Electromagnetic Analysis and Electrical Signature-Based Detection of Rotor Inter-Turn Faults in Salient-Pole Synchronous Machine

In this paper, rotor inter-turn faults in salient-pole synchronous machines are investigated using finite-element analysis. The machine under study is a 22 MVA eight-pole hydropower generator with fractional-slot windings. Simulated faulty cases include 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 short-circuited turns (out of 58 turns) in one rotor pole. In the electromagnetic analysis, the effect of faults on airgap flux density and radial forces is studied. Furthermore, this paper investigates online detection of inter-turn faults using spectral analysis of stator voltage or current is studied. The amplitude of fault-related harmonics is investigated at various fault severities, as well as at no-load and full-load operations. This paper also discusses the effects of damper bars, an influence of parallel circuits in the stator windings, and influence of the pole pair number. In addition, a comparison between fault-related harmonics in the case of dynamic eccentricity and rotor inter-turn faults is presented.