Componential coding in the condition monitoring of electrical machines Part 1: Principles and illustrations using simulated typical faults

Abstract This paper (Part 1) describes the principles of a novel unsupervised adaptive neural network anomaly detection technique, called componential coding, in the context of condition monitoring of electrical machines. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the technique's capabilities. The companion paper (Part 2), which follows, assesses componential coding in its application to real data recorded from a known machine and an entirely unseen machine (a conventional induction motor and a novel transverse flux motor respectively). Componential coding is particularly suited to applications in which no machine-specific tailored techniques have been developed or in which no previous monitoring experience is available. This is because componential coding is an unsupervised technique that derives the features of the data during training, and so requires neither labelling of known faults nor pre-processing to enhance known fault characteristics. Componential coding offers advantages over more familiar unsupervised data processing techniques such as principal component analysis. In addition, componential coding may be implemented in a computationally efficient manner by exploiting the periodic convolution theorem. Periodic convolution also gives the algorithm the advantage of time invariance; i.e. it will work equally well even if the input data signal is offset by arbitrary displacements in time. This means that there is no need to synchronize the input data signal with respect to reference points or to determine the absolute angular position of a rotating part.