Portugal Rosas2015

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Control strategy of offshore marine energy
converters for improving reliability
availability and cost effectiveness
Isaac Portugal Rosas
NIVER
U S
E
IT
TH
Y
H
O F
E
R
D I U
N B
Doctor of Philosophy
The University of Edinburgh
1st September 2015

To my parents
L and Z
Gracias por enseñarme que en esta vida solo hay un obstáculo insuperable.
iii
The University of Edinburgh iv Isaac Portugal Rosas
Institute for Energy Systems
Abstract
High–energy density places in the sea are typically located some kilometres away
from the shores. Harvesting energy from these sites is desirable but defiant. In
these areas, one of the challenges is the harsh weather conditions, which may
limit the maintenance accessibility of electrical generators. The nature of the
marine resources (i.e. turbulence and wave spectrum) could create high-load
patterns that may jeopardise the reliability and economic feasibility of entire
projects. Thus, reliability of marine energy converters becomes a key challenge
for engineers.
Most marine energy devices are being designed to allow the usage of off–the–shelf
electrical generators. At the cost of dismissing potential benefits of especially
designed machines, developers are focusing their efforts in optimising the hydro-
dynamic and aerodynamic performance of the devices.
Stress-levels seen by the electrical machine are device dependant. The work here
presented is focused on an oscillating water column (OWC). This is a system
using a semi open chamber with one opening semi submerged under the sea and
the other directed to a duct. The air pushed and sucked by the waves is forced
to pass through an air turbine that extracts energy from the moving fluid. The
turbine is then attached to an electrical generator for a final energy conversion.
The key aspect of this work is to present a proposed methodology that could be
used to extend the life of a machine. The methodology first consists on defining
the life of a generator as a single variable phenomenon. Second, the methodology
is assuming that a deterioration model can be used as a proxy for estimating the
v
life of the generator. Third, the in–service load profile is calculated by modelling
a generator in an OWC. Lastly, with the load profile and the life estimated from
the generator, a power management technique is demonstrated
The University of Edinburgh vi Isaac Portugal Rosas

Acknowledgements
The realisation of a PhD is indeed a personal achievement, performed largely

in isolation. However, in order to be sucessful, a supporting cast is required. It
would be virtually impossible to acknowlede all the people that aid the completion
of this thesis. Though, a few persons are worth mentioning.
• Fernanda, thanks for being my cook, editor in chief and for reminding me
that there is a life after the PhD.
• My parents, thanks for your unconditional love and support.
• To Quena, Goyo and Lau: Thanks for all your support which you de-
mostrate all these years, and the great encouragement to finish.
• To my supervisor, thanks for all the trust and beleif me, and letting me
dive into completely unexplored topics for both of us.
• To my new friends: Jonatha Shek, Ozan Keysan, Bin Li, Tom Wood, Juan
Pablo Echenique, Ignacio Barajas, Siraj Sabihuddin, Barry Hayes. Thanks
for sharing good academic and non-academic experiences.
• To Neil Hodgins: Thanks for sharing with me important information from

your reaserch.
• Finally, thanks to the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONA-

CYT), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP-
SRC) for the economical support provided.
vii
The University of Edinburgh viii Isaac Portugal Rosas
Declaration
I declare that this thesis was composed by myself and that the work contained
therein is my own, except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text.
(Isaac Portugal Rosas)
ix
The University of Edinburgh x Isaac Portugal Rosas
Contents
1 Resource & Technology assessment 1
1.1 Renewable Energy and its framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Resources and Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Offshore Wind Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 Wave Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.3 Tidal Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.3 Power Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.3.1 Hydraulic power takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.3.2 Pneumatic Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.3.3 Geared Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.4 Direct–Drive Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.5 Thesis aims and layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2 Reliability of electrical machines for offshore energy converters 33
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
xi
CONTENTS
2.2 Theory of reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2.1 Concepts and definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.2 Basic Models of reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.3 Reliability models for systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2.3.1 Reliability Block Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.3 The impact of electrical machines upon the reliability of an offshore

energy converter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.3.1 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.3.1.1 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.3.1.2 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.3.2 The Onshore Wind Industry Experience . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.4 Reliability of electrical machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3 Asset Management in the Marine Energy Industry 59
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.2 Asset management and its relation with reliability and availability 61
3.3 Types of maintenance programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.4 The link between asset management and electrical insulation systems 66
3.5 Ageing models of electrical insulation systems for prognosis . . . . 71
3.5.1 Single Factor Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
The University of Edinburgh xii Isaac Portugal Rosas

CONTENTS
3.5.1.1 Thermal Ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.5.1.2 Electrical Ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.5.2 Multi–stress Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.5.2.1 Simoni’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.5.2.2 Crine’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.5.2.3 Grzybowski’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.5.3 An ageing model for air–cooled low voltage electrical machines 85
3.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4 Induction machine electromagnetic modelling 89
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2 The electrical machine used in the OWC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.3 Electromagnetic model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.4 Loss Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.4.1 Joule losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.4.2 Iron losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.4.3 Friction & windage losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.4.4 Stray or additional losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.4.5 The full loss model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5 Thermal Modelling of Electric Machines 103
Isaac Portugal Rosas xiii The University of Edinburgh

CONTENTS
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.2 One dimensional heat equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.3 General heat conduction equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.4 Heat transfer by Convection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.5 Heat transfer by radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
5.6 Definition of the finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.7 The lumped parameter thermal network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.8 General Cuboidal Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5.8.1 The arched shaped element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.9 A specific analytical model for the induction machine . . . . . . . 125
5.9.1 Heat sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.9.2 Contact resistances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.9.3 The end–winding region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.9.4 The end–cap region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.9.5 Heat transfer in the airgap region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.9.6 Heat transfer from the outer case to the ambient . . . . . . 133
5.10 The full equivalent thermal network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.11 Sensitivity analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.12 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
The University of Edinburgh xiv Isaac Portugal Rosas

CONTENTS
6 A proposed asset management plan 143
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
6.2 The proposed asset management plan for offshore marine energy
converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
6.3 Predicting loss of life at time changing stresses . . . . . . . . . . . 148
6.3.1 Assuming only thermal degradation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
6.3.2 Assuming multi–stress degradation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.4 Case Study: The Oscillating Water Column . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
6.4.1 The Wells Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
6.4.2 Connection to the grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.4.3 Generator Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
6.4.3.1 Generator rating and temperature class . . . . . 159
6.4.4 Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
6.4.5 Insulation system ageing model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.4.5.1 Magnet wire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
6.4.6 The full model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
6.5 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.6 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
7 Conclusions and Further Work 183
7.1 Achievement of thesis aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Isaac Portugal Rosas xv The University of Edinburgh

CONTENTS
7.2 Contribution to knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
7.3 Further Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Appendices
A The electrical machine lamination drawings 189
B The electrical machine winding diagram 193
Bibliography 195
The University of Edinburgh xvi Isaac Portugal Rosas

List of Figures
1.1 World electricity production for the period 2009–2011. . . . . . . 2
1.2 World electricity supply in 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Unitary cost of energy by technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 The Danish concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Growth of of wind turbines in time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6 The formation of waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.7 The worldwide wave energy density in kW/m. . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.8 A point absorber, an attenuator, and a terminator WEC schematic. 11
1.9 The Archimedes Wave Swing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.10 The Pelamis, developed by Pelamis Wave Power Ltd. . . . . . . . 12
1.11 The Salter’s duck, developed by The University of Edinburgh. . . 13
1.12 The oscillating water column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.13 The oyster, developed by Aquamarine Ltd. (Aqu) . . . . . . . . . 14
1.14 Schematic of the wave dragon working principle. . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.15 Tidal producing forces as a result of the Moon. . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.16 The lunar cycle and the creation of tides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
xvii
LIST OF FIGURES
1.17 Tidal barrage of La Rance, France. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.18 The Seagen in Strangford Lough, developed by MCT. . . . . . . . 21
1.19 The VATT developed by Edinburgh Turbine Designs Ltd. . . . . . 22
1.20 The Stingray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.21 Venturi system schematic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.22 Basic hydraulic system proposed for a WEC. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.23 The Pelamis PTO diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.24 Typical Pneumatic PTO used in an OWC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.25 A 1.5 MW gearbox installed in a test stand. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.1 The Weibull probability density function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.2 Cumulative density and reliability functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.3 The bathtub curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.4 RBD for n components in series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.5 RBD for n components in parallel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.6 Reliability block diagram for a generic offshore energy converter. . 47
2.7 The Scottish Renewable Tidal Turbine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.8 Reliability block diagram of the Scottish renewable tidal turbine. . 48
2.9 Reliability function of the individual components and the 2 gener-

ator PTO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
The University of Edinburgh xviii Isaac Portugal Rosas

LIST OF FIGURES
2.10 Reliability function of PTOs with different level of redundancy at

the generator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.11 Onshore wind turbines subassembly failures and downtime. . . . . 53
2.12 Reliability block diagram of a generic electrical machines. . . . . . 54
2.13 Dimension HV insulation systems for rotating machines. . . . . . 57
2.14 Reliability of insulating materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.1 PAS 55: 2008 Asset management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.2 Maintenance Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.3 Multi factor framework of insulation life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.4 Flow of information to the asset manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.5 Life of various insulation materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.6 Crine’s ageing model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.1 Power losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.1 One dimensional heat conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.2 Three dimensional heat conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.3 One dimensional thermal network for calculating the average tem-
perature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.4 Three dimensional thermal network for calculating the average

temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.5 The arched element test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Isaac Portugal Rosas xix The University of Edinburgh

LIST OF FIGURES
5.6 Comparison between FE and the arched arched element analytical

method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
5.7 Temperature distribution comparison FE and arched element. . . 124
5.8 Comparison between Hodgins’s thermal model and experimental

data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.9 Power losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.10 Taylor vortices in a rotating annulus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.11 Equivalent heat thermal resistance from the machine casing to the
surroundings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.12 Electrical machine split in arc shaped elements. . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.13 Equivalent lumped parameter thermal network. . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.14 End–winding temperature rise comparison between the model and

experimental data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5.15 Transient response of thermal model with constant power output

and ambient temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6.1 Proposed asset management decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
6.2 Life estimation using damage factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
6.3 Oscillating water column model schematic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
6.4 The Wells turbine working principle schematic. . . . . . . . . . . 154
6.5 Wells turbine performance curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.6 Schematic of the system’s connection to the grid. . . . . . . . . . 158
The University of Edinburgh xx Isaac Portugal Rosas

LIST OF FIGURES
6.7 Block diagram of the induction machine electromagnetic–thermal

model interaction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
6.8 High level control schematic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
6.9 αβ vector sector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
6.10 Simulink implementation of the control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.11 Expected life time of material candidates for this study. . . . . . . 166
6.12 End–winding temperature rise in steady state. . . . . . . . . . . . 167
6.13 The full machine–converter model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.14 The Simulink thermal model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.15 Simulink implemantation of the ageing model. . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.16 Two power scenario results: Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
6.17 Two power scenario results: Current, Speed, Torque and DC Bus
voltage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
6.18 Power outputs of first case scenario. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
6.19 Power outputs of second case scenario. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6.20 Machine temperature distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.21 End–winding temperature of both cases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
6.22 Damage parameter of the two scenarios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.23 Damage parameter of the two scenarios plus a logic change. . . . 179
A.1 The electrical machine stator lamination drawing. . . . . . . . . . 190
Isaac Portugal Rosas xxi The University of Edinburgh

LIST OF FIGURES
A.2 The electrical machine rotor lamination drawing. . . . . . . . . . 191
B.1 The electrical machine winding diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
The University of Edinburgh xxii Isaac Portugal Rosas

List of Tables
2.1 Failure rates and adjustment factors for the PTO components . . 49
2.2 Statistical failure of electric machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.1 Equivalent circuit parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.2 Electrical machine parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.3 Used parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5.1 Constants used for the calculation of convection in the end–cap

region. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.2 Sensitivity analysis of the end–winding temperature to the main

parameters used in the thermal network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.3 Steady state model results against certificate test data. . . . . . . 140
5.4 End–winding temperature rise comparison between the model and

experimental data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6.1 Halve interval index, temperature rise, and apparent activation

energy (φ) for electrical insulation systems of different thermal class.149
6.2 The Wells turbine parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.3 Electrical machine parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
xxiii
LIST OF TABLES
6.4 Switching states for a 3–phase H–bridge converter . . . . . . . . . 162
6.5 Magnet wire classification & typical materials used. . . . . . . . . 164
6.6 Magnet wire life characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.7 Expected life time of material candidates for this study. . . . . . . 165
6.8 The N P V method applied to the three scenarios described above 180
The University of Edinburgh xxiv Isaac Portugal Rosas

List of Acronyms
BWEA British Wind Energy Association
CDF Cumulative Density Function
CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics
CONACYT Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
DECC Department of Energy & Climate Change
DFIG Doubly Fed Induction Generator
DFOC Direct Field Oriented Control
ECN Energy Research Centre
EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
FD Finite Differences
FE Finite Elements
HATT Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbine
HIC Halve interval index
ICP Inner Corona Protection
IEA International Energy Agency
IFOC Indirect Field Oriented Control
IGBT Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
LPTN Lumped Parameter Thermal Network
MEC Marine Energy Converter
MTBF Mean Time Between Failures
MTTF Mean Time to Failure
xxv
List of Acronyms
MTTR Mean Time to Repair
OEC Offshore Energy Converter
OWC Oscillating Water Column
PD Partial Discharges
PDF Probability Density Function
PM Permanent Magnet
PTO Power Takeoff
PWM Pulse Width Modulated
RBD Reliability Block Diagram
RCAM Reliability Centred Asset Management
RLT Remaining lifetime
SVM Space Vector Modulation
TBF Time Between Failures
TEC Tidal Current Energy Converter
TTF Time to Failure
TTR Time to Repair
VATT Vertical Axis Tidal Turbine
VPI Vacuum Pressure Impregnation
WECs Wave Energy Converters
WT Wind Turbine
The University of Edinburgh xxvi Isaac Portugal Rosas

List of Symbols
α Weibull’s scale parameter

a Electrical ageing constant determined experimentally
A Grybowski’s insulation ageing model constant
Ab Cross–sectional area of the bars
Ac Area in contact between two solids
ar Radius of the inner concentric cylinder
Ar Cross–sectional area of the end–rings
As Area of the solid in contact with the fluid
αth Thermal diffusivity of the material
αW Angle between the stream flow and the blade chord line
β Weibull’s shape parameter
b Electrical ageing constant determined experimentally
B Grybowski’s insulation ageing model constant
br Radius of the outer concentric cylinder
bb Span of the blade
c Concentration of a chemical constituent in the material
C Grybowski’s insulation ageing model constant
CA Input power coefficient
CInv Capital investment cost
CM Maintenance cost
CP L Cost of no production
xxvii
List of Symbols
CRem Remainder value

CT Torque coefficient
Cth Heat capacitance
D Damage parameter
∆Esystem Change in heat or energy of the system
∆Go Activation energy of the chemical reaction
∆Ho Activation enthalpy of the chemical reaction
∆So Entropy of the chemical reaction activation process
Dh Hydraulic diameter
Do Damage parameter at constant stress factors
∆p Total pressure drop across the turbine
Dtot Total damage parameter
E Macroscopic electric potential field at the terminals
Ein Heat or energy entering a system
Eout Heat or energy leaving a system
Ēyr Average energy generation per annum at 100% availability
F (t) Cumulative Density Function
f Switching frequency
FD Drag force
FL Lift force
Fθ Force tangential to the Wells turbine rotational axis
Fx Force along the Wells turbine rotational axis
d
g Time derivative operand dt
g(c) Concentration of the constituent of interest

H Activation energy or enthalpy of the chemical reaction
h Plank constant, h = 662606957x1034 J · s
hc Heat transfer coefficient at the joint
hconv Convection heat transfer coefficient
hec Convection heat transfer coefficient of the end–cap region
The University of Edinburgh xxviii Isaac Portugal Rosas

List of Symbols
i Electrical current passing through the conductors

Jsys Rotational moment of inertia of the rotor–shaft–turbine system
K Rate of the chemical reaction
k Thermal conductivity
k1 Simoni’s model constant of the material
kair Thermal conductivity of air
kc Constant related to the collisions of the reactants
ke Electrical ageing constant determined experimentally
λ(t) Failure Rate Function
L Life of the electical insulation material
l Length of the material
L% Percent life lost
L0 Life of the electrical insulation material at room temperature
λB Base failure rate
lb Length of the bars
λC Component failure rate
λds d– component of the stator flux linkage
Le Inductance
Lo Life at constant stress factors
λqs q– component of the stator flux linkage
lr Separation between two rotor bars
m1 Grybowski’s insulation ageing model constant
m2 Grybowski’s insulation ageing model constant
n Order of the chemical reaction
ηf ins Efficiency of the fins and wafters
ν Kinematic viscosity
Nu Nusselt number
Isaac Portugal Rosas xxix The University of Edinburgh

List of Symbols
Ω Rotor rotational speed

φ Apparent activation energy of the chemical reaction
p Desired property of the insulation material
Padd Stray of additional losses
Pbar Power losses at rotor bars
PCu Joule losses
Pe Power consumed or produced by the machine
Pew Power losses at the endwinding region
Pf &w Friction and windage power losses
Pf e Iron losses
φf low Flow coefficient
πn The nth failure rate adjustment factor
Pr Probability
Pring Power losses at the end- ring region
Ps Power losses at the slots region
qθ000 Internal heat generation per unit volume
Q, q Heat
Qair Air flow
qconv Convection heat transfer
Qg Internal heat generation
ρ Material density
R(t) Reliability Function
R Electrical resistance of the materials
Rc Contact thermal resistance
Rcond Conduction thermal resistance
Rconv Convection thermal resistance
rf ins Mean radius of the fins
ρa Air density
rm Mean annulus radius
The University of Edinburgh xxx Isaac Portugal Rosas

List of Symbols
ρref Electrical resistivity of the material at reference temperature

rR Mean blade radius
Rs Reliability of a system
s Denotes parameter belongs to the stator
s1 Stress factor 1
s2 Stress factor 2
s3 Stress factor 3
θ Absolute temperature
t Time
T0 Room temperature
T0 Output torque
t20% Time required for a property to reach 20% of the original tensile strength
Ta Taylor number
Te Electromagnetic torque
texp Expected insulation lifetime
Text External torque
Tf &w Friction and windage torque
Tload Torque exerted by the load
Tnet Net torque
θref Reference temperature
θs Surface temperature
θ∞ Temperature of the fluid outside the thermal boundary layer
U Internal energy
UR Tangential speed of the rotor at the mean blade length
∇ Symbol that represents dependance of a variable with space
v Applied Voltage
V Volume
Ωa Rotational speed of the inner concentric cylinder
va Mean axial flow velocity
Isaac Portugal Rosas xxxi The University of Edinburgh

List of Symbols
Ωb Rotational speed of the outer concentric cylinder

Ωcr Critical angular speed
w Electrical angular frequency
z Number of rotor blades
d Parameter is referred to the d– axis
m Denotes parameter is mutual
o Denotes stress factor is kept constant
q Parameter is referred to the q– axis
r Denotes parameter belongs to the rotor
The University of Edinburgh xxxii Isaac Portugal Rosas

Chapter 1
Resource & Technology assessment
1.1 Renewable Energy and its framework
The increasing demand for energy necessary to meet economic and social objec-
tives, which include among others, the improvement of human welfare and health
in an ever more populated world concerns a number of problems. These include
global warming, climate change, more expensive fossil fuels, and each country’s
individual dependence on fuel imports. For all these reasons, some countries and
international organisations are promoting renewable energies as a viable source
of energy.
Renewable energies are typically dispersed over a vast space area and located far
away from the final consumer (i.e. cities and industries). They are used to pro-
duce high quality energy carriers like hydrogen, heat, and electricity. The partic-
ipation of renewable energies is mainly in the production of electricity. According
to statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2009 renewable en-
ergies accounted for 12.9% of the total primary energy supply and encompassed
2.8% of the heat production and 19% of the electricity production worldwide
(IEA, 2012). In fact, the share of renewable energies in the electricity market
has had a steady trend, varying from 18.2% and 20.5% for the 1990–2011 period.
This translates into an annual average growth of 3%, passing from 2361.9 TWh
1
Chapter 1. Resource & Technology assessment
in 1990 to 4423.8 TWh in 2011 (ENE, 2012) (figure 1.1).

