Multistress aging of high voltage stator bars

This paper discusses a multi-stress aging test rig for the purpose of accelerated life tests of high voltage stator bars. The test rig employs electrical, mechanical, thermal and frequency aging at 500 Hz to replicate the operating stresses commonly found in high voltage rotating machines. New stator bars are used in the rig to allow the tracking of aging events from initial, non-stressed, values. Partial discharge analysis is used as the primary indication of aging phenomena. The new stator bars will be aged for a period of greater than one year, and, as a result, only preliminary measurements are presented.<
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