Detection of stator short circuit faults in three-phase induction motors using motor current zero crossing instants

Stator faults typically have a significant share amongst the common type of faults in industrial three-phase induction (asynchronous) motors. This paper presents a motor current signature analysis (MCSA)-based diagnostics of the stator winding short circuit fault. This type of fault happens due to the destruction of the turn insulation, and can be very detrimental causing motor shutdown. Instead of traditional MCSA using the motor stator current, in this paper, analysis using the zero crossing time (ZCT) signal of the stator current is presented. The theoretical aspects of the stator short circuit detection are presented. Following that, a diagnostic algorithm utilizing the ZCT signals is proposed. Experiments are performed with real motors, healthy and with shorted stator windings. Frequency analysis of the ZCT signals from the experimental data substantiates the theoretical arguments with significant accuracy. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.