Electricty production (P W h)
20 4.22 4.42
3.66 3.85 3.98
3.41 3.56
3.04 3.25
15 2.95 2.9 3
2.82 2.84 2.86
2.59 2.73 2.77
2.36 2.41 2.43 2.56
10
16.2 16.37 16.13 17.08 17.58
13.71 14.29 14.9 15.45
11.89 12.5 12.66 13.16
5 9.49 9.71 9.8 9.96 10.23 10.54 10.93 11.18 11.51
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Year
Figure 1.1: World electricity production for the period 2009–2011. Source: (ENE,
2012)
Until now, the production of electricity from renewable technologies has been
dominated by hydro power, acounting for 16.5% of the world’s electricity in 2009.
Solar, wind, ocean, biomass and geothermal energies accounted for only 2.9%
(IEA, 2012) (figure 1.2). However, the electricity market portfolio is envisaged to
change as more countries are aggressively trying to de–carbonise their economies
while ensuring their long–term supply from within their borders.
Ocean
0.026%
Biofuels
1.08%
Coal
40.33%
Total Production Renewables Hydro

20,132 T W h 19.41% 16.53%
Gas Oil
21.37%
5.10%
Nuclear
13.40%
Wind
Waste & 1.36%
Other sources
0.40% Geothermal
0.33%
Figure 1.2: World electricity supply in 2009. Source: (IEA, 2012)
The British electricity market is going through all of the above. Statistics from
The University of Edinburgh 2 Isaac Portugal Rosas

the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) show that the internal
energy demand has not been met since 2004, primarily due to a change in the
energy portfolio. Between 2010 and 2011 electricity production from gas suffered
a reduction of about 17% mainly because of higher fuel prices. Other sources of
electricity generation increased their production, including coal by 1.8%, nuclear
by 12.2%, hydro and wind by 50% each.
This is not a problem isolated to one year. Over the next decade, the UK will
lose about 1/4 of its generating capacity because of plant closures. Mainly coal
and nuclear power stations may close due to plant ageing and to changing envi-
ronmental regulations. If no action is taken, this could overstress the electricity
market as generation would be even more dependent on fossil fuel imports.
In addition, the British government has committed itself to a 80% reduction of

equivalent carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and a production of electricity from
renewable sources of 15% by 2015. To attain these targets, energy efficiency plays
a key role. Over 1/3 of the energy used today in the UK can be preserved without
compromising goods and services. However, the overall demand for electricity is
still envisaged to increase as a result of electrification of transport, heating, and
other energy intensive industries. An expansion of renewable energy generation
is therefore desired and urgent.
The UK, as many other countries, has recognised the need to have a balanced
energy portfolio that depends on several types of primary energy. This portfolio
however has to be cost–effective. Different technologies compete not only in tech-
nical feasibility, but very much in economical terms. As can be seen in figure 1.3,
the unitary cost of energy of most renewable technologies is still uncompetitive
when compared to conventional non–renewable energy technologies.
Improved efficiency, reliability, availability and maintainability of the devices are

some of the factors that could reduce the economic difference between renewable
Isaac Portugal Rosas 3 The University of Edinburgh

1.2
average
1.0
0.8
US$/kWh
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
aic ind dro al al Ga
s ve
lt Hy rm Co Wa
ovo W
eot
he
P hot G
Figure 1.3: Unitary cost of energy by technology. Sources: (Dalton et al., 2010;
Evans et al., 2009; BazaÌĄn Navarrete and Nava Palma, 2005)
and non–renewable technologies. For some renewable energy technologies, effi-

ciency is somewhat less important than reliability, simply because the primary
energy is naturally free. This translates into high capital costs compared to op-
erating costs. According to (Dale et al., 2004) the operating costs for offshore
wind can be about 4% of the capital cost, and about 11.7% for a conventional
gas power plant.
Survivability of the devices is therefore fundamental to ensure the long term

investment of renewable energies. Onshore and offshore wind, wave and tidal
current power plants are being designed with a life span of about 20 years. The
focus off this thesis is on reliability, availability and maintenance. The rest of the
chapter is dedicated to review some of the technologies that produce electricity
from wind, waves, and ocean currents as well as explaining the nature of their
resources. In doing so, this exploration will provide the necessary knowledge
needed to assess and improve the reliability of such devices.

1.2 Resources and Devices
1.2.1 Offshore Wind Energy
Resource Assessment
Winds inside our planet could be defined as the continuous movement of air that
composes the Earth’s atmosphere. Winds are originated by pressure gradients,
which are in turn caused by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface by the
Sun. The amount of solar radiation absorbed by the Earth at the equator is much
greater than in the poles. This creates an air flow rising at the equator but sinking
at the poles (winds blow from high– to low–pressure areas). In addition, global
wind patterns are greatly influenced by the rotation of the Earth and seasonal
variations (i.e. the distance between the Earth and the sun). On a smaller scale,
winds are also affected by weather conditions, such as storms, hurricanes, and
monsoons. They can also be altered by physical obstacles such as the terrain
topography and the presence of land masses, buildings and forests.
The wind energy industry has recently experienced a rapid expansion due to
better economic competitiveness against conventional power plants, boosted by
higher fuel prices and technological improvements in wind turbine efficiency. The
global installed capacity of wind turbines grew from around 2.5 GW in 1992 to
over 94 GW at the end of 2007 and to over 282 GW at the end of 2012 (EWE,
2009; Global Energy Council).
This growth however depends on local policies as much as global ones. The
first countries to develop a national wind energy industry were Germany, Spain
and Denmark. By 2007, the installed capacity in these countries was 45 MW,
25 MW, and 98 MW respectively (EWE, 2009). However, investments in other

parts of the world have re–shaped the international market. In 2008, the United
States officially overtook Germany as the world’s number one country with an
installed capacity of 25.1 GW — Germany had 23.9GW — (AWE, 2009). By
the end of 2012, the United States had an installed capacity of 60 GW, while
Germany, Spain and Denmark had installed capacities of 31.3 GW, 22.7 GW,
4.1 GW respectively. Germany and Spain remain the two European leaders in
installed capacity. Nevertheless, rapid expansions in the UK, Italy and France
have resulted in installed capacities of 8.4 GW, 8.1 GW, and 7.5 GW respectively
(EWE, 2013). The biggest growth however has been in China, where huge annual
money injections have led the country to become the world’s leader in terms of
installed capacity. The installed capacity of wind power in China grew from about
12 GW in 2008 to more than 75 GW (Yang et al., 2012; Global Energy Council).
Wind energy resources tend to be greater offshore with fewer objects obstructing
the airflow. Yet, greater initial costs, limited accessibility and maintainability,
and the need for special vessels during installation have hindered its development.
In 2007, offshore wind accounted for only 1% of the total installed capacity, with
Denmark and the UK leading the way with 409 MW and 404 MW correspond-
ingly (EWE, 2009). The British government is expecting a vigorous and brisk
expansion. In 2009, the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) reported
an installed capacity of 598.2 MW operational offshore wind farms and further
1,246.8 MW under construction (BWE). By the end of 2012, the UK had an
installed capacity of wind power of 5.4 GW onshore, and 2.9GW offshore (EWE,
2013).
Technology Assessment
The technology used to harness the winds has rapidly evolved over time. Different
systems like the φ–Darieus vertical-axis wind turbine, venturi type systems, and

single– double– and multi–bladed horizontal–axis wind turbines can be found

on the literature (Manwell et al., 2002). All those systems use the lift, drag
or pressure gradient forces to capture energy from the wind. Today, the most
accepted and used system is the three–bladed primarily lift wind turbine, often
regarded as the Danish concept. The main parts of this turbine are a rotor, a
drive train or gearbox, a control system, an electric generator, a yaw, tower and
foundation sub–systems, and an electrical equipment ( figure 1.4).
Figure 1.4: The Danish concept. Source: (Manwell et al., 2002)
Wind turbines have been growing in size, driven by better system economics
(larger turbines tend to be cheaper in terms of per installed kW) and better land
use (installing larger machines on a windy site produces more electricity). This
trend is even more evident offshore, where developers are evaluating the technical
and economic issues of developing wind turbines of 10 and 20 MW(EWE, 2009).
Figure 1.5 schematically shows the growth in size of wind turbines and what is
envisaged for the future.
There have been several type of generators used in the wind industry. They
range from synchronous to asynchronous, which include the popular doubly fed
induction generator (DFIG). More recently, developers have also been interested
in building machines using permanent magnet generators. This is with the aim

Figure 1.5: Growth of of wind turbines in time. Source: (EWE, 2009)
of improving the system reliability and overall plant efficiency (e.g. the GE2.5XL
permanent magnet wind turbine (GE2, 2009)).
1.2.2 Wave Energy
Resource Assessment
Waves, which can be thought as another form of solar energy, are formed due
to the friction between winds and the ocean surfaces. Energy from the wind is
transferred to the ocean surface through the air pressure and shear–force. Under
a constant wind, waves build up and grow progressively until they reach a point
where the incoming energy balances the losses that occur through breaking. The
energy stored in a wave is then transferred to the next one by a non–linear
interaction owed to the fluid viscosity. (See figure 1.6)
In deep water waves can travel thousands of kilometres losing only negligible
energy. In shallow waters, when the depth is less than half the wavelength, waves
start to slow down due to the increased friction with the seabed. The slowing

down process makes waves decrease their wavelength and increase their height,
leading them to break.
Figure 1.6: The formation of waves. Source: (Ore)
According to Jão Cruz, the total wave energy resource worldwide is very similar
to the world’s average daily electricity consumption (∼ 2TW) (Cruz, 2008). The
resources are generally higher in the southern hemisphere. For example, local
spots of particular high annual average wave energy density are located off the
coasts of Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The vast majority of
the Northern hemisphere resources are located off the British Isles, Iceland and
Greenland west coasts. Lower levels, although still exploitable, are found off the
US and Canada west coasts (see figure 1.7).
Cruz also states that only 10 to 25 percent of the natural resource is exploitable
(Cruz, 2008). A study presented by a European consortium involving eighteen
organisations from nine different countries called WaveNet suggests a technical
potential of 770 TWh of electricity per year. In the study, the total technical re-
source is defined as the total amount of electricity that can be generated without

Figure 1.7: The worldwide wave energy density in kW/m. Source: (Wav, 2003)
taking into account the economic implications and barriers. The factors, which
according to the study affect the technical resource potential are: the variation of
wave power, the capture efficiency, losses in the power generation and power trans-
mission, availability, survivability, and spatial limitation for deployment arising
from sociological and ecological concerns (Wav, 2003).
The technology used and proposed to harvest the waves has not yet converged to
a favourable type. Academics and device developers tend to exaggerate the good
performance of their concepts in terms of reliability, performance and, return of
investment in order to win the ruthless and still on–going battle for the best
technology. In spite of their sometimes–unique features, wave energy converters
(WECs) can be categorised according to (Clement et al., 2002; Drew et al., 2009;
Duckers; Cruz, 2008; Muetze and Vining):
1. The device geometry
2. Their operation principle.
3. The location that they are designed for.

Classification by device geometry. This classification includes (see figure 1.8):
• Point absorbers.
• Attenuators.
• Terminators.
Figure 1.8: A point absorber, an attenuator, and a terminator WEC schematic.

Source: (Cruz, 2008)
Point absorbers are usually symmetrical in the vertical axis and small in
the horizontal plane (particularly in the dimension that faces the wave front).
Point absorbers harness energy by the vertical movement caused by the incoming
waves. The primer mover of a point absorber WEC is then connected to either
a hydraulic power takeoff or a linear electric generator (see figure 1.9). Point
absorbers can be further categorised in buoyant and submerged devices.
Attenuators are buoyant devices, small in the horizontal dimension that faces
the wave front and large in horizontal dimension aligned with the principal wave
direction. Attenuators are usually formed by more than one articulated buoyant
structure and harness energy by making use of the relative motion between its
components. An example of an attenuator device is the Pelamis (see figure 1.10).

Figure 1.9: The Archimedes Wave Swing. Source: (AWS)
Figure 1.10: The Pelamis, developed by Pelamis Wave Power Ltd. Source: (pel)
Terminators are large on their horizontal dimension, which faces the wave
front, but small on the horizontal dimension, which is aligned to the main wave
direction. The key difference between an attenuator and terminator is the device’s
angle with respect to the direction of the principal incident wave. An example of
a terminator WEC is the Salter’s duck, developed by the University of Edinburgh
(see figure 1.11).
Classification by their operation principle. This classification includes (see

figure 1.8):

Figure 1.11: The Salter’s duck, developed by The University of Edinburgh.

Source: (Thorpe, 1999)
• Oscillating water columns
• Oscillating wave surge or flaps.
• Overtopping devices.
Oscillating water columns (OWC) consist of a semi–open chamber with

the opening side facing the waterline. Incoming waves pressurise the air inside
the chamber and force the air to flow through a turbine–generator system. When
the waves are on a negative cycle, the air is reversed but the turbine rotates in
the same direction. Figure 1.12 shows the basic principle of an OWC (Wav, b).
Figure 1.12: The oscillating water column. Source: (Ire, 2002)
Oscillating wave surges or flaps are terminator type devices that move back
and forth with the horizontal component of the waves. The primer mover of the

device is attached to a fixed component that drives a hydraulic power takeoff

(although other arrangements could be possible). An example of a flap device is
the Oyster, developed by Aquamarine. In this case, the power takeoff consists of
a hydraulic power takeoff that uses seawater as a working fluid (see figure 1.13).
Figure 1.13: The oyster, developed by Aquamarine Ltd. (Aqu)
Overtopping devices collect seawater from the incoming waves in a normally

large reservoir. Using the head difference from the reservoir and the sea line, a
water flow is created. This water flow is then used to drive low–headed turbine–
generators systems. An example of an overtopping device is the wave dragon (see
figure 1.14).
Figure 1.14: Schematic of the wave dragon working principle. Source: (Wav, a)
Classification by their location. This classification includes:

• Shoreline devices.
• Near shore devices.
• Offshore.
Shoreline devices are placed along the shore. These devices have the advantage
of always being maintenance–accessible, close to the utility network and protected
from extreme weather events. One big disadvantage of shoreline devices is that
the wave energy that reaches the shore is much less than that available offshore.
More over, these devices tend to have greater environmental and visual impacts,
as the construction onshore requires changes to the landscape.
Near shore devices are those considered to be located at relatively shallow

waters∗ . These systems are more exposed to the wave climate when compared to
the shoreline ones, thus they are able to capture more energy. However, they are
more exposed to extreme weather conditions. The near shore devices are often
fixed to the seabed, which is an advantage for oscillating type devices.
Offshore devices are generally located at deep waters. These systems are even
more exposed to the weather climate than near shore systems. This signifies that
they can harvest more energy but are at more risk on extreme weather events.
Therefore, offshore devices have to be designed to survive extreme weather events
and to perform effectively through long periods without maintenance. In addition
to that, offshore devices are likely to require long subsea cables as well as power
electronics placed offshore and floating power stations. All of these add even more
∗
There is not a clear consensus of what is meant by shallow waters but some authors have
suggested that the shallow waters could be where the depth is less than one half the wavelength
(Thorpe, 1999).

costs to the already capital–intensive systems † .
1.2.3 Tidal Energy
Resource Assessment
The phenomenon behind the tides is presented in a simplified way. The reader
is advised to refer to FHA (2004); Hammons (2008); Reddy (2001) for a deeper
explanation of the processes behind the tides.
Tides are the effect of the gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun acting
upon a rotating Earth. The gravitational forces are proportional to the mass
of the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between
them. The Moon, which is several times smaller than the Sun but much closer
to the Earth, exerts a gravitational force about 2.17 times greater than the Sun.
Tides can therefore be considered in essence a form of lunar energy .
By applying the gravitational force definition to the Earth–Moon system, it can

be shown that the points on Earth that experience the strongest and weakest
gravitational forces are those that are closest and furthest away from the Moon,
respectively. This gravitational force is always directed towards the Moon.
On the other hand, the Earth and the Moon rotate around a common centre of
mass with a period of 27.3 days. This motion produces an inertial effect on all
points on Earth in opposite direction to the gravitational force of the Moon (this
inertial effect is sometimes incorrectly called centrifugal force).
Along the Earth’s mass centre, these two forces remain in balance (i.e. they have
equal magnitude and opposite direction). However, in any other point on Earth
†
In general, the primarily capital expenditure of offshore WECs is in the device deployment
and its connection to the grid (Clement et al., 2002).

a net force towards or away from the Moon is experienced. This resultant force
acting on the bodies of free water in the Earth or oceans, produces the tidal
currents. Figure 1.15 pictures the relationship between the Moon and the Earth.
In a similar way, the Sun induces tidal currents towards and from it, but the
effects are much smaller.
Figure 1.15: Tidal producing forces as a result of the Moon. Source: (Reddy,
2001)
Tides are periodical and predictable (to a certain extent). They vary with three
fundamental periods: a 12 hours 25 minutes period dominated by the day–night
cycle, a 14 days period occurring due to the relative position of the Sun, Moon and
the Earth and, a 178 days period caused by the inclination of the Moon’s orbit in
relation to the Earth’s orbit. The maximal and minimal tides occurring every 14
days or half the Moon’s cycle are called spring and neap tides respectively. Spring
tides occur when the Earth, the Moon and the Sun are aligned, thus the Moon
and Sun effects are superimposed in the same direction. Neap tides occur when
the Sun–Earth–Moon system form a 90 degrees angle or the induced gravitational
force from the Moon and Sun to the Earth counteract each other (FHA, 2004).
Figure 1.16 shows the Sun–Earth–Moon system and the creation of spring and
neap tides.

Figure 1.16: The lunar cycle and the creation of tides.
There are basically two ways of generating electricity from marine tidal currents.
One is building a gated–barrage across an estuary or bay to create water level
differences outside and inside the basin and generate electricity with low–head
turbo–generators. The other is to extract energy from free flowing water using a
tidal current energy converter (TEC).
The best known tidal barrage scheme in operation is the La Rance tidal power
plant located in Brittany, France (figure 1.17). The plant generates around 600
GWh annually and has been in function since 1967 (SDC, 2007). Although the
focus of this research is not on tidal barrage schemes, it is worth mentioning that
there are some other smaller barrages constructed around the world. There are
an additional number of sites that have been identified for potential development,
including the Severn estuary in the UK (with an annual average expected output
of about 17 000 GWh), the Bay of Fundy (Largest in Canada), San Jose in
Argentina, the north coast of Brazil, the Yellow Sea in China, Les de Chausee in
France, among others (IET, 2007).

Figure 1.17: Tidal barrage of La Rance, France. Source: (Ben Elghali et al.,
2007)
Hammons reported an economically and technically available tidal steam resource

of 105 TWh per year for the whole of Europe from which about 48% is in the
UK (Hammons, 2008).
The amount of energy contained in the tidal currents is not as vast as that con-
tained in other renewable resources such as wind or wave power. However, the
better predictability of the resource, the lower visual impact and presumably
lower environmental alterations make tidal energy an appealing option. In addi-
tion, improvements in hydrofoil design that allow devices to operate on streams
with slower tidal currents could make tidal energy even more attractive. One of
these improvements could come from the usage boundary layer control techniques
to increase the lift forces acting on the hydrofoils, thereby increasing the energy
capture from the stream (Turner and Owen, 2007). In faster streams, the bound-
ary layer control techniques can also be used to reduce the thrust experienced by
the hydrofoils.
The physical principles governing the tidal stream energy devices have a lot of
similarities with those governing the wind turbines. Both technologies extract
energy from fluids in motion. Consequently, much of the TECs are adapted

versions of what was originally proposed for the wind energy industry. TECs can
be categorised in five different groups: horizontal axis tidal turbines, vertical axis
tidal turbines, oscillating hydrofoils, and venturi devices.
Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbines (HATT) are basically relatively small

wind turbines submerged in the sea. As in the HAWT, these devices comprise
a rotor that is successively made of foils. The rotor foils are called hydrofoils
instead of aerofoils due to change in working fluid. The rotor captures energy
from the stream by exploiting the lift and drag forces acting on each hydrofoil
member and slowing down the stream. The smaller rotors are possible thanks to
the higher kinetic power density contained in the seawater flow ‡ .
Despite the rotor being smaller in the tidal device, the thrust and thus, the cyclic
loads, are significantly higher due to the fluid density difference. Other aspects
that need to be considered when designing a tidal current turbine, but do not
occur in wind turbines, are the variation in static pressure and velocity across
the vertical water column, the wave loadings acting on the device and, probable
cavitation problems (Nicholls-Lee and Turnock, 2007). Figure 1.18 is shows an
example of a HATT.
Vertical Axis Tidal Turbines (VATT) are an adaption of the land based
Darrieus turbine. The Darrieus turbine consists in a number of blades or hydro-
foils vertically oriented and mounted on a rotor. The rotor of a Darrieus turbine,
also called cross–flow rotor, extracts energy from the water flow that creates lift
forces on the rotor blades. The flow passes across and perpendicular to the axis
of rotation (Ben Elghali et al., 2007; DTI, 2006a). These devices tend to produce
‡
The kinetic power contained fluid flow is given by Pk = 12 A ρu3 dA . Where A is the cross
R
sectional area of the control volume, ρ is the fluid density, and u is the component of the fluid
flow velocity perpendicular to the cross sectional area of the control volume. Typically wind
speeds are higher than tidal current flows; however, average seawater density is more than 800
times bigger than the average air density (Bryden et al., 2004).

Figure 1.18: The Seagen in Strangford Lough, developed by MCT. Source:

(MCT)
a square cross section to the flow (SDC, 2007; DTI, 2006a). Figure 1.19 shows a
typical VATT system.
Some of the advantages of VATT over HATT are the possibility to place the power
takeoff mechanism above the seawater level and the independence of rotational
direction from the flow direction. Another advantages are: the fact that VATT
can capture energy from every direction of flow without the need for a yaw control
§
, and that they tend to capture more energy at shallow sites (Nicholls-Lee and
Turnock, 2007).
In contrast, some disadvantages when compared to their horizontal cousins in-

clude the inability to self–start, the fact that good efficiency is achieved only
over a narrow band of tip speed ratios and, an increased probability of present-
ing cavitation problems. According to some studies, these disadvantages could
be overcome by using pitch control blades, but more research needs to be done
within the field (Schonborn and Chantzidakis, 2007).
§
The best performance of a HATT is achieved when the rotor is facing the flow, otherwise
the energy capture capability is reduced.

Figure 1.19: The VATT developed by Edinburgh Turbine Designs Ltd. Source:
(DTI, 2006a)
Oscillating Hydrofoils consist basically of a wing–like hydroplane attached

to a supporting frame via a movable arm. The angle between the flow and the
hydrofoil is controlled to produce lift and drag forces that are acting on the
hydrofoil. This results in making the hydrofoil and the connecting arm to move
up and down as required.
An example of an oscillating hydrofoil device is the Stingray, developed by the

Engineering Business Ltd (figure 1.20). The Stingay uses hydraulic cylinders to
control the hydrofoil angle. It also uses hydraulic cylinders and motors as power
takeoff mechanisms. The hydrofoil orientation is controlled by a yaw system that
optimises its position in relation to the stream flow direction.
Venturi Devices consist of an open cylindrical duct with a varying cross–

sectional area, often called nozzle and a secondary parallel circuit connected be-
tween the narrow and wide sections of the first duct (figure 1.21). According to
the conservation of mass principle, the flow entering the nozzle through the wide
cross–sectional area is accelerated when moving towards the narrower part of the

Figure 1.20: The Stingray. Source: (Sti, 2003)
tube ¶ .
Applying Bernoulli’s equation to the nozzle control volume, it can be observed

that the flow acceleration is linked to a pressure drop along the nozzle control
volume (between the secondary circuit entrance and exit) k . This static pressure
difference induces a flow in the secondary circuit that flows from the wide–section
and towards the narrow–section of the nozzle. A water turbine connected to an
electrical generator is then inserted along the secondary flow circuit to produce
electricity.
¶
The conservation Rof mass principle states that any mass flow remains constants along a
control volume (ṁ = ρA dx dt = constant). By applying this to a subsonic flow inside a duct
of changing area, it can be shown that the mean flow speed (v) changes inversely proportional
to the change of cross-sectional area (A). Assuming incompressible flow (i.e. density remains
constant) vv21 = A
A1
2
.
k
Bernouli’s equation is a special case of the first law of thermodynamics (conservation of
energy) applied to an ideal duct and an ideal fluid (i.e. fluid is inviscid and the process is
isentropic). For an incompressible fluid this is expressed by 12 ρv 2 + ρgh + p = constant.

Figure 1.21: Venturi system schematic. Source: (SDC, 2007)
1.3 Power Takeoffs
The power takeoff (PTO) is the part of an energy converter system that actually
transforms the captured energy into electricity. In renewable technologies, the
power takeoff has to overcome the fluctuating low–speed high–torque movement
of the primary displacing element that arises due to the nature of the resource.
Some power takeoffs developed within academia and industry for wind or marine
energy converters include pneumatic, hydraulic, geared and direct–drive systems.
1.3.1 Hydraulic power takeoffs
Hydraulic power takeoffs are usually chosen for high–energy–density converters

due to their easy controllability and high power density (Drew et al., 2009).
On the negative side, hydraulic PTOs may have problems with power efficiency
transmission (Plummer and Schlotter, 2009).
A basic hydraulic system, pictured in figure 1.22, consists of a hydraulic motor,

an electric generator, a hydraulic cylinder, high and low pressure accumulators,
and a series of pipes that interconnect all elements to form a closed system (No
mass transfer). The cylinder, which is attached to the primary displacing element,
pumps a working liquid from the low–pressure to the high–pressure accumulator,

allowing some energy storage, thereby smoothing the power output. Then, the
working fluid is used to drive a hydraulic motor that is connected to an electric
generator. Finally, the hydraulic motor returns the working fluid to the low–
pressure accumulator (Henderson, 2006; Mueller, 2001).
Figure 1.22: Basic hydraulic system proposed for a WEC. Source: (Drew et al.,
2009)
Hydraulic systems can be divided into those that use water and those that use
oil as a working fluid. The former have the advantage that they do not endanger
the environment in an event of a leak (especially for marine energy converters).
Nonetheless, the use of a high–corrosive and around 1000th times less viscous
liquid could reduce the life of the valves and seals (DNV, 2005; Mueller, 2002).
There are other alternative biodegradable fluids, each with its own benefits and
disadvantages (Drew et al., 2009).
Some of the hydraulic systems proposed for the WECs place the hydraulic motor
and generator close to the primer mover, while some others place it at a remote
shore site. Onshore arrangements provide easy access to the energy conversion
and the generator systems, which allows them to have lower maintenance costs.
Nevertheless, the lower power transmission efficiency across the pipe work could
offset this advantage (Mueller, 2001). An example of a hydraulic system used in
a WEC is the Pelamis PTO, figure 1.23.

Figure 1.23: The Pelamis PTO diagram. Source: (pel)
Submerged, floating and buried under the sea–bed hydraulic systems with peak
speed limits of 0.1 to 0.5 m/s are proven technologies in the oil & gas industry.
However, the applicability to renewable energy converters in offshore sites, where
the maintenance will be limited and peak speed is likely to be higher, has not yet
been fully demonstrated. The hydraulic systems increase the already high capital
costs. They could also introduce further causes of failure and reduce the overall
efficiency of the energy converters (Mueller, 2001).
1.3.2 Pneumatic Systems
In a pneumatic system, air is used as a working fluid to transfer the captured

mechanical energy to an electric generator. An example of this system can be
found in a OWC. The PTO of a OWC consists of an air turbine directly coupled to
an electric generator. A Wells turbine is often the choice due to its ability to rotate
in the same direction regardless of the airflow direction. However, Wells turbines
have some problems such as: poor starting characteristics, high axial thrust, a
narrow flow rate range at which they operate with high efficiency. Other impulse
air turbines that are more efficient under a wider range of flows and smaller
axial thrust are under development. These more efficient impulse air turbines
could boost the development of OWC and the general usage of pneumatic PTOs

(Setoguchi et al., 2001). Figure 1.24 shows of a schematic of a typical turbine-

generator system used in an OWC.
Figure 1.24: Typical Pneumatic PTO used in an OWC. (DTI, 2006b)
1.3.3 Geared Systems
Gearboxes are widely used in the wind energy industry as an interface between
the main shaft and the electric generator to increase the speed and lower the
torque. This allows the usage of smaller and higher–speed electrical generators.
Some problems of gearboxes are that they introduce a source of power losses and
potential failures. They can also be heavier than the generator; require regular
maintenance (lubrication every 8–12 months); are likely to have a major failure
once every 12–15 years; and are mainly built using multiple stages that have a
limited ratio of 1:5 or 1:6 per stage (then again more pieces mean more potential
failures) (Mcdonald, 2008; Manwell et al., 2002; Barr, 2002).
A report that studied the feasibility of a large offshore wind farm made by
Technishe Universiteit Delft and the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
(ECN) mentions an expected failure rate for a gearbox of about 1 failure every

3–4 years. This positions the gearbox between the first and third components
most prone to failures (Bulder et al., 2007). In contrast, a study made by Tavner
et al. on onshore wind farms in Germany and Denmark reported that gearboxes
were the eighth and third most falling subassemblies of the wind turbines (Tavner
et al., 2007a). The authors also mention that a gearbox failure is likely to have a
great impact on the system’s availability.
Gearboxes could be even more problematic for the marine energy industry due to
the lower maintenance availability, harsher environmental conditions and tougher
loading profiles (Ben Elghali et al., 2007).
Figure 1.25: A 1.5 MW gearbox installed in a test stand. Source: (ent)
1.3.4 Direct–Drive Systems
The exploitation of fluctuating energy sources together with the greater availabil-
ity of high–energy permanent magnets (PM) has created interest for developing
new electrical generator topologies that can be directly coupled to the primer
mover of the renewable energy converter (wind or marine energy converter).
Direct–drive systems avoid the need of an intermediate power transfer mecha-
nism (e.g. a pneumatic, hydraulic or gearbox system). This reduces the number
of parts that could fail and increases the overall efficiency of the energy converter.

Direct–drive electric machines can be linear, like those proposed for WECs (Polin-
der et al., 2004); or rotational, like those proposed for TECs or WTs (McDonald
et al., 2008). They are designed to operate at low and time–varying speeds
and high–torques. The structure holding this type of machines has to be ro-
bust enough to endure the high internal forces that characterise these machines.
Direct–drive machines are therefore usually large and heavy (Mcdonald, 2008;
McDonald et al., 2008; Grauers, 1996).
1.4 Summary
By 2012, the wide political conjuncture was pushing for an expansion of cleaner
technologies to power our world. Electricity generation from renewable sources
has seen a steady growing trend and will continue to do so in the future. The
participation of renewable energies in the electricity market has been dominated
by hydropower. Nonetheless, more growth is expected from other renewable
technologies, as countries and other organisations have recognised the need for a
balanced energy portfolio.
An electricity market is built on a cost–effectiveness basis, which means that

technologies compete in technical and economical terms. Offshore renewable en-
ergy technologies are still too expensive when compared to conventional fossil
fuel technologies. So at this point, the focus for developers has to be on reducing
the gap in costs. Improvements in efficiency, reliability and availability of de-
vices could help reduce this gap. The relation between efficiency, reliability, and
availability with costs will be further examined in chapter 3.
In order to improve efficiency, reliability and availability of the devices it is nec-

essary to know the conditions in which the devices operate. Thus, the chapter
provided a brief introduction to some of the exploitable natural resources in off-

shore renewable energy technologies. Furthermore, it provided an assessment of

the technologies to harness them.
The study of electrical machines in wave and tidal energy involves different issues
and problems for which no industry is prepared, such as the salt content in the
environment, extreme loads and poor access to maintenance. Tidal currents are
more predictable due to astronomic routes. It is an advantage in a sense, but
it also provides a disadvantage, since the points with more resources are located
where the same conditions are too harsh for the devices. Additionally, these
compete with ecologically sensitive sites.
Wind industry is mature. There is a clear winner in terms of the technology —

at least with respect to the overall system (see the danish concept). Electrical
machine designers are thus focused on improving their designs for a set or known
load profile.
In contrast, wave and tidal energy are still emerging as an industry, and thus,
there is a large variety of devices, each with its unique characteristics and load
profiles not seen in other industries. In terms of electrical machine design this is
a disadvantage, as the electrical machine design for an specific device may not
work for other devices. Thus, electrical machines have to be tailor fit for each
device, making the process more expensive and slow.
1.5 Thesis aims and layout
Taking into account the need for a mixed energy portfolio to solve the present and
current energy needs of our society, this thesis aims to improve the reliability of
electrical machines used for renewable energy generation. In order to achieve this
goal it is necessary to study different aspects of reliability and electrical machines.

The areas covered in thesis are as follows:
Chapter 1 introduced renewable energy and its framework. This included a re-
vision of the current context and its expected growth, actual costs comparisons,
and an examination of the devices employed to harness energy.
Chapter 2 focuses on the reliability of devices. An increase in reliability of the

devices used for the offshore energy industry can reduce the economic gap against
conventional forms of electricity generation. Chapter 2 uses reliability for study-
ing the industry necessities in terms of reliability and availability, to pinpoint the
components and factors that limit the life of electrical machines.
Chapter 3 introduces asset management as a tool that seeks for the optimal
administration of physical assets in order to achieve a set goal. The administration
of assets encloses operation, maintenance and replacement programs and life cycle
studies, among other things. This chapter also introduces some of the electrical
insulation deterioration models that could be used as part of an asset management
plan for any industry that uses electrical machines.
Chapter 4 Analyses the losses of an induction machine. These losses are later
used to model an electrical machine inside an oscillating water column.
Chapter 5 examines the common methodologies used to calculate the tempera-

ture distribution of an electrical machine, and develops a specific model for an
induction machine. The thermal model presented is later used in chapter 6.
Chapter 6 proposes and demonstrates an asset management plan that could po-
tentially increase the availability and reliability of marine energy converters. The
demonstration is done by studying an oscillating water column in operation. Two
key aspects of the oscillating water column model are the temperature of opera-
tion of the machine and its power losses. The models developed in chapter 5 and
chapter 4 are utilised.


Chapter 2
Reliability of electrical machines for

offshore energy converters
2.1 Introduction
Electrical machines are traditionally made of materials with high magnetic per-
meability and low electric resistivity. These properties can only be found in
metals that also have high ductility and low mechanical strength. Furthermore,
the materials used to insulate the machine’s electric and magnetic circuits are
mechanically weaker and prone to chemical reactions. On the other hand, the en-
ergy conversion process inside an electrical machine involves the relative motion
between primary and secondary members and the transfer of energy across the
air gap. This generates pulsating electrical, mechanical, thermal and, magnetic
loads to all the machine’s components.
Both the use of weak materials and the unavoidable pulsating loads make elec-
trical machines prone to failures. These are likely to be even more frequent in
poorly designed or not maintained machines. Failures are also likely to appear
more frequently in machines operated in harsh environmental conditions such as
those in the offshore environment.
The physical state of a machine depends on rather complex effects that ageing,
33
Chapter 2. Reliability of electrical machines for offshore energy converters
fatigue, wear and other physical and chemical processes (such as corrosion) have
on its components. Predicting the physical state of a machine refers to reliability
engineering.
This chapter addresses the reliability of electrical machines. Section 2.2 will
introduce the theory behind reliability engineering. Section 2.3 will use this theory
together with experience from other industries to asses the reliability of offshore
energy converters. Finally, Section 2.4 will discuss the reliability of electrical
machines in other industries.
2.2 Theory of reliability
All systems or components, whether as simple as a screw or as complex as an

aircraft, will inevitably fail. Failures, hereafter, are defined as the state in which
an item stops performing its designed task. These can occur as sudden events
or wear–out processes and can take place within the very early stages or at the
end of the system’s expected lifetime. Failures can also depend upon predictable
or unpredictable factors such as the item’s physical characteristics, environmen-
tal and loading conditions and material properties. All of these make failures
extremely difficult to forecast. Reliability engineering is a discipline that tries
to predict whether an item will successfully operate or fail to fulfil its designed
task. Reliability engineering uses models that vary in complexity, in the amount
of information they require and in the way their output can be used.
This section first begins by establishing concepts and terms commonly used in
reliability engineering. Then, basic reliability theory is revised. Finally, some of
the different reliability models are addressed.

2.2.1 Concepts and definitions
In the following list some frequently used terms in reliability engineering (and also
throughout this thesis) are presented. The reader is advised to refer to (Ebeling,
1997; Hoyland and Rausand, 1994; Blischke and Prabhakar, 2000; Tavner, 2008)
for more detailed information on these concepts.
• Reliability is defined as “the probability that a component or system will

perform a required function for a given period of time when used under
stated operating conditions” (Ebeling, 1997).
• Failure or Fault is considered when the system or component stops to

perform its intended task. Failure is complete and does not imply partial
functionality. For instance, electrical machines are said to fail when they
stop their energy conversion function.
• Failure Mode is the manner in which final failure occurred. For instance,
insulation failure to ground.
• Root Cause is the manner in which the failure mode was initiated. For
example, overheating of the insulation can lead to an insulation failure to
the ground.
• Failure Mechanism is the physical manner in which a failure process

progresses from root cause to the failure mode. For example: overheating
causes degradation of the insulation material leading to reduced voltage
withstand capability.
• State Variable is a binary time-dependant variable that describes whether

an item is working or not.
• The time to failure, T T F , is the time measured from the moment the
item is installed until it fails.

• The mean time to failure, M T T F , is the expected value of T T F averaged

over a number of machines in the population. This does not include the
time to repair.
• The time to repair, T T R, is the time measured from the instant of failure
to the instant when the system is ready.
• The mean time to repair, M T T R, is the expected value of T T R averaged

over a number of machines in the population.
• The time between failure, T BF , is the time measured from the instant
of installation of the machine to the instant after the first failure when the
machine is available again.
• The mean time between failure, M T BF , is the expected T BF averaged

over a number of machines in the population. M T BF is the sum of M T T F
and M T T R.
• Availability is the proportion of time that a system or component is in a

functioning condition. Availabilty, A, is a fundamental measure of reliabil-
ity, and is always less or equal to one. In its most simple form, availability
is mathematically defined as:
MT T F
A= (2.1)
MT T F + MT T R
2.2.2 Basic Models of reliability
Basic models of reliability are developed and used when large amounts of failure
data for the system or component in question are available. Also when the physi-
cal phenomenon resulting in a failure is either overlooked or not well–understood
and the time of failure is the only parameter needed or available.

In basic models of reliability, the system or component in question can only have
two states, working properly or in–failure. Moreover, in basic models failures are
treated as stochastic and time–only dependent processes that are mathematically
represented by a probability function, f (t), that has the following properties:
Z ∞
f (t) ≥ 0 and f (t)dt = 1
0
Where t is time, measured from the moment the item is installed and therefore
t ≥ 0. Time can be continuous (e.g. hours of service) or discrete, (e.g. number
of times a button is pressed). Nonetheless, good approximations can be obtained
by treating time as a continuous quantity (Ebeling, 1997). Hereafter time will be
assumed continuous unless otherwise stated.
The Probability Density Function
In basic models, the function f (t) often takes the shape of a probability density
function (PDF) distribution. The choice of PDF used in a particular study will
depend on how close the PDF describes the actual historical failure data. Some
of the PDFs most widely used in reliability are: binomial, normal, lognormal,
Weibull, Rayleigh and gamma distributions. The Weibull distribution is arguably
the most commonly used to represent wind speed distribution during a year, and
other phenomenas. Mathematically, the Weibull distribution is expressed as:
α
−α α−1 t
f (t) = αβ t exp − (2.2)
β
Where α and β are constants called the scale and shape parameter respectively.
Figure 2.1 shows Weibull PDFs based on the Weibull distribution.

0.05
Probability Density Function, f (t)

0.04
β=3
0.03 β = 1.5
0.02
β=1
0.01 β = 0.5
0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (t, hours)
Figure 2.1: The Weibull probability density function. In all curves, α = 1.
The probability distribution function, f (t), gives the probability that a failure will
happen at time t, or the instantaneous failure probability. Another common way
to express the failure incidence of any item is to use the definition of cumulative
distribution function (CDF)
Z t
F (t) = P r(T ≤ t) = f (u) du (2.3)
0
Where P r denotes probability, F (t) or the CDF, is the area below the PDF and
denotes the probability that an item fails within the time interval (0, t]. The CDF
has the following properties: F (0) = 0 and limt→∞ F (t) = 1. The relationship
between the PDF and the CDF can also be described by
d F (t + ∆t) − F (t) P r(t < T ≤ t + ∆t)

f (t) = F (t) = lim = lim (2.4)
dt ∆t→0 ∆t ∆t→0 ∆t

The Reliability Function
Recalling the definition of reliability, as the probability of system or component

to function over a period of time, the reliability or survivability function is then
defined as:
Z t Z ∞
R(t) = P r(T > t) = 1 − F (t) = 1 − f (u) du = f (u) du (2.5)
0 t
Where R(t) is the reliability function, R(0) = 1, R(t) ≥ 0, and T is the time to
failure.
Both the reliability and the CDF functions represent an area below the PDF
curve. In addition, from equation (equation 2.5) it can be shown that R(t) +
F (t) = 1. Figure 2.2 illustrates the relation between F (t), and R(t).
1.0
0.8
R(t)
0.6
(%)
0.4
0.2
F (t)
0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (t, hours)
Figure 2.2: Cumulative density and reliability functions.

