Airgap Eccentricity Fault Diagnosis, in Three-Phase Induction Motors, by the Instantaneous Power Signature Analysis

This paper firstly presents a modelling and simulation study concerning the occurrence of airgap eccentricity in three-phase induction motors. For that purpose, the Winding Function Approach was considered. Then, the instantaneous power spectrum is used as a tool for the detection of mixed airgap eccentricity condition in operating three-phase squirrel cage induction motors. Both simulation and experimental results are presented to show that the amount of information carried by the instantaneous power spectrum is higher than the one extracted from the motor current signature analysis, which illustrates the merits of the proposed approach.