Advanced signal processing methods for condition monitoring

Condition monitoring of induction motors (IM) among with the predictive maintenance concept are currently among the most promising research topics of manufacturing industry. Production efficiency is an important parameter of every manufacturing plant since it directly influences the final price of products. This research article presents a comprehensive overview of conditional monitoring techniques, along with classification techniques and advanced signal processing techniques. Compared methods are either based on measurement of electrical quantities or nonelectrical quantities that are processed by advanced signal processing techniques. This article briefly compares individual techniques and summarize results achieved by different research teams. Our own testbed is briefly introduced in the discussion section along with plans for future dataset creation. According to the comparison, Wavelet Transform (WT) along with Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Park's Vector Approach (PVA) provides the most interesting results for real deployment and could be used for future experiments.Web of Scienc

Development of an induction motor condition monitoring test rig And fault detection strategies

Includes bibliographical references.This thesis sets out to develop an induction motor condition monitoring test rig to experimentally simulate the common faults associated with induction motors and to develop strategies for detecting these faults that employ signal processing techniques. Literature on basic concepts of induction motors and inverter drives, the phenomena of common faults associated with induction motors, the condition monitoring systems were intensively reviewed

Magnetoresistance sensor-based rotor fault detection in induction motor using non-decimated wavelet and streaming data

In this paper, the giant magnetoresistance broken rotor (GBR) method is used to diagnose the induction motor (IM) rotor bar fault at an early stage from outward magnetic flux developed by IM.The outward magnetic field signal has anti-clockwise radiation due to broken rotor bar current.In this paper, the outward magnetic signal is acquired using a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor. In the GBR method, IM rotor fault is analysed with a non-decimated wavelet transform (NDWT)-based outward magnetic signal. Experimental result shows the difference in statistical features and energy levels of sub-bands of NDWT for healthy and faulty IM. Least square-support vector machine(LS-SVM)-based classification results are verified by confusion matrix based on 150 outward magnetic signals from a healthy and damaged rotor (broken rotor). The proposed method identifies IM rotor faults with 95% sensitivity, 90% specificity and 92.5% classification accuracy. Furthermore, run-time IM condition monitoring is performed through the ThinkSpeak internet of things (IoT) platform for collecting outer magnetic signal data. ThinkSpeak streaming data of outward magnetic field help detect rotor fault at the initial stage and understand the growth of rotor fault in the motor. The proposed GBR method overcomes sensitivity, translation-invariance limitations of existing IM rotor fault diagnosis methods

Methods of condition monitoring and fault detection for electrical machines

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Acoustic Diagnostics of Electrical Origin Fault Modes with Readily Available Consumer-Grade Sensors

Acoustic diagnostics, traditionally associated with mechanical fault modes, can potentially solve a wider range of monitoring applications. Typically, fault modes are induced purposefully by the researcher through physical component damage whilst the system is shutdown. This paper presents low-cost real-time fault diagnostics of a previously unreported acute electrical origin fault that manifests sporadically during system operation with no triggering intervention. A suitability study into acoustic measurements from readily available consumer-grade sensors for low-cost real-time diagnostics of audible faults, and a brief overview of the theory and configuration of the wavelet packet transform (including optimal wavelet selection methods) and empirical mode decomposition processing algorithms is also included. The example electrical origin fault studied here is an unpredictable current instability arising with the PWM-controller of a BrushLess DC motor. Experimental trials positively detect 99.9 % of the 1160 resultant high-bandwidth torque transients using acoustic measurements from a USB microphone and a smartphone. While the use of acoustic techniques for detecting emerging electrical origin faults remains largely unexplored, the techniques demonstrated here can be readily adopted for the prevention of catastrophic failure of drive and power electronic components

An investigation into current and vibration signatures of three phase induction motors

This research aimed at investigating the relationship between three phase induction motors vibration (MVS) and current signatures (MCS). This is essential due to the cost of vibration measuring equipment and in cases where vibration of interest point is not accessible; such as electrical submersible pumps (ESP) used in oil industry. A mathematical model was developed to understand the effects of two types of induction motors common faults; rotor bar imperfections and phase imbalance on the motor vibration and current signatures. An automated test facility was developed in which 1.1 kW three phase motor could be tested under varying shaft rotation speeds and loads for validating the developed model. Time and frequency domains statistical parameters of the measured signals were calculated for fault detection and assessing its severity. The measured signals were also processed using the short time Fourier transform (STFT), the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD), the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and wavelet multi-resolution analysis (MRA). The non-stationary components, representing faults within induction motor measured vibration and current signals, were successfully detected using wavelet decomposition technique. An effective alternative to direct vibration measurement scheme, based on radial basis function networks, was developed to the reconstruction of motor vibration using measurements of one phase of the motor current. It was found that this method captured the features of induction motor faults with reasonable degrees of accuracy. Another method was also developed for the early detection and diagnosis of faults using an enhanced power factor method. Experimental results confirmed that the power factor can be used successfully for induction motor fault diagnosis and is also promising in assessing fault severity. The suggested two methods offer inexpensive, reliable and non-intrusive condition monitoring tools that suits real-time applications. Directions for further work were also outlined

Motor Fault Diagnosis Using Higher Order Statistical Analysis of Motor Power Supply Parameters

Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) has been an effective method to monitor electrical machines for many years, predominantly because of its low instrumentation cost, remote implementation and comprehensive information contents. However, it has shortages of low accuracy and efficiency in resolving weak signals from incipient faults, such as detecting early stages of induction motor fault. In this thesis MCSA has been improved to accurately detect electrical and mechanical faults in the induction motor namely broken rotor bars, stator faults and motor bearing faults. Motor current signals corresponding to a healthy (baseline) and faulty condition on induction motor at different loads (zero, 25%, 50% and 75% of full load) were rearranged and the baseline current data were examined using conventional methods in frequency domain and referenced for comparison with new modulation signal bispectrum. Based on the fundamental modulation effect of the weak fault signatures, a new method based on modulation signal bispectrum (MSB) analysis is introduced to characterise the modulation and hence for accurate quantification of the signatures. This method is named as (MSB-SE). For broken rotor bar(BRB), the results show that MSB-SE suggested in this research outperforms conventional bispectrum CB significantly for all cases due its high performance of nonlinear modulation detection and random noise suppression, which demonstrates that MSB-SE is an outstanding technique whereas (CB) is inefficient for motor current signal analysis [1] . Moreover the new estimators produce more accurate results at zero, 25%, 50%, 75% of full load and under broken rotor bar, compared with power spectrum analysis. Especially it can easily separate the half BRB at a load as low as 25% from baseline where PS would not produce a correct separation. In case of stator faults, a MSB-SE is investigated to detect different severities of stator faults for both open and short circuit. It shows that MSB-SE has the capability to accurately estimate modulation degrees and suppress the random and non-modulation components. Test results show that MSB-SE has a better performance in differentiating spectrum amplitudes due to stator faults and hence produces better diagnosis performance, compared with that of power spectrum (PS). For motor bearing faults, tests were performed with three bearing conditions: baseline, outer race fault and inner race fault. Because the signals associated with faults produce small modulations to supply component and high noise levels, MSB-SE is used to detect and diagnose different motor bearing defects. The results show that bearing faults can induce detectable amplitude increases at its characteristic frequencies. MSB-SE peaks show a clear difference at these frequencies whereas the conventional power spectrum provides change evidences only at some of the frequencies. This shows that MSB has a better and reliable performance in detecting small changes from the faulty bearing for fault detection and diagnosis. In addition, the study also shows that current signals from motors with variable frequency drive controller have too much noise and it is unlikely to discriminate the small bearing fault component. This research also applies a mathematical model for the simulation of current signals under healthy and broken bars condition in order to further understand the characteristics of fault signature to ensure the methodologies used and accuracy achieved in the detection and diagnosis results. The results show that the frequency spectrum of current signal outputs from the model take the expected form with peaks at the sideband frequency and associated harmonics

Acoustic Condition Monitoring & Fault Diagnostics for Industrial Systems

Condition monitoring and fault diagnostics for industrial systems is required for cost reduction, maintenance scheduling, and reducing system failures. Catastrophic failure usually causes significant damage and may cause injury or fatality, making early and accurate fault diagnostics of paramount importance. Existing diagnostics can be improved by augmenting or replacing with acoustic measurements, which have proven advantages over more traditional vibration measurements including, earlier detection of emerging faults, increased diagnostic accuracy, remote sensors and easier setup and operation. However, industry adoption of acoustics remains in relative infancy due to vested confidence and reliance on existing measurement and, perceived difficulties with noise contamination and diagnostic accuracy. Researched acoustic monitoring examples typically employ specialist surface-mount transducers, signal amplification, and complex feature extraction and machine learning algorithms, focusing on noise rejection and fault classification. Usually, techniques are fine-tuned to maximise diagnostic performance for the given problem. The majority investigate mechanical fault modes, particularly Roller Element Bearings (REBs), owing to the mechanical impacts producing detectable acoustic waves. The first contribution of this project is a suitability study into the use of low-cost consumer-grade acoustic sensors for fault diagnostics of six different REB health conditions, comparing against vibration measurements. Experimental results demonstrate superior acoustic performance throughout but particularly at lower rotational speed and axial load. Additionally, inaccuracies caused by dynamic operational parameters (speed in this case), are minimised by novel multi-Support Vector Machine training. The project then expands on existing work to encompass diagnostics for a previously unreported electrical fault mode present on a Brush-Less Direct Current motor drive system. Commonly studied electrical faults, such as a broken rotor bar or squirrel cage, result from mechanical component damage artificially seeded and not spontaneous. Here, electrical fault modes are differentiated as faults caused by issues with the power supply, control system or software (not requiring mechanical damage or triggering intervention). An example studied here is a transient current instability, generated by non-linear interaction of the motor electrical parameters, parasitic components and digital controller realisation. Experimental trials successfully demonstrate real-time feature extraction and further validate consumer-grade sensors for industrial system diagnostics. Moreover, this marks the first known diagnosis of an electrically-seeded fault mode as defined in this work. Finally, approaching an industry-ready diagnostic system, the newly released PYNQ-Z2 Field Programmable Gate Array is used to implement the first known instance of multiple feature extraction algorithms that operate concurrently in continuous real-time. A proposed deep-learning algorithm can analyse the features to determine the optimum feature extraction combination for ongoing continuous monitoring. The proposed black-box, all-in-one solution, is capable of accurate unsupervised diagnostics on almost any application, maintaining excellent diagnostic performance. This marks a major leap forward from fine-tuned feature extraction performed offline for artificially seeded mechanical defects to multiple real-time feature extraction demonstrated on a spontaneous electrical fault mode with a versatile and adaptable system that is low-cost, readily available, with simple setup and operation. The presented concept represents an industry-ready all-in-one acoustic diagnostic solution, that is hoped to increase adoption of acoustic methods, greatly improving diagnostics and minimising catastrophic failures

Stray magnetic field based health monitoring of electrical machines

PhD ThesisElectrical machines are widely used in industrial and transportation applications which are essential to industrial processes. However, the lack of reliability and unpredictable life cycles of these machines still present opportunities and challenges for condition monitoring research. The breakdown of an electrical machine leads to expensive repairs and high losses due to downtime. The motivation of this research is to improve the reliability of electrical machines and to classify different kinds of failures via non-intrusive methods for condition-based maintenance and early warning of failure. Major potential failure types in electrical machines are winding and mechanical failures, which are caused by dynamic load state, component ageing and harsh working environments. To monitor and characterise these abnormal situations in the early stages, this thesis proposes stray magnetic field-based condition monitoring allowing fault diagnosis with the help of finite element models and advanced signal processing technology. By investigating the interaction between stray flux variations and machine failure, different kinds of faults can be classified and distinguished via numerical and experimental studies. A non-intrusive stray flux monitoring system has been developed and can provide both static and transient stray flux information and imaging. The designed monitoring system is based on a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor used to capture low stray flux fields outside the electrical machine’s frame. Compared with other monitoring systems, its small size, low cost, non-inventive and ease of setting up make the designed system more attractive for in many long-term monitoring applications. Additionally, integration with the wireless sensor network (WSN) means that the latter’s unique characteristics makes the proposed system suitable for electrical machine monitoring in industrial applications replacing existing expensive wired systems. The proposed system can achieve real-time data collection and on-line monitoring with the help of spectrogram and independent component analysis. Three cases studies are conducted to validate the proposed system with different failures and loading states, using load fatigue, winding short-circuit failure and mechanical testing. In these case studies, electrical and mechanical failures and dynamic loads are investigated, collecting stray flux information with different kinds and sizes of electrical machines using both simulation and experimental approaches. Stray flux information is collected for different situations of winding failure, unbalanced load and bearing failures. Comprehensive transient feature extraction using spectrogram is implemented with respect to multiple failures and load variations. Spectrograms of stray flux can provide time-frequency information allowing the discrimination of different failures and load states. Different faults can be distinguished through independent component analysis of stray flux data. Compared with traditional and current detection strategies, stray flux-based monitoring can not only provide failure indicator and better resolution but also gives location information. Additionally, by applying different feature extraction methods, different failure types can be separated based on stray flux information, which is likely to be difficult to achieve using traditional monitoring approaches. However, stray flux monitoring systems suffer from issue of noise and instability, and more case studies and investigations are needed for further refinement