Induction motor broken rotor bar detection using vibration analysis — A case study

Early fault diagnosis and condition monitoring can reduce the consequential damage and breakdown maintenance, prolong the machine life and increase the performance of industrial systems. This paper describes a real fault detection problem of a high-power (3.2 MW) induction motor driving pumps in a heating plant. Steady-state vibration signals were collected and some characteristic low- and high- frequency features were observed, resulting in broken rotor bar diagnosis. The obtained results were verified by disassembling the motor, which proved that this particular technique can be successfully applied in induction motor fault detection.