Motor Circuit Analysis – Principles

& Case Studies

Treadstone Rubber Pvt. Ltd.

MCA Capabilities

 Test directly from the MCC

 Check connections, cable & motor

 Detect broken bars, inter-turn shorts, winding contamination, insulation

problems & air-gap eccentricity

 Check AC/DC motors, generators, servos & transformers

Motor basics - stator construction
Motor basics - stator failure modes

 Turn to Turn
 Coil to Coil
 Open Circuit
 Phase to Phase
 Coil to Ground
What is Motor Circuit Analysis?

Measurement & analysis of the following parameters:

 Resistance

 Inductance

 Impedance

 Phase Angle

 Current/Frequency Response (I/F)

 Capacitance
What are Phase Angle & Current/ Frequency
Response?

 Phase Angle
 The relative angle between the two vectors of the applied test voltage &
drawn current

 Current/Frequency Response
 Voltage is applied to the winding at different frequencies & the change
in the current drawn is assessed
Evaluation of Windings

 Winding Shorts
 Phase Angle and Current/Frequency Response

 Loose Connections
 Resistance

 Winding Contamination/Overheating
 Inductance, Impedance & Capacitance

 Rotor Condition and Severity

 Inductance and Impedance Waveforms
Setting the Rules

 Phase Angle and I/F readings

 Both Fi and I/F > +/- 2 – Shorted Turns
 Fi > +/- 1, I/F Balanced – Shorted Coils in the same phase
 Fi Balanced, I/F > +/- 2 – Shorted Phase to Phase

 Rules stand regardless of motor size

 Resistance ~ +/- 5%
Setting the Rules (Cont.)

 Impedance, Inductance & Capacitance

 If impedance and inductance are parallel, winding is clean.

 If impedance and inductance are not parallel, winding contamination or

overheating has occurred.

 If capacitance changes over time, winding contamination &/or partial

discharges are indicated.
Setting the Rules (Cont.)

 Inductance and Impedance Rotor Tests

 Measurements of inductance at different rotor positions will indicate the
condition of the rotor bars.

 Rotor tests should be symmetrical and not necessarily ‘perfect’ sine-

waves
Insulation Diagram of Motor

Phase A

Ground

Circuit capacitance
changes due to charge
Phase B effects of molecules in an
insulation medium.
Dipoles are created
Phase C as electric field crosses the
molecules. As they align,
capacitance increases.
The Dipole

Neg Potential + Pos Potential

- -
Dipolar Motion in Operation
Capacitance
High
Wire

Low

GRND High

MegOhms
Wire High

Ground Insulation Low

High
Voltage
Dipolar Motion in DC Tests
Capacitance
High
Neg

GRND Low

Pos
MegOhms
Neg High

Meg Low
Ohms

Time
 Dipolar Motion in Surge Test

Conductor 1 Conductor 2

Overcomes Dipolar Spin.

Impulse
Requires Higher Voltage
in order to cross air gap.
Voltage
Potentially Destructive!!!

Time
Dipolar Motion in MCA - 1

wire wire wire

wire wire wire

Good Phase
Phase Angle: 77 degrees
Current/Frequency: -44%
 Dipolar Motion in MCA - 2

wire wire wire

Capacitive
Defect

wire wire wire

Bad Phase
Phase Angle: 73 degrees
Current/Frequency: -40%
Insulation Test Method Overview
 Electrical Insulation is a dielectric.

 Electric fields cause atoms to polarize with a change to capacitance as they

polarize.

 DC insulation tests measure change to capacitance as charge crosses in one

direction.

 Surge test uses a high voltage impulse in order to detect defects by causing an arc.
Voltages too high to detect small changes in capacitive reactance due to defects in
insulation.

 MCA fully excites the insulation at low voltage. Small changes will effect circuit
capacitance, which will not be ‘masked’ by high voltage.

 MCA method also allows early detection of faults and, as a result, can trend
winding faults over time.
Case Study 1 – 650 KW motor with interturn short in
stator

Motor is not grounded but trips on start-up !

Data courtesy – Rajashree Cement, Malkhed

Case Study 2 – 900 KW motor with winding
contamination & loose overhang

Motor had significant contamination,

also the overhang lacing was completely broken !

Data courtesy – Reliance Industries, Hazira

Case Study 3 – 6000 KW synchronous motor with
interturn short in rotor
 6000 KW, 200 RPM Synchronous Motor –
36 rotor coils and 244 stator coils.

 Failed on start-up but unable to determine

cause over two days with surge testing and
other winding test technologies.

 Motor circuit analysis applied, which

identified faults within the rotor.

 Four rotor coils found to be directly

shorted, causing a fault in the motor
secondary circuit.

 Repaired and returned to service.

Data courtesy – BJM Corporation, USA

Case Study 4 – 300 KW motor with repetitive bearing
failures

 300 KW, 3000 RPM motor with

continuous bearing faults

 MCA rotor test shows combination of

casting voids (resulting in severe rotor
heating), and eccentric rotor

 Fault detected on inspection - combined

casting void and eccentric end-shield
bearing fit.

Data courtesy – BJM Corporation, USA

Case Study 5 – Noisy 150 KVA transformer

Data courtesy – BJM Corporation, USA

Software Evaluation: EMCAT

EMCAT software for MCA automatic data interpretation from direct data access from
ALL-TEST IV PRO Data collector or manual data entry of combined technologies.
EMCAT: Automated analysis of AC motors
EMCAT: Automated analysis of AC rotors
EMCAT: Trending charts
TFE Software – estimation of residual life!
All-Test: Which one suits your needs?

 All-Test 31  All-Test IV Pro

 Impedance  Impedance
 Phase Angle  Phase Angle
 Current/Frequency Response  Current/Frequency Response
 Insulation Resistance  Insulation Resistance
 Automated Rotor Test  Manual Rotor Test
 Resistance
 Inductance
 Capacitance
 Data logging
 Routes
For more details, contact:

TREADSTONE RUBBER PVT. LTD.

COMMERCE HOUSE
ROOM#307
SHARDA BABU STREET,
RANCHI-834001
JHARKHAND
Tel: 91-651-3290691
Fax: 91-651-2305307

E-mail: treadsto@rediffmail.com