Detection of Eccentricity Faults in Five-Phase Ferrite-PM Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machines

Air gap eccentricity faults in five-phase ferrite-assisted synchronous reluctance motors (fPMa-SynRMs) tend to distort the magnetic flux in the air gap, which in turn affects the spectral content of both the stator currents and the ZSVC (zero-sequence voltage component). However, there is a lack of research dealing with the topic of fault diagnosis in multi-phase PMa-SynRMs, and in particular, those focused on detecting eccentricity faults. An analysis of the spectral components of the line currents and the ZSVC allows the development of fault diagnosis algorithms to detect eccentricity faults. The effect of the operating conditions is also analyzed, since this paper shows that it has a non-negligible impact on the effectivity and sensitivity of the diagnosis based on an analysis of the stator currents and the ZSVC. To this end, different operating conditions are analyzed. The paper also evaluates the influence of the operating conditions on the harmonic content of the line currents and the ZSVC, and determines the most suitable operating conditions to enhance the sensitivity of the analyzed methods. Finally, fault indicators employed to detect eccentricity faults, which are based on the spectral content of the stator currents and the ZSVC, are derived and their performance is assessed. The approach presented in this work may be useful for developing fault diagnosis strategies based on the acquisition and subsequent analysis and interpretation of the spectral content of the line currents and the ZSVC.