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Endwinding Contamination Tracking Younsi
Endwinding Contamination Tracking Younsi
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Abstract - Stator winding failures are generally attributed to line) faults. The turn-to-turn failure can result from, switching
groundwall or turn insulation failures. The failure mechanism surges, lightning strikes, strand vibration, internal corona or
involves the gradual development of a weakness in the partial discharge, chemical reaction at the turn insulation,
insulation. This weakness is usually caused by a trapped thermal degradation or poor strand and turn insulating
void that is continuously enlarging due to ever increasing materials. Phase-to-ground failures usually result from the
corona or partial discharge activity. The failure mode is from combined effects of chemical reactions and tracking along a
the inside out. Recent studies of failures in actual machines, contaminated surface. Fig. 1 shows an example of surface
and of coils on voltage endurance testing, indicate that tracking leading to a phase-to-ground type failure. The line-
failures can occur from the outside inward. Surface to-line failure generally depends upon a combination of
contamination leads to intense surface discharge and factors. These factors include surface tracking, chemical
tracking. This surface discharge can lead to rapid winding reaction, abrasion of the insulation either by coil movement or
failure following the inward motion of the corona activity. airborne particles, mechanical damage, and improper
This paper looks at tracking as one failure mechanism cleaning and drying of windings.
and describes a series of tests on standard insulation Manufacturers, service shops, users, consultants and
materials aimed at comparing the anti-tracking capability of specifiers either require the addition of coatings or apply
the materials. The tests show that combinations of insulation protective finishes to stator windings using a variety of
materials can reduce the anti-tracking capacity of a rather substances. Paints are used to give a smooth finish to help
robust insulation system and predispose it to failure. shed dirt and lint. Other coatings are used to seal windings,
provide anti-abrasive protection, protect against fungus
Index Terms - Surface discharge, tracking, partial discharge, growth, or just for aesthetic reasons. Windings may also
insulation, winding failure. become covered by oil mist, moisture borne contamination,
cleaning solvents, condensation, process contaminants and
1. INTRODUCTION
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Fig. 3- Surface tracking in area of repair and overcoat of
varnish
current. The explanation offered is that when the stator was
submerged, the entire endwinding was subjected to a uniform
electrical stress. However, when. the endwinding was
removed from the solution, the electrical stress distribution in
the winding was no longer uniform. The nonuniform Fig. 5 - Surface tracking in area of cable connection.
distribution of the field created areas of high electrical stress
and caused the winding failure. weather protected machines operating under 7 kV on a
Immersion or spray tests are used to confirm the integrity peninsula in the Philippines. The units were downwind, in an
of a sealed insulation system but they offer another example area of high sea water spray and high humidity and rain. The
of the potential to induce a failure. The spray test alternate windings were covered with salt and failing. He had similar
(NEMA MG-1) to the immersion test requires spraying a units in North America but they were not failing. The North
stator using water treated with a wetting agent. After the American units were operating at under 5 kV. It was felt that
spraying is stopped, a hi-pot test is performed. The spray test the salt contamination was shorting out, the grading and
results in a non-uniform contamination of the winding due to ground tapes causing tracking and failure.
the spray action and random draining away of the treated Approximately 5 years after the first high voltage winding
water solution. Because of this, hi-potting after the spray test failure discussed previously, we were notified of a failure on a
can result in higher stresses. second unit. Unfortunately, the unit had been sent out and
The next year a call from a North American consultant rewound before we were notified. The service shop report
revealed that units that he had purchased from an and accompanying photos showed the failure on this unit was
unspecified supplier were failing. He asked if it would be again in the circuit ring connection area. The unit was not in
possible to discuss mechanisms that would help him a highly contaminated area but the machine had been in the
determine the cause of the failures. His units were vertical same service shop within the previous year for the
replacement of some cables that had been damaged. Figs.
3, 4 and 5 show the area of the cable repair and failure.
Note the high degree of surface tracking especially on the
connection to the cable.
Investigation of the cable repair indicated that after the
cables had been replaced, the endwinding had been dipped
in a commercially available insulating varnish and baked.
This lead to the theory that the original epoxy system and the
insulation varnish were not really compatible although a
comparison of the data sheets indicated that chemically they
were. A program was initiated to look at the compatibility of
the two insulating materials and to determine if the anti-
tracking characteristics of the different materials and
combinations of materials were affected. The findings for the
insulating varnish were so poor that the program was
expanded to look at all the different coatings that might be
used on the insulation and on other systems that might be
-
Fig. 4 Surface tracking on repaired cable connection to used in the future. This paper covers the initial portion of this
circuit ring that had been dipped in varnish. ongoing investigation into the impact of a number of coatings
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applied to the original insulation system used by an
equipment manufacturer.
