Diagnostic News

May 2014
Insidethisissue:
EndwindingVibration
Howmuchistoomuch?

12

IrisPowerMDSP3for
brokenbarandeccentric
itydetectioninsquirrel
cageinductionmotors

COMET2014

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IEEE43Revision

UPCOMING EVENTS
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May2021
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June811
Philadelphia,
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June2226
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June29July1
Boston,MA
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CIGRE

Aug2529
Paris,France

Endwinding VibrationHow much is too much?

Statorwindingproblemsrelatedtoexcessive
endwindingvibrationhavebecomemoreand
moreprevalentinthepastdecadeasmachine
manufacturerstrytoreducemanufacturing
costs.Operationalforcesprimarilyrelatedtothe
electromagneticeffectoftwoparallel,current
carryingconductorsareenoughtoresultintiny
(lessthan1mm)movementsofotherwisesta
tionarywindings.Thesemovementsareoften
mostprevalentwherethesupportistheweak
est,thatis,wherethewindingextendsfromthe
coreresultinginacantilevereffectintheend
windingregion.Overtimeorwiththeassistance
ofanoperationalfaultcurrent,theendwinding
supportsystemcanloosenresultinginvibration
higherthannormal.Additionally,thesetiny
movementsareamplified,sometimescatastro
phically,ifastructuralnaturalfrequencyisinflu
encingtheoperationalforcesresultinginareso
nancecondition.Itisnotclearthough,how
muchendwindingmovementistoomuchand
canresultinmachinefailure.
IEEErecently(March2014)approvedStan
dard1129[1],GuideforOnlineMonitoringof
LargeSynchronousGeneratorsinwhich,based
onexperiencewith60HzgeneratorsinNorth
America,unfilteredradialdisplacementmagni
tudesbetween50to125microns(2to5mils)
peaktopeakareconsideredacceptableand
between200to250microns(8to10mils)peak
topeakaretypicalalertlevels.
Peaktopeakistheamplitudefromthetime
waveformpositivepeaktothenegativepeak
suchthattheentirerangeofmotionoftheend
windingbarisbeingmonitored(note:0.001=
1mil=25.4microns).
Unfilteredistheoverallvibrationatallfre
quenciespresentincludingtheresponseassoci
atedwithoperationalelectromagneticandturn

By:JohnLetal

ingspeedforces,harmonics(multiples)ofopera
tionalforces,andanysubsynchronous(below
turningspeed)activity.Consideringthatthe
levelspresentedareindisplacementitwould
suggestthatfocusisonlowerfrequencies(less
thanafewhundredHz)becauseathigherfre
quenciesdisplacementsaregenerallynegligible.
Higherfrequencyharmonicsthatmightbeattrib
utedtomechanicalloosenessaresometimes
presentinendwindingvibrationmeasurements.
Perhapsvelocity,whichoffersanamplitude
smoothingeffectacrossavibrationspectrum,
shouldbeconsideredaswell,tobalancethe
effectoftheoperationalforcesandanyharmon
icsthatmaydevelop.
Ifthestatorendwindingisrepresentedasa
circle,radialdisplacementwouldbethedistance
movedinthedirectionbetweenthecenterto
thearcofthecircle(i.e.themovementdueto
theelectromagneticforcebetweenatopand
bottombar).Thereareconsiderableforcespre
sent,andvibratoryresponseshavebeenmeas
uredtangentiallyaswellbetweentwoadjacent
barsaroundthecircumferenceoftheendwind
ing.Vibrationinthetangentialdirectionshould
Continuedonpage2...

QualitrolIrisPower3110AmericanDr.MississaugaOntarioCanadaL4V1T2
Telephone:+19056774824;Fax:+19056778498;Email:sales.iris@qualitrolcorp.com;www.irispower.comwww.qualitrolcorp.com

Page 2...

Endwinding VibrationHow much is too much?

notbeignoredwhenassessingstatorendwind
ingvibration.
In2011,EPRIpublishedaGeneratorStator
EndwindingVibrationGuide[2]whichconsid
eredthecoilendsofanygenerator:lessthan
127microns(5mils)peaktopeakisnormal,203
microns(8mils)peaktopeakistherecom
mendedalarmleveland,nomorethan254mi
crons(10mils)peaktopeak,unlessallowedby
theOEM.
Inthebook,ElectricalInsulationforRotat
ingMachines[3],publishedin2004,displace
mentgreaterthan250microns(9.84mils)peak
topeakisconsideredsignificant,andinexcessof
400micron(15.75mils)peaktopeakasrequir
ingattentionintheverynearfuture.
Itisclearfromthedatapresentedinthelast
decade,frommultiplesourcesthatthereiscon
sistencyinstatorendwindingvibrationlimits.In
general,lessthan100microns(4mils)peakto
peakisconsideredacceptableandgreaterthan
250microns(10mils)peaktopeakiscausefor
someconcern.Theseshouldbeusedwithcau
tion!Thehistoricdatausedtodevelopthese
limitsmaybefrompoorprobelocationand/or
vibratingfiberopticleads.Aswell,thedatafrom
oldersensorscapableofonlymonitoringone
frequencywouldhavelessvibrationthanthe
samevibrationcollectedwithanunfilteredor
broadbandfrequencyapproach.
Modernfiberoptictechnologywithlow
noise,measuringawidefrequencyrange(upto
1000Hz)in2directions(radialandtangential)
shouldbeusedtogainthemostinsightinhow
endwindingsarevibrating.Themeasurement
locationsshouldbebasedonwheretheopera
tionalforcesaregreatestaswellasfromresults
ofabumptesttoidentifycomponentswhichare
mostlikelytovibrateatthehighestamplitudes.
Anunfiltereddisplacementacceptancelimit
isagreatstarttoansweringhowmuchendwind

