Signal-Model-Based Fault Diagnosis in Windings of Synchronous Generator

Any reduction in the cross-sectional area of wires (RCSAW) in the stator or rotor (field or damper) windings of synchronous generators (SGs) is considered as a fault in SGs. In this article, a signal-model-based fault detection, isolation, and estimation approach based on the eigenvalues estimation of SGs is presented to diagnose RCSAW fault. The subspace identification method is employed to estimate the state matrix eigenvalues. A form of the characteristic equation in the faulty condition is introduced for fault diagnosis of SGs in the presence of linear and nonlinear loads. The stator and field currents and voltages, and the rotor speed are used for fault diagnosis. The effectiveness of the introduced fault diagnosis method is shown using simulation and experimental results on a salient-pole SG in Iran-Safir (ER24) diesel-electric locomotives.