Practical Aspects of Broken Rotor Bars Detection in PWM Voltage-Source-Inverter-Fed Squirrel-Cage Induction Motors

Broken rotor bars fault detection in inverter-fed squirrel cage induction motors is still as difficult as the dynamics introduced by the control system or the dynamically changing excitation (stator) frequency. This paper introduces a novel fault diagnosis techniques using motor current signature analysis (MCSA) to solve the problems. Switching function concept and frequency modulation theory are firstly used to model fault current signal. The competency of the amplitude of the sideband components at frequencies (1 +/- 2s)f(s) as indices for broken bars recognition is subsequently studied in the controlled motor via open-loop constant voltage/frequency control method. The proposed techniques are composed of five modules of anti-aliasing signal acquisition, optimal-slip-estimation based on torque-speed characteristic curve of squirrel cage motor with different load types, fault characteristic frequency determination, nonparametric spectrum estimation, and fault identification for achieving MCSA efficiently. Experimental and simulation results obtained on 3 kW three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors show that the model and the proposed techniques are effective and accurate.