Early Detection of Faults in Induction Motors—A Review

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in improving energy efficiency and reducing operational costs of induction motors in the industry. These costs can be significantly reduced, and the efficiency of the motor can be improved if the condition of the machine is monitored regularly and if monitoring techniques are able to detect failures at an incipient stage. An early fault detection makes the elimination of costly standstills, unscheduled downtime, unplanned breakdowns, and industrial injuries possible. Furthermore, maintaining a proper motor operation by reducing incipient failures can reduce motor losses and extend its operating life. There are many review papers in which analyses of fault detection techniques in induction motors can be found. However, all these reviewed techniques can detect failures only at developed or advanced stages. To our knowledge, no review exists that assesses works able to detect failures at incipient stages. This paper presents a review of techniques and methodologies that can detect faults at early stages. The review presents an analysis of the existing techniques focusing on the following principal motor components: stator, rotor, and rolling bearings. For steady-state and transient operating modes of the motor, the methodologies are discussed and recommendations for future research in this area are also presented.

Fault diagnosis of electrical faults of three phase induction motors using acoustic analysis

“…The following diagnostic signals can be used for fault detection: Stator current [1,2], vibration signal [1,2], acoustic signal [2], magnetic flux [3,4], and thermal image [5,6]. Fault diagnosis based on acoustic signal analysis has been developed in the literature.…”

Rotor speed estimation for half-broken bar detection in induction motors using Kalman filtering

“…[2]. It is meaningful to detect these anomalies not only at a developed severity stage but also at an incipient stage to avoid catastrophic motor damage [3,4].…”

Electric Fault Diagnosis in induction Machines using Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA)

“…The reliable and efficient operation of induction machines is essential to guarantee continuous production and the security of the systems where they are employed. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) indicates that about 28 to 38% of induction motor faults occur in the stator [1], whereas the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) points out that 26% of the induction motor faults take place in the stator [2]. Different techniques for electric stator fault detection have been proposed in the literature.…”