232 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO.

1, MARCH 2018

Detection and Isolation of Interturn Faults in

Inductors of LCL Filter for Marine
Electric Propulsion System
Subash Chandar A., Student Member, IEEE, and Sanjib Kumar Panda , Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract— This paper presents an online technique to detect

and isolate the interturn fault in the inductors of the LCL filter
integrated with the active front-end rectifier used for electric
propulsion of marine vessels. The proposed online technique is
based on the fundamental component of the core-leakage flux
measured at the yoke center of the inductor. A comparative
study of the grid currents and the core-leakage fluxes under
interturn faults is carried out using the proposed analytical
models which reveal high sensitivity of the core-leakage flux at
the yoke center when compared to the grid currents. The theoret-
ical analysis is validated experimentally on a laboratory-based
11.3-kW marine propulsion system test rig for 1-turn, 2-turn,
and 4-turn faults under various loading and supply voltage
unbalance conditions. An online fault notification and isolation
framework has also been proposed and validated experimentally
with two different techniques to increase the reliability for
1-turn fault detection. The methodology requires just a single,
Fig. 1. Typical power system architecture of a marine vessel with the
low-bandwidth, and inexpensive magnetic flux sensor in addition
AFER-based electric propulsion system.
to the existing current sensors to detect as low as 1-turn fault out
of 63 turns.
Index Terms— Fault diagnosis, fault protection, frequency-
domain analysis, inductors, magnetic flux leakage, power harmonic distortions in offshore drilling/oil rigs and ships are
harmonic filters, propulsion, time-domain analysis. as follows:
1) failure of the explosion proof motors due to excessive
voltage distortion [1];
I. I NTRODUCTION
2) dc bus capacitor and electromagnetic compatibility filter

T HE quality of electric power in marine vessels is of

crucial importance for safe and reliable operation [1]–[4].
A typical power system architecture of a marine vessel with
active front-end rectifier (AFER)-based electric propulsion
system is shown in Fig. 1. It can be observed that variable-
frequency drives (VFDs), and AFE converters are the main
sources of harmonics in the ship’s power system. Therefore,
any failure in the harmonic filters which are integrated with
the VFDs/AFE converters causes excessive currents/voltages
distortions [1]. The harmonic voltage distortion, line notching,
voltage spikes, and excessive common mode voltage due to the
VFDs are some of the phenomena which lead to poor power
quality in marine vessels, offshore drilling/oil rigs [1]–[4], and
the consequences are often viewed as a potential safety of
life at sea issue [1]. Some of the catastrophic failures due to
Manuscript received August 17, 2017; revised November 6, 2017; accepted
December 11, 2017. Date of publication December 29, 2017; date of current
version February 5, 2018. (Corresponding author: Sanjib Kumar Panda.)
The authors are with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,
National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077 (e-mail:
eleskp@nus.edu.sg).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TTE.2017.2788189
2332-7782 © 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
failures due to repetitive voltage spikes [2];
3) centrifuge VFDs failures due to voltage notches [3];
4) failure of the capacitors in the harmonic filter due to
excessive voltage distortion, transient voltage spikes, and
line notching [4].
The AFER integrated with the LCL filters are used in
several offshore drilling/oil rigs and ships to reduce harmonic
distortions [1]–[3]. Any accidental failure of the AFER’s
harmonic filter (LCL) increases voltage distortion and affects
safe and reliable operation of marine vessels [1]–[3]. It is,
therefore, necessary to identify and isolate the failure at a
low-severity level before it leads to total blackout of marine
vessels or offshore drilling/oil rigs. The inductors in the
LCL filters are the key elements which reduce the voltage
distortion [1]–[3]. The LCL filter consists of a grid-side and
converter-side inductors to effectively reduce the current-THD
due to the switching frequency components [1]. The converter-
side inductors of the LCL filter are exposed to high dv/dt.
Therefore, the possibilities of interturn insulation degradation
and eventual turn-to-turn fault is relatively high when com-
pared to the grid-side inductors [2], [5]. Hence, in this paper,
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS 233

TABLE I
R EVIEW ON I NTERTURN FAULT D ETECTION T ECHNIQUES FOR I NDUCTORS

an early fault detection and isolation technique for converter-
side inductors of the LCL filter using the core-leakage flux is
presented.
Winding faults contribute to 30%–40% of the total fail-
ures of the inductors [6] which incur expensive downtime
and in certain scenario catastrophic consequences. The low-
severity interturn fault is the predominant winding fault which
eventually leads to the disastrous phase-to-phase or phase-
to-ground fault. The interturn faults at a low-severity
level (1–5 turn short circuited) are difficult to detect as
the change in voltages and currents encountered are very
small [6]–[8] which demands sensitive fault detection tech-
niques. A survey of interturn fault detection techniques
revealed that most of the techniques are for transformers and
some of the techniques are directly applicable to the inductors.
The techniques applicable to the inductors, their principles,
and disadvantages are listed in Table I.
As the proposed methodology is based on the leakage
flux, the techniques proposed in [16]–[20] are discussed and
explained further. The search coils (SCs)-based technique
to identify 1-turn and 5-turn faults have been presented
in [16]–[18]. The technique can detect as low as 1-turn
fault. However, the methodology is unable to detect interturn
fault at the midpoint of the winding and is also influenced
by load and supply voltages. Besides, six SCs are required
for each phase winding to improve the fault detection sen-
sitivity which results in complex interconnections. Gradual
inductor degradation and winding fault detection using the
core-leakage fluxes have been discussed in [19] and [20],
respectively. The Hall-effect-based magnetic flux sensors are
used to detect the changes in the core-leakage fluxes at
the outer limbs [19] and at the yoke center [20] during
degradation and winding fault, respectively. The methodology
in [19] can detect the gradual inductance degradation from
3% by using the coupled inductor’s core-leakage fluxes at the
outer limbs which is not suitable for low-severity interturn
fault detection [20]. In [20], an online technique to detect
the high-severity interturn fault (29% of the total turns are
shorted) using the core-leakage flux at the yoke center is
presented. Such a fault condition is critical which leads to
complete winding damage within few seconds and increased
downtime [6]–[8].
From the literature review, it is evident that the leakage
flux-based interturn fault detection techniques for the inductors
are proposed and validated under high level of fault severity.
Some of the techniques detect the low-severity interturn faults
234 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO. 1, MARCH 2018

at the expense of more number of sensors (18 sensors)