Continuedfrompage1...

ingvibrationistoomuch,butacceptablevibra
tionintheradialdirectioncouldbedifferent
thaninthetangentialdirection.Perhapsa2
directionaloverallapproachshouldbetaken.
Additionally,acceptablevibrationatspecific
frequenciescouldbedifferentatturningspeed,
electromagneticfrequency,andotherfrequency
bandsofinterest(subsynchronous,turning
speedharmonics,electromagneticfrequency
harmonics).Whenconsideringhigherfrequency
harmonicsothermeasuresofvibration
(accelerationand/orvelocity)shouldbeused
wheredisplacementsarenegligible.
Abetterunderstandingofthenatureof
windingfailuresduetoendwindingvibrationwill
hopefullyleadtoamorecompletestandard:
whereandhowtocollectvibration,acceptable
displacementamplitudesatspecificfrequencies,
acceptablevelocityamplitudes,etc.Asignificant
takeawayfromallofthesesources[13]isthe
needforcontinuousonlinemonitoringespecially
fortwopolemachines.Mostmachineswith
endwindingvibrationareavoidingcostlyprob
lemswithmonitoring.Itisimportanttocompare
amachinesownvibrationagainstagoodbase
lineatconsistentoperatingconditionssoany
subtlechangestothesetinymovementscanbe
identifiedandmaintenanceeffortscanbesched
uledaccordingly.
References:
[1]IEEEGuideforOnlineMonitoringofLarge
SynchronousGenerators(10MVAandAbove),
IEEEStandard1129,2014.
[2]H.O.Ponce,B.Gott,G.Stone,GeneratorSta
torEndwindingVibrationGuide:Tutorial,EPRI,
ProjectID1021774,2011.
[3]G.C.Stone,E.A.Boulter,I.Culbert,etal.Elec
tricalInsulationforRotatingMachines.Hoboken
NJ:Wiley,2004.

Qualitrol-Iris Powers Vicki Warren received the Alliance

Recognition Award for Outstanding Alliance Member of the
Year. The Award was presented by James Cialdea, Chairman
of the NETA Alliance Program Committee.

QualitrolIrisPower3110AmericanDr.MississaugaOntarioCanadaL4V1T2
Telephone:+19056774824;Fax:+19056778498;Email:sales.iris@qualitrolcorp.com;www.irispower.comwww.qualitrolcorp.com

Page 3...

Iris Power MDSP3TMDetects Abnormal Air Gap Eccentricity in a

Fuel Gas Compressor

MDSP3with2CTs

Background
The Iris Power MDSP3 test was recently
performed on a 2700 hp, 4.16 kV induction
motor for a Fuel Gas Compressor with a syn
chronousspeedof1200rpm.Theplantsuper
visor and the tester were unaware of any
faultsthatcouldbepresentinthemotor.The
test was carried out by simply obtaining the
nameplateinformationofthemotor.
TestResults
Motor nameplate data such as rated
power, rated voltage and rated speed along
with the number of rotor bars and main CT
Ratio were fed into the MDSPPro software
application. In this case the 6 pole motor had
84rotorslots.Thetestswereconductedatthe
secondary side of the 400/5 ratio CT with the
5A/1V probe supplied with the MDSP3,
clampedaroundthesamephasecurrent.
Themotorwasrunningataspeedof1194
rpm and the load current was measured at
194A(49%fullloadcurrent).
The MDSP3 instrument performed one
HighResolution measurement within 80 sec
onds, including data collection and analysis of
both air gap eccentricity and cage winding
failure mechanisms. The high sampling rate
(>6500 samples/sec) ensured an enhanced
reconstructionofthecurrentsignalinthefre
quencydomain.Theairgapspectrumisshown
inFigure1.

Theseverityof15.3dbindicatesairgapeccentric
ityproblemexistsinthemotor.Onesubsequent
test was performed and the MDSP3 again re
turnedanairgapeccentricityseverityof15.3db.

Figure1:AirGapEccentricityCurrentSpectrum

Corroboration
Thecustomerwasshowntheresultfromthe
MDSP3 instrument. To confirm that the tests
were correct, the plant technician was asked to
takebearinghousingvibrationmeasurementsfor
themotor.Thevibrationdata(showninfigure2)
confirmed that there was a high vibration com
ponent at 2*power supply frequency (120 Hz) in
theverticaldirection,whichisaneffectofabnor
mal air gap eccentricity. This correlation proved
that MDSP3 analysis was indeed effective in de
tectingthisproblem.