The Failure Rate Function
Another function that frequently comes across in reliability studies is the failure
rate or hazard rate function. The failure rate function can be obtained by dividing
the probability that an item will fail in the interval (t, t + ∆t] when it is known
that the item was working at time t
P r(t < T ≤ t + ∆t) F (t + ∆t) − F (t)

P r(t < T ≤ t + ∆t | T > 0) = =
P r(T > t) R(t)
by a small time interval ∆t
P r(t < T ≤ t + ∆t | T > 0) f (t)

λ(t) = lim = (2.6)
∆t→0 ∆t R(t)
Where λ(t) is the failure rate function that can also be used to calculate the
number of failures that will occur among a group of identical items over a defined
period of time. It can be demonstrated that the relation between the failure rate
and reliability functions is given by
Z t Z t
λt dt = − ln R(t) or R(t) = exp − λ(u) du (2.7)
0 0
The Bathtub curve
In many occasions the hazard rate function does not follow any of the statistical
distributions mentioned above but a rather more complicated shape. A typical
hazard rate function found in literature, industry documents and other reliability
studies is the bathtub curve.

The bathtub curve can be split in three different sections: A period of high
“early” or “infant” failures usually explained by undiscovered defects in the items.
A second period of almost constant failure rate. A third period of rising failure
rate that is explained by the item’s ageing process. These sections are respec-
tively called burn-in, useful life, and wear-out periods. Figure 2.3 shows a typical
bathtub curve.
Figure 2.3: The bathtub curve.
2.2.3 Reliability models for systems
More detailed reliability models for systems can be built by breaking down the
system into a number of subsystems and/or components that would be individ-
ually modelled. These models noticeably require more detailed information of
the system, like the specific type of individual subsystems and/or components
comprised in the system and the way those subsystems and components are in-
terconnected.
There are several tools that can be used to describe a system and asses its relia-
bility including function block diagrams, fault tree analysis, Markovian models,
failure mode and effects analysis, reliability block diagrams, among others. The

most suited tool depends on the objective of the study, the extent of knowledge of
the system and, the type of relevant failure modes (Hoyland and Rausand, 1994).
For this thesis, reliability block diagram methodology was chosen and is further
explored.
2.2.3.1 Reliability Block Diagrams
A reliability block diagram (RBD) is a graphical representation of a system based

on the logical relationship of its subsystems and components (reliability wise). As
the name suggests, a RBD is made out of blocks, each representing a statistically
independent subsystem or component and associated with a probabilistic failure
rate. The blocks are connected to denote a relationship between them (again,
reliability wise).
Graphically, a RBD should be interpreted as follows: If a success path of linked

blocks is found between the input and the output, it means that the system is
operating normally. By contrast, if enough blocks are removed in an RBD to
interrupt the connection between input and output points, the system is said to
fail in its operation.
There are two basic connection types, series and parallel. A series connection rep-
resents a system that needs all its blocks to be working to keep the link operating.
Take for example a system formed by n independent blocks connected in series
(figure 2.4). The reliability of such system Rs can be calculated by multiply-
ing the reliability of each of the n independent connected blocks (equation 2.8).
An important and perhaps evident conclusion is that the reliability of a system
connected in series would always be less than or equal to the least reliable block
comprising the system (the weakest link).

1 2 n
Figure 2.4: RBD for n components in series.
n
Y
Rs (t) = R1 (t) × R2 (t) × · · · × Rn (t) = Ri (t) (2.8)
i=1
A system formed by n parallel connected blocks (also called redundant connec-

tion) represents a case where only one of the blocks needs to be operating to
keep the system alive. Assuming each block is independent from the others, the
system reliability Rs is calculated by equation 2.9 (see also figure 2.5).
Figure 2.5: RBD for n components in parallel.
n
Y
Rs (t) = 1 − [1 − Ri (t)] (2.9)
i=1
Other block relations like k–out–of–n are also possible in a RBD. This relation
appears when a requirement exists for k out of n identical and independent com-
ponents to work for the system to operate. Mathematically, the reliability of a
system Rs with a k–out–of–n relationship is given by equation 2.10.
n
X
Rs (t) = (nx) Rx (1 − R)(n−x) (2.10)
x=k
One virtue of RBDs is that they are easy to read and understand, even by some-

body with no previous knowledge of the system or reliability theory. Moreover,

a system model that uses RBDs can be easily modified without any worries for
the system analysis, a feature that becomes handy in the early design stages of
any item (Wang et al., 2004).
For non–repairable systems, the RBDs are formed with a clear mathematics–
structure–function behind them. This allows for the system to be analysed quan-
titatively. However, for complex repairable systems, the structure function that
can be obtained becomes intractable (Wang et al., 2004).
2.3 The impact of electrical machines upon the

reliability of an offshore energy converter.
Accuracy of reliability studies are highly dependant upon the quality and quan-
tity of the data used. For mature industries such as oil and gas, and to some
extent, the onshore wind energy industry, data can be considered of good quality
and quantity. Reliability studies for the oil and gas industry use databases like
OREDA 2002; MIL 1991; NEPRD 1995, which summarise in–field failure data of
a large number of equipment that run for thousands of hours. The onshore wind
energy industry is reaching the point where enough data is being obtained to get
an extensive database to accurately predict faults. Spinato et al. and Tavner
et al. have carried out reliability studies on onshore wind turbines that exhibit
the behaviour of some thousands turbines that have run for periods of about 15
to 20 years (Spinato et al., 2009; Tavner et al., 2006, 2007a).
On the contrary, the offshore energy industry, as any other incipient technology,
can not presume of a trustworthy extensive database. Therefore, reliability stud-
ies depend on laboratory tests, most of which are not publicly available due to

commercial sensitivity, and other industry databases. YARD, ETSU, and Delorm
et al. have used reliability data from the oil and gas industry, and/or, onshore
wind industry together with RBD and the numerical theory explained in sec-
tion 2.2 (YARD, 1980; ETSU, 1992; Delorm et al., 2011). The gathered failure
rates are adjusted for change in environmental conditions and load patterns using
the following equation:
n
Y
λC = λB · πn (2.11)
i=1
where λc is the actual component failure rate, λB is the base failure rate as
appears in the chosen database, πn represents the adjustment factor applied for
changes in environmental conditions and/or load profile, and n is the number of
adjustment factors needed.
Wolfram criticise the work of YARD and ETSU first because the adjustment
factors calculations are not clearly justified in the report. Secondly, because
conditions like moisture, saline atmosphere, temperature cycles, inaccessibility,
cyclic linear or rotational motions and accelerations are not taken into account
in any of the pre–existing databases and/or the adjustment factors (Wolfram,
2006). Wolfram raises three questions in relation to these problems.
1. “What new and different failure modes are possible in this environment?
2. Will the environment alter the failure rates for the known failure modes?
3. Is the performance required of the component, or the stress upon it, in the
MEC system different from that for which the reliability data have been
collected? ”
On the other hand, Thies points out that the objective of a reliability study for

a new technology product “is to assess the risk of the analysed technology, rather
than determining the reliability and availability figure” (Thies, 2009). However,
these reliability studies should be taken with great care, always bearing in mind
the three questions raised by Wolfram.
2.3.1 Case Study
The impact of electrical machines upon the reliability of a OEC is better explained
using a case study. The methodology used to analyse the example is similar to
the one used by YARD, ETSU, and Delorm et al. The case study is looking
for qualitative results as well as an actual reliability value. It is important to
mention that the quantitative result has to be taken as a guideline rather than
an actual figure due to all the probable inaccuracies that could be hidden in the
quantitative description of the problem. The probable inaccuracies involved in
the process are further commented on at the results analysing section.
The analysis starts by defining a RBD of a generic offshore energy converter

(OEC) that includes all types of wave, tidal current and offshore wind energy
devices as depicted in figure 2.6. The generic OEC comprises the moorings, the
structure, the power take off, and the power transmission subsystems. These are
all connected in series, which means that they are all equally important in terms
of reliability.
The interest of this research lies on the reliability of power take offs, with special
attention to the electrical machines. Thus, the next step is to take a particular
OEC and its PTO for further analysis. The OEC to be studied in depth is a
floating tidal turbine energy converter depicted in figure 2.7. This specific device
was chosen due to ease of information. Several documents referring to this OEC
can be found in literature (Bound et al., 2007; Francis and Hamilton, 2007a).

System Level Incoming waves, Electricity fed

OEC
tides or wind to the grid
Subsystem Level Mooring Power Power

Structure
Take Off Transmission
Figure 2.6: Reliability block diagram for a generic offshore energy converter.
Electrical
Generators
Low Pressure
Acummulator
High Pressure
Acummulator
Hydraulic
Motors
(a) Artist impression (b) Power take off
Figure 2.7: The Scottish Renewable Tidal Turbine.
As shown in figure 2.7b the power take off of this device features: high and
low pressure accumulators, hydraulic motors, electrical generators, and hydraulic
pumps. These are attached to the device rotor that is not represented in the
diagram. In reliability terms, the power take off is represented as in figure 2.8
with two possible arrangements. One contains two electrical generators and the
other one contains four. The different arrangements account for redundancy of
the electrical machines.
It is then assumed that each of the components in figure 2.8 has a failure distri-
bution function given by exponential distributions, mathematically represented
as f (t) = λe−λt . Then according to section 2.2 it is possible to calculate the
reliability of each block as a function of time, R(t) = e−λt and reduce the RBD
to a one numeric value. The data used in the analysis was taken from the oil

Hydraulic
Motor 1
Electrical
Generator 1
Hydraulic
High Low Motor 2
Hydraulic
Pump Pressure Pressure
Acumulator Acumulator Hydraulic
Motor 3
Electrical
Generator 2
Hydraulic
Motor 4
(a) Two generators arrangement
Hydraulic Electrical
Motor 1 Generator 1
High Low Motor 2 Generator 2
Hydraulic
Pump Pressure Pressure
Acumulator Acumulator Hydraulic Electrical
Motor 3 Generator 3
Motor 4 Generator 4
(b) Four generators arrangement
Figure 2.8: Reliability block diagram of the Scottish renewable tidal turbine.
and gas industry. Therefore, adjustment factors due to environmental condition

changes have to be applied as previously discussed. Table 2.1 shows the based
failure rates and adjustment factors utilised in the study.

2.3.1.1
Results
Isaac Portugal Rosas

Base Component
Component Failure Rate Source Multiplier Source Failure Rate Adjusted for
(failures/annum) (failures/annum)
Marine unshel-
Hydraulic
0.3574 (RAC, 1995) 0.7143 (MIL, 1991) 0.2553 tered to marine
Pump
sheltered
High
Usage of high
Pressure 0.4997 (RAC, 1995) 2 (MIL, 1991) 0.9993
pressure
49
Accumulator
Low Pressure
0.4997 (RAC, 1995) 1 (MIL, 1991) 0.4997 N/A
Accumulator
Marine unshel-
Hydraulic
4.7286 (RAC, 1995) 0.6250 (MIL, 1991) 2.9554 tered to marine
Motor
sheltered
Electrical
4.2136 (ORE, 2002) 1 (MIL, 1991) 4.2136 N/A
Generator
Table 2.1: Failure rates and adjustment factors for the PTO components

The University of Edinburgh
shows that the reliability of the power take off is dominated by the electrical
The results of the study are illustrated in figure 2.9 and figure 2.10. Figure 2.9
1.6
Hydraulic Pump
1.4 HP Acumulator
LP Acumulator
1.2
Hydraulic Motor
1.0 Generator
PTO, 2 Generators
R(t)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Time (t, hours)
Figure 2.9: Reliability function of the individual components and the 2 generator
PTO.
1.0
Electrical Generator
2 Generators, 1 of 2 branches
0.8 2 Generators, 2 of 2 branches
0.6
R(t)
0.4
0.2
0.0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Time (t, hours)
Figure 2.10: Reliability function of PTOs with different level of redundancy at

the generator.
generator. This is even more evident in figure 2.10, where it can be seen that the
six possible scenarios presented here closely resemble the shape of the reliability
of the electrical generator.

The reliability in two and four generators with all functional branches is lower
than the reliability of one generator alone. This is expected due to the added
complexity of the system. An increase in system complexity means an increase
of components that could fail.
The reliability of 1 out of 4 generator branches is the highest, followed by the 1 of

2, and the 2 of 4 in third place. This suggests that redundancy at the generator
level tends to be beneficial in terms of reliability, if the system is allowed to run
at partial output power. Redundancy increases cost and complexity of the overall
system. Thus, redundant subsystems should only be used when there is enough
economic benefit or failures are unacceptable.
2.3.1.2 Discussion
As mentioned before, this study does not look to obtain a value of reliability for
electrical machines in a specific tidal current energy converter. It seeks to attest
the importance of electrical machine reliability towards the reliability of the entire
offshore energy converters. Previous reliability studies on wave and tidal current
energy converters have also appointed electrical machines as one of the weakest
and more expensive components enclosed in a power take off for offshore energy
converters (Thies et al., 2009; Francis and Hamilton, 2007b).
The method employed to adjust the data, which Wolfram also criticised, exhibits
the enormous level of uncertainty that prevails when assessing the reliability of
offshore energy converters. Adjustment factors due to change in environmental
conditions are poorly justified and could lead to staggering errors.
As stated before, the actual reliability figure of this study is not that important.
However, it is worth mentioning that opposite to what this study shows, electrical
machine manufacturers often presume that their products are designed for life,

which normally means more that 20 years, and are ready to plug to offshore
energy converters. The lack of data and experience within this new industry
makes the claim unsupported. The experience of other industries is now explored
with the aim of learning from them.
2.3.2 The Onshore Wind Industry Experience
In a number of publications, Tavner et al. and Spinato et al. have studied the
distribution of failures of the wind energy industry. Tavner et al. analysed a
group of 4000 wind turbines installed in Germany and more than 1000 installed
in Denmark. Their study comprises data for different wind turbine configurations
including direct and indirect drive turbines. The authors made a time series anal-
ysis and compared their results against failure rate of wind turbines in the USA
during the late 1980’s, combine cycle gas turbines, steam generator turbines, and
diesel generator sets. They conclude that reliability wind turbines is improving
over time and is almost within reach of competing technologies. Their study then
addressed the distribution of failures in onshore wind energy industry. According
to their data, electrical generators were the first, second, third or fourth most
unreliable components, presenting failures that ranged from about 0.28 to 0.75
failures per turbine per year. Similar studies by the authors were also presented
in Tavner et al. (2006, 2007b); Tavner and Spinato (2008); Spinato et al. (2009).
Another study monitored 1,500 wind turbines installed in Germany for a period
of 15 years. This reported failures and down time for the analysed turbines
(Hahn et al., 2006). Electrical systems, electronic control, sensors, and hydraulic
systems presented the most number of failures but also the smallest downtime
per failure. On the contrary, electrical generators and gearboxes were among the
most reliable components, but produced the longest downtime per failure (see
figure 2.11). The study concludes that good availability figures could be obtained

by quickly responding to failures.
Electrical System 0.57 1.53
Electronic Control 0.43 1.59
Sensors 0.25 1.41
Hydraulic System 0.23 1.36
Yaw System 0.18 2.70
Rotor Hub 0.17 3.71
Mechanical Brakes 0.13 2.89
Rotor Blades 0.11 2.60
Gearbox 0.10 6.21
Generator 0.11 7.20
Support & Housing 0.10 4.90
Drive Train 0.05 5.71
1.0 0.75 0.5 0.25 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0

Annual failure rate Downtime per failure
(days)
Figure 2.11: Onshore wind turbines subassembly failures and downtime.
2.4 Reliability of electrical machines
In order to asses the reliability of electrical machines, it is first necessary to

break them down into their most elemental functional components. Regardless
of its topology, a general electrical machine can be broken down into: the stator,
the rotor or translator, the bearings, and the cooling and other complementary
subsystems. All of them are essential for the proper functioning of a machine (see
figure 2.12).
According to a large survey on hydro generators, the machine windings (either in

the stator or rotor) represent more than half of the total electrical machines

Insulation Cooling &

Structure Bearings
Systems Complementary
Figure 2.12: Reliability block diagram of a generic electrical machines.
failures, followed by mechanical defects, thermal problems, and the bearings

(Sumereder, 2008). By contrast, a large survey made by the IEEE involving
several industries on electrical motors concluded that the bearings are the least
reliable component, followed by stator failures (O’Donnell, 1985a,b). Another
survey on induction motors engaged in offshore oil, petrochemical, gas, and oil
refinery industries states that bearings, followed by the stator windings are the
most failing components (Thorsen and Dalva, 1994, 1998, 1999).
Table 2.2: Statistical failure of electric machines

Gegenerators Electrical Motors
Hydrogenerators IEEE Survey Offshore Oil & Gas
Sumereder (2008) O’Donnell (1985a,b) Thorsen and Dalva (1994, 1998, 1999)
Electrical Insulation 56% Bearings 41% Bearings 51%
Mechanical 24% Stator 37% Stator 24.8%
Thermal 17% Rotor 10% External 13.1%
Bearings 3% Other 12% Rotor 6%
Shaft 3.2%
Not Specified 0.8%
The discrepancy in the most prone to failure component could be explained by

the different operating conditions. Hydro generators are normally high voltage
machines that impose very high electrical stresses to its components. Thus partial
discharges, large mechanical forces produced by the attraction of the end–winding
regions, and other problems related to high voltages, occur more frequently and
with more intensity. On the other hand, most of the motors depicted in surveys
(O’Donnell, 1985a,b; Thorsen and Dalva, 1994, 1998, 1999) are likely to be in-
duction motors with a variable load profile involving thousands of start–and–stop
cycles and variable speed operations, both of which enhance bearing wear.
Some questions regarding reliability of electrical machines in the marine energy

industry are then: What kind of failure distribution is the industry going to
experience? Are bearings going to be the limiting component? Or, are insulation
systems going to present more failures?
Some causes of the reduced life expectancy for bearings of electrical machines
under the marine energy environment could be enhanced by a number of reasons
including but not limited to:
• Poor lubrication and maintenance.
• Unbalanced magnetic pull and eccentricity.
• Electric abrasion due to discharges from the rotor or translator to the stator.
• High pulsating forces due to the magnetic attraction between the rotor or
translator and the stator (especially for low speed direct–drive machines).
• High pulsating forces induced due to the turbulence in the waves, tidal
currents or winds.
Some causes of the reduced life expectancy for electrical insulation systems of
electrical machines under the marine energy environment could be enhanced by
a number of reasons including but not limited to:
• Presence of high levels of humidity, which if adjacent to temperature cycles

could enhance water treeing problems.
• Temperature and load cycles, which create mechanical stresses on the insu-
lation due to the different thermal expansion and contraction of the machine
materials, for instance at the end–winding stator structure region.
• Operation at high temperature, which starts a chemical reaction of the

material. These reactions cut the long polymeric chains into shorter ones.

