3-D simulation of a rotor suffering a bar breakage

The development of Condition-Based Maintenance and Prognostics and Health Management systems can be fostered by models that accurately reproduce the effects and propagation of faults. Conventional methods applied to the analysis and simulation of rotor asymmetries in induction machines are based in the classical 2-D finite element approach, which is unable to reflect its complex effects, such as interbar currents and their interaction with the stator flux density wave. Thus, this work applies a 2D-3D multiphysics finite element procedure to assess the impact of a bar breakage on a rotor cage during stationary operation, with reduced computational cost compared to a full motor 3-D simulation. Initial results improve previous ones obtained for transient operation conditions, showing the potential of the approach and confirming previous analytical studies.