Stator current measurements as a condition monitoring technology — The-state-of-the-art

Condition monitoring of electrical machines has proven to be economically beneficial within industrial production sites. This paper illustrates the technical implications of implementing Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA) as a tool for condition monitoring. The majority of machine failures are illustrated and are related to the state-of-the-art of MCSA. Because MCSA has become a valuable tool within the broader scope of condition monitoring during the last decade, a vast amount of new research opportunities can be presented. One of these opportunities is to determine Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) between the rotor vibrations and the stator current as a function of the operating point of the machine. This allows to estimate the mechanical machine fault vibrations out of the stator current frequency components, independently of its speed and load. This paper ends by presenting a research strategy to obtain this goal.