The effects of these chemical reactions ultimately change properties in the

material such as: the dielectric constant, brittleness, Young modulus,etc.
Bearings have received some attention in the past (Schoen et al., 1994; Stack
et al., 2004). However the author is not aware of any publicly available work
that focuses on electrical insulation systems and their potential problems to the
marine energy industry.
Winding insulation systems have dramatically changed over the past 100 years.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the materials used for winding insulation
were primarily made of asphalts. These insulation materials were very reliable.
Later in the 20th Century, the usage of natural resins, such as shellac replaced
the asphalted materials.
These natural resins had a much larger specific dielectric capacity, which allowed
designers and manufacturers to increase the rating and efficiency of their ma-
chines, as windings were able to be exposed to higher electric fields and the thick-
ness of the groundwall insulation was greatly reduced. This also permitted more
conductor material to be placed in the same slot area. In more recent years, syn-
thetic epoxy resins have been replacing natural resins (Sumereder, 2008). These
synthetic resins have an even greater specific dielectric capacity, which allows the
construction of even more compact and efficient machines. Figure 2.13 shows how
the insulation thickness changed over the last Century.
The drawback of the material changes is the apparent lower reliability of the new
insulating systems. Asphaltic and Shellac have indeed a longer lifetime when
compared to the modern epoxy resin materials (see figure 2.14) even though,
both the asphalt and shellac were exposed to much lower mechanical, electrical,
and thermal stresses.
Extra benefits can be achieved not only by the development of new insulating

Risk Analysis, Statistics.
1 INTRODUCTION construction experience. Today the current, state-of-the-art

insulation systems are made from an epoxy resin [2]. Figure 1
s paper is to give a view of the procedure of should give an impression of the development of the
d lifetime analysis. The most important factor construction and progress in dimension insulation for HV
cs is the quality of the data source and the rotating machines.
he given data. For this reason, it was not
failure statistics found on internet or in
shed by machine producers and users or
wherein an expensive literature review and a
lifetime of 15 utilities of more than 400
investigated [1]. Within this review the
of hydro generators are categorized into three
production technologies. The collected dates
h two parametric Weibull distributions, each
eparately.
TORICAL DEVELOPMENT
-used electric insulation systems of hydro
reatly changed in the last 100 years. In the
machine insulation systems that has been
years, mica placed on woven fiber glass
material is fixed with a binder. In the Figure 1. Development of dimensioning HV insulation systems for rotating
rator production, asphalt mica systems2.13:
Figure were Dimension
machines since HV
the beginning [2].
insulation systems for rotating machines. Source:
te electric field strength. Later the asphalt
(Marek (2006) in Sumereder (2008))
aced by natural resins as shellac. The ratio As seen in Figure 1, it is clear that early constructions were
trength rose over the years and along with oversized and the various kinds of stress did not lead to aging
Probability of failure, f (t), dashed lines – –

1.0 as with systems with less material reserve. Later on in the 0.040
on 13 March 2007, in final form 10 December 2007. analysis of the different insulation systems, we will see
Natural that
Resin
0.035
Reliability, R(t), solid lines —
Shellac
1070-9878/08/$25.00
0.8 © 2008 IEEE Asphalt
0.030
e limited to: The University of Edinburgh. Downloaded on December 10, 2009 at 05:58 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
0.6 0.025
0.020
0.4 0.015
0.010
0.2
0.005
0.0 0.000
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (t, hours)
Figure 2.14: Reliability of insulating materials
systems, but by the improvement of its production processes. It is possible to

identify two different production methods, Rich Resin and Vacuum Pressure Im-
pregnation. By means of the first method, tapes containing more than 30% resin
were able to be fabricated. The VPI method, invented during the 1960’s, con-
sists in building a coil in a pressurised chamber. The VPI method reduces the
amount of voids enclosed in the insulating material that could cause partial dis-

charge problems. Some of the new insulation systems contain a layer of high
specific conductivity located on the inner side of the groundwall insulation that
is connected to the conductor to get the same electric potential. This type of
insulation system is called the Inner Corona Protection (ICP), and is meant to
prevent internal partial discharges (PD).
Several researches demonstrated during the 1990’s that the load profile played
a significant role in the life of electrical insulation systems. Several induction
motors controlled by variable frequency converters showed earlier than expected
failures. Phenomena like partial discharges, electrical treeing received further
attention.
2.5 Summary
Considering all of the above, hereafter, the life of an electrical machine will be
defined as the life of the electrical insulation systems. Deterioration and life
prediction of these systems will be more deeply studied.

Chapter 3
Asset Management in the Marine

Energy Industry
3.1 Introduction
Asset management refers to the administration of assets with the aim of reaching a
desired objective. In a monopolised electricity generation market, the objective is
to obtain the cheapest system that guarantees security of supply. In a deregulated
electricity market, open to multiple participants, the objective of the system
operator is to guarantee security of supply and the objective of the generating
companies is to maximise profits.
The change in objective for an electricity generation firm has led them to seek
ways to reduce costs and optimise their resources. Asset management, which
deals with the whole life cycle of assets —from design to disposal— has gained
popularity and evolved from managing maintenance activities to being an integral
part of the company.
An asset management plan is built using all the gathered information from the
company, including its overall objective, the necessary assets to achieve that
objective, reliability, risk and operating cost studies, among other information of
the included assets.
59
Chapter 3. Asset Management in the Marine Energy Industry
This chapter introduces the subject of asset management as a tool that could
help to optimise the design and management of marine energy devices. Different
maintenance programmes are discussed and a link between asset management and
electrical insulation systems is drawn. At the end, the chapter discusses different
ageing models that have been used to predict the life of electrical insulation
materials.

3.2 Asset management and its relation with reli-

ability and availability
As mentioned before, the deregulation of the electricity market has switched the
objective for electricity generation firms from generating at the lowest possible
cost to maximise revenue. This change in the objective has lead companies to
modify their operating and managing policies. Asset management is growing in
popularity as a tool to integrate a general information system and a management
system to reach the company’s objectives.
Over the past 20 years, researchers have developed different maintenance and
asset management frameworks in an effort to create the best practices for an
organisation to achieve its goals. This area of research has evolved into an in-
ternational standard called PAS 55, which is focused on management of physical
assets. It was developed by an interdisciplinary group and co–operating organ-
isations that include rail network operators, electric utility companies, electric
network operators, gas and water distributors, among others (Woodhouse et al.,
2008a,b).
PAS 55 locates the objective of the organisation at the centre of the asset manage-
ment system with the supporting necessary subsystems surrounding it (figure 3.1).
Thus, a change in the organisation’s objective would change the process rationale
and the outcome.
The objective of this thesis is not to analyse the entire PAS 55 standard, or apply
it to the marine energy industry. However, it is within the scope of this thesis
and chapter to use the general standard framework to point out that a deregu-
lated market has change how devices are managed. Some sections of the PAS 55
standard will also be discussed to show the relation between asset management

Asset Management Policy

Asset management objectives
Continuous
improvement
Life Cycle Activities

Functional standards, Performance and
Utilise, Maintain, Portfolio of assets
Required processes condition monitoring
Renew, Dispose
Asset management enablers and controls
Figure 3.1: PAS 55: 2008 Asset management. Adapted from : Woodhouse et al.
(2008a)
and availability.
As it can be seen in figure 3.1, life cycle activities are an integral part of an
asset management system. Life cycle activities make reference to the decision to
utilise, maintain or dispose of an asset. When the objective of the organisation
is to maximise profits, as in the case of an electricity generation company in a
deregulated market, decisions are made based on costs.
According to Bertling, the life cycle cost (LCC) of a device involved in the elec-
tricity generation from renewable resources is given by:
LCC = CInv + CM + CP L + CRem (3.1)
Where CInv is the capital investment cost, CM is the maintenance cost, CP L is

the cost of no production, and CRem is the remainder value. In equation 3.1 it
is assumed that renewable resources are free (winds, waves, or tidal currents).
Thus, the fuel costs are omitted.
Equation 3.1 will be revisited later. The third term of equation 3.1 is the cost of

no production, CP L , and represents the penalty for failing to produce electricity

that could otherwise be produced and sold. This term is proportional to the
unavailability of the system and the average energy generation per annum at
100% availability, Ēyr . Mathematically this can be expressed as:
CP L = (1 − A) · Ēyr (3.2)
At 100% availability, the production loss cost is equal to zero, while at 0% avail-
ability, the production loss cost is maximum. Equation 3.2 shows that the rela-
tion between availability and costs is directly proportional. Therefore, increasing
availability would result in a reduction of the life cycle costs. Also, by recalling
the definition of availability in chapter 2, a relation between reliability and life
cycle costs can also be drawn.
3.3 Types of maintenance programmes
One integral component of life cycle activities is the maintenance programme. An

asset management system uses maintenance programmes to ensure the availabil-
ity and reliability of assets is within the appropriate limits to achieve its ultimate
goal. Schneider et al. presents four types of maintenance programmes: corrective
maintenance, time based maintenance, condition based maintenance, and reli-
ability centred maintenance. These can be categorised depending on: whether
the condition or the importance of the asset is taken into account, or whether
maintenance is preventive or corrective (figure 3.2).
Corrective maintenance takes action only when the component has failed.
An immediate reaction is expected and needed to either replace the failed com-

ponent or give it maintenance. This type of maintenance programme can be used

when there is some level of redundancy in the system that allows for the com-
ponent to fail without compromising the functioning of the system, or when the
component in question is not critical for the proper functioning of the system.
Corrective maintenance is the least expensive to implement. However it could
have a negative impact on the availability of the system and life cycle costs due
to the potential of unscheduled stoppages.
Time based maintenance is when periodic checks to the equipment are car-
ried out without taking into account its condition. The scheduling of the check
ups are normally decided by experts in the field and statistical failure history.
Time based programmes can be the cheapest if the scheduling is accurate enough
to replace or maintain the apparatus when its operating life is close to the end.
However, if the schedule is not accurate, maintenance is given to components that
do not require it, thus unnecessarily incrementing their life cycle costs.
Condition based maintenance programmes are used only when the equip-
ment requires it. This minimises the costs related to unscheduled stoppages
and unnecessary maintenance. Condition based maintenance programmes require
knowledge of the device life status, end–of–life criterion, the operation conditions,
the ageing mechanisms and root causes. This knowledge is obtained by close ex-
amination and study of faults, and/or a condition monitoring system.
Reliability centred maintenance aims to preserve the system functioning by

selecting the appropriate maintenance activities. Fundamental to this approach
is identifying and prioritising individual components or variables that enable the
overall system function. Reliability centred maintenance is in essence only in-
terested in the overall system function, however, it has also been combined with

cost analysis studies to optimise maintenance programmes based on reliability

and cost–effectiveness. These have been studied by Bertling and referred to as
reliability centred asset maintenance (RCAM) by Besnard et al. (Bertling, 2002;
Besnard et al., 2010). RCAM can be viewed as a predecessor of the asset man-
agement method described in figure 3.1.
CBM RCM
Condition Based Reliability Centered
Maintenance Maintenance
Considered
• Continuous or • Priority list

occasional monitoring
• Connection of
• Maintenance is only condition and failure
Condition
given when required
CM TBM
Not Considered
Corrective Maintenance Time Based Maintenance
• No inspection or • Fixed time interval

maintenance until inspections and
breakdown maintenance
Not Considered Considered

Importance
Figure 3.2: Maintenance Strategies. Source : (Schneider et al., 2006)
The choice of maintenance programme depends upon the asset management strat-
egy, and the asset management objective. In a traditional monopolised electricity
market, where the priority of the system is to keep it running, the maintenance
strategy is often time based. Time based maintenance to generators, transform-
ers, cables, and other apparatus are common. However since the deregulation of
the electricity markets, and where the priority has switched to maximise profits,
condition based and reliability based maintenance programmes have grown in
popularity.
As described before, condition and reliability based maintenance programs re-

quire information about how the system works, its vulnerabilities, operating con-

ditions, ageing mechanisms and root causes. The vulnerabilities of the system
are obtained by doing reliability studies as the one presented in section 2.3 and
section 2.4. The operating conditions, ageing mechanisms and root causes are
obtained by doing specific analysis on the devices. The next section will address
this point.
3.4 The link between asset management and elec-

trical insulation systems
The link between asset management and degradation of electrical insulation sys-
tems has long being sought, and is not straight forward. Asset managers are
concerned in predicting the life of a material and the accuracy of that prediction.
On the other hand, material specialists, knowing that the deterioration process is
complex, are concerned in how the degradation process occurs, which properties
of the materials change as degradation occurs, what is the end–of–life criterion,
etc.
The communication between both material specialists and asset managers is im-
portant for the proper design of a condition monitoring system. These types of
systems aim to respond to the asset manager’s concerns on the knowledge of the
degradation processes, root causes and failure mechanisms.
Bahadoorsingh and Rowland proposed a 5 level framework that could serve as a

bridge of communication between an asset manager and the material scientists
to build a condition monitoring system (Bahadoorsingh and Rowland, 2008).
At the bottom level, the authors place a property of the material or a variable
that can be measured, which they simply calls measurand. One level above, they
localise the ageing mechanisms. Ageing mechanisms are the phenomena by which

Preform Do Change Operating Replace

Maintenance Nothing Conditions Component
Information from:
Level 2 Level 1
Management
Level 3
Decision Asset Management
Level 4
Level 5
Information from:
Level 3 Age estimator Level 2
Level 4 Ageing Models Age Estimator
Level 5
Level 3
Thermal Electrical Ambient Mechanical
Stress Factors
Partial Shear Level 4

Discharges Stress Ageing Mechanism
Chemical Crack
Reactions Propagation
Level 5
Measurand
PD Magnitude Voltage Breakdown
Concentration of chemical products
Figure 3.3: Multi factor framework of insulation life. Adapted form: (Bahadoors-
ingh and Rowland, 2008). The stress factors are intentionally ordered and clas-
sified in these four groups: Thermal, Electrical, Ambient, and Mechanical. The
classification order has the purpose of emphasising the way stress factors team
up, or work together during the ageing process.
the insulation system deteriorates. They assume that these ageing mechanisms
can be tracked by following the changes in the measurand. On a third level,
they place the stress factors which are the sources of the degradation process.

The stress factors should be described by their intensity, frequency of repetition,

and other available characteristics (e.g. operating temperature and the time the
insulation works at that temperature, temperature cycling including number of
cycles, intensity and speed of temperature change, etc). At the second level,
Bahadoorsingh and Rowland position the material state, which they describe by
a matrix of defects or properties that change in the material, such as moisture
content, tree length, quantity of dissolved gas, etc. At the first level lies the
asset management decision. This level takes the final decision upon the asset as:
to performe maintenance, to replace the component, or to change the operating
environmental conditions. Information of the material state, level two, and the
asset management, level one, is passed by a state estimation matrix, which com-
pares the actual material state to an acceptable level. A graphical representation
of Bahadoorsingh and Rowland’s framework can be seen in figure 3.3.
Bahadoorsingh and Rowland recognised that the flow of information in their

framework could follow two paths (figure 3.4).
1. A diagnostics path, which aims to quantify the deterioration that the insu-
lation material or system has suffered.
2. A prognosis path, which aims to estimate the remaining life of the material
or system.
The diagnostics path has received more attention, and thus is more developed.
The prognosis path leads to age deterioration models. Ageing models disregard
the particular phenomenon involved in the deterioration process at a micro scale.
Some of the prognosis and diagnostic techniques relevant to low voltage air–cooled
machines will be addressed later in this chapter.
From an analysis of figure 3.3, a number of conclusions can be drawn. First it

should be pointed out that ageing models are at the heart of the framework.

Device
Stress Factors
Change in Material
Ageing Models Properties
Estimate State
Predict of the material
Remaining Life
Compare against
pre–defined limits
Prognosis Path
Diagnostics Path
Asset Management
Figure 3.4: Flow of information to the asset manager. Adapted from: (Ba-
hadoorsingh and Rowland, 2008)
These models are used to predict the life of the insulation based on the history of
the material (i.e. how much degradation has occurred) and the expected stress
factor intensity.
Secondly, one or more stress factors could be combined to produce a particular

ageing mechanism. On a study on hydrogenerators, Tari et al. reported that the
synergistic effects of stresses was far greater than a single stress factor on its own
(Tari et al., 2008).
Thirdly, figure 3.3 depicts that the combination between stress factors could lead
to more than one ageing mechanism. It shows that ageing mechanisms can in-
teract with each other. These interactions could create positive feedback loops,
that could reinforce each other. Thermal and mechanical stresses could be com-
bined to produce shear stresses in the material, which could lead to delamination
problems, crack initiation and propagation. Temperature stresses are also linked

to chemical reactions in the insulating material. These reactions break the long
polymeric chains inside the material, thereby increasing its brittleness. When
this phenomenon is combined with mechanical vibrations, crack propagation rate
increases.
Fourthly, the measurable property, or measurand can be linked to more than one
ageing mechanism happening at the same time.
All of these makes the area of solid dielectrics very challenging and open to con-
tributions from people with very different background. Chemists, concerned with
the chemical reactions that occur inside the material. Physicists, concerned with
changes in the material properties and the involved phenomena. Electrical and
mechanical engineers, concerned with bulk property changes. Asset managers,
concerned with predicting failures.
Therefore, for a good design of a condition monitoring system, it is necessary to

first pin–point the dominating ageing mechanisms for the application. In doing
so the stress factors have to be estimated. Ageing models have to be evaluated to
look for the one that best fits the field data. Once dominating stress factors and
ageing mechanisms are estimated, the asset manager has to look for diagnostic
techniques to build the condition monitoring system.
The next section will discuss some of the ageing models that have been developed
so far, and will discuss their applicability to electric machines in the marine
energy industry. It is worth noting that at this point, the subject of investigation
has been narrowed down to air–cooled low voltage electrical machines, which is
what most developers are using or proposing to use. As discussed in chapter 1
and chapter 2, the stress factors for an electrical machine in a marine energy
converter are device dependent, and different to those seen in other industries.
The fluctuating nature of the offshore resources and unique working principle of
each device create previously unseen load profiles for electrical machine designers.

In addition, the harsh environmental conditions, such as the presence of highly

corrosive sea water, humidity, and poor access to maintenance could introduce
new ageing mechanisms and/or change the rate at which they occur. Chapter 6
will explore the stress factors in a particular marine energy converter.
3.5 Ageing models of electrical insulation systems

for prognosis
Electrical insulation systems are subjected to different types of stresses: thermal,

electrical, ambient, and mechanical. Each of them can cause one or more kinds
of degradation process and could lead to a machine winding failure.
Thermal stresses in the insulation materials are normally linked to ohmic losses
in the conductors. Insulating materials are generally bad heat conductors so
a temperature gradient tends to build up. Temperature is normally linked to
property changes in the material as it serves as activation energy of one or more
chemical reactions.
The effects of electrical stresses have also been the subject of research. Phenomena
like trapped charge, degradation with and without partial discharges, electrical
treeing, and loss of dielectric strength are due to electrical stresses and are some
of the empirically and theoretically studied topics.
Ambient stresses are defined as the action of external agents on electrical insula-
tion system of the machine, such as humidity, contamination in the cooling fluid,
or ozone (commonly produced after a partial discharge occurs in an air cooled
machine). These stresses could also cause deterioration and early failures of the
machine windings. This area however is less commonly found in life models.