which result in complex interconnections. Besides, an online
isolation technique which can trip the circuit breaker at the
occurrence of a low-severity interturn fault and prevent the
catastrophic phase-to-ground fault has not been explored.
In this paper, the proposed online methodology to detect and
isolate the predominant 1-turn fault in the inductors of the
LCL filter using a single inexpensive flux sensor is presented.
A comparative study of the sensor-less grid currents-based
technique and the proposed technique is also reported which
reveal the superiority of the proposed methodology. This
paper also presents the proposed framework with two different
techniques to detect and isolate the predominant 1-turn fault
reliably. Both fault detection and isolation techniques are
validated on a laboratory-based 11.3-kW marine propulsion
system (MPS) test rig and their experimental results are Fig. 2. Electrical equivalent circuit of the inductor under interturn fault
presented. condition.
This paper is organized as follows. Section II discusses the
proposed analytical models to study the impedance and core-
leakage fluxes variations during interturn fault. The experi- coupling with other windings of the coupled induc-
mental setup is discussed in Section III. Section IV presents tor [16]–[18], [21]–[23]. The interturn fault occurs across
the experimental validation results and the proposed low- 1-turn and progresses gradually to nearby turns due to the
severity interturn fault detection and isolation techniques. The intense heat generated by the shorted turn [21]–[23]. The focus
robustness of the proposed technique for external anomalies of this paper is to detect the low-severity interturn faults before
are discussed in Section V. The comparison of proposed it leads to high-severity turn faults which in turn results in
and existing techniques for inductor abnormality detection catastrophic winding failure. Therefore, the effect of core sat-
is presented in Section VI, and Section VII concludes this uration which is the result of high-severity faults is neglected
paper. in the proposed analytical models [16], [18], [21]–[23].
Although the core saturation effects are neglected in the
models, the change in the winding impedance and the core-
II. A NALYTICAL M ODEL OF I NDUCTOR leakage flux is high for high-severity faults. So, the proposed
W ITH W INDING FAULT methodology is also directly applicable to high-severity faults.
The models and their experimental validations are discussed in
The characteristics of the inductor during interturn fault
this section.
are studied by using the proposed analytical models. Two
different models are compared to understand and find the
best signature for reliable interturn fault detection. One of A. Inductor’s Impedance Variation During Interturn Fault
the models is based on the winding impedance and the other The electrical equivalent circuit of the inductor with inter-
on the core-leakage flux under interturn fault of the inductor. turn fault in one of the phase windings, a-a  , is shown
For low-severity interturn faults (1 to few turns), the mag- in Fig. 2. The impedance of the phase winding under inter-
netic anomaly is localized across the shorted turns which turn fault condition as shown in dotted box of Fig. 2 is
results in the increased radial leakage flux across the shorted computed using the voltage equations as given by the fol-
turns [16]–[18], [21]–[23]. However, high-severity faults lowing equations (1) and (2), as shown at the bottom of
lead to saturation of the core and influences the mutual this page.

Vaa  = Van + Vna  − j ωM ba Ib − j ωMca Ic

 
= (Ia Ran + j ωL an Ia + j ωkc L an L na  (Ia − I f )) + (Rna  (Ia − I f ) + j ωL na  (Ia − I f ) + j ωkc L an L na  (Ia ))
− j ω(Mba Ib + Mca Ic )
 
= Ia (Ran + Rna  ) + j ωIa (L an + L na  + 2kc L an L na  ) − I f Rna  − j ωI f (L na  + kc L an L na  ) − j ω(Mba Ib + Mca Ic )

= Ia (Raa  + j ωL aa  ) − I f (Rna  + j ω(L na  + kc L an L na  )) − j ω(Mba Ib + Mca Ic ) (1)

I f Ri = Rna  (Ia − I f ) + j ωL na  (Ia − I f ) + j ωkc L an L na  Ia − j ω(M b f Ib + Mc f Ic )
√
[Rna  + j ω(kc L an L na  + L na  )]Ia − j ω(M b f Ib + Mc f Ic )
If = (2)
Ri + Rna  + j ωL na 
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS 235

where
Vaa  fundamental phasor of the voltage
across the phase winding a-a  ;
Ia , Ib , and Ic fundamental phasors of the terminal
currents of the phase windings a-a  ,
b-b , and c-c , respectively;
Mba and Mca mutual inductances of the phase
winding a-a  with respect to b-b
and c-c , respectively;
Raa  , Rna  , and Ri resistances of the phase winding
a-a  , short-circuited turn n-a  , and
external short-circuit resistor, Fig. 3. Total impedance variation of the inductor during interturn faults.
respectively;
L aa  , L na  , and L an inductances of the phase winding
a-a  , short-circuited turn n-a  , and Representing L an and L na  of (3) in terms of turns ratio (4)
healthy turns a-n, respectively; gives the following equation:
kc coupling co-efficient between the  
j ωL aa  [1 + kc (a − 1)]
short-circuited turn n-a  and the Z f = Z h − Rna  +
a2
phase winding turns a-a  ; ⎡ ⎤
j ωL aa  [1+kc (a−1)]
If fundamental phasor of interturn fault Rna  + + j ωM )
×⎣ ⎦. (5)
a2 f
current; j ωL aa 
Ri + Rna + a 2 
Mb f and Mc f mutual inductances of the
short-circuited turn n-a  with respect As all the phase windings are on the same core, the coupling
to the healthy phase windings b-b coefficients between the short-circuited turn n-a  and the phase
and c-c , respectively. windings b-b and c-c are the same as the coupling co-efficient
Substituting (2) in (1) gives the following equation: between the short-circuited turn and the phase winding
turns a-a  . Besides, the inductances in all the three windings
Vaa   of the inductor are almost the same. Therefore, the mutual
= Z f = Z h − [Rna  j ω(L na  kc L an L na  )]
Ia inductance M f in (5) can be expressed in terms of phase
 √  inductance L aa  and turns ratio a as given by the following
Rna  + j ω(L na  + kc L an L na  + M f )
× equation:
Ri + Rna  + j ωL na   
(3) j ωL aa  [1 + kc (a − 1)]
Z f = Z h − Rna  +
a2
where ⎡ ⎤
j ωL aa  [1+kc (a−1)] j ωL aa 
Rna  + +
×⎣ a2 ⎦ (6)
Zf impedance of the inductor a
j ωL aa 
under interturn fault; Ri + Rna + a 2 

Z h = (Raa  + j ω(L aa  + M)) impedance under healthy √ √ √

operation of the inductor; where M f = kc L aa  L na  = kc L bb L na  = kc L cc L na  .
M(M = Mba = Mca ) mutual inductance between If there is a bolted 1-turn fault then the value of turns ratio,
the phase windings of the a  ωL aa  and Ri = 0. Therefore, the fault impedance
inductor; Z f during 1-turn fault can be represented by the following
(Ib + Ic ) = −I a for three-phase systems; equation:
M f (M f = Mb f = Mc f ) mutual inductance between
short-circuited turns n-a  Z f = Z h − Rna   Z h . (7)
and phase windings. From (7), the 1-turn fault in the inductor does not change
From Fig. 2, it can be observed that the inductor with or insignificantly change the total impedance of the inductor.
interturn fault acts as an autotransformer. This implies that the This phenomenon can be observed from Fig. 3 which presents
power dissipated in the short-circuit path should be supplied the comparison of measured and estimated values of the total
from the source itself. Hence, the power transfer ratio for the impedance under interturn fault across 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6-turn
inductor with interturn fault is represented by the following out of 63 turns in the phase winding a-a  of the coupled
equation: inductor. The inductor is energized by a three-phase supply
 (415 V and 50 Hz) and the rms values of the terminal current
Vna  Nna  Ia L na  1 and the voltage drop across the inductor’s phase winding
= = = = (4) a-a  are measured. The impedance of healthy inductor is
Vaa  Naa  If L aa  a
calculated using the measured rms values of current and
where a = (Naa  /Nna  ) is the turns ratio of the phase winding voltage. Similarly, the terminal current and the voltage across
turns, a-a  to the short-circuited turns n-a  . the inductor’s phase winding a-a  are measured for different
236
Fig. 4. Magnetic equivalent circuits of the coupled inductor. (a) Healthy condition. (b) Interturn fault condition.
TABLE II
S PECIFICATIONS OF THE I NDUCTOR TAPS
turn fault conditions and their corresponding impedances are
calculated. The specifications of the inductor used to validate
the developed model are given in Table II.
In Fig. 3, the comparison of measured and estimated values
of the total impedance for Ri = 60 m shows that there is
some deviation between the estimated and measured values.
In the analytical model, it is assumed that the self- and mutual
inductances are the same for each phase winding. However,
in the inductor used for the experimental validation, the self-
and mutual inductances are not equal which causes deviation
in measured and estimated values. Nonetheless, the trend is the
same for measured and estimated values as shown in Fig. 3.
From (6), for a specific value of interturn fault severity,
the impedance variation is a function of external short-circuit
resistance Ri . The dependence can be clearly observed from
Fig. 3, which presents the estimated total impedance for
various values of Ri . From Fig. 3, the impedance variation
for different values of Ri is approximately ≤1% up to 4-turn
fault. However, for 6-turn fault with Ri = 10 m, the total
impedance reduces by >2%. Hence, 6-turn fault can be
detected by mild change in the grid currents. But, low-severity
interturn faults (1–4 turns) occur first and lead to more severe
fault (>4-turn) due to excessive heat generated by the short-
=
circuit current. It is, therefore, necessary to detect interturn
faults at a low-severity level before it develops into more
severe fault. The developed model (6) and the experimental
validation results in Fig. 3 reveal that the terminal currents
of the inductor during single/few turns (1–4 turns) fault does
not change or insignificantly change due to the mild change
in the total impedance. Hence, the terminal currents are not a
reliable indicator of single/few turns fault.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO. 1, MARCH 2018
B. Core-Leakage Fluxes During Healthy and Interturn Fault
Conditions of the Coupled Inductor
1) Core Flux During Healthy Operation of the Coupled
Inductor: The magnetic equivalent circuit of the coupled
inductor under healthy operating condition is shown
in Fig. 4(a).
In Fig. 4(a), a , b , and c are the reluctances of
limbs a, b, and c, respectively; Na , Nb , and Nc are the total
number of winding turns in limbs a, b, and c, respectively;
Ia , Ib , and Ic are the fundamental phasors of the terminal
currents of the windings in limbs a, b, and c, respectively;
ϕaT h , ϕbT h , ϕcT h , and ϕoT h are the fundamental phasors
of the total fluxes in limbs a, b, c, and at yoke center
under healthy operation of the coupled inductor; ϕah , ϕbh ,
and ϕch are the fundamental phasors of the fluxes generated
by the MMFs of the windings in limbs a, b, and c under
healthy operation of the coupled inductor; ϕbah or ϕabh is
the fundamental phasor of the flux on limb a or b due to
limb b or a MMFs under healthy operation of the coupled
inductor; ϕcah or ϕach is the fundamental phasor of the flux
on limb a or c due to limb c or a MMFs under healthy
operation of the coupled inductor; and ϕcbh or ϕbch is the
fundamental phasor of the flux on limb b or c due to
limb c or b MMFs under healthy operation of the coupled
inductor.
The core flux generated by the winding MMF of the limb a
under healthy operating condition of the coupled inductor
(ϕah ) is given by
Na Ia Na Ia (b + c )
ϕah =
a + bb+
c T
c
where RT = a b + b c + c a .
The core flux on limb a due to limb b and limb c MMFs
under healthy operating condition of the coupled inductor
(ϕbah and ϕcah ) are given by, ϕbah = (Nb Ib c /T ) and
ϕcah = (Nc Ic b /T ), respectively.
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS 237

The total core flux at the limb a under healthy operating phasor of the fluxes on limb a or c due to limb c or a
condition of the coupled inductor (ϕaT h ) is given by the MMFs under interturn fault condition of the coupled
following equation: inductor.
The total core fluxes at limb a, limb b, and limb c under
ϕaT h = ϕah − ϕbah − ϕcah interturn fault condition of the coupled inductor (ϕaT f , ϕbT f ,
N and ϕcT f ) are given by the following equations:
= (b (Ia − Ic ) + c (Ia − Ib )) (8)
T
ϕaT f = ϕa f − ϕba f − ϕca f
where Na = Nb = Nc = N.
N
Similarly, the total core flux at the limb b, ϕbT h and limb c, =
TF (b + c ) + T
ϕcT h under healthy operating condition of the coupled inductor 

b (Ia − Ic ) + c (Ia − Ib )
are given by the following equations: × Nna  (12)
− I f (b + c )
ϕbT h = ϕbh − ϕabh − ϕcbh N
ϕbT f = ϕb f − ϕab f − ϕcb f
N
= (a (Ib − Ic ) + c (Ib − Ia )) (9) N
T =
ϕcT h = ϕch − ϕach − ϕbch TF (b + c ) + T


N a (Ib − Ic ) + c (Ib − Ia )
= (a (Ic − Ib ) + b (Ic − Ia )) . (10) × Nna  (13)
T +TF (Ib − Ic ) − I f c
N
The total core flux at the yoke center under healthy operating ϕcT f = ϕc f − ϕac f − ϕbc f
condition of the coupled inductor is given by the following N
equation: =
TF (b + c ) + T


ϕoT h = ϕaT h + ϕbT h + ϕcT h = 0. (11) a (Ic − Ib ) + b (Ic − Ia )
× Nna  . (14)
From (8) and (10), the core flux at the outer limbs a and c +TF (Ic − Ib ) − I f b
N
depend on the terminal currents which is the function of The total core flux at the yoke center under interturn fault
loading and supply voltage unbalance conditions. However, condition of the coupled inductor is given by the following
from (11), the core flux at the yoke center is zero, irrespective equation:
of the supply voltage unbalance and loading conditions. But,
due to the magnetic asymmetry there will be a finite value ϕoT f = ϕaT f + ϕbT f + ϕcT f
 
of core flux at the yoke center. When there is an interturn N 2Nna 
fault, the magnetic asymmetricity increases which in turn = − I f (b + c ) .
TF (b + c ) + T N
increase the core flux at the yoke center which is discussed (15)
in Section II-B2.
2) Core Flux During Interturn Fault Condition of the To simplify, the asymmetricity due to the reluctances are
Coupled Inductor: Fig. 4(b) presents the magnetic equivalent neglected and all the reluctances values are considered to be
circuit of the coupled inductor under interturn fault in the the same (Ra = Rb = Rc = R). Therefore, (12) and (15) can
limb a winding. The interturn fault leads to drop in the be expressed as follows:
 
voltage across the shorted turns due to the high turn-fault N 2Nna 
current when compared to the terminal currents. The high turn- ϕaT f = 3Ia  − If
 (2TF + 3) N
fault current in the shorted turns generates MMF such that it  
N 2Nna 
opposes the main MMF generated by the terminal current of = 3Ia − If
(2TF + 3) N
that corresponding winding. Therefore, the reluctances faced
N
by the core fluxes increase due to the additional reluctance by  (3Ia ) (16)
(2TF + 3)
turn fault [16]–[18], [21]–[23].  
In Fig. 4(b), TF is the additional reluctance due to interturn N 4Nna 
ϕoT f = − If
fault in the limb a winding; Nan and Nna  are the total number  (2TF + 3) N
 
of healthy and faulty turns in limb a winding; I ∗ = (Ia − I f ) N 4Nna 
= − If (17)
is the fundamental phasor of the current in shorted turn; (2TF + 3) N
ϕaT f , ϕbT f , ϕcT f , and ϕoT f are the fundamental phasors of
where (Ia + Ib + Ic = 0), for a three-phase system.
the total fluxes in limbs a, b, c, and at yoke center under
interturn fault condition of the coupled inductor; ϕa f , ϕb f , From (16), the core flux at the outer limb a is a function of
and ϕc f are the fundamental phasors of the fluxes generated terminal current Ia . Therefore, the magnitude of the core flux
by the MMFs of the windings in limbs a, b, and c under at the outer limb a changes insignificantly under low-severity
interturn fault condition of the coupled inductor; ϕba f or ϕab f interturn fault conditions. However, the core flux at the yoke
is the fundamental phasor of the flux on limb a or b due to center is a function of interturn fault current I f and the number
limb b or a MMFs under interturn fault condition of the of shorted turns Nna  as given by (17). Therefore, it is a robust
coupled inductor; and ϕca f or ϕac f is the fundamental indicator of interturn fault in any of the winding of the coupled
238
Fig. 5. Normalized core-leakage fluxes at the outer limb and yoke center for various degrees for interturn fault conditions. (a) Core-leakage flux at the outer
limb a. (b) Core-leakage flux at the yoke center.
inductors. It should be noted that (16) and (17) represent the
core fluxes which are impractical to sense/measure as it flows
inside the core. However, the core-leakage fluxes at the surface
of the core can be easily sensed which reflect the characteristic
of the core flux. Therefore, the core fluxes (16) and (17)
can be represented by the core-leakage fluxes with leakage
coefficients corresponding to the location where the fluxes are
sensed as given by the following equations:
 
2Nna 
ϕaT f −l = ka f 3Ia − I f  ka f (3Ia ) (18)
N
 
4Nna 
ϕoT f −l = ko f − If (19)
N The proposed technique is based on the abnormal change in the
Nka Nko
where ka f = and ko f =
(2TF +3 ) (2TF +3 )
where
ϕaT f −l fundamental phasor of the core-leakage flux
at the outer limb a under interturn fault
condition of the coupled inductor;
ϕoT f −l fundamental phasor of the core-leakage flux
at the yoke center under interturn fault
condition of the coupled inductor;
ka f and ko f leakage coefficients at the outer limb a and
at the yoke center during interturn fault
condition of the coupled inductor;
ka and ko constants representing the leakage
coefficients corresponding to the location
where the flux sensors are placed at the
outer limb a and at the yoke center.
Fig. 5 presents the experimental results of the core-leakage
fluxes sensed/measured at the outer limb a and at the yoke
center of the converter-side inductor of the MPS test rig.
The measured values of core-leakage fluxes for various inter-
turn fault severities under different loading conditions are
normalized with respect to the core-leakage fluxes of the
corresponding loading conditions and are presented in Fig. 5.
From Fig. 5(a), variations of the normalized core-leakage
fluxes at the outer limb a for various degrees of interturn fault
under different loading conditions are minimal. The highest
change being 8% for 4-turn fault at 34% of full load as shown
in Fig. 5(a). The change in the core-leakage fluxes at the outer
limb a under 1-turn and 2-turn fault is insignificant because
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO. 1, MARCH 2018
the effect of turn fault is obscured by the terminal currents
which flows through the winding at the limb a as given by
(18). Therefore, from (18) and Fig. 5(a), change in the core-
leakage fluxes at the outer limbs during low-severity interturn
faults are insignificant which validates the developed model
(18). From (19), it is evident that the core-leakage flux at the
yoke center during interturn fault condition is proportional to
the fault current I f and the number of faulty turns Nna  , which
emulates the core-leakage flux at the yoke center as a direct
indicator of interturn fault. From Fig. 5(b), the normalized
core-leakage fluxes at the yoke center increases for various
degrees of interturn faults under different loading conditions.
core-leakage fluxes from healthy to interturn fault conditions.
Therefore, the change in the trend of the core-leakage fluxes
from healthy to interturn fault condition is important rather
than the absolute value. The trend of the experimental results
agrees with the theoretical analysis carried out using the devel-
oped models (18) and (19), thereby validating the developed
models.
C. Comparison of the Grid Currents and the Core-Leakage
Flux at the Yoke Center During Interturn Fault Condition of
the Coupled Inductor
Fig. 3 presents the total impedance variation of the inductor
under various interturn fault conditions. From Fig. 3, it can be
observed that during 1-turn, 2-turn, and 4-turn fault conditions,
the total impedance variation is insignificant (<1%). However,
for 6-turn fault the total impedance has reduced consider-
ably (>1%). In the LCL filter, the inductors are in series with
the load. Therefore, during 6-turn fault, input impedance of the
AFER reduces considerably and leads to mild increase in the
grid currents which contribute to the active power consumed
by short-circuited turn resistance. Hence, 6-turn fault can be
detected using the grid currents. However, 6-turn fault is a
high-severity fault which is the result of gradual increase in
the fault severity from 1-turn fault. Therefore, the grid currents
are not a reliable indicator of low-severity interturn fault
conditions. However, the core-leakage flux at the yoke center
of an inductor as represented by (19) is a robust indicator of
low-severity interturn faults.
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS
TABLE III
S PECIFICATIONS OF THE E QUIPMENT AND S ENSORS U SED IN THE MPS T EST R IG
Fig. 6. Schematic of the 11.3-kW MPS test rig.
To verify the theoretical analysis on the variation of grid
currents (6) and core-leakage flux (19) during the low-severity
interturn faults, the experimental validation is carried out in
an 11.3-kW MPS test rig which is presented in Section III.
III. E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP
The schematic of the MPS test rig is presented in Fig. 6.
The detailed specifications of different equipments and sensors
used in the experimental test rig are given in Table III. The
AFE drive of power rating 11.3 kW is integrated with an
LCL filter. The three-phase coupled inductors and capacitors in
delta topology are used in the LCL filter and their respective
specifications are shown in Fig. 6. The AFE and the motor
drive systems are electrically connected via the dc link whose
voltage is maintained at 690 V. The motor drive is used to drive
the three-phase induction motor coupled to the synchronous
generator and a resistive load bank acts as the load to the
entire test rig. The induction motor emulates the propulsion
motor of the marine vessel, the AFE, and the motor drive
unit resembles the electric propulsion drive. Hence, the total
system mimics the scaled-down MPS. The MPS test rig is
shown in Fig. 7.
The interturn fault is induced by connecting an external
resistor of value 100 m as shown in block 12 of Fig. 7. The
signals such as grid currents, interturn fault current, and the
converter-side inductor’s core-leakage fluxes at the outer limbs
and at the yoke center are captured under various interturn
faults and loading conditions. The acquisition is carried out
for interturn fault across 1.6% (1 turn), 3% (2 turns), and
6% (4 turns) of the inductor’s total winding turns at 34%, 73%,
and 100% of the MPS full-load capacity. The grid currents
239
and the core-leakage fluxes are measured using the clamp on
current probes and the Hall-effect-based sensors as shown in
the respective blocks 14 and 13 of Fig. 7. The flux sensors
are adhered to the top surface of the inductor’s yoke which
is below the acrylic support for taps as shown in block 16
of Fig. 7. The blocks a, c, and o of block 16 in Fig. 7 depict the
position of the flux sensors at outer limb a, outer limb c, and
at yoke center, respectively. The measured currents and core-
leakage flux signals are amplified and filtered using antialias
filters to reduce the round-off error and to eliminate the
alias signals, respectively. Finally, the signals are captured
using dSPACE1103 controller board at a sampling frequency
of 20 kHz as shown in block 10 of Fig. 7. The grid cur-
rents have switching frequency components up to 3.5 kHz.
Therefore, a sampling frequency of 5–6 times the highest
switching frequency component is used to reproduce the signal
with least round-off error. However, for core-leakage fluxes a
sampling frequency of 2 kHz is sufficient as they are filtered
by a low-pass filter. Since, all the signals are captured by
the same data acquisition system, a fixed sampling frequency
of 20 kHz is used. The proposed technique for interturn
fault detection of the inductors is based on the magnitude of
the fundamental component. The magnitude extraction, signal
postprocessing and FFT computation are carried out using
MATLAB/dSPACE-control desk. The experimental validation
results and the proposed framework for low-severity fault
detection of inductors are discussed in Section IV.
IV. E XPERIMENTAL VALIDATION
The time-domain signals of grid voltages and grid currents,
capacitor currents, and converter-side inductor’s core-leakage
fluxes under healthy operation of the converter-side inductors
are shown in Fig. 8. The grid and dc-link voltages under full-
load condition of the MPS test rig are shown in Fig. 8(a). The
AFER uses random PWM technique [24] with a switching
frequency of 3 kHz and is evident from Fig. 8(b) and (c),
which present the grid currents with superimposed switching
frequency components and capacitor currents, respectively.
The core-leakage flux signals are filtered using a fourth-order
low-pass Butterworth filter with a cutoff frequency of 500 Hz
and is shown in Fig. 8(d). The proposed methodology for low-
severity interturn fault detection is based on the magnitude of
240 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO. 1, MARCH 2018

Fig. 7. Scaled-down MPS test rig. 1—AFE drive, 2—motor drive, 3—grid-side inductor, 4—converter-side inductor, 5—capacitors, 6—induction motor,
7—synchronous generator, 8—8.4-kW resistive load bank, 9—voltage stabilizer, 10—dSPACE1103, 11—amplifiers and fourth-order low-pass filter,
12—external short-circuit resistances, 13—Hall-effect flux sensor, 14—current sensors, 15—antialias filter, and 16—placement of flux sensors.

Fig. 8. Time-domain signal of (a) grid and dc-link voltages, (b) grid currents, (c) capacitor currents, and (d) converter-side inductor’s core-leakage fluxes at
full load (11.3 kW) condition of the AFER. (Core-leakage flux at the yoke center is multiplied by a factor of 10.)

the fundamental component of the core-leakage flux. Hence,
the magnitude of the fundamental component of a grid current
and core-leakage flux at the yoke center under 34% and 100%
for full-load capacity of the MPS test rig are presented
in Fig. 9(a) and (b). From Fig. 9(b), it can be observed
that the magnitudes of the fundamental components of the
core-leakage fluxes at the yoke center are changing for dif-
ferent loading conditions as that of the grid currents shown
in Fig. 9(a). Ideally, the magnitude of the core-leakage fluxes
at the yoke center should be 0 as given by (11), but due to
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS
Fig. 9. Frequency spectrum of the (a) grid currents and (b) converter-side inductor core-leakage fluxes at 3.8 kW (34%) and 11.3 kW (100%). (Core-leakage
flux at the yoke center is multiplied by a factor of 10.)
magnetic asymmetricity there is a finite value and it increases
with the increase in the terminal currents. Therefore, it is nec-
essary to conduct a baseline measurement of the core-leakage
fluxes at the yoke center for different loading conditions.
Under healthy operating conditions of the converter-side
inductor, the magnitudes of the fundamental components of
the grid currents and the core-leakage fluxes at the yoke center
for various loading conditions are extracted using FFT and
saved in the FLASH memory of digital signal processor (DSP).
Under online operating conditions, the magnitudes of the fun-
damental components of the captured grid currents are checked
with the grid current magnitudes saved in the DSP to identify
the loading condition. Then, the magnitude of the reference
core-leakage flux corresponding to that loading condition is
extracted from the baseline measurements and compared with
the magnitude of the core-leakage flux under online operating
condition to detect the interturn fault for that corresponding
loading condition. The detailed discussion about the interturn
fault detection using the baseline measurements is presented
in Section IV-B.
A. Comparison of the Grid Currents and the Core-Leakage
Fluxes at the Outer Limbs and at the Yoke-Center During
Interturn Faults
The AFER integrated with the LCL filter has grid currents
and grid voltages sensors for closed loop operation. Therefore,
any technique which utilizes only the existing sensors of
the AFER to detect interturn fault in the inductors of the
LCL filter integrated with the AFER can be considered as
sensor-less approach. Hence, a comparative study of the grid
currents and the core-leakage fluxes at the outer limbs of
the converter-side inductors are carried out to identify the
best indicator of low-severity turn faults which is presented
in this section. Fig. 10 presents the comparison of the grid
currents and the core-leakage fluxes at the outer limbs and
at the yoke center for 1-turn, 2-turn, and 4-turn faults at
34% (3.8 kW), 73% (8.3 kW), and 100% (11.3 kW) of
the MPS full-load capacity. The grid currents and the core-
leakage flux signals are captured at a sampling frequency
of 20 kHz for 0.5 s and FFT computation is carried out
using MATLAB. The magnitudes of the fundamental compo-
nents are extracted, normalized with respect to the magnitudes
under healthy operating condition for appropriate loading
241
conditions and is presented in Fig. 10. From Fig. 10, the fol-
lowing conclusions can be inferred.
1) During 1-turn fault of the converter-side inductor,
the variation in the grid currents for different loading
conditions is insignificant as shown in Fig. 10(a). This
is mainly due to the very small change in the total
impedance of the converter-side inductor for 1-turn fault
condition as given by (6). However, the core-leakage
fluxes at the yoke center as given by (19) show a sub-
stantial increase in its magnitude as shown in Fig. 10(b)
and are a reliable indicator of 1-turn fault under different
loading conditions.
2) Like 1-turn fault, 2-turn fault condition also shows
insignificant variation in the grid currents for different
loading conditions as shown in Fig. 10(c). The core-
leakage fluxes at the yoke center show a substantial
increase in its magnitude for different loading condi-
tions as shown in Fig. 10(d). Besides, the core-leakage
fluxes at the outer limb c show a mild increase in its
magnitude under different loading conditions as shown
in Fig. 10(d). However, the magnitude of the core-
leakage fluxes at the yoke center is more than that of
the core-leakage fluxes at the outer limb c.
3) During 4-turn fault condition, once again the core-
leakage fluxes at the yoke center are a reliable and
robust indicator of turn fault as shown in Fig. 10(f).
There is a minor increase in the magnitude of the grid
currents and the core-leakage fluxes at the outer limbs
as shown in Fig. 10(e) and (f), respectively. However,
the substantial increase in the magnitude of the core-
leakage fluxes at the yoke center clearly dominates the
increase in magnitude of the grid currents and the core-
leakage fluxes at the outer limbs. From Fig. 10(e), it is
evident that there is a finite increase in the magnitude of
the fundamental component of the grid current for 4-turn
fault which is not observed for 1-turn and 2-turn fault
conditions as shown in Fig. 10(a) and (c), respectively.
This is mainly due to the substantial decrease in the total
impedance of the converter-side inductance for 4-turn
fault when compared to 1-turn and 2-turn fault as shown
in Fig. 3. The turn fault consumes additional active
power which is dissipated by the short-circuit resistance
connected across the faulty turns. This increase in active
242 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO. 1, MARCH 2018

Fig. 10. Variation of grid currents and converter-side inductor core-leakage fluxes for 1-turn, 2-turn, and 4-turn fault under different load conditions.
(All the values are normalized with respect to healthy values at corresponding load conditions.) (a) Grid currents under 1-turn fault. (b) Core-leakage fluxes
under 1-turn fault. (c) Grid currents under 2-turn fault. (d) Core-leakage fluxes under 2-turn fault. (e) Grid currents under 4-turn fault. (f) Core-leakage fluxes
under 4-turn fault.

power leads to a mild increase in the magnitude of the
grid currents as observed in Fig. 10(e).
The experimental investigation of grid currents and
converter-side inductor core-leakage fluxes during the low-
severity interturn faults follow the analysis carried out using
the developed analytical models. Both, the analytical model
and the experimental results reveal that the core-leakage flux
at the yoke center is a reliable indicator of as low as 1-turn
fault. Hence, using the core-leakage flux at the yoke center,
a low-severity fault detection and isolation framework has been
proposed which is presented in Section IV-B.
B. Proposed Low-Severity Interturn Fault Detection and
Isolation Technique
The proposed framework for low-severity interturn fault
detection and isolation technique is shown in Fig. 11.
The framework utilizes the grid currents and the core-leakage
flux at the yoke center to identify the loading conditions and to
detect the interturn fault, respectively. The captured grid cur-
rents and the core-leakage flux signals are amplified, filtered,
and then further processing is carried out. The framework has
two different methods for reliable fault detection as shown
by dotted rectangles in Fig. 11. The primary fault detection
technique is based on the time-domain signal and the auxiliary
fault detection technique on the frequency domain as shown
in block 2 and block 3 of Fig. 11, respectively. In both the
techniques, the grid currents tapped from the current sensors
of the AFER are used to check the transient conditions such as
load switching, grid voltage, and grid frequency fluctuations
as shown in block 1 of Fig. 11. The minimum time taken
by the primary fault detection is 100 ms (five fundamental
cycles) which is discussed in detail later in this section.
Therefore, within this time window of 100 ms, the generation
of spurious trip signal due to momentary fluctuations in the
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS
Fig. 11. Framework for low-severity interturn fault detection and isolation of
inductors in the LCL filter of AFER. 1—transient detection unit, 2—primary
fault detection method, 3—auxiliary fault detection method, 4—reference
threshold selection unit, and 5—trip signal generation unit.
grid currents is eliminated by transient detection as shown
in red block 1 of Fig. 11. Any momentary change in the
magnitude/frequency of the captured signal is reflected as
an increase in the lobe width of the fundamental compo-
nent due to high-spectral leakage [25]. Therefore, FFT is
carried out on any one of the grid currents and then the
fundamental lobe-width is checked in the frequency spectrum
to identify the magnitude and frequency variations. If the
fundamental lobe-width is the same as that of the steady-state
condition, the magnitudes of the fundamental components of
the grid currents captured under online operating conditions
are cross-checked with the baseline measurements to identify
the corresponding loading condition as shown in block 4
of Fig. 11. Depending on the loading condition, the corre-
sponding tripping threshold/reference core-leakage flux values
is selected from the baseline measurements and passed to the
fault detection techniques as shown in block 4 of Fig. 11.
In the time-domain-based primary fault detection technique
as shown in block 2 of Fig. 11, the core-leakage flux signal is
rectified using an active rectifier and captured using either a
PC or DSP. The captured signal is then filtered using a digital
low-pass filter to remove the ac component of rectified core-
leakage flux signal. The output dc signal of the digital filter
243
(fault indicator) is then compared with the tripping threshold
from the baseline measurement. If the magnitude of the fault
indicator exceeds the tripping threshold by 5%, a trip signal
is generated and notified as shown in block 5 of Fig. 11.
Alternatively, the trip signal can be used to actuate the circuit
breaker which isolates the AFER system with interturn fault in
inductor of LCL filter. If the fault indicator is less than 105%
of the tripping threshold, the auxiliary fault detection technique
is used to double check the interturn fault such as 1-turn fault.
Unlike the primary fault detection technique which is based on
the time-domain signal, the auxiliary fault detection technique
is based on the frequency spectrum.
In the auxiliary fault detection technique, the transient
condition is checked using 25 fundamental cycles (500 ms)
of any one of the grid currents as shown in black block 1
of Fig. 11. If the signals are under steady-state condition,
the extracted magnitudes of the fundamental components of
the grid currents are used to identify the load and its corre-
sponding core-leakage flux reference value from the baseline
measurements as shown in block 4 of Fig. 11. The magnitude
of the fundamental component of the core-leakage flux at
the yoke center under online operating condition is then
normalized with the corresponding magnitude under healthy
condition which is retrieved from the baseline measurements.
The increase in the value of the normalized magnitude (>1)
indicates the fault condition as shown in Fig. 10(b) which is
then used to generate the trip signals as shown in block 5
of Fig. 11.
The proposed low-severity interturn fault detection tech-
nique is experimentally validated, and the results are presented
in Fig. 12. The grid currents, interturn fault currents, fault
indicators, tripping thresholds, and trip signals for 1-turn,
2-turn, and 4-turn fault in the converter-side inductor at 100%
of the MPS full-load capacity are shown in Fig. 12. It should
be noted that due to grid voltages unbalance, the grid currents
are unbalanced as shown in Fig. 12. The robustness of the
proposed technique for two different supply voltage unbalance
conditions is discussed in detail in Section V. The fault detec-
tion and trip signal generation is carried out in dSPACE-1103
controller board and the cutoff frequency of the digital filter
is 0.5 Hz.
In Fig. 12, the dotted rectangle represents the interturn fault
current at the time instant before and after interturn fault, and
the solid rectangle indicates the grid currents at the time instant
of interturn fault. From Fig. 12, the following conclusions can
be inferred.
1) The low-severity 1-turn fault of the converter-side induc-
tor causes interturn fault current to increase drasti-
cally as marked by block 4 in Fig. 12(a). However,
there is no noticeable variation in the grid currents as
shown by the zoomed-in view of Fig. 12(a). The fault
indicator exceeds the tripping threshold value of 0.5
after 0.49 s which result in the generation of trip signal
as marked by block 1 in Fig. 12(a). It can be observed
that the value of fault indicator is almost close to the
tripping threshold. This is mainly because of the mild
variation in the instantaneous value of the core-leakage
flux at the yoke center during 1-turn fault. Under such
244 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO. 1, MARCH 2018
Fig. 12. Low-severity interturn fault detection and isolation using the core-
leakage flux at yoke center under 100% (11.3 kW) of the MPS full-load
capacity. (a) 1-turn fault. (b) 2-turn fault. (c) 4-turn fault. 1: trip signal—
logic signal [“high” (1) and “low” (0)], (V); 2: tripping threshold—selected
from the baseline measurement, (V); 3: fault indicator—dc component of the
rectified core-leakage flux signal, (V); and 4: turn fault current—divided by
a factor of 40, (A).
scenarios, the auxiliary fault detection technique is used
to increase the reliability of fault detection process as
shown in block 3 of Fig. 11. The FFT of the core-leakage
flux signal gives the mean value of the fundamental
TABLE IV
I NTERTURN FAULT D ETECTION T IME FOR
D IFFERENT F ILTER BANDWIDTHS
component’s magnitude for 0.5 s as shown in block 1
of Fig. 11. Hence, the magnitude of the fundamental
component of the core-leakage flux extracted using
FFT shows the clear shift from healthy value under
1-turn fault condition as shown in Fig. 10(b).
2) Unlike 1-turn fault, 2-turn fault result in a noticeable
change in the magnitude of the fault indicator which
is greater than 105% of the tripping threshold values
as shown in Fig. 12(b). Moreover, the trip signal is
generated in 0.34 s. Hence, double-checking with auxil-
iary fault detection technique is not required as it needs
at least 0.5 s of signal to be captured. Like 1-turn
fault, there are no noticeable variations in the instan-
taneous value of the grid currents during 2-turn fault
also.
3) 4-turn fault shows a substantial shift in the magnitude
of the fault indicator, and the trip signal is generated
within 0.14 s as shown in Fig. 12(c). Like 1-turn and
2-turn fault conditions, there are no noticeable variations
in the instantaneous magnitude of the grid currents.
Clearly, 4-turn fault also does not require the auxiliary
fault detection technique.
From Fig. 12, the core-leakage flux at the yoke center is a
good indicator to detect as low as 1-turn fault when compared
to the grid currents and thereby validate the proposed tech-
nique for low-severity interturn fault detection and isolation.
From Fig. 12, the time to detect interturn fault varies from
1-turn (0.49 s) to 4-turn (0.14 s) fault. The delay is mainly
due to the time constant of the digital filter used to eliminate
the ac components in the rectified core-leakage flux signal
(fault indicator). Table IV presents the fault trip time for
different filter’s bandwidths at 34% and 100% of the full-load
capacity of the MPS test rig. From Table IV, the trip signal
generation time is influenced by the loading conditions in the
range of milliseconds. This is due to the mild influence of
the load on the core-leakage flux at the yoke center as shown
in Fig. 9(b). The trip time decreases with the increase in the
filter’s bandwidth from 0.2 to 0.4 Hz as give in Table IV.
Increase in the filter’s bandwidth decreases the filter’s time
constant which in turn increases the response time as given
by Table IV. However, increasing the filter’s bandwidth
increases the low-frequency components which lead to spu-
rious trip signal generation. This phenomenon can be clearly
observed for the filter’s bandwidth of 2 Hz at which only 4-turn
fault is detectable, and the detection time is just 40 ms as given
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS
Fig. 13. (a) Grid voltages, (b) grid currents, (c) core-leakage fluxes at the outer limbs and yoke center, and (d) normalized core-leakage fluxes at the yoke
center for various loading conditions under stabilized/nonstabilized grid voltages.
in Table IV. Hence, it is better to fix the filter cutoff frequency
between 0.4 and 0.5 Hz for reliable fault detection with a
reasonable fault trip time as shown by highlighted column
of Table IV.
The recommended duration of the thermal short-circuit
current rating for the dry type, series-connected inductor
is 1–3 s [26]. The maximum time taken by the proposed
technique to identify interturn fault is 0.51 s for 1-turn fault
at 100% load condition of the MPS test rig as given in the
highlighted column of the Table IV. This value is 50% below
the recommended minimum duration of the thermal short-
circuit current rating (1 s) [26]. Hence, the proposed fault
detection and isolation strategy can detect as low as 1-turn
fault within the duration as recommended by the IEEE Std
C57.16-2011 [26].
V. ROBUSTNESS OF THE P ROPOSED T ECHNIQUE
A. Supply Voltage Unbalanced Conditions
The supply voltage unbalance is inevitable in real world
applications. Hence, the robustness of the proposed technique
under grid voltage unbalance is studied by conducting the
experiment with/without servo stabilizer. The servo stabilizer
as shown in block 9 of Fig. 7 is used to stabilize the grid
voltages and reduce the line voltage unbalance ratio (LVUR).
Fig. 13(a) presents the grid voltage variations for various load-
ing conditions with/without servo stabilizer. From Fig. 13(a),
there is a maximum LVUR of 1.8% for nonstabilized grid
voltages and the voltages decreases with respect to the load.
245
The LVUR is due to the influence of asymmetrical loading
on the distribution system of the laboratory and the decrease
in line voltages with respect to various loading conditions are
due to the additional voltage drop across the line impedance.
From Fig. 13(a), the servo stabilizer reduces the LVUR to
approximately 50%, the maximum LVUR being 1%. Due
to the inherent LVUR, there is a current unbalance and is
mildly affected by the LVUR conditions with/without servo
stabilizer as shown in Fig. 13(b). The unbalance in the terminal
currents of the coupled inductor causes change in the core-
leakage fluxes at the outer limbs as given by (18). This
phenomenon is evident from the experimental results as shown
in Fig. 13(c), in which the core-leakage flux at the outer limb
c changes due to the change in the limb c terminal current.
Therefore, the core-leakage fluxes at the outer limbs are influ-
enced by the supply voltage unbalance conditions as shown
in Fig. 13(c).
From (11), it evident that the core flux at the yoke center
under healthy operating condition of the inductor is zero irre-
spective of loading and supply voltage unbalance conditions.
But, due to magnetic asymmetricities, there will be a small
value of core flux at the yoke center and it varies mildly
with respect to various loading and supply voltage unbalance
conditions as show in Fig. 13(c). Nonetheless, during interturn
fault, the core flux at the yoke center changes drastically
with respect to the healthy condition as shown in Fig. 13(d).
From Fig. 13(d), it is evident that the normalized core-leakage
flux at the yoke center is greater than 30% for as small
as 1-turn fault under both stabilized and nonstabilized volt-
246 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION, VOL. 4, NO. 1, MARCH 2018
ages. From theoretical analysis using the developed analytical
models (11) and (19) and the experimental results as shown
in Fig. 13(d), it can be inferred that the change in the core-
leakage flux at the yoke center is relatively high with respect
to the health operating condition which obscures the effect of
the LVUR conditions.
B. Transient Conditions and External Noises
Any momentary transients due to supply voltage unbalance,
load switching, grid voltage, and grid frequency fluctuations
are neglected in the proposed online methodology. Although
such transient conditions are one of the factors which initiate
the interturn fault, fault detection under such conditions leads
to spurious trip signal generation [7], [13], [23]. Hence, it is
reliable to detect the low-severity interturn faults under steady-
state operating conditions of the AFER [7], [13], [16]–[19].
Therefore, the proposed techniques use time-/frequency-
domain techniques which are best suited for stationary signals.
Moreover, both time- and frequency-domain techniques are
used to increase the confidence level of the fault detection
technique. Besides transient conditions, the high-frequency
switching noise generated by the AFER superimposes on
the core-leakage flux signals and must be filtered for robust
interturn fault detection. Hence, fourth-order antialias filter
of cutoff frequency 500 Hz is used to attenuate the high-
frequency signals/noise as shown in Fig. 8(d). In addi-
tion to the antialias filter, a digital filter is also used to
increase the sensitivity of the proposed methodology as shown
in Fig. 11.
C. Temperature
During interturn fault, the high turn-fault current leads to
substantial increase in the core-leakage flux as given by (19)
and as shown in Fig. 13(d). The increased current generates
intense heat and eventual increase in the temperature which
is the secondary effect of turn fault current. The proposed
technique uses the core-leakage flux at the yoke center which
is directly proportional to the turn fault current as given
by (19). Therefore, the trip signal is generated at a much
earlier time when compared to the change in temperature [29].
Moreover, the substantial change in the core-leakage flux at
the yoke center obscures the influence of the temperature
on the core-leakage fluxes under low-severity interturn fault
conditions.
D. Inductor Saturation
The proposed technique is for the detection of low-severity
interturn faults during which the characteristics of the core
remain unaltered [21]–[23]. The low-severity interturn fault
results in localized saturation of the core and increased core
reluctance as shown in Fig. 4(b). However, for high-severity
interturn fault, the core saturates and the effective inductance
of the coupled inductor reduces with respect to the loading
conditions [21]–[23]. The core-leakage flux at the yoke center
under high-severity interturn fault can be represented by the
following equation:
ϕoT f −l(HS) = ko f −sat ϕsat (20)
where
ϕoT f −l(HS) fundamental phasor of the core-leakage flux
at the yoke center under high-severity interturn
fault condition of the coupled inductor;
ϕsat fundamental phasor of the core flux under
saturated condition of the core;
ko f −sat leakage coefficients at the yoke center during
high-severity interturn fault condition.
The core-leakage flux at the yoke center under high-severity
faults is greater than the core-leakage flux under low-severity
turn faults (ϕoT f −l(HS)  ϕoT f −l ). Therefore, the relative
deviation of the core-leakage flux from healthy condition
to high-severity fault condition is still high as that of low-
severity turn fault conditions. However, the core-leakage flux
ϕoT f −l(HS) remains constant and is no longer directly propor-
tional to interturn fault severity as given by (19). Moreover,
the impedance of the winding under high-severity fault reduces
drastically as compared to that of the low-severity interturn
faults. From (6), the impedance under high-severity fault is
represented by the following equation:
 
ϕsat
Z f (HS) = Raa  + j ω(Naa  + MS ) (21)
Ia
where
Z f (HS) impedance of the coupled inductor under
high-severity interturn fault conditions;
L aa  S inductances of the phase winding, a-a  under
high-severity interturn fault conditions
(L aa  S = Naa  (ϕsat /Ia ));
Ms mutual inductance between short-circuited
turn n-a  and phase windings under high-severity
interturn fault conditions.
From (7) and (21), the change in the winding impedance
of the coupled inductor during 1-turn to few turns fault is
insignificant when compared to the change in impedance
during high-severity fault. This is because of the constant
saturation flux ϕsat which causes the inductance to change
with change in the terminal current Ia as given by (21).
Hence, at high-severity faults, the change in the terminal
currents is higher when compared to that in the low-severity
faults as shown in Fig. 10(e) and (a), respectively. Therefore,
the terminal currents can be used to detect the high-severity
faults [7], [13], [21], [23]. However, high-severity faults are
the consequence of low-severity 1-turn to few turn faults and
the proposed technique based on the core-leakage flux at the
yoke center is effective in detecting the low-severity interturn
faults over a wide operating condition. Moreover, the proposed
technique is directly applicable to high-severity fault also as
the change in the core-leakage flux at the yoke center from
healthy to interturn fault condition is also high as that of low-
severity interturn fault conditions.
VI. C OMPARISON OF D IFFERENT T ECHNIQUES
FOR I NDUCTOR A BNORMALITY D ETECTION
A brief comparison of the proposed and the existing
techniques for inductor interturn fault detection is shown
in Table V. From Table V, the proposed technique utilizes
CHANDAR A. AND PANDA: DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF INTERTURN FAULTS IN INDUCTORS
TABLE V
C OMPARISON OF D IFFERENT T ECHNIQUES FOR THE I NDUCTOR A BNORMALITY D ETECTION
a single, inexpensive Hall-effect-based flux sensor to detect as
low as 1-turn fault. However, the proposed technique requires
baseline measurements of the core-leakage fluxes at the yoke
center. Such baseline measurements are required for all the
techniques presented in Table V and therefore not a drawback.
The proposed technique is applicable only for the coupled
inductors which shares the same core for different phase
windings which are widely used in the LCL filters [27].
The detection of 1-turn fault prevents the catastrophic phase-
to-ground fault which requires complete rewinding of the
inductor and more maintenance time. The proposed method-
ology avoids such a catastrophic failure by providing an early
notification/isolation of the predominant 1-turn fault.
VII. C ONCLUSION
In this paper, an online technique to detect and isolate
the low-severity 1-turn fault in the coupled inductors of the
LCL filter using the core-leakage flux at the yoke center
is analyzed and presented. The proposed technique uses a
single, inexpensive (U.S. $4), and low-bandwidth (50 Hz)
flux sensor (Hall-effect, SS496A) to detect and isolate the
predominant 1-turn fault which could lead to catastrophic
phase-to-ground fault. Analysis using the developed analytical
model revealed that the core-leakage flux at the yoke center
is a good indicator of interturn fault when compared to the
grid currents. A comparative study on the fault detection using
the grid currents and the core-leakage fluxes is carried out on
a laboratory-based 11.3-kW MPS test rig which agrees with
the analysis carried out using the proposed analytical models.
Based on the analysis and validations, a low-severity interturn
fault detection and isolation methodology is proposed with
two fault detection strategies to increase reliability of fault
detection for 1-turn fault and evaluated experimentally. The
proposed fault detection strategy can detect as low as 1-turn
fault within the duration as recommended by the IEEE Std
C57.16-2011 and is equally applicable to all drive applications
with the AFER in addition to electric propulsion-based marine
vessels.
247
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Subash Chandar A. (S’15) received the B.Tech.
degree in electrical and electronics engineering from
the Pondicherry Engineering College, Puducherry,
India, and the M.Sc. degree in automation and
control from the Electrical and Computer Engineer-
ing Department, National University of Singapore,
Singapore, where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D.
degree with the Electrical Machines and Drives
Laboratory.
His current research interests include the develop-
ment of condition monitoring and fault detection and
diagnosis techniques for electrical machines.
Sanjib Kumar Panda (S’86–M’91–SM’01)
received the M.Tech. degree in electrical
engineering from IIT Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, India, in 1987, and the Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering from the University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K., in 1991.
Since 1992, he has been holding a faculty
position with the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, National University of
Singapore, Singapore, and currently serving as an
Associate Professor and the Director of the power
and energy research area. He has authored over 300 peer-reviewed research
papers, co-authored one book, and contributed to several book chapters and
six patents.
Dr. Panda served as an Associate Editor for several IEEE Transactions and
the Editor for the Journal of Power Electronics, South Korea. He has served
in various capacities for the IEEE Power Electronics and Drive Systems
Conference and the IEEE International Conference on Sustainable Energy
Technologies Conference series.