PROGRESS ON IEC 60034-18-42 FOR QUALIFICATION OF

STATOR INSULATION FOR MEDIUM-VOLTAGE INVERTER

DUTY APPLICATIONS
Copyright Material IEEE
Paper No. PCIC-2007-6
M.K.W. Stranges

G.C. Stone

D. L. Bogh

Senior Member, IEEE

GE Consumer & Industrial
107 Park Street North
Peterborough, Ontario K9H 7A4
Canada
Meredith.Stranges@ge.com

Fellow, IEEE
IRIS Power
2-1 Westside Dr.
Toronto, ON M9C 1B2
Canada

Senior Member, IEEE

GE - Motors
18628 182nd Ave NE
Woodinville, WA 98077
USA
Dennis.Bogh@ge.com

gstone@irispower.com

Abstract - There is an industry need for suitable methods

to qualify medium- and high-voltage stator insulation systems
for inverter duty applications. Technical Specification (TS) IEC
60034-18-42 is being written to address the unique
requirements of form-wound micaceous systems to withstand
inverter pulses, characterized by elevated voltage, fast rise
times, and high frequency impulse repetition rates. These
machines do not operate under the same ageing conditions
as those supplied by sinusoidal power or as random windings
supplied by pulse-width modulated (PWM) drives. Depending
on the specific waveform characteristics observed at the
machine terminals, the groundwall insulation, turn insulation,
corona suppression and endwinding voltage grading systems
are significantly affected by ageing factors such as partial
discharge (PD) and elevated temperature. The TS offers
technically sound guidelines to manufacturers and users
describing test procedures to prove the electrical and thermal
reliability of these components. Like IEC 60034-18-41 (for low
voltage systems) it will significantly impact construction and
testing of NEMA motors. This paper describes the theoretical
and practical considerations of the specification.
I.

INTRODUCTION

ASDs are an integral part of the industrial world. There is

wide recognition that motors and drives need to be
coordinated as a system to assure reliable, long-lived
installations. Drive systems for low voltage machines are well
documented; NEMA and IEC have published application
guides. NEMA published [1], which addresses issues
associated with adjustable speed drive (ASD) and motor
installations. It is currently being updated and the new edition
will likely reference IEC 60034-18-41. IEC has also published
[2], which covers low voltage applications only.
IEEE has recently published [3], a performance standard for
medium voltage drives and motors used in the petrochemical
industry. The standard says nothing about the interaction
between power converter pulses and medium voltage motor
insulation systems. This is a difficult subject, which has not
received the same attention as low voltage insulation
systems.
IEC 60034-18-41 covers Type I insulation systems, which
are generally low voltage and by definition are designed to
operate without PD. The document provides the technical
foundation for both technical specifications [4]. The IEC voted

1-4244-1140-8/07/$25.00 2007 IEEE

this document as a technical specification In 2006. IEC

60034-18-42 is still draft. There is a good chance that it will be
voted to a standard in 2007.
IEC TS 60034-18-42 addresses Type II insulation systems.
Type II insulation systems are designed to experience PD
over their lifetime. The coils are usually form wound and rated
more than 2400 volts. PD and elevated temperatures
experienced during service limit the life of the insulation
system. IEC TS 60034-18-42 employs comparison to an
insulation system having acceptable service life as the basis
for qualification of a candidate inverter duty system.
In the authors experience, medium voltage machine
insulation systems generally have fared quite well when
matched with medium voltage ASDs. Form wound motor
stator coils with micaceous insulation systems are fully
impregnated by vacuum-pressure impregnation (VPI) or press
cured using resin rich tapes.
Medium voltage drives are generally based on multi-step
PWM voltage source power conversion. IEC TS 60034-18-42
formally covers only motors associated with PWM voltage
source inverters. These pose more of a risk to insulation
systems than other ASD architectures. Motor insulation
requirements are based on expected waveforms at the motor
terminals, giving the TS very broad applicability.
IEC TS 60034-18-42 gives a consistent definition of
medium voltage machine insulation systems applied to ASDs.
Its careful descriptions of system qualification tests and
production acceptance tests will provide a basis for an
increased understanding of insulation system performance.
II.

FORM WOUND COIL INSULATION SYSTEMS

The Type II insulation system described by IEC TS 6003418-42 is expected to be form wound, typically used in stators
rated 2400 V and above. Figure 1 shows a diagram of a form
wound coil. The insulation system consists of:

Stranded conductors to improve the efficiency of the

motor by reducing eddy current and skin effect losses.
The insulation used on the strands is typically a film
coating and/or a Dacron and glass covering.
Turn insulation to isolate the copper turns from each
other. In modern motors the turn insulation is usually a
Dacron and glass composite or mica paper (mica
platelets on a film- or Dacron-and-glass backing tape).

Sometimes the strand and turn insulation are combined

to fulfill both functions.
Groundwall (or mainwall) insulation to separate the
copper conductors from the grounded stator core. The
groundwall insulation of the line end coil of the winding
sees the full phase to ground applied voltage. Almost all
modern motor stators use mica paper tapes bonded
together with epoxy as the groundwall insulation. In
modern form wound stators, these materials are almost
always combined using the global VPI process.
Partly conductive material applied over the surface of the
groundwall insulation in the stator slot area. This layer is
referred to by many (sometimes contradictory) names,
but will be referred to here as the slot conductive
coating. Slot conductive coating prevents partial
discharge (PD) that could occur in any air gap between
the surface of the groundwall insulation and the side of
the slot in the stator [5]. This coating is usually a carbonloaded tape or paint. Most motor manufacturers apply this
coating on coils for ASD motors rated 3 kV and above.
A stress grading material overlapping the slot conductive
coating just outside of the slot, extending 10-15 cm into
the endwinding. It is designed to reduce the risk of PD by
attenuating the electric stress along the surface of the coil
from line voltage in the endwinding to nearly ground
potential, where it joins the slot conductive coating.
Stress grading is most commonly a tape loaded with
silicon carbide powder. It is often applied to inverter duty
motors rated 4 kV and above.

created by loss of chemical and mechanical bonding. A

significant increase in stator winding temperature will increase
the rate of oxidation of the epoxy bonding material. Oxidation
breaks chemical bonds within the organic structure,
diminishing its electrical and mechanical properties. An
oxidized epoxy has lost its ability to bond the mica paper tape
layers. Strands and turns eventually become free to vibrate
under the 120 Hz magnetic forces, leading to abrasion of the
insulation and ultimately shorted turns. Voids due to the
insulation delamination also enable partial discharges to
occur. PD can also rapidly degrade the insulation, especially
in motors rated 4 kV and above.
Contamination may also cause failure by electrical tracking.
Most contamination is partly conductive, encouraging small
AC currents over coil surfaces of different potential. Where the
winding is dry, breakdown of the air occurs. The resulting
discharges decompose the insulation, creating a carbon track
with still greater conductivity. Over months or years, this
tracking can lead to faults phase-to-ground or phase-tophase.
For ASD machines, these common failure processes are
accompanied by those initiated by switching transients.
Modern drives, especially of the voltage source PWM type,
may produce thousands of short risetime pulses per second
[8, 9]. The short risetime creates frequencies up to a few
megahertz. Transmission line effects can increase the voltage
magnitude beyond that created by switching a DC voltage [8,
9, 10]. The peak-to-peak voltage at the motor terminals can
be as much as doubled in machines with long cables and no
power electronic filters between motor and inverter.
A.

Fig 1 Form-wound stator coil. The stress grading material

on the end arm is not shown.
III. INSULATION FAILURE PROCESSES
For form wound motor stators operating on a conventional
(i.e., sinusoidal) power supply, end-of-life is most commonly
from deterioration due to long term thermal ageing, or the
effects of contamination leading to electrical tracking [6, 7].
Thermal ageing in conventional motors is mainly due to
heating from copper- and core losses. The operating
temperature depends on the load and the effectiveness of the
cooling system. High operating temperature tends to shorten
insulation life. Thermal ageing is accelerated by overloading,
lack of cooling, and too-frequent starting.
Contamination may be an indirect source of thermal
excursion, if it reduces heat transfer from the coils, decreases
cool air flow within the unit, or plugs the heat exchangers of a
totally-enclosed machine.
Thermally aged windings have increased thermal
impedance (poor heat transfer) from insulation delamination

Turn Insulation PD

Repetitive, short risetime voltage impulses arriving at the

motor terminals appear between the turns in the first coil [5,
10]. If the risetime is 200 ns or less possible when modern
drives use insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) or similar
devices with high switching frequencies - then more than 50%
of the fast risetime step or jump voltage, Uj (Figure 2) will
appear between the first turn and second turn of the first coil.
The magnitude of the jump voltage depends on the DC bus
voltage. High impulse frequencies make more PD pulses
available per second, increasing the ageing rate over lower
impulse frequencies. PD may appear in small voids adjacent
to the turn insulation. Even the best global VPI processing or
coil pressing cannot fill every void in the system. PD-induced
electron- and ion bombardment of the insulation will gradually
erode the insulation. Modern mica paper turn insulation is one
of the most PD-resistant materials available, but it will
eventually be punctured given sufficient PD magnitude and
frequency of occurrence. If less resistant materials (such as
Dacron) are used as the turn insulation, in a similar PD
environment, failure will occur more quickly. When the turn
insulation is punctured, a circulating current around the
affected turn rapidly melts the copper. The adjacent insulation
burns away, causing a ground fault. The turn insulation
system must be evaluated to determine its resistance to PD.
The significance of this failure process depends on the
risetime of the voltage steps (the jump voltage magnitude)
and the switching frequency of the inverter.

between the coil surface and the slot, and in the area just
outside the slot exit. Several studies have shown that these
coatings experience higher temperatures (Figure 3) and
increased thermal ageing rate under PWM voltage [12-14].

Upk/pk

U pk/pk
t

Uj

Upk

U' pk

Uj

Fig. 2 Voltage at the terminals of a motor fed by a 3-level

converter [5].
B.

Thermal Ageing of Insulation

The voltage waveform from a PWM inverter heats the

groundwall insulation, increasing the winding temperature and
accelerating the normal thermal ageing process described
above. An ideal insulating material behaves as a pure
capacitance, with no dielectric losses to cause insulation
heating when voltage is applied. Real epoxy-mica systems
contain molecules that polarize with a change in applied
electric field. This molecular vibration creates dielectric loss
For epoxy mica, roughly 0.5% of the 60 Hz volt-amps applied
to the insulation initiates molecular polarization loss [6, 11]. In
a conventional motor, dielectric loss is very minor compared
2
to the copper (I R) and core losses. But as the frequency of
the applied AC voltage increases, for most materials the
dielectric loss will also increase. This effect is greater where
the insulation temperature is elevated, because the loss
normally also increases with temperature. PWM inverters with
high switching frequency cause the stator insulation to drive
more heat into the winding. The lower rms harmonic content
of the power frequency reduces the copper loss in the
windings, partially offsetting this heat from the insulation.
C.

A) Pulsed

High temp
near core

Electrical Ageing of Insulation

All stator windings rated 3.3 kV and above may

demonstrate PD, if voids of sufficient size are present. Small
voids are characteristic of a real insulation system, but may
also form over time as a result of delamination due to thermal
ageing and oxidation. PD may also be exacerbated by the
characteristics of the inverter drive waveform. An inverter may
initiate larger and more frequent PD because the peak-topeak voltages usually exceed those from a sinusoidal supply,
due to the transmission line effects that may double the step
voltage changes [6, 8-10]. The peak-to-peak voltage signature
of a drive system worsens with fewer inverter steps that result
in increased jump voltage (Figure 2). The ageing rate of the
insulation between conductor and core is primarily determined
by the fundamental frequency (Upk/pk) of the waveform at the
motor terminals.
D. Degradation of Stress Grading
Partly conductive coatings are used to cover the coil insulation
in the stator slot, with an overlapping silicon carbide-loaded
material to grade the electrical stress from the end winding
region. These coatings decrease opportunities for PD

High temp
between armor
and semicon

B) Sinusoidal
Fig. 3 Thermal image of end winding stress grading under
A) pulsed, and B) sinusoidal conditions [13]
High frequency voltages are characteristic of PWM
waveforms. They cause higher capacitive currents through the
2
groundwall and PD suppression coatings, creating higher I R
losses and increased temperature in the coatings than would
occur at 60 Hz. The effect is exacerbated because the higher
frequencies also weaken the effectiveness of the silicon
carbide materials to grade the voltage along the surface of the
coils, concentrating the hot spot over a shorter area (Figure 3)
[13]. Laboratory testing has shown that the temperature rise in
poorly designed stress relief systems may reach 55C above
that observed under 50/60 Hz sinusoidal voltage [12-14].
Localized heating of the coating accelerates its thermal
ageing, and that of the adjacent groundwall insulation.
IV. PRINCIPLES OF VOLTAGE ENDURANCE TESTING
The insulation system qualification and acceptance tests
proposed in IEC 60034-18-42 are based on voltage
endurance (VE) tests. Such highly accelerated life tests use
applied voltage and AC frequency exceeding that in service,
to simulate 20 to 30 years of winding insulation life in a
compressed test time. VE tests have been used for decades
to compare test lives and establish reliability limits for
groundwall insulation systems in conventional form wound
stator windings. Standardized test methods were developed
for 50/60 Hz machines [15]. Before the VE tests for ASD
insulation systems are described, the principles of VE testing
are first reviewed.

The effect of increased voltage (V) on the life of the

insulation (L, in hours) is most often represented by the
inverse power model [6, 16]:
-n

L=cV

(1)

where
c
n
V

is a constant
is the power law constant, or voltage
endurance coefficient
is the applied test voltage

As the voltage increases, the life (time to failure) is

shortened. If time to failure is plotted against voltage on loglog graph paper, the slope of the line is n.
The voltage endurance coefficient is usually reported to
range from 9 to 12 for machine insulation systems aged under
sinusoidal AC voltage [6]. If one assumes n = 10, then
doubling the test voltage will reduce the life by a factor of
1000. Thus the applied voltage has a very powerful influence
on life. Using this relationship, many years of ageing on test
can be simulated in a few months by testing the insulation at a
higher than normal voltage.
Evidence also suggests that where PD is the principal
ageing mechanism, then for a constant voltage, increasing the
frequency of the applied AC voltage will reduce the life
proportionately according to equation 2:
L2 = (f1/f2) L1
Where
L1
f1
L2
f2

(2)

Life at power frequency (60 Hz)

Power frequency (60 Hz)
Life at high AC frequency f2
High AC frequency

That is, insulation life is inversely proportional to frequency

[16]. For example, insulation life for a test at 600 Hz will be
one-tenth of that for a system tested at the same 60 Hz
voltage. Thus increasing the AC frequency is an appropriate
method to reduce the time required for a VE test. This is
because usually one PD pulse may occur per half AC cycle in
a void within the insulation. If the frequency is increased
tenfold, then 10 times as many PD pulses may occur in the
same period, and therefore ten times the ageing rate.
V.

parameters. Therefore, a table provides the reader with a

description of the insulation regions affected by each aspect
of the waveform (Table I). The qualification scheme is divided
accordingly, with the understanding that the effects of the
three parameters cannot be measured simultaneously on a
single type of sample. The specification provides criteria for a
complete evaluation of the system design, and optional
acceptance tests for the windings of specific machines.

IEC 60034-18-42 DRAFT TECHNICAL

SPECIFICATION (TS)

Most of the essential elements of the draft TS are now in

place. The document contains an informative section on the
effect of inverter operation on Type II machine winding
insulation. There is also a breakdown of the test scheme for
qualification, and acceptance of a complete insulation system.
The first key point in this document is that life of an inverter
duty insulation system depends on stressing factors produced
by the waveform arriving at the motor terminals. The
significance is that communication is assumed between the
inverter designer, the motor designer, and the user.
The second key point is that the parts of the insulation
system are not stressed in equal measure by the waveform

TABLE I
INFLUENCE OF FEATURES OF THE CONVERTER SIGNAL ON
ACCELERATION OF AGEING OF COMPONENTS OF TYPE II
INSULATION SYSTEMS
Ins ulation
component
Turn to
turn
insulation
Main wall
insulation
Corona
protection
layer+
stress
grading

Note:
A.

Fundamental Im pulse
frequenc y
repetition
frequenc y

Fundamental J ump
frequenc y
voltage
pk/pk voltage

Im pulse
ris etime

Less significant

More significant

Stressing Factors

The designer of the inverter drive system is expected to

specify the characteristic voltage appearing at the motor
terminals in operation. Limiting values are required to describe
the fundamental and impulse voltage repetition frequencies,
their peak-to-peak voltages, and the risetime of the impulse.
Three stator coil insulation system components are affected
by the inverter waveform. They are (1) turn insulation, (2)
groundwall insulation, and (3) the combination of slot coronaand stress grading protection. Phase-to-phase stresses may
occur when two coils of differing phase are in contact in the
same slot, but in form wound coil systems the presence of a
double layer of groundwall insulation combined with an air gap
sized according to voltage is sufficient. Figure 2 shows the
aspects of a voltage waveform as it appears when arriving at
the motor terminals.
The groundwall insulation is most affected by the
fundamental frequency and its peak-to-peak voltage. The
ageing mechanism associated with this stressing parameter is
described earlier in this paper. It is addressed by the
application of a VE test at elevated AC voltage and/or AC
frequency, within certain limiting assumptions based on
current inverter technology.
The turn insulation is mainly affected by the impulse
repetition frequency, jump voltage magnitude, and impulse
rise time. It is the consensus of the working group that for turn
insulation, risetime is probably the limiting factor as pulses
requiring more than about 200 ns to reach their crest value
are too slow to elicit ageing in turn insulation. Qualification of
turn insulation may only be necessary for inverter and cable
designs that produce an extremely rapid rise in impulse jump
voltage. Given a short enough risetime, the stress on the turn
insulation will increase with impulse voltage, and the likelihood
of PD at the inter-turn junction is also increased. For this

reason, the specified build of turn insulation is generally

increased for windings intended for use with PWM inverters.
The slot corona and stress grading protection system is
significantly affected by all waveform parameters. The
designer must ensure that these materials will not suffer
unreasonable deterioration in service by either electrical (PD)
2
or thermal (dielectric and I R loss) mechanisms.
B.

System Qualification

The principal qualification criterion for the groundwall- and

turn insulation of inverter duty windings is comparison with a
service-proven insulation system. Motor manufacturers whose
insulation systems have service experience under sinusoidalor inverter duty conditions will compare the test results of a
proposed (candidate) system to those of their legacy (control
or service-proven) system. This is a logical approach because
of the customized nature of the inverter designs and widely
varying operating conditions in the field. The comparison is
based on accelerated life tests (i.e., voltage endurance),
which have a long history and wide acceptance among
machine designers and users alike. Where qualification of the
general insulation design standard has been completed, a
purchaser may wish to negotiate additional acceptance tests
on a small sample of coils drawn from the production lot made
for a specific machine.
Although a single test to evaluate all insulation system
components would be ideal, it is highly impractical. The test
would be prohibitively expensive, requiring a custom-built
pulsed-voltage supply and a large number of fully insulated
and processed coil samples. The many possible responses of
the three parts of the form wound insulation system combined
with five experimental input parameters would be an
enormous experiment. Failure mechanisms would be
statistically irresolvable without a very large number of
samples and considerable analysis. To find a middle ground
with realistic results, the draft TS proposes three separate VE
tests. Each employs a specific set of stresses to qualify one
insulation system component.
1)
Groundwall Insulation Qualification Test. A candidate
groundwall insulation system is qualified by constructing a life
curve of the log of electrical test stress (kV/mm or kV/mil)
plotted against log of life (in hours or years). This life curve is
compared to one similarly obtained for a control (i.e., service
proven) system. The choice of applied test voltage is based
on the peak-to-peak, line-to-ground voltage arriving at the
motor terminals.
If a given set of voltages is used to obtain a life curve at one
frequency, then used in a second test that differs only in its ac
frequency, it is possible to construct a second life curve with
very similar slope to that obtained from testing at the first
frequency. In other words, as long as the level and intensity of
PD are kept constant (i.e., the voltages applied in the second
test are the same as in the first) the life of the system will
depend only on the total number of ac cycles it receives. This
is considered true up to 1 kHz, a typical upper limit for
fundamental frequency on a 3-level medium voltage converter
drive. The criterion for success is that the average test life of
the candidate system at the service voltage must be at least
as good as that of the control system, tested at the same
voltage. The estimated reduction of test life associated with
increased frequency can be obtained by a translational

transformation of the life curve proportional to the ratio of

fundamental frequencies (equation 2). The test requires an
appropriate number of samples to obtain a result within a
given confidence limit; usually this is at least 5 coils, or 10
bars, per voltage.
It should be noted that the insulation dedicated to each turn
in the stator coil counts as part of the groundwall insulation. Its
contribution to the life curve in this respect is addressed
though the qualification testing for groundwall insulation
system.
2)
Turn Insulation Qualification Test. Dedicated tapedturn insulation may be a feature of the design. This insulation
is employed in stator coils having sufficiently high line-toground voltage rating, combined with a specific surge voltage
requirement. Historically, the design specification and
acceptance testing of inter-turn insulation on form wound
machines have been limited to meeting the short-term surge
testing requirements of [17]. This is a withstand test whereby
the turn insulation is subjected to a brief series of short rise
time impulses at 3.5 times the peak value of the rated line-toground voltage. It is inadequate for qualification of turn
insulation for inverter duty machines. Although short-term
breakdown voltages can be determined for a given system,
the surge test does not represent the high-cycle, low stress
fatigue by repetitive impulses. The withstand test uses
voltages too high produce an accurate model of the potential
inter-turn failure mechanisms characteristic of a fatigue
condition.
The new TS recommends qualifying of inverter duty turn
insulation where the in-service impulse rise time is less than
500 ns. The test may not be necessary for applications having
longer rise times due to low probability of sufficient inter-turn
voltage stress for PD between adjacent turns. The test
program is in effect very similar to that for the groundwall; life
curves for candidate- and control turn insulation systems are
constructed from elevated voltage- or frequency tests on
samples representing the turn insulation design. The first task
is to determine if the impulse voltage rise time is short enough
to affect the turn insulation. If so, then tests are recommended
to produce a life curve at three voltage based on the peak-topeak, impulse voltage arriving at the motor terminals. Figure 4
shows a sample construction that may be used for the
qualification test [5].
Non-conductive, one-part
silicone filler (or equivalent)
Copper
conductor

Turn
insulation
Copper
conductor
Mainwall insulation,
overlaid with protective
glass armour tape

Fig. 4. Turn Insulation Qualification Test Sample

3) Slot Corona Protection and Endwinding Stress

Grading Qualification Test. For slot corona- and stress
grading protection systems, where all of the stressing
parameters apply, the test protocol is more complex. Samples
representing the winding design are subjected to an impulse
voltage endurance test requiring each sample to survive at
least 100 hours. The applied voltage is 1.3 times the peak-topeak magnitude of the line-to-ground voltage anticipated in
service. The impulse voltage tests should be performed at two
temperatures - the first at room temperature, and the second
at the anticipated operating temperature. For these tests, the
location and intensity of hot spots should be evaluated using
an infrared camera, and the surface PD observed by an
ultraviolet sensitive camera or in a darkened room. A simple
impulse generator for this test is described in the draft TS.
Samples must represent the region of interest in coils of the
candidate design. The test pass criteria differ from that of the
groundwall- and turn insulation because it is not a comparison
test against a control system. Rather, based on consensus of
the working group, each sample must survive at least 100 test
hours without visible surface discharge. The temperature
increase at any point must not exceed the thermal class
temperature rise of the groundwall insulation.

VII REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

[5]

[6]
[7]

C. Acceptance Testing
Acceptance tests of a specific design shall be decided by
commercial agreement between the purchaser and motor
manufacturer. The test consists of voltage endurance at 50/60
Hz, using an agreed-upon number of coils drawn from the
production lot for the design. The applied peak-to-peak
voltage is equal to 2.5 times the maximum peak-to-peak lineto-ground voltage expected in service. Failure of any single
sample (coil leg or single bar) in less than 250 hours
constitutes failure of the test. The acceptance test is purely a
verification of manufacturing quality and is not considered
equivalent to a full qualification.
VI

CONCLUSIONS

Medium voltage ASD stator insulation systems operate

under greater stress than those using sine wave power. The
repetitive short risetime pulses generated by most ASDs
cause additional stress. The pulses are often increased by the
effect of the cable between the ASD and the motor. It is
incumbent on the user and ASD manufacturer to account for
the magnitude, rate of rise, and repetition rate of these pulses.
Medium voltage machines powered by ASDs operate with
some level of PD. The machine manufacturer must ensure
that the insulation system will provide adequate life in the PD
environment. VE testing is a well-understood and accepted
method to qualify insulation systems. It is a reliable means to
compare new insulation systems to documented existing
ones. The TS describes several qualification procedures
based on knowledge of the converter waveform. These will
assure that all parts of the machine insulation system will
present acceptable test life.
Work on technical specification 60034-18-42 has been in
process for the past 5 years. The TS is approaching
conclusion with completion of balloting expected in mid 2007.

[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]

NEMA Application Guide for AC Adjustable Speed Drive

Systems, Roslyn, VA, 2001
http://www.nema.org/stds/acadjustable.cfm
IEC TS 60034-24, Guide for the design and performance
of cage induction motors specifically designed for
converter service
IEEE Standard 1566, IEEE Standard for Performance of
Adjustable Speed AC Drives Rated 375 kVA and Larger
M. K. W. Stranges, G. C. Stone, D. L. Bogh, New
Technical Specifications for Inverter Duty Motor
Insulation: Exploring the IEC 60034-18-41 and 60034-1842
Technical
Specifications,
IAS
Magazine,
January/February 2007
IEC WG 60034-18-42, Qualification and Acceptance tests
for Type II Electrical Insulation Systems Used in rotating
electrical machines fed from voltage converters,
November 2006 WG Draft.
G. Stone, E.A. Boulter, I. Culbert, H. Dhirani, Electrical
Insulation for Rotating Machines, Wiley IEEE Press,
January 2004.
A.H. Bonnett, G.C. Soukup, Cause and Analysis of
Stator and Rotor Failures in Three Phase Squirrel Cage
Induction Motors, IEEE Trans IA, July 1992, pp 921-937.
E. Persson, Transient Effects in Applications of PWM
Inverters to Induction Machines, IEEE Trans IAS, Sept
1992, pp 1995-2001.
L.A. Saunders et al, Riding the Reflected Wave, IEEE
Petrochemical Industry Conference, Philadelphia, Sept.
1996, pp75-84.
B.K. Gupta et al, Turn Insulation Capability of Large AC
Motors: Part 1 Surge Monitoring, IEEE Trans EC, Dec
1987, pp 658-679
IEEE Standard 286-2000, Recommended Practice for
Measurement of Power Factor Tip-Up of Electric
Machinery Stator Coil Insulation
J.C.G. Wheeler, Effects of Converter Pulses on Electrical
Insulation the New IEC Technical Specification, IEEEDEIS Electrical Insulation Magazine, March/April 2005,
Vol 21, No. 2, pp 22-29.
F.P. Espino-Cortes, E.A. Cherney, S.H. Jayaram et al,
Impact of inverter Drives Employing Fast-Switching
Devices on Form-Wound AC Machine Stator Coil Stress
Grading, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, Jan/Feb
2007, pp 16-28.
M. Li et al, Effects of Repetitive Pulse Voltages on
Surface temperature Increase at End Corona Protection
Region of HV Motors, Insucon, Birmingham, May 2006,
pp 105-108
IEEE Standard 1043-1996, IEEE Recommended Practice
for Voltage Endurance Testing of Form Wound Bars and
Coils
IEC Standard 61251-1993, Electrical Insulation Materials
AC Voltage Endurance Introduction
D.R. Johnson et al, Frequency Acceleration of Voltage
Endurance, IEEE Trans EI, June 1979, pp 121-126.
IEEE 522-2004, Guide for Testing Turn Insulation of
Form-Wound Stator Coils for Alternating-Current Electric
Machines.

VIII ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the tremendous
effort of Dr. Jeremy Wheeler, who is convener of the IEC
working group writing IEC 60034-18-42.
IX

VITA

Meredith Stranges holds degrees in Chemistry and

Metallurgical Engineering from Brock University and
McMaster University, respectively. She joined General
Electric in 1997, and in 2004 became the Lead
Insulation Engineer for GE Peterborough. Meredith
specializes in qualification of insulation systems and
materials for large industrial motors, and she has
authored or co-authored several papers. She is active in
the IEEE Dielectrics and Insulation Society, and is a
contributing member to international standards working
groups for the IEEE Standards Association and IEC
Technical Committee 2 on Rotating Machines. She is a
Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario.
Greg. C. Stone has a PhD in Electrical Engineering
from the University of Waterloo, Canada. For 17 years
he was with Ontario Hydro, a major Canadian utility,
where he was involved in motor and generator testing.
Since 1990, he has been a Dielectrics Engineer at Iris
Power, a manufacturer of machine test equipment. He is
past President of the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical
Insulation Society, and has published 2 books and
numerous papers. He is a Professional Engineer in
Ontario, Canada.
Dennis L. Bog h has a BS in Electrical Engineering
from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
He has been employed by General Electric since 1975 in
various
capacities
including
field
engineering,
management, sales and application engineering. He is a
member of the API 547 committee, and a registered
Professional Engineer in the state of Washington.