Mechanical stresses can occur due to for example: vibrations due to electromag-
netic attraction of the end–winding regions, tensile stress due to the difference
in thermal expansion of the machine’s core and the insulation system at the slot
area, among others. These stresses can also cause early failures in the machine
windings because of the relatively lower Young modulus and high brittleness of
the electrical insulation materials.
There are two ways to study the degradation of insulation systems: a macro-
scopic and a microscopic approach. The macroscopic approach was historically
the first to be developed, and consists of simple mathematical models that give
the overall description of the degradation process. Most of these models con-
sist of phenomenological equations that fit data obtained from accelerated ageing
tests. The ease of implementation of these models makes them almost ubiquitous.
However, the accuracy of these models is often questioned as they overlook the
specific degradation phenomena.
On the other hand, the microscopic approach is built upon the assumption that
bulk degradation requires such a long time that in practice the life of the material
is conditioned by the unavoidable presence of micro defects. According to the mi-
croscopic theory, stresses within the material tend to concentrate at the location
of the defects, and chemical or structural changes in the material start to develop.
These changes at the microscopic level are invisible to the observer of macroscopic
properties. However, as time passes on, and when enough micro changes happen,
change in the macroscopic properties of the material is visible, often as a sudden
event.
The link between microscopic and macroscopic degradation is still very weak.
Measuring the existence of micro defects on every specimen on a macro scale is
impractical, without the use of statistics. Therefore, international standards still
use bulk degradation models to predict faults of electrical insulation materials

and systems. Accelerated ageing tests are used to compare an established system
against a proposed one. The insulation system to be used is then decided on a
comparative basis.
The ability to measure space charge in insulating materials promises to provide

a better link between microscopic and macroscopic deterioration processes. In
this theory, defects are associated with regions of space charge that are either
injected or trapped. Both injected or trapped charge can significantly affect the
local electrical field, enhancing the ageing reaction rate or even introducing new
modes of degradation.
Deterioration models based on space charge however need further development

before a definitive link between local and bulk degradation is obtained. For the
purposes of this work, macroscopic or bulk degradation models will be used.
The rest of this section is dedicated to describe some of these models and the the-
ory behind them. Understanding how these deterioration models were obtained
gives more information to the potential user.
3.5.1 Single Factor Models
3.5.1.1 Thermal Ageing
As early as the 1930’s, a number of scientists and engineers were trying to find
a relation between thermal stresses and the life of insulation materials. In fact,
during that decade, studies made by Montsinger on electrical transformers led to
the discovery of the well–known “Montsinger ” or “10 degree” rule. This stated
that the life of an insulation material was halved for every 8 to 10 ◦ C of tem-
perature increase (Montsinger, 1930). This empirical rule motivated the research
community to look for better ways to infer the thermal ageing of solid insulation

systems.
Dakin’s Model
One of the most important approaches was made in two articles, published in
1948 and 1960 respectively, by an American physical–chemist, Thomas W. Dakin
(Dakin, 1948, 1960). Dakin proposed to plot the logarithm of the life of the in-
sulation materials at different temperatures using an arbitrary life criterion, as
mechanical or dielectric strength, against the reciprocal of the absolute temper-
ature, to estimate the life at any desired temperature.
These graphs, now commonly called Arrhenius plots, resulted in straight lines of
constant slope. This made possible to extrapolate results from laboratory tests to
in–service life (Swiss, 1978). Although Dakin’s proposal was criticised for being
too empirical, his methodology is still widely used in international standards like
BSI (2009). The rationale of his model is explained below.
Dakin started his proposal by assuming that a desired property of the insula-
tion materials, p, such as mechanical strength or any other property, could be
given by the concentration of a chemical constituent in the material, c. This is
mathematically expressed by:
p = f (c) (3.3)
Then, he assumed that the deterioration process was governed by a chemical

phenomenon. This allowed him to use the theory of chemical reactions as the
basis of his premise. According to this theory, the instantaneous rate of a chem-
ical reaction is proportional to the concentration of the constituents present in
the material raised to the power of some exponent n. The exponent n, which

represents the order of the chemical reaction, is always a positive integer num-
ber and usually has the value of 1, and almost never greater than 3. This is
mathematically expressed as:
dc
= −K(θ) · cn (3.4)
dt
Where K is a constant of proportionality that represents the rate of the reaction

and depends upon the absolute temperature but not on time t.
Dakin used (3.4) to show that regardless of the order of the chemical reaction,
a formulation that relates the concentration of the constituent of interest , g(c),
and the rate of the chemical reaction could be obtained.
g(c) = K · t (3.5)
Using (3.3), a link between the property of interest and the temperature depen-
dent rate constant K(θ) can be obtained:
f (p) = K · t (3.6)
Dakin used the well established Arrhenius equation, which relates the rate of a
chemical reaction with the absolute temperature, θ, to describe the rate constant
K

H
K = kc exp − (3.7)
Rθ
where kc is a constant related to frequency of collisions of the reactants, H is the

activation energy or enthalpy of the chemical reaction, and R is the Boltzmann

J

constant 8.314472 K·mol . Defining B = H/R, (3.7) can be rewritten as:

B
K = kc exp − (3.8)
θ
Combining (3.6) and (3.8) Dakin obtained:

f (p) B
= K = kc exp − (3.9)
t θ
If a specific measurable property in the material is taken as an end–of–life cri-

terion, such as 20% of the original tensile strength, then the term f (p) in (3.9)
would be a constant, and the term t would be the time that it would take for the
material to reach its end–of–life. Thus, (3.9) could be rewritten as:

constant B
= kc exp −
t20% θ
Where t20% is the time it is required for the property to reach 20% of the original
tensile strength. Solving for the time to reach the end–of–life criterion, and
constant
recognising that in this case life, L, is equal to t20% , and C = kc
B
ln L = + ln C (3.10)
θ
Equation (3.10) can also be expressed as:

B
L = C exp (3.11)
θ
Dakin then recognised that (3.10) had only two variables, the life of the insulation
system, and the absolute temperature. Thus, he proposed to create plots with

semi–logarithm scale of life versus the reciprocal of the absolute temperature.
105
material 1
material 2
104
material 3
103
Life, (days)
102
101
100
0
40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Temperature, (◦ C)
(Reciprocal absolute temperature scale)
Figure 3.5: Life of various insulation materials. Adapted from: (Dakin, 1948)
3.5.1.2 Electrical Ageing
Early during the Twentieth Century it was recognised that electrical stresses
have an influence on the degradation of electrical insulation systems. Although
very little was known about the process, two statistical models were proposed
and commonly used: The inverse power model, described by (3.12); and the
exponential model, described by (3.13).
L = ke E −n (3.12)
L = a exp(−bE) (3.13)
where E is the macroscopic electric potential field at the terminals, ke , n, b, and

a are constants determined experimentally.
3.5.2 Multi–stress Models
3.5.2.1 Simoni’s model
One of the first approaches that intended to unify the two afore mentioned life
models was Simoni’s (Simoni, 1973, 1981). He started by substituting the Arrhe-
nius (3.8) for Erying’s equation:

w B k3
K = k1 θ exp − exp k2 + · f (S) (3.14)
θ θ
where k1 , k2 , k3 , and B are constants of the material independent of time, tem-

perature, and electric stress, and f (S) is a function of electrical stress.
When no electrical stresses are applied, f (S) = 0. Then equation 3.14 results in:

w B
K = k1 θ exp − (3.15)
θ
Normally w ≈ 1, so that at normal operating and testing temperatures θw <

exp − Bθ and the difference between equation 3.8 and equation 3.15 can be con-

sidered small. Experimental data of ageing under only thermal stresses agrees
with equation 3.8 so this equation is preferred. Life under these circumstances is
then described by equation 3.11.
If L0 is defined as the life of the material at room temperature T0 in the absence

of electrical stress, the constant C in equation 3.11 would be equal to:


B
C = L0 exp −
θ0
By further defining:
1 1 θ − θ0
∆θ = − =
θ0 θ θθ0
Thereby, equation 3.11 can be rewritten as:
L = L0 exp (−B · ∆θ)
Simoni then recognised that when electrical stresses are applied, and the electrical
degradation is represented by the exponential model, then f (S) = E. Substitut-
ing this into equation 3.14 and equation 3.6 the life of the material could be
expressed as:

B k3
L = C exp exp − k2 + ·E (3.16)
θ θ
By using the definition of L0 and comparing equation 3.16 and equation 3.13 it

k3
can be seen that k2 + θ0 = b. Then equation 3.16 can be reduced to:
L = L0 exp (−B∆θ − bE + k2 ∆θE) (3.17)
Equation (3.17) then represents the general case of an insulation system under
thermal and electrical stresses, when the latter follows the exponential law. By
substituting E = 0 or θ = 0, the electrical and thermal life lines are respectively
calculated.

3.5.2.2 Crine’s model
Another notable contribution to the subject of solid dielectric ageing was made
by Jean–Pierre Crine (Crine, 1990, 1999; Dang et al., 1996; Parpal and Crine,
1997). As his predecessors, Crine recognised that electrical ageing is a thermally–
activated process with some sort of field threshold at which minimum or no ageing
is observable. Although his model was based on the theory of thermodynamics,
his assumptions and final models were completely different. A brief summary of
his work is presented here.
Crine started by recognising that ageing must occurred when intramolecular

bonding within the dielectric was disrupted. To break these intramolecular bonds
the required energy is high (> 4eV), so these disruptions could not be caused by
electron collisions. Weaker van der Waals intermolecular bonds in polymers how-
ever, have a typical strength in the range of 0.1 to 0.4 eV. So if electron collisions
are linked to ageing, low–energy electrons rather than high–energy and highly
mobile are involved.
According to Crine’s theory, the weak van der Waals bonds could be broken by
a fatigue–type process, induced by the electromechanical deformation of molecu-
lar chains under an AC field, creating submicrocavities. These submicrocavities
increase with the number of cycles, which could explain the reduction of dielec-
tric strength at high frequencies. When enough submicrocavities are formed and
connected, larger cavities in the material appear. When these cavities are large
enough electrons or ions, accelerated in the cavity region, could gain enough
energy to break stronger intramolecular bonds, leading to faster ageing and ulti-
mately to breakdown.
Crine supposed that the bond breaking process was controlled by an energy bar-
rier of magnitude ∆Go (figure 3.6). From the theory of thermodynamics, he

called ∆Go the activation energy, and defined it as ∆Go = ∆Ho + θ · ∆So . Where
∆Ho is the activation enthalpy of the reaction, almost equal to enthalpy in the
Arrhenius equation ( H in equation 3.7); and ∆So is the entropy of the activation
process.
When no electric field is applied, the probability of bond breaking is equal to:

+ R·θ ∆Go
p ≈ exp − (3.18)
h R·θ
Where h is the Planck constant∗ . When an electrical field E is applied, the

activation energy ∆Go is reduced by the work applied by the electric field equal
to W = eλE. Where λ is the length of the submicrocavity. Equation 3.18 can be
then rewritten as:

+ R·θ ∆Go − eλE
p ≈ exp − (3.19)
h R·θ
Crine then defined the probability that those broken chains rebound as:

− R·θ ∆Go + eλE
p ≈ exp − (3.20)
h R·θ
The time to reach bound disruption is then the inverse of the differences of p+ −p− ,
equal to:

1 h ∆Go eλE
t≈ + ≈ exp − csch (3.21)
p − p− 2R · θ R·θ R·θ
Crine also recognised that the presence of water results in a lower ∆G0 value,
and a shorter life. He did not indicate however, how the precise relation between
∗
h = 6.626 069 57(29) × 10−34 J · s

Breakdown Voltage
Medium Fields
Reaction Path
Low Fields
∆G
eλE
Reaction Path ∆G
High Fields
Reaction Path
ln(t)
Figure 3.6: Crine’s ageing model. Adapted from: (Parpal and Crine, 1997)
∆G0 and concentration of impurities such as water could be formed.
3.5.2.3 Grzybowski’s model
The increased popularity of variable speed inverter–fed motors gave rise to earlier
than anticipated machine insulation failures. This created interest that resulted
in further investigation.
Pulse width modulated (PWM) converters built with insulated gate bipolar tran-
sistors (IGBT) are one of the most commonly used inverters to drive motors.
These type of converters can reach very high switching frequencies and supply
voltage signals free of low–order harmonics at the cost of inducing high–order
harmonics. The presence of high–order harmonics, together with the rapid wave-
form rise times creates uneven voltage distributions across the machine windings
and over stress the insulation.

The problem of waveform rise time
Voltage spikes are caused by the impedance mismatch between the machine wind-
ings, the connecting cable and the converter. The amplitude of the voltage spikes
is a function of the cable length and the waveform rise time. These voltage spikes
can be as high as 2 or even 3 times the nominal voltage. If the amplitude of the
voltage spikes surpasses the partial discharges inception voltage, which depends
on the insulating material properties, partial discharges start to develop, short-
ening the life of the insulation (Kerkman et al., 1997; Thorsen and Dalva, 2001;
Wlodek et al., 2010).
The uneven voltage distribution
Under uniform sinusoidal voltage supply, the voltage drop across the machine
windings is relatively uniform. On the contrary, when steep fronted waveforms
are supplied, such as the ones produced by PWMs, the voltage drop across the
windings is highly uneven. Most of this voltage drop appears on the first turns of
the machine windings. The voltage of the first turns is then higher than that of
the last turns. This voltage difference can create partial discharges between ad-
jacent turns, thereby accelerating turn–to–turn insulation failure (Guardado and
Cornick; Lebey et al., 1998; Fabiani, 2003). This problem could be even higher
if the first and last turns are next to each other, which could happen in random
wound machines. In order to minimise problems with turn–to–turn insulation, a
number of authors have proposed to use form–wound electrical machines even for
low voltages, and or, make sure that first and last turns are never next to each
other (Duchesne et al., 2012). As partial discharges have been recognised as the
main ageing mechanisms, measuring them has also been proposed as a diagnostic
system (Luo et al., 2012).

Several authors have studied these phenomena experimentally using twisted pair
of wires, ovens and PWM type signals (Fabiani et al., 2001; Fabiani, 2003; Grzy-
bowski et al., 1999; Feilat et al., 2000; Grzybowski and Bandaru, 2004b; Grzy-
bowski and Kota, 2005; Grzybowski et al., 2008; Chalise et al., 2009). Some of
their more important conclusions could be summarised as follows:
1. Partial discharges dominate the ageing mechanism. Over voltages due to

cable length and the waveform rise time can exceed the partial discharge
inception voltage, thereby accelerating the ageing process.
2. The wave form shape does not play a significant role in the degradation
process.
3. Frequency of the switching seems to have an effect on degradation. This

could be a consequence of more electromechanical fatigue–type cycles and
their corresponding submicrocavities such as described by Crine.
4. Corona resistant materials seem to have longer life times due to smaller
partial discharges (Fabiani, 2003).
However, only Grzybowski et al. went so far as to produce an ageing model which
is described by:

m2 A B
L(E, θ, f ) = C · f (m1 + E ) · exp + (3.22)
E θ
Where C, A, B, m1 , and m2 are constants determined experimentally, and L,

θ, E, and f are the life, absolute temperature, magnitude of the applied electric
field and switching frequency.

3.5.3 An ageing model for air–cooled low voltage electrical

machines
As discussed earlier in this chapter, there are several ageing models that could
be used to predict the life of a low voltage air–cooled electrical machine. Most
of these models have their roots in thermodynamics, but deviated from this the-
ory to better fit the data. This was necessary because there is still a lack of
understanding of how the process occurs.
From the above mentioned models, Grzybowski’s seems to be the most complete,
as it allows the use of three types of deteriorating factors: voltage, switching
frequency and temperature. The rationale behind his model is however somehow
unclear. It would be interesting to reproduce his results to better understand
his model and improve it by adding humidity as another ageing factor. Time
and resources constraints however have to be taken into consideration, as labo-
ratory equipment, the expertise to use them and the required knowledge of solid
dielectrics are a complex combination.
Many other laboratories, Lahoud et al. are experimenting with PWM–type sig-
nals and different dielectric materials to get a better understanding of degrada-
tion of low voltage electrical machines. So far, their experiments have been on
simple geometries (coated steel plates), but they announced the interest to use
more complicated structures, such as twisted pair of wires, progressing to entire
electrical machine stators (Lahoud et al., 2007, 2010a,b, 2011, 2013).
Lahoud et al. reported good agreement between their model, a polynomial of

logarithmic and exponential expressions (equation 3.23), and their experiments.
It would be interesting to reproduce their result, and to use more complex ge-
ometries and/or include humidity as an additional stress factors to see if similar
results are obtained.

ln(L) ≈C1 + C2 ln(E) + C3 ln(f ) + C4 exp(−bθ) + C5 ln(E) ln(f )
+ C6 ln(E) exp(−bθ) + C7 ln(f ) exp(−bθ) + C8 ln(E) ln(f ) exp(−bθ)

(3.23)
Throughout the rest of this thesis, Grzybowski’s model is employed as a prognosis

tool for the ageing of electrical machine windings.
3.6 Summary
This chapter introduced asset management as framework. Asset management

refers to the optimised administration of assets for achieving an ultimate goal.
The liberalisation of the electricity market switched the asset management target,
from producing at the lowest possible cost to optimising profits while guaranteeing
supply. This change ultimately affected the practices and management decisions,
including maintenance programmes. Secondly, it was argued that for a centralised
electricity market, with the final objective of producing electricity at the lowest
possible cost, the common management practice was to give time based mainte-
nance to the electrical equipment. On the other hand, it was suggested that when
the objective is changed to maximise profits, generating companies are urged to
utilise assets up to their limits, probably well beyond the constant failure rate
and in to the wear–out region. For a lot of technologies and equipment, this is
something new and requires further adjustment.
The chapter explored the ways management decisions are taken based on the
analysis of solid dielectrics. One of the most important points analysed and that
underpins the overall approach of this thesis were the two paths by which the
solid dielectric degradation can be linked to asset management decisions. These

links are the prognosis and the diagnostics paths. The prognosis path relies on
ageing models, which are based on fundamental research on solid dielectrics. It
is interesting to see that even when progress has been made in this area, there
are still a plethora of studies, documents and standards that use the archaic
“Montsinger ” rule as a model of degradation. Then again, optimising or getting
the maximum out of the electrical assets is something relatively new (especially
in the area of air–cooled low voltage machines), and moved by the deregulation
of the electricity market.
The ageing models analysed in this chapter correspond to phenomenological bulk

deterioration models. It could be argued that there should be more focus on the
diagnostics path. However, the study of ageing models is equally or even more
important. In the ideal case, both the prognosis and the diagnostics paths should
result in similar results, indicating that the life of the asset is approaching its
final stage, and thus the asset manager can take an action. In a real life example
however, either the sensors or the analysis could fail. Therefore they serve as
back up to each other.
The study and understanding of ageing models leads to progress in the diagnostics
field. One clear example is the problem of over voltages at the machine windings
due to the usage of fast switching PWM converters. Based on the theory of ageing
models, it was possible to recognise that the main contributor to deterioration was
the presence of partial discharges. Therefore, techniques for on–line measuring of
partial discharges should be developed as an advancement. Additionally, without
ageing models, no reference to decide when a material property has reached its life
threshold limit would be available. Again, using the example of partial discharges,
the designer of a diagnostics system has to question how much partial discharges
and what intensity should they have in order to say the component is reaching
its life limit.

The framework linking asset management with solid dielectric degradation also
shows that it is very important for the designer of machines and asset management
systems to estimate what are the characteristics of the stress factors. Combining
these characteristics and knowledge of solid dielectrics could pin–point the more
likely dominating ageing mechanisms anticipating any potential problems related
to asset management.
A later chapter will discuss how to estimate the stress factors in a particular
marine energy device.