Ill. Tracking
A. Description of the Tracking Phenomenon
If samples failed before the 2 hour time allotment (by tracking 150
the entire distance on the specimen) an equivalent distance ”
was determined by extrapolation of the tracking distance at @, 120
time of failure. A 5.08 cm by 12.7 cm glass fiber with h
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TABLE I RESULTS OF TRACKING TESTS
D. Discussion of Results
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application of paint A. Paint B is a water based paint put
TABLE II
forward as an alternative to the standard epoxy paint A. The
OUTLINE OF FUTURE WORK
results are indicated in row D in Table I. Note that the
tracking resistance of paint A is over 90 times greater than
that of paint B. Paint B was removed from the list of possible
alternatives because of this result.
Water repellent polyurethane paint can be used to
improve surface sealing and surface finish. Comparing the
results in row C with those in row J of Table I, we can Resin I llaD
. , downarade)
“ I
ammonium chloride.
conclude that the polyurethane should be used only on top of Mica tape + Resin I + Paint A
Mica tape + Resin I + Paint A + Second Series with NaCl
paint A because its performance when applied directly to the
commekial varnish sodium chloride
resins is very poor. Also note that resin I offers better
tracking resistance for the build configurations in row C and J. Mica taDe + Resin I +
commercial varnish
The same results are illustrated graphically in Figs. 7 and 8.
Paint C on alass laminate
Anti-abrasive coatings are applied to machines in I
I
Anti-fungus coatings may be specified for applications in Mica tape + Resin I NaCl sodium chloride
tropical environments. Results of tracking tests involving the Mica tape + Resin I + Paint A
anti-fungus coating are shown in rows G and I of Table I and Mica tape + Resin I bearing oil IS0 VG 32
in Fig. 8. Resin I offers better tracking resistance when used Mica taoe + Resin I + Paint A
in conjunction with the anti-fungus coating. Note that the Mica tape + Resin I bearing oil I S 0 VG 68
effect of using paint A in conjunction with the anti-fungus Mica taDe + Resin I + Paint A
coating (with either resin I or resin 11) is small. Mica tape + Resin I metallic dust
Commercial filling compounds are used to eliminate any Mica tape + Resin I + Paint A
Mica taoe + Resin I sar,
- ,
voids between the winding and blocking or conformable
bracing in the end region of machines. The results of tracking Mica tape + Resin I + Paint A
Mica tape + Resin I black liquor
tests involving the commercial filler are shown in rows K and
Mica tape + Resin I + Paint A
L of Table I and in Fig. 9. The filler generally has a
detrimental effect on the tracking resistance of the insulation.
This effect is especially pronounced if the filler is not covered interface. Varlow and Auckland 181 discuss the effect of
by Paint A. barriers on the growth of electrica; tiees in solid insulation.
Insulating varnishes are often used in the service shops to They found that when a weak bond existed between the
cover and seal areas where a repair has been performed. barrier and the insulation, there was a tendency for tracking
The results of tracking tests are shown in Fig. 9 and in rows N to occur along the interface. We believe a similar mechanism
and 0 of Table I. The tracking resistance of resin I and resin may be involved in the present tests, but further investigation
I covered with paint A are severely degraded by applying an is required to confirm this hypothesis.
over coat of varnish. Resin II covered with paint A faired
somewhat better. IV. FUTURE WORK
Results shown in Figs. 7 and 8 suggest that resin I offers
better tracking resistance than resin 11. The material Initial results of tracking tests on laminate substrates have
combinations presented in these two figures represent the yielded interesting results; however, an insulated coil is
combinations most likely to be used in production machines. somewhat different than a rectangular sample of laminate
Fig. 9 shows that resin II offers better tracking resistance coated with the resin, paint or varnish. In the next stage of
when used in conjunction with commercial fillers and the work, tests will be carried out on a number of insulation
varnishes. However, the merits of resin I with the more samples cut from the surface of copper bars wound with
common combinations, still make resin I the material of standard insulating tapes. This will closely approximate the
choice. insulation system of a standard motor coil. These insulated
Initial work shows that complex interactions may occur bars will receive standard insulating processes consisting of a
between the various materials that make up a typical pre-bake, VPI cycles, and curing bake cycles. The insulation
insulation system. Bonding between materials must be will then be cut on the edges of the bars to form U shaped
strong otherwise failures may originate at the boundary
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tracking. The work also shows that the track resistance of a
material can be severely degraded by covering it with
another material or combination of materials. Machine
manufacturers, maintenance personnel, service shop
operators, and specifiers, need to better understand the
impact on the performance of an insulation system when
using various combinations of insulating materials. For
instance, our work suggests that commercial varnishes
should not be applied during repair jobs to windings
especially if the machine is to operate in a contaminated
environment.
Materials that are usually track resistant can be
. . compromised by covering them with various materials.
Having said this, the authors wish to stress that the results of
experiments outlined in this paper are only preliminary. We
Fig. 10 - Samples formed by taping bars, pre-baking, have performed the tests using a substrate material that is
applying VPI and bake cycles. Insulation has been slit and very track resistant. The results may change when tests are
separated from bar in top image. This forms two U shaped performed using insulating tapes impregnated with resin as
samples that can be cut to length. the substrate. The underlying mechanisms by which the track
samples as illustrated in Fig.10. The U shaped samples will resistance of a material is degraded when used in conjunction
be cut to 5 cm lengths for use in the tracking tests. Coils are with other materials is not very well understood and requires
wound with overlapping layers of tape. Tracking tests will be further study. Further testing on actual samples of machine
performed on a minimum of three samples with the lap insulation will be much more insightful.
upgrade on the inclined plane test. A minimum of three other The best way to avoid surface tracking in machines
samples will be tested with the lap downgrade. By comparing operating in a contaminated atmosphere is to keep the
the results, we will ascertain whether the orientation of the lap contaminated cooling air out of the machine. This requires
has an impact on the tracking test results. Once the preferred the use of a totally enclosed machine with a heat exchanger
orientation has been determined, the remaining tests will be or a purged air system. When this is not possible, the
performed with the lap in that direction. designer must have a thorough understanding of how the
Two additional paints will be tested using the glass insulation system will perform in this contaminated
laminate samples. The plan is to also investigate the effects environment. The industry needs a method for evaluating the
of different contaminants. Sulphuric acid solutions will test ability of an insulation system to minimize the impact of
the track resistance under acid conditions that are found tracking along the surface of exposed insulation systems.
down wind from smoke stacks or in petrochemical operations. The method discussed here is not ideal but it does allow for
Static tests, in which an insulating material is exposed to a comparison of materials under the same conditions.
chemical solution, are often performed to check if the material
is inert to chemical attack. These tests usually consist of
submerging some insulation in a chemical solution, and then VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
checking for deterioration after a specified time. Tracking
tests indicate that even if the winding is chemically inert, the The authors wish to thank John E. Hayward of the
system can still fail due to tracking. Engineering Laboratory for preparing the samples,
Ammonium hydroxide will show the suitability of administering the tests and recording the data. They also
materials in basic environments. Stator windings are wish to thank Bob Rehder for offering many insightful
sometimes contaminated due to bearing leaks; thus the tests comments on the work. The authors also wish to thank Rob
with bearing oils. Oily residues serve to bind the surface Draper for his many helpful discussions on this topic.
contaminants together and increase local concentrations of
the materials. In ore mining applications, stator windings may
be contaminated with conductive dust. Tests simulating this
condition are also planned. Solutions simulating tree sap and VII. REFERENCES
black liquor will also be investigated. Further studies are also
necessary to better understand the effect of surface [I] Johnston, M. Markovitz. US Patent 4760296, “Corona-
preparation of samples and the effect of bonding between the Resistant Insulation, Electrical Conductors Covered
materials. Table I1 summarizes the future work plan. Therewith and Dynamoelectric Machines and Transformers
Incorporating Components of such Insulated Conductors”,
July 26, 1988.
V. CONCLUSIONS
[2] W. Yin, “Dielectric Properties of an Improved Magnet Wire
This work highlights the need to better understand for Inverter-FedMotors”, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine,
insulation systems with respect to their ability to resist JUlyIAUgUSt 1997, Vol. 13, NO.4, pp. 17-23.
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[3] F.T. Emery, “The Application of Conductive and Stress
Grading Tapes to Vacuum Pressure Impregnated, High
Voltage Stator Coils”, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine,
JulytAUgUSt 1996, Vol. 12, NO.4, pp. 15-22.
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