Impact of buckling deformation on the FRA signature of power transformer

Power transformer is an important asset within the electrical power system network. Frequency Response Analysis (FRA) has been developing in popularity in recent years as a tool to detect mechanical deformation of power transformers winding. Since the FRA has been relying on graphical analysis, it calls for an expert person to analyze the results to detect the type of the fault and its location. There are no reliable guidelines for FRA signature in the event that a failure occurs in service and the impact can be far reaching. The concept of FRA has been successfully used as a diagnostic technique to detect the winding deformation, core and clamping structure for the power transformers. This paper investigated the impact of the forced and free winding buckling based on the variation of the electrical parameters to show how these faults vary the FRA signature.