Chapter 4
Induction machine electromagnetic

modelling
4.1 Introduction
The electromagnetic model of an induction machine is used in a later chapter

in order to analyse its behaviour inside an oscillating water column. Thus, the
electromagnetic model presented in this chapter has two main objectives. The
first one is to calculate running parameters of the machine such as the machine
torque, speed and stator and rotor currents. The electromagnetic modelling of
the machine is realised by a standard dq model with reference to a static refer-
ence frame. The second objective of the electromagnetic model is to compute
the losses inside the machine. Hodgins presented experimental results for the
losses of the electrical machine. He then uses mathematical expressions that cal-
culate the power losses as a function of the rotational speed of the machine and
its output power with the power losses. These mathematical expressions are de-
scribed in this chapter and utilised in a later chapter. The power losses inside
the machine have a big impact on the correct thermal modelling of the machine.
Therefore, experimental results rather than numerical modelling was the chosen
methodology.
89
Chapter 4. Induction machine electromagnetic modelling
4.2 The electrical machine used in the OWC
The electrical machine that is used in this, and the following chapters, is a 2 pole
squirrel–cage induction machine. The equivalent circuit parameters as given by
the manufacturer are portrayed in table 4.1. The inductance of the secondary,
X2 , is the parameter that has the biggest change with the power output. In order
to simplify the modelling work, this value was assumed constant at 1.87 Ω. The
machine stator has two poles, 48 slots, and is concentric wound. Appendix B
shows a winding diagram of the machine. The rotor is a squirrel cage with 40
slots. Appendix A depicts the lamination drawings for the modelled machine. The
machine equivalent circuit parameters are used for the electromagnetic modelling,
while the physical dimensions are primarily utilised for thermal modelling.
Table 4.1: Equivalent circuit parameters. Assuming a temperature of 20 ◦ C.
Load R1 R2 X1 X2 Rm Xm
(p.u) Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω
Load R1 R2 X1 X2 Rm Xm
1.24 0.461 0.453 1.12 1.87 1202 71.0
1.00 0.461 0.454 1.12 1.92 1202 71.0
0.75 0.461 0.454 1.12 2.00 1202 71.0
0.50 0.461 0.454 1.12 2.14 1202 71.0
0.25 0.461 0.454 1.12 2.35 1202 71.0
The machine nameplate parameters are presented in table 4.2. The power rating
of the machine is obtained due to thermal restrictions. Hodgins discusses the
increase in power rating of this machine to 24.6 kW due to the lowered tempera-
tures found in the OWC. The power rating of the machine for this simulation is
discussed later in chapter 6. It is noteworthy to mention that the power rating
is increased due to the obtained operating temperatures, while the voltage and
temperature class of the machine are modified because of an assumption made
for the insulation material. These assumptions and deviation from the machine

name plate parameters are also discussed in chapter 6.
Table 4.2: Electrical machine parameters.
Parameter Value
Power rating 18.5 kW
Nominal voltage 400 V
Internal connection Delta
Nominal Frequency 50 Hz
Number of poles 2
Temperature class F
Temperature rise 75 ◦ C
4.3 Electromagnetic model
The electromagnetic response of the induction machine is approximated using

the well known dq model. The dq model simplifies the complex stator and rotor
equations by referring all parameters to a common frame of reference. This
common frame of reference can be static or rotating. The static reference frame
is associated with the machine stator, thus called stator or stationary. A rotating
reference frame that rotates with the rotor is called rotor reference frame. A
rotating reference frame that rotates at a different angular speed to that of the
rotor is called freely rotating reference frame. The latter is the most general case
with the former two particular scenarios of it.
The dq model of a squirrel cage induction machine connected in delta in a freely

rotating reference frame can be represented by the following equation (Novotny
and Lipo, 1996):

     
vds rs + gLe0s −ωLe0s gLem −ωLem ids
     
0 0
−rs + gLes
     
vqs   ωLes ωLem gLem  iqs 
 = · 
0 0
−(ω − ωr )Lem rr + gLer −(ω − ωr )Ler  idr 
     
vdr   gLem
     
vqr (ω − ωr )Lem gLem (ω − ωr )Le0r rr + gLe0r iqr
(4.1)
Where v, i, Le, ω are voltage, current, inductance, electrical angular frequency.

d d
The symbol g represents the time derivative operand dt
so that px ≡ dt
x. The
subscripts s, r, and m denote that the parameter belongs to the stator, rotor,
or is mutual. The subscripts d and q denote parameters referred to the d– or q–
axis. For clarity, the prime variables Le0r = Ler + Lem and Le0s = Les + Lem are
used. In the case of stator reference frame, the rotor voltages vdr and vqr are set
to zero. Thus, equation 4.1 can be re-written as:
     
0 0
v r + gLes −ωLes gLem −ωLem i
 ds   s   ds 
ωLe0s −rs + gLe0s
     
vqs   ωLem gLem  iqs 
 = · 
−(ω − ωr )Lem rr + gLe0r −(ω − ωr )Le0r  idr 
     
0  gLem
     
0 0
0 (ω − ωr )Lem gLem (ω − ωr )Ler rr + gLer iqr
(4.2)
For steady state analysis all the time derivatives are equal to zero. This leads
to further simplification of the system. Equation 4.3 for steady state can the be
rewritten as:

     
vds rs −ωLe0s 0 −ωLem i
     ds 
ωLe0s −rs
     
vqs   ωLem 0  iqs 
 = · 
0
−(ω − ωr )Lem −(ω − ωr )Ler  idr 
     
0  0 rr
     
0 (ω − ωr )Lem 0 (ω − ωr )Le0r rr iqr
(4.3)
There are different ways to calculate the electromagnetic torque. For convenience,
the expression used here is:
3
Te = p (λds iqs − λqs ids ) (4.4)
2
Where Te is the electromagnetic torque in Newtons, p is the number of magnetic

pole pairs, and λds and λqs are the d– and q– components of the stator flux linkage,
calculated as:
λds = Le0s ids + Lem idr (4.5a)
λqs = Le0s iqs + Lem iqr (4.5b)
The speed of the machine is calculated from the angular form of Newton’s law of
motion for rotating systems:
dΩ
Tnet = Jsys (4.6)
dt
Where Tnet is the net torque of the system, Jsys is the angular moment of inertia
of the system, Ω is the angular speed, and t is time. The net torque is defined as:


Text − Tem − Tf &w

if working as a generator
Tnet = (4.7)
Tem − Tload − Tf &w

if working as a motor
Where Text is the external torque, Tload is the load torque, and Tf &w are the
friction and windage losses. The friction and windage losses always oppose the
rotation, thus these are always negative. This parameter will be later discussed.
The external torque represents the torque exerted by the primer mover. In the
case study of section 6.4 this term represents the torque produced by the Wells
turbine.
The moment of inertia of the system represents the everything that is mechani-
cally attached to the electrical machine. For standalone operation, this moment
of inertia is therefore the moment of inertia of the machine. For operation in a
OWC as in section 6.4, this term represents the moment of inertia of the electrical
machine plus the attached shaft and Wells turbine.
Once the net torque and the system moment of inertia are defined, equation 4.8
can be rewritten as:
Z
1
Ω= Tnet dt (4.8)
Jsys
In order to connect the described dq model or the induction machine to three

phase voltage source, it is necessary to convert the abc components of the voltage
source to equivalent dq components. Similarly, the resulting dq currents may be of
no significant use unless converted to its abc components. These conversions are
done using called Park’s transformation and inverse Park’s tranformation. The
Park’s transformation and its inverse counterpart are defined by equation 4.9 and
equation 4.10 respectively. The parameter f in both equations represent either

voltage, current or magnetic flux. In practical applications where no neutral

return path is connected to the machine, the sum of the three stator currents,
and thus voltage and magnetic flux is zero. Therefore, the Park and inverse Park
transformation is usually calculated with d– and q– components. The parameter θ
represents the angular distance between the reference frame and the a– component
of the parameter in question.

2 2 2π 2 2π
fd = fa sin (θ) + fb sin θ − + fc sin θ + (4.9a)
3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2π 2 2π
fq = fa cos (θ) + fb cos θ − + fc cos θ + (4.9b)
3 3 3 3 3
1
f0 = (fa + fb + fc ) (4.9c)
3
fa = fd sin (θ) + fq cos (θ) + f0 (4.10a)

2π 2π
fb = fd sin θ − + fq cos θ − + f0 (4.10b)
3 3

2π 2π
fc = fd sin θ + + fq cos θ + + f0 (4.10c)
3 3
4.4 Loss Model
The losses in electrical machine can be separated as following: joule losses, iron
losses, friction and windage losses, and stray or additional losses.

4.4.1 Joule losses
Joule losses are those produce at the rotor and stator conductors due to an
electrical current passing through them. According to Ohm’s law, these losses
can be estimated from the following equation:
PCu = mRI 2 (4.11)
Where PCu represents the joule losses, m is the number of phases of the machine,
R is the electrical resistance of the conductors, and I is the current passing
through the conductors. The electrical resistance of the conductors can be either
ρl
measured under DC supply or estimated from R = A
, where ρ is the electrical
resistivity of the material in question, l is the length of the material and A is
the cross–sectional area. It is well known that the electrical resistance of all
materials and substances changes with temperature. For metals, this change can
be approximated by:
ρ = ρref [1 + α (θ − θref )] (4.12)
Where ρref and ρ are the electrical resistance of the material at reference and
actual temperatures θref and θ respectively, and α is a constant of proportionality
between resistivity and temperature. The values of the proportionality constant
and the electrical resistances used in this thesis are shown in table 4.3.
Table 4.3: Used parameters
Electrical resistivity at 25 ◦ C Constant of proportionality

Material
(Ωm) ( ◦1C )
Copper 1.724e-8 4.29e-3
Aluminium 2.65e-8 3.8e-3

As explained in a later chapter, the temperature distribution of the stator and

rotor conductors is not homogeneous. Temperature tends to be higher where the
heat transfer process is dominated by convection rather than conduction, such
as at the end–winding and end–ring regions. Equation 4.12 suggests that higher
operating temperature leads to higher local electrical resistance, which in turn
leads to more losses. Thus, the distribution of losses is also heterogeneous. The
thermal model developed in the previous chapter splits the stator conductors in
two nodes: slot, and end–winding. Therefore, it would be logical to do the same
with the losses. Similarly, the rotor conductors are split in two nodes: the slot
region, and the end–ring. According to Hodgins, the separation of losses between
the stator slot region and the end–windings can be done using the following
equation, which he obtained experimentally:
Pew
= 8 × 10−5 Pe2 − 2 × 10−4 Pe + 0.47 (4.13)
Ps
Where Pew and Ps are the power losses at the end–winding and slot regions,
and region, Pe represents the power in kW either consumed when the machine is
operated as a motor, or produced when operated as a generator.
For the rotor, the separation of losses between the bars and the end–ring region
are estimated as:

Pbar πp lb Ar
= 2 sin2 (4.14)
Pring q lr Ab
Where Pbar and Pring are the losses at the bar and end–ring regions, p is the
number of magnetic poles of the machine, q is the number of slots in the rotor,
Ab and Ar , are the cross–sectional area of the bars and end–rings, and lb and lr
are the length of the bars and the separation between two rotor bars.

4.4.2 Iron losses
The calculation of the iron losses at the rotor and stator laminations represent a
challenge difficult to overcome to researchers and machine designers. The amount
and spacial placement of the losses is important to accurately predict them. Some
difficulties involved in the calculation of these losses are: the lack of understand-
ing of the processes involved in the loss generation phenomenon; the fact that
isolating secondary effects such as eddy currents is virtually impossible; and, the
variation of the lamination properties due to the material itself and the manufac-
turing procedure.
Despite these difficulties, some methodologies and models have been developed
to quantitatively and qualitatively describe iron losses. These methodologies in-
clude statistical methods, empirical methods using the well established equivalent
circuit, and finite element (FE) methods. Statistical methods rely on correlation
of experimental data. The validity and accuracy of this method is obviously
proportional to the amount of experimental data gathered. Analytical methods
based on the equivalent circuit can vary in complexity and accuracy. For in-
stance, there are models developed where parallel L–R branches are added to the
standard equivalent circuit to take into account the contribution of harmonics,
the eddy current power loss, and saturation of the material. FE methods can
be qualitatively and quantitatively more precise. FE methods however require
more time to setup and solve. There are two common ways to calculate the iron
losses in FE simulation. The first is to solve the magnetic field problem without
taking into account the disruption of the field by eddy currents, and then calcu-
late the losses on each element by using empirical relations as a post–calculation
procedure. The second, is to integrate the non–linear problem, typically using
the Presiach approach. Increasing computing power has lead to the increase of
studies that use the Presiach approach. However, the extra computational time

and extra information of the machine laminations needed to use the Presiach
method has made the post–calculation procedure more common.
Hodgins described the iron or core losses by the following expression, which he
acquired experimentally. It is important to mention that the following expression
is valid only for the machine used for this case study. In order to model other
machines either new experiments and regressions should be carried out, or other
methodologies, such as electromagnetic FE analysis:
Pf e = Pe (−0.0001Ω − 0.5) + (400 − 0.05Ω) (4.15)
Where Pf e is the iron power losses, Ω is the angular speed of the machine in rpm.
Pe represents the power in kW either consumed when the machine is operated as
a motor, or produced when operated as a generator.
4.4.3 Friction & windage losses
The friction and windage losses were also obtained from experiments by Hodgins
as in accordance with the British Standard EN 60034-2-1:2007. The procedure
to obtain the friction and windage losses is to measure the total losses at no load
tests subtracting the copper losses (at this point approximated by equation 4.11),
and then extrapolating the resulting data to the zero intercept. Hodgins found
that these losses could be given by:
Pf &w = 0.068Ω (4.16)
Where Ω is the angular rotational speed of the machine in rpm.

4.4.4 Stray or additional losses
Stray or additional losses are those that are present on an electrical machine and
unaccounted by all previous description of losses. This may include bearing losses,
additional friction losses, high frequency core losses, etc. Hodgins calculated these
losses from experiments and the following equation:
Padd = Pin − Pout − PCu − Pf e − Pf &w (4.17)
The resulting equation for additional losses as calculated by Hodgins is:
Padd = 0.8548Pe2 − 1.0471Pe + 6.6936 (4.18)
Where Pe represents the input power in kW when the machine is running as a

motor, or the output power in kW when the machine is running as a generator.
As suggested by Hodgins, these losses are distributed as following: 75% at the
rotor tooth and 25% at the stator tooth (Hodgins, 2010).
4.4.5 The full loss model
Figure 5.9 depicts the power losses of the machine as a function of the output
power at a constant rotational speed of 3000 rpm. Experimental rather than
modelling results are used due to the fact that these are considered more accurate
as they represent the losses found in the actual machine.

1400
Stator Core
1200 Stator Winding
Stator End-winding
1000 Rotor Bars
Power loss (W )
Stray
800 Friction and windage
600
400
200
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Output Power (kW )
(a) Losses by source
4000
Total Power loss
3500
3000
Power loss (W )
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Output Power (kW )
(b) Total power loss
Figure 4.1: Power losses calculated by Hodgins at 3000 rpm. (Hodgins, 2010)


Chapter 5
Thermal Modelling of Electric

Machines
5.1 Introduction
The most commonly used approaches to model and predict the thermal behaviour
of electrical machines can be divided into numerical methods and analytical meth-
ods. Numerical methods include: finite differences (FD), finite elements (FE)
and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Analytical methods include lumped
parameter thermal networks (LPTN) and its derivations. Numerical methods
are generally considered to produce more accurate results than their analytical
counter parts at the cost of higher computing and time resources. However, the
fast computational time and relatively easy description of the heat transfer prob-
lem makes LPTN a popular choice in some instances such as: early machine
design process, machine control design, and any other simulation or application
where the temperature distribution of the machine is used as an input. More over,
the inaccuracies of the LPTN can be overcome by fine tuning of the parameters.
This fine tuning is often done by matching calculations obtained from numerical
methods models or experiments.
Computational fluid dynamics solves the cooling flow problem. Thus, it is of-
ten used to obtain the convection heat transfer coefficients that are later used
103
Chapter 5. Thermal Modelling of Electric Machines
in other models (Boglietti et al., 2009). To simplify the analysis, CFD models
generally concentrate on a specific region of a machine such as the airgap or the
end–winding region, rather than modelling all parts of the machine. CFD can also
be used to calculate the friction coefficient, or friction losses of the rotor (Saari,
1998). The losses can be significant in high–speed air–cooled machines or when a
different cooling fluid with high viscosity is used to cool the rotor. An important
limitation of CFD models is that they can not be connected with the electro-
magnetic problem, which calculates the copper and iron losses of the machine.
Thus, the dependence of these losses with temperature and other electromagnetic
variables has to be considered differently (Kral et al., 2009).
Finite element and finite difference methods are normally used to solve the heat
conduction equation. Heat flow in complex geometries is often difficult to model
analytically, which is something in which these two methodologies excel. Neither
of these methodologies however is able to solve the flow problem. Thus accurate
results are bound to the proper definition of heat convection coefficients. The
advantage of FE and FD methods over CFD is their ability to be coupled to
electromagnetic models of the machine. Coupled electromagnetic and thermal
models can be solved in commercial FE software such as Opera and Flux.
As it will be later explained, lumped parameter thermal networks are built as

analogy of the electric charge problem. They simplify the heat conduction equa-
tion to the special case where the media is considered homogeneous, and their
properties independent of temperature. The latter is not always the case.
This chapter is dedicated to present the thermal modelling of the induction ma-
chine. The methodology chosen and presented is the lumped parameter thermal
network. FE simulations are also presented, and their results are compared. The
chapter begins with a description of the heat conduction equation, to explain how
this is simplified for the development of the LPTN method.

The thermal model described in this chapter is later used during a case study that
depicts the operation of an electrical machine in an oscillating water column. The
thermal model of the electrical machine has a very big impact on the case study
results. Therefore, a whole chapter is dedicated to describe it.

5.2 One dimensional heat equation
The fundamental law of heat conduction is defined based on the laws of thermo-
dynamics. The second law of thermodynamics states that heat exchange between
two systems exists only when there is a temperature difference between them.
According to the same law, the direction of the heat flow is from the high– to the
low– temperature system. The first law of thermodynamics, which states that
energy must be conserved along the flow path, is then used to make an energy
balance between the two systems. The quantitative law that expresses this defini-
tion is generally attributed to the French mathematician Jean Fourier (Shneider,
1955). A brief explanation of his work is presented below.
dx k, C, ρ
dQ dy
dt
dz
Figure 5.1: One dimensional heat conduction
Consider a rectangular prism of dimensions dx, dy and dz shown in figure 5.1. Let
now some heat, q, enter the prism at the left face of the prism. Assume that the
heat transfer on the y and z axis could be neglected (i.e. the system is adiabatic
in the y and z directions). Fourier then states that the heat entering the body is a
product of the temperature gradient along the heat flow path, the cross–sectional
area, A = dy · dz, and a constant of proportionality, k. Analytically expressed as:
dθ
q = −kA (5.1)
dx

dθ
Where θ is temperature. The temperature distribution dx
is always negative
according to the second law of thermodynamics. A negative sign in equation 5.1
is then inserted to allow q to be positive. This negative sign is arbitrary and has
no physical meaning. The proportionality constant k is commonly called thermal
conductivity. This constant is rarely uniform, as it depends on the activity of
the molecules that conform the body. The molecules’ activity depends on the
internal energy of the body in question. A representation of the internal energy
is temperature. Thus, k is a function of the local temperature. However, in
the case of solids, k is regularly considered as constant and independent of the
existing temperature.
It is then assumed that k is independent of temperature, and that the body in

figure 5.1 is homogeneous. Equation 5.1 can be then solved using separation of
variables, and integrating on both sides of the equation. This leads to:
Z x2 Z θ1
q dx = −kA dθ
x1 θ2
Defining the length of the prism in the x direction as L = x2 − x1 it can be

obtained:
A
q = −k (θ1 − θ2 ) (5.2)
L
Equation 5.2 represents the steady state solution of the one–dimensional heat
conduction problem. The transient behaviour of such a problem is solved by doing
an energy balance over the body. According to the first law of thermodynamics,
the difference between the energy entering the body and the one exiting is a
change in the system. The change in the system is defined as the change of
internal energy defined by:

δθ
dU = Cth ρV dt (5.3)
δt
Where U, Cth , ρ, V are the internal energy, the heat capacitance, the material
density and the volume of the body respectively. The density and the heat ca-
pacitance are properties of the material. As in the case of the thermal conductiv-
ity, the heat capacitance can also be a function of temperature but is considered
independent for most practical problems. Thus, taking into account transient
effects, equation 5.1 is re-written as:
dQ dθ δθ
= −kA + Cth ρV dt (5.4)
dt dx δt
dQ
In equation 5.4 the heat term q was substituted by the heat flow term dt
.
5.3 General heat conduction equation
Section 5.2 defines the one dimensional problem in a homogeneous body. A similar
analysis allows the definition of the general heat conduction equation applicable
to any three–dimensional problem. Consider now the cube of dimensions dx, dy,
and, dz in figure 5.2. The heat flow entering the cube at the left, bottom and back
faces is dQx , dQy , and, dQz respectively. Similarly, the heat flow leaving the cube
at the right, top, and front faces is dQx+dx , dQy+dy , and, dQz+dz respectively.
Analysing the heat path over the x direction it can be seen that the heat entering
the left face of the cube is given by:

δθx
dQx = −dydz kθ dt (5.5)
δx

y dQy+dy dQz
dQx dQx+dx
dy
x
dQz+dz dz
z dx
dQy
Figure 5.2: Three dimensional heat conduction
The temperature distribution is expressed as a partial rather than a total deriva-

tive because θ is a function of the entire space x, y, z. To determine the heat
leaving the element at x + dx, let F (x, θ) = kθ δθ
δx
x
and allow x to increase by
an infinitesimal amount dx. Then expand F (x + dx, θ) in Taylor’s series, and
neglect terms after the first two.
δF
F (x + dx, θ) = F (x, θ) + dx
δx

δθx δ δθ
= kθ + kθ + dx
δx δx δx
Thereby,

δθx δ δθ
dQx+dx = −dydz kθ + kt + (5.6)
δx δx δx
A similar analysis over the y– and z–axis leads to:

δθy
dQy = −dxdz kθ dt (5.7)
δy


δθz
dQz = −dxdy kθ dt (5.8)
δz

δθy δ δθ
dQy+dy = −dxdz kθ + kt + (5.9)
δy δy δy

δθz δ δθ
dQz+dz = −dxdz kθ + kt + (5.10)
δz δz δz
On the other hand, and similar to the one–dimensional case, the change in the
internal energy dU is given by:
δθx
dU = Cth ρV dt (5.11)
δt
where Cth is thermal capacity, ρ is material density, and V is the volume of the
cube. The internal heat generation of the cube dQg is given by:
dQg = qθ000 V dt = qθ000 dxdydzdt (5.12)
According to the first law of thermodynamics,
Ein = Eout + ∆Esystem (5.13)
Applying equation 5.13 to figure 5.2 it can be noticed that: Ein is the total heat
flow entering the cube, Eout is the total heat leaving the cube, and ∆Esystem =
dU + dQg . Then substituting equations 5.5 – 5.12 into equation 5.13 leads to:

dQx + dQy + dQz = dQx+dx + dQy+dy + dQz+dz + dU + dQg
or finally,

δ δθ δ δθ δ δθ δθ
kθ + kθ + kθ + qθ000 = Cth ρ (5.14)
δx δx δy δy δz δz δt
The most general case of heat conduction is the same as the one described in
equation 5.14 with kθ , qθ000 , Cth , and ρ replaced by kθ (x, y, z, θ), qθ000 (x, y, z, θ, t),
Cth (x, y, z, θ), and ρ(x, y, z, θ) respectively, to include spatial time and temper-
ature variation of material properties. Most practical problems however can be
solved using equation 5.14.
If it is assumed that conductivity of the material is a constant, independent of

temperature, the general heat conduction equation can be re-written as
δ 2 θ δ 2 θ δ 2 θ qθ000 1 δθ
2
+ 2+ 2+ = (5.15)
δx δy δz k αth δt
k
Where αth = Cth ρ
is defined as the thermal diffusivity of the material, normally
m2
given in hr
.
If it is further assumed that the system does not contain heat sources or sinks,
Fourier’s equation is obtained:
δ2θ δ2θ δ2θ 1 δθ

