Multisensor fusion for induction motor aging analysis and fault diagnosis

Induction motors are the most commonly used electrical drives, ranging in power from fractional horsepower to several thousand horsepowers. Several studies have been conducted to identify the cause of failure of induction motors in industrial applications. Recent activities indicate a focus towards building intelligence into the motors, so that a continuous on-line fault diagnosis and prognosis may be performed.; The purpose of this research and development was to perform aging studies of three-phase, squirrel-cage induction motors; establish a database of mechanical, electrical and thermal measurements from load testing of the motors; develop a sensor-fusion method for on-line motor diagnosis; and use the accelerated aging models to extrapolate to the normal aging regimes. A new laboratory was established at The University of Tennessee to meet the goals of the project.; The accelerated aging and motor performance tests constitute a unique database, containing information about the trend characteristics of measured signatures as a function of motor faults. The various measurements facilitate enhanced fault diagnosis of motors and may be effectively utilized to increase the reliability of decision making and for the development of life prediction techniques.; One of these signatures is the use of Multi-Resolution Analysis (MRA) using wavelets. Using MRA in trending different frequency bands has revealed that higher frequencies show a characteristic increase when the condition of a bearing is in question. This study effectively showed that the use of MRA in vibration signatures can identify a thermal degradation or degradation via electrical charge of the bearing, whereas other failure mechanisms, such as winding insulation failure, do not exhibit such characteristics.; A motor diagnostic system, called the Intelligent Motor Monitoring System (IMMS) was developed in this research. The IMMS integrated the various mechanical, electrical and thermal signatures, and artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic algorithms. The IMMS was then used for motor fault detection and isolation and for estimating its remaining operable lifetime. The performance of the IMMS was evaluated using the motor aging data, and showed that several motor degradation modes could be effectively diagnosed and the prognosis of motor operation could be established.