Figure 1 shows the highest magnitude

rotor slot passing frequency component of
1732 Hz (HRSPFC) frequency and two rota
tionalspeedfrequencycomponents(fr),

fr=f1 * 1 Slip
p

wheref1=SupplyFrequencyandp=num
ber of Pole Pairs. The two rotational speed
frequency components, equally placed at,
HRSPFCfrhavethemagnitudesandfrequen
cies as 72.5 dB at 1712 Hz and 71.0 dB at
1752 Hz. The diagnosis of air gap eccentricity
severityis15.3dbwhichiscalculatedusing:

dbfrl
dbav=dbHRSPFC

dbfru
2

Figure2:VibrationSpectrum

QualitrolIrisPower3110AmericanDr.MississaugaOntarioCanadaL4V1T2
Telephone:+19056774824;Fax:+19056778498;Email:sales.iris@qualitrolcorp.com;www.irispower.comwww.qualitrolcorp.com

Page 4...

IRMCCOMET: DECEMBER 2-4, 2014

2014 Training
Courses
EL CID Training Seminar
September 23-25
Toronto, Canada
Hydrogenerator
Maintenance Course
October 21-23
Sacramento, CA, USA

For more information,

contact:
khoward@qualitrolcorp.com

TheIrisRotatingMachineConferenceistakingonanewlook!The
2014conference,tobeknownastheConferenceonOnlineMonitoring
ofElectricAssets(COMET),willbeheldinAustin,Texasinaffiliation
withtheUniversityofTexasCenterforElectromechanics!After16
years,theIRMCprogramwillchangetoprovideattendeeswithparallel
sessionsonRotatingMachines,andTransmis
sionSystemEquipment.Thisconferencewill
bedevotednotjusttopresentationsonconditionmonitoringtools,butalsoto
educatingattendeesonthepracticalaspectsofimplementingconditionbased
maintenanceintransformers,switchgear,largemotorsandgenerators.
ThefirstConferencewillbeheldinAustin,Texas,December24,2014.
Markyourcalendarsforwhatwillprovetobeanexcitingeventcovering
allaspectsofelectricalequipmentconditionmonitoring.Monitorhttp://
www.utexas.edu/research/cem/comet/comet.htmlformoreinforma
tion!

IEEE 43 (2013)

Recommended Practice for Testing Insulation Resistance of

Electric Machinery
ArevisedversionofIEEE43waspublishedonMarch6,2014,whichreplacesthepreviousIEEE43:
2000edition.TheworkinggroupthatdevelopedthisnewversionofIEEE43waschairedbyMr.Ian
CulbertofQualitrolIrisPower.ThisstandardisoneofthemostwidelyusedIEEEstandardsinthe
powerequipmentfield.TheworkinggrouptoreviseIEEE43hadmorethan40expertsfromaround
theworld,andittookover5yearstocompleteitswork.IEEE43:2013islikelytobethebasisofanew
IECstandardoninsulationresistanceandpolarizationindextesting.GregStone,alsoofQualitrolIris
Power,istheconvenorofthisnewIECworkinggroup.

ThemajorchangesincludedinthenewversionofIEEE43areasfollows;
RevisionofFigure1EquivalentCircuittobetterreflectthecharacteristicsoftheabsorptioncur
rentthatflowsduringaninsulationresistancetest.
Informationontheeffectsofstresscontrolcoatingsonbothinsulationresistance(IR)andpolariza
tionindex(PI)measurements.
ProvisionofdifferentIRtemperaturecorrectionfactorsforthermoplastic,e.g.asphalticmicaand
thermosetting,e.g.,epoxymicainsulationsystems.
MoredetailedguidelinesontheinterpretationofPImeasurementsforACmachinerotorandDC
machinearmaturewindings.
TheadditionofanewAnnexCprovidinginformationontheidentificationofsometypesofwind
inginsulationdegradationfromtheanalysisofchargeanddischargecurrentprofiles,ascanbe
obtainedfromthePDTechDRA3instrument.
Recognitionthatstatorwindingswhichhavetheircompleteoverhangtreatedwithvoltagestress
controlmaterialwillhaveaPIcloseto1.0andthatsurfacetrackingmaydevelopinsuchwindings.
AnewAnnexDwhichgivesabriefintroductiontoinsulationresistanceprofiling.Thistechnique
involvesinterpretingtheconditionofastatorwindinginsulationsystemfromtheshapeofa10
minutePItestprofile.TheIEEE43workinggroupdidnotfeelthatthistechnologywassufficiently
advancedtoincludedetailsofitinthestandarditself.

TherewerenosignificantchangesmadeonhowtointerpretIRandPIresults.

QualitrolIrisPower3110AmericanDr.MississaugaOntarioCanadaL4V1T2
Telephone:+19056774824;Fax:+19056778498;Email:sales.iris@qualitrolcorp.com;www.irispower.comwww.qualitrolcorp.com