+ + = (5.16)
δx2 δy 2 δz 2 αth δt
If heat sources and sinks do exist in the analysed system but temperature is
constant, Poisson’s equation is obtained:

δ 2 θ δ 2 θ δ 2 θ qθ000
+ + + =0 (5.17)
δx2 δy 2 δz 2 k
If the system is in steady state and free of sinks and sources, Laplace’s equation
is obtained
δ2θ δ2θ δ2θ

+ + =0 (5.18)
δx2 δy 2 δz 2
In heat conduction equations, the symbol ∇, represents the dependence of a

δθ δθ δθ
variable with space so that ∇Q is exactly the same as writing δx
+ δy + δz . Here
after, the former notation will be use to shorten equations.
Using the afore mentioned notation, equation equation 5.15 can be re-written as:
qθ000 1 δθ
∇2 θ + = (5.19)
k αth δt
5.4 Heat transfer by Convection
Convection describes the heat transfer process from a solid to the fluid that
surrounds it. This process can be explained as a combination of conduction and
the movement of the fluid particles. Heat from the solid surface is transferred to a
thin layer of stagnant fluid by a conduction process. Particles from the outer most
surface of the thin fluid layer are set in motion by the temperature and energy
difference between them and the rest of the fluid particles. Thus, the energised
particles move away from the hotter solid. Less energised (i.e. colder) particles
move then closer to the hotter solid. This process is called natural convection.
Forced convection is when a fluid flow is externally imposed to pass around the

solid. When this happens, the heat transfer effect from the solid to the fluid
is increased, as more fluid particles are involved. This process is called forced
convection. An important concept in forced convection is the thermal boundary
layer. This refers to the thin layer of fluid, where most heat transfer between the
solid and the imposed stream occurs. The thermal boundary layer is different
from the velocity boundary layer, which calculates the velocity profile of the fluid
stream.
The convection heat transfer problem is mathematically described by the Navier–

Stokes and continuity equations. In several cases, these equations can not be
solved analytically. As stated in the introduction, when no analytical solution
is possible, numerical approximations with CFD together with experiments are
obtained. Correlations obtained by these methods are then used to model a heat
transfer problems that have similar physical characteristics.
Mathematically, the heat transfer through convection may be expressed as:
Z
qconv = hconv (θs − θ∞ )dAs (5.20)
As
Where qconv is the convection heat transfer, hconv is the local heat transfer co-
efficient by convection, θs is the surface temperature of the solid in question at
the differential surface area dAs , θ∞ is the temperature of the fluid outside the
thermal boundary layer, and As is the area of the solid that is in contact with
the fluid. Flow conditions (i.e. boundary layer length) vary along the solid sur-
face, thus, the local heat convection coefficient is rarely constant. However for
many applications only average temperatures and total heat flow are of interest.
Therefore equation 5.20 may be re-written by substituting the local temperature
and heat transfer coefficient by their average values θ̄s and h̄conv :

qconv = h̄conv As (θ̄s − θ∞ ) (5.21)
where: Z
1
h̄conv = hconv dAs
As As
For convenience, the subscripts and superscripts of equation 5.21 are often omit-
ted. However, it should be kept in mind that when describing convection, average
rather than local values are used unless stated.
5.5 Heat transfer by radiation
As was briefly explained above, heat conduction and convection require a tem-
perature difference between two bodies that are in contact with each other. In
contrast, heat transfer by radiation does not require for the two bodies to be in
contact. The most simple case of heat radiation is when two solid bodies are
enclosed in a vacuum chamber with a temperature difference between them. En-
ergy from the solid with higher temperature will be transfered to the one with
less temperature. This process is called radiation. Energy transfer by radiation
is associated with the oscillations of electrons within the matter. Oscillation of
electrons increase with the internal energy of the matter, and thus temperature.
In most solids and fluids, energy radiated from molecules are highly absorbed by
the adjacent neighbour molecules. Thus, energy radiated or emitted from a body
of finite mass and volume can and is often considered only from the molecules
close to its surface (Incropera and De Witt, 2002).

5.6 Definition of the finite element method
FE method is able to accurately model the heat transfer in complex geometries

such as those encountered in an electrical machine. A variety of commercial
and open–source packages are able to solve this problem. Among the possible
options available, Gmsh and GetDP were selected. Gmsh is a mesh generator
with built–in pre– and post–processing facilities (Geuzaine and Remacle, 2009).
On the other hand, GetDP is a general finite element method solver (Dular and
Geuzaine; Geuzaine, 2008; Dular et al., 1999, 1998; Geuzaine et al., 1998). The
selection of these software was based mainly on three reasons. First, because they
are cross platform. Second, because there is access to the code, so connection to
other software can be achieved freely. Additionally, using open–source software
allows the user to gain more knowledge of how the FE element method is solving
the problem. This knowledge is not necessarily gained with commercial packages
because again, mathematical formulations and computer codes are closed to the
user. Third, because even though these are open source software, they are regu-
larly maintained by people from the Department of Engineering and Computer
Science of the University of Liége in Belgium. Continuous maintenance is possible
because of the growing number of users among the young researchers in several
different fields.
A reason alone for selecting GetDP (other than its cost) is that it is easy to jump
from the differential equations to the code. Problem formulations that closely
resemble the mathematical description are defined in ASCII data files. GetDP
interprets these formulations and is able to solve the problem in a mesh created by
Gmsh. GetDP as other commercial and open–source FE software uses Galerkin’s
or weak formulation to solve the FE problem. On the other hand, geometries
in Gmsh can be either created using the graphical interface or native scripting
language, or imported from other packages as STEP, IGES or BREP files.

One disadvantage of using open–source software is that documentation tends

to be limited and not up–to–date. In order to overcome this, more time was
employed in order to gain expertise in the usage of the packages.
GetDP and Gmsh were used to build FE models. The results allowed comparison
to be made against an analytical method, namely the lumped parameter thermal
network (LPTN). Results from FE and LPTN are shown later in this chapter.
5.7 The lumped parameter thermal network
An analogy of the heat conduction problem and electrical charge is often found in
literature. This analogy, often called lumped parameter thermal network, allows
the graphical representation of heat flow paths as electrical circuits (Incropera and
De Witt, 2002). The analogy is easily obtained by taking the one–dimensional
steady state solution of the heat problem, presented in equation 5.2, and solving
it for the temperature difference:
L
(θ2 − θ1 ) = ·q (5.22)
kA
And comparing it with Ohm’s law:
(V2 − V1 ) = R · I (5.23)
Thus, it could be seen that in the analogy, the temperature difference correspond
to the electric potential difference, the heat flow correspond to the electrical cur-
rent, and a new term called thermal resistance, Rcond , analogous to the electrical
resistance could be defined as:

L
Rcond = (5.24)
kA
Equation 5.24 is the thermal resistance for conduction heat transfer. A similar
analogy could be made for convection by taking the definition of convection heat
transfer, equation 5.21, and solving for the temperature difference:
1
(θ2 − θ1 ) = ·q (5.25)
hA
Where h is the convection heat transfer coefficient. The thermal resistance for
convection heat transfer is thus defined as:
1
Rconv = (5.26)
hA
For transient analysis, another useful aggregated term is the thermal capacitance.
Thermal capacitance is the aggregated value of the thermal capacity or specific
heat capacity of an object. The latter, which appears at the right hand side
of equation 5.14, is defined as “the heat required to raise the temperature of a
unit weight of the material by one degree” (Schneider, 1955). Thus, the thermal
capacitance is simply defined as:
Cagg = Cth ρV
As explained before, the specific heat capacity can be a function of temperature

and space. However, in lumped parameter thermal networks, only the average
value is considered. Thus, the materials are considered homogeneous and their
properties independent of temperature. Another comment on notation should be

done here. In several sources, it is common to find the specific heat capacity of
an object written as Cp and the aggregated thermal capacitance as Cth .
5.8 General Cuboidal Element
In the study of temperature distribution of electrical machines, a number of pub-

lications have been made that use a methodology called the cuboidal element
(Mellor et al., 1991; Wrobel and Mellor, 2010; Wrobel et al., 2011). This is de-
tailed in (Wrobel and Mellor, 2010).
The methodology starts by analysing a heat conduction problem such as the

one depicted in figure 5.2. Assuming that the parameter of interest is the aver-
age temperature of this block, an assumption that no interference between axes
in this three–dimensional problem is made so that it could be split into three
one–dimensional problems. One of the simplified one–dimensional problems is
depicted in figure 5.1. According to Wrobel and Mellor, the average tempera-
ture of this block can be calculated by constructing a lumped parameter thermal
network of the block in question. This thermal network consists of three re-
sistances and a current source, as shown in figure 5.3. Two of the resistances
represent the distance form the block surfaces to its centre. The third thermal
resistance connects the block centre to an imaginary point inside the block that
has a temperature equal to the average temperature of the block. The current
source represents the internal heat generation of the block. Because the three
dimensional problem has been split in three one–axis problems, the internal heat
generation also is split in three, assuming the heat generation is divided equally
between the axes.
In figure 5.3, Rx1 and Rx2 represent the thermal resistances of the block from
the surfaces to its centre. Using the lumped parameter thermal network theory,

Rx1 Rx2
T1 T2
Rx3
T̄
q
Figure 5.3: One dimensional thermal network for calculating the average temper-
ature. Adapted from: Wrobel and Mellor (2010)
these resistances are mathematically defined as:
lx
Rx1 = Rx2 =
kx Ax
where lx , kx , and Ax represent the length, thermal conductivity and cross-sectional

area in the x–axis direction respectively.
According to Wrobel and Mellor Rx3 is obtained in the following manner: First
calculate the average temperature of the block, T̄o , assuming heat generation
and surface temperatures equal to zero. Then, dividing T̄o by the multiplication
of the total internal heat generation q, the cross–sectional area, and the block
length. Finally, the resultant parallel resistance of Rx1 and Rx2 is subtracted.
Mathematically this is expressed as:
T̄o Rx1 Rx2

Rx3 = − (5.27)
q̇Ax lx Rx1 + Rx2
Thus, the only unknown in equation 5.27 is for T̄o . Applying the general heat
equation for a steady–state one–dimensional problem with internal heat genera-
tion, it is found that:

d2 θ q
2
+ =0
dx kx
By separation of variables and integrating twice, the temperature distribution as

a function of x is found as:
q 2
θ(x) = − x + C1 x + C2
2kx
The value of the integration constants C1 and C2 are found by using the initial
conditions of surface temperature equal to zero, θ(0) = θ(lx ) = 0. Finally, the
average temperature T̄o is then found as:
Z lx
1
T̄o = θ(x)dx
lx 0
A similar analysis for the other two axes leads to three–dimensional thermal
network of a total of nine resistances and one current source. In this case, the
current source is not divided, as the heat transfer in all directions of the block
is considered. For transient analysis, a lumped thermal capacitance can also be
added to the network. This capacitance should be connected with the current
source. An schematic of the three–dimensional network is depicted in figure 5.4.
This methodology was compared against FE and experimental results with high
degree of accuracy (Wrobel and Mellor, 2010).
5.8.1 The arched shaped element
The arched element is a geometrical modification of the cuboidal element. The

principle is the same, but equations are solved in cylindrical coordinates r, ψ and

T1y T1x
Rx
1
y1
R
Rx
2
x3
y2
R
R
Ry
T2y T2x
3
q T̄
Rz3
Rz1 Rz2
T1z T2z
Figure 5.4: Three dimensional thermal network for calculating the average tem-
perature. Adapted from: Wrobel and Mellor (2010)
z. The advantage of defining arched elements for the three–dimensional thermal

networks is that this shape is easier to be fitted in rotating electrical machines.
Because the electrical machine has a cylindric–like shape, it can be easily divided
into arched elements rather than cubic ones, as shown by Wrobel and Mellor.
By dividing the geometry in an n number of arched elements the losses in the
machine’s stator and rotor cores can be distributed closer to where they are
produced. This can be seen in figure 5.7. Thus, temperature distribution can
be more precisely calculated. The accuracy of the methodology can be increased
by dividing the machine in a higher number of elements. Accuracy, however is
achieved as a trade-off with computational time. Thus, the maximum number of
elements has to be lower than the number of elements in FE.
The development of the arched element was validated using FE. Figure 5.6 and
figure 5.7 present the result of the test depicted in figure 5.5. As it can be seen
in figure 5.6a, the error increases as the heat generation increases. This error

is explained by the initial assumption of no heat transfer between the axes. In

reality, heat from one of the axes can interact and affect the other two. For the
heat to flow in all directions, the temperatures of the surfaces were fixed to a
certain value different from each other. Additionally, heat generation inside the
block was considered. This distribution of temperatures represent the worst case
scenario in terms of accuracy due to the flow of heat in each axis, the interaction
among the axes and the heat generation. Providing a solution for the worst case
scenario allows to observe how much difference there is between both methods.
If the block is split in several rather than one single element.
θz+dz
θψ+dψ
θr+dr
θr
θψ
θz Y
Z X
Figure 5.5: The arched element test case. The temperatures were set as: θr+dr =
θz+dz = θψ+dψ , θr > θr+dr , θz > θz+dz , θψ > θψ+dψ , and θr+dr 6= θz+dz 6= θψ+dψ .
The internal heat generation q was homogeneously distributed
Wrobel and Mellor mentioned that the advantage of splitting the 3D problem
in three 1D problems is that a different value of heat conductivity can be used
for each of the axes to account for non isotropic materials. This statement,
although true, should be used with caution and understanding of what is being
implied by such changes. A different heat conductivity in one of the axes can
change the heat distribution among the axes. This can either improve or affect
the results. Figure 5.6b shows how a modification of 15% in the value of the

100
FEA, with heat generation= 2q
FEA, with heat generation= q
FEA, with no heat generation
80 Arched element, with heat generation= 2q
Arched element, with heat generation= q
Temperature (◦ C)
Arched element, with no heat generation
60
40
20
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Distance from centre (m)
(a) Assuming isotropic material. Thus, kr = kψ = kz
100
FEA, with heat generation= 2q
FEA, with heat generation= q
FEA, with no heat generation
80 Arched element, with heat generation= 2q
Arched element, with heat generation= q
Temperature (◦ C)
Arched element, with no heat generation
60
40
20
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Distance from centre (m)
(b) Assuming non-isotropic material. Thus, kr = kψ and kz = 0.85 ∗ kr
Figure 5.6: Comparison between FE and the arched arched element analytical
method.

25 25 25
25
θ 62.5
62.5
T
T Y Y Y
100 100 100

100
25 62.5 100 Z X Z X Z X
(a) FE method (b) Using 27 elements. (c) Using 125 elements.

(3 per axis) (5 per axis)
z+dz
Figure 5.7: Temperature distribution comparison FE and arched element at .
Z
2
X
heat conductivity improves the results. In this case, the tweaking or tuning of
the model was possible because the surfaces’ temperatures are known. However,
when something as complex as a machine in operation is modelled, the necessary
changes are not so easy to spot. For this same reason, it is better to assume all
materials are isotropic and only change for non isotropic materials if the model
is validated through experimentation.

5.9 A specific analytical model for the induction

machine
As it will be discussed in chapter 6, a case study is used to test the methodology

proposed in this thesis. In order to construct the case study, Hodgins work with
an OWC is a valuable precedent for the case study section of this thesis. He used
a commercial package called MotorCad to model the thermal performance of
the induction machine in the oscillating water column. Motorcad uses a lumped
parameter thermal network approach, similar to the one presented in this chapter,
to solve the heat transfer equation. Hodgins found big discrepancies between
his model and measurements taken on the system in operation (see figure 5.8).
According to his work, the differences were due to the convection heat transfer
between the outer casing of the machine and the fluid passing through the duct
and the turbine. His MotorCad model assumes the machine is cooled by a fan
attached to the rotor shaft. However, in the physical system the wells turbine
that extracts energy from the airflow also generates vortices in the moving fluid.
These vortices in the air increase the convection heat transfer coefficient of the
electrical machine casing.
A number of considerations apart from heat conduction have to be made to build

a thermal model of the electrical machines. These considerations are addressed
in the following sections.
5.9.1 Heat sources
The principal sources of heat in an induction machine are those produced at the
stator and rotor electrical conductors, and at the stator and rotor cores. The heat
produced at the conductors is linked to the so called ohmic losses. These losses are

High Speed Electrical Power Conversion for Oscillating Water Columns
Chapter
Chapter 9: A5.Specific
Thermal Modelling
Model of Electric
of the Induction Machines
Machine in the OWC Environment
Figure
Figure 93:
5.8: Comparison of measured
Comparison between data
Hodgins’s and Motor-CAD
thermal simulated data
model and experimental data.
The experimental data was gathered from the actual machine operating in an
including turbine blade model for 4000rpm steady state test
OWC. Source: (Hodgins, 2010)
The stator casing temperature is reduced but not brought in line with experimental
measurements (see
proportional to difference
the square ofinthe
figure 93). The
current blades
passing provide
through a cooling
the pathand
conductor, fromto
the rotor,
their but the
electrical rotor temperatures
resistances. The statorare
andonly slightly
rotor beloware
core losses thecommonly
stator winding
called
temperatures and the airgap presents a higher thermal resistance compared to the
iron losses. These are related to the presence of eddy currents and hysteresis
back iron so the majority of the stator heat does not cross the airgap and dissipate
effects in the magnetic material. Hodgins obtained the value of these losses from
via the blades.
experimentation on the actual machine. The losses calculated by him are shown
9.2.2.3 Forced
in figure 5.9. convection
The turbine valve was closed for the duration of the test but there is significant
leakage airflow which will have a cooling effect. The turbine rotors also disturb the
5.9.2
air Contact
at the ends resistances
of the machine and may induce a slight airflow. With the valve closed
the flow sensors in the turbine duct will not read correctly and the airflow velocity
cannot be directly
The heat transfermeasured.
between two solid components touching each other is a function
of pressure holding them together, the roughness of the components in question.
Motor-CAD simulates
This heat transfer the forced
is commonly cooling
modelled by a of the machine
equivalent thermal housing
resistanceusing
equal
experimentally verified correlations for open channel and flat plate flow [35]. The
flow
The along open
University channels (between fins126
of Edinburgh on the housing) willIsaac
leak Portugal
and thus Rosas
may
Neil Hodgins 2010 158

1400
Stator Core
1200 Stator Winding
Stator End-winding
1000 Rotor Bars
Power loss (W ) Stray
800 Friction and windage
600
400
200
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Output Power (kW )
(a) Losses by source
4000
Total Power loss
3500
3000
Power loss (W )
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Output Power (kW )
(b) Total power loss
Figure 5.9: Power losses calculated by Hodgins. (Hodgins, 2010)
to:
1
Rc = (5.28)
hc Ac

Where Rc is the thermal resistance due to contact of two solids, hc is the heat
transfer coefficient at the joint, and Ac is the area in contact between the solids.
Most components of the electrical machine can be consider to have perfect contact
with each other, except from the frame–stator core. A number of ways to estimate
this thermal resistance are FE, from the physical properties and dimensions of
frame and stator core prior to tight fit, or from pre-existing tables of typical values,
or experimentation (Blokh and Orbinskii, 1985; Mellor et al., 1991; Staton et al.,
2003). Staton et al. reported a typical value in the range of 0.007 to 0.0153
mm of effective gap for steel to steel solids. The effective gap is calculated by
assuming the joint is filled with air. The heat transfer coefficient is then obtained
by multiplying the effective gap by the conductivity of air, which in turn changes
with temperