be implemented without additional hardware. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified with 2 dimensional finite element analysis and experimental testing on a custom-built 30 kW salient pole SM under controlled fault conditions. It is shown that the proposed method can provide reliable and sensitive detection of broken damper bars whenever the motor is started at low additional cost.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages5791-5796
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781479973118
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018 Dec 3
Event10th Annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018 - Portland, United States
Duration: 2018 Sept 232018 Sept 27

Other

Other10th Annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPortland
Period18/9/2318/9/27

Keywords

  • Airgap Flux
  • Fault Diagnostics
  • Salient Pole Synchronous Motor
  • Search Coil
  • Spectral Analysis
  • Starting Transient

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Control and Optimization
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Information Systems and Management

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