Noninvasive detection of brushless exciter rotating diode failure

Author

McArdle, M.G. ; Morrow, D.J.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Queen´´s Univ. Belfast, UK

Volume

19

Issue

2

fYear

2004

fDate

6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

378

Lastpage

383

Abstract

A noninvasive method for detecting failure of brushless exciter rotating diodes is presented in this paper. Diodes can fail in one of two ways: either open circuit or short circuit. It is shown by actual test, on a 31.5-kVA alternator, that the exciter field current waveform changes distinctly when a diode fails. Harmonic analysis of the exciter field current waveform is performed. The results of this analysis form the basis of a method for real-time detection of diode failure on a microprocessor-based platform.

Keywords

alternators; brushless machines; exciters; failure analysis; harmonic analysis; semiconductor diodes; voltage regulators; 31.5 kVA; alternators; automatic voltage regulator; brushless exciter rotating diodes; exciter field current waveform; harmonic analysis; noninvasive failure detection; real time detection; Alternators; Bridge circuits; Circuit testing; Condition monitoring; Digital control; Diodes; Power generation; Protection; Regulators; Voltage; AC generator excitation; digital control; power generation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8969

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TEC.2003.822325

Filename

1300704