An alternative method for order tracking using autopower spectrum

Order tracking is a method of analysis used by engineers in the diagnosis of rotating machinery. In many applications, order analysis of non-stationary signals is required. The direct extraction of the amplitude information from the shorttime Fourier transform may lead to inaccurate vibration-level estimation in the case of fast changes in the signal frequency content. This article discusses spectral smearing, which is the main reason of the problem, and its sensitivity to the characteristics of the signal (frequency and amplitude variations) and to the input parameters of discrete Fourier transform analysis (window size and type). Through the years, many different approaches to perform order analysis have been developed; this article introduces a novel method for order tracking based on the short-time Fourier transform, which applies a compensation of the smearing effect based on an invariant information contained in autopower spectrum. The limitations and capabilities of the proposed method with respect to other existing techniques are discussed: considering the accuracy of the results, low requirements of computational resources, and ease of implementation, this method proves a valid alternative to currently used techniques

Diagnosis of induction motor faults via gabor analysis of the current in transient regime

© 2011 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permissíon from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertisíng or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.[EN] Time-frequency analysis of the transient current in induction motors (IMs) is the basis of the transient motor current signature analysis diagnosis method. IM faults can be accurately identified by detecting the characteristic pattern that each type of fault produces in the time-frequency plane during a speed transient. Diverse transforms have been proposed to generate a 2-D time-frequency representation of the current, such as the short time Fourier transform (FT), the wavelet transform, or the Wigner-Ville distribution. However, a fine tuning of their parameters is needed in order to obtain a high-resolution image of the fault in the time-frequency domain, and they also require a much higher processing effort than traditional diagnosis techniques, such as the FT. The new method proposed in this paper addresses both problems using the Gabor analysis of the current via the chirp z-transform, which can be easily adapted to generate high-resolution time-frequency stamps of different types of faults. In this paper, it is used to diagnose broken bars and mixed eccentricity faults of an IM using the current during a startup transient. This new approach is theoretically introduced and experimentally validated with a 1.1-kW commercial motor in faulty and healthy conditions. © 2012 IEEE.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN) in the framework of the VI Plan Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica 2008-2011. (Programa Nacional de proyectos de Investigacion Fundamental, project reference DPI2011-23740). The Associate Editor coordinating the review process for this paper was Dr. Subhas Mukhopadhyay.Riera-Guasp, M.; Pineda-Sanchez, M.; Pérez-Cruz, J.; Puche-Panadero, R.; Roger-Folch, J.; Antonino-Daviu, J. (2012). Diagnosis of induction motor faults via gabor analysis of the current in transient regime. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement. 61(6):1583-1596. doi:10.1109/TIM.2012.2186650S1583159661

Electrical and magnetic faults diagnosis in permanent magnet synchronous motors

Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) are an alternative in critical applications where high-speed operation, compactness and high efficiency are required. In these applications it is highly desired to dispose of an on-line, reliable and cost-effective fault diagnosis method. Fault prediction and diagnosis allows increasing electric machines performance and raising their lifespan, thus reducing maintenance costs, while ensuring optimum reliability, safe operation and timely maintenance. Consequently this thesis is dedicated to the diagnosis of magnetic and electrical faults in PMSMs. As a first step, the behavior of a healthy machine is studied, and with this aim a new 2D finite element method (FEM) modelbased system for analyzing surface-mounted PSMSs with skewed rotor magnets is proposed. It is based on generating a geometric equivalent non-skewed permanent magnet distribution which accounts for the skewed distribution of the practical rotor, thus avoiding 3D geometries and greatly reducing the computational burden of the problem. To diagnose demagnetization faults, this thesis proposes an on-line methodology based on monitoring the zero-sequence voltage component (ZSVC). Attributes of the proposed method include simplicity, very low computational burden and high sensibility when compared with the well known stator currents analysis method. A simple expression of the ZSVC is deduced, which can be used as a fault indicator parameter. Furthermore, mechanical effects arising from demagnetization faults are studied. These effects are analyzed by means of FEM simulations and experimental tests based on direct measurements of the shaft trajectory through self-mixing interferometry. For that purpose two perpendicular laser diodes are used to measure displacements in both X and Y axes. Laser measurements proved that demagnetization faults may induce a quantifiable deviation of the rotor trajectory. In the case of electrical faults, this thesis studies the effects of resistive unbalance and stator winding inter-turn short-circuits in PMSMs and compares two methods for detecting and discriminating both faults. These methods are based on monitoring and analyzing the third harmonic component of the stator currents and the first harmonic of the ZSVC. Finally, the Vold-Kalman filtering order tracking algorithm is introduced and applied to extract selected harmonics related to magnetic and electrical faults when the machine operates under variable speed and different load levels. Furthermore, different fault indicators are proposed and their behavior is validated by means of experimental data. Both simulation and experimental results show the potential of the proposed methods to provide helpful and reliable data to carry out a simultaneous diagnosis of resistive unbalance and stator winding inter-turn faults

Vibration monitoring on electrical machine using Vold-Kalman filter order tracking

Conventional rotating machine vibration monitoring techniques are based on the assumption that changes in the measured structural response are caused by deterioration in the condition of the rotating machine. However, due to changing rotational speed, the measured signal may be non-stationary and difficult to interpret. For this reason, the order tracking technique was introduced. One of main advantages of order tracking over traditional vibration monitoring techniques, lies in its ability to clearly identify non-stationary vibration data, and to a large extent exclude the influences from varying rotational speed. Several order tracking techniques have been developed and researched during the past 20 years. Among these techniques, Fourier Transform Based Order Tracking (FT-OT), Angle Domain Sampling Based Order Tracking (AD-OT) and Vold-Kalman Filter Order Tracking (VKF-OT) are the three most popular techniques and have been commercialised in software. While the VKF-OT is comparatively new, and both its theory and application are different from the other two techniques, the unique advantages of this technique has led to increased research attention in this field. This growing interest in research on the application of the VKF-OT technique on real machines, and its comparative advantages with respect to other order tracking techniques, inspired the present research. With this work, a comprehensive literature of electrical machine condition monitoring was surveyed, which gives a broad perspective of electrical machine monitoring methods ranging through electrical techniques, vibration techniques, temperature techniques and chemical techniques. To simply the process of applying VKF-OT in initial investigations, simulated single-degree-of freedom and two-degree-of freedom rotor models were established, and the application of the VKF-OT technique on these simulated models was explored. Because most of the current research draws significantly on an understanding of the VKF-OT theory, it was also necessary to review and summarize the current status of VKF-OT theory from previous work, as well as explore the procedures for selection of its filter bandwidth when dealing with real data. An experimental set-up for monitoring an electrical alternator was constructed. Real experimental data were subsequently used to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the three popular order tracking techniques. The unique time domain advantage of VKF-OT was implemented, using crest factor and kurtosis values as indictors of the fault condition of the machine. This gave encouraging results.Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2008.Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineeringunrestricte