Behavior of multiphase induction machines with unbalanced stator windings

Multiphase drives are receiving an increasing attention by the research community in high power applications. In this paper the behavior of multiphase induction machines with an odd number of phases is investigated under the assumption that the stator winding is unbalanced owing to a fault or an incipient damage. The analysis leads to a method to assess the unbalance condition of the machine, based on the calculation of the space vectors of the stator currents in the available α-β planes. The theoretical analysis is confirmed by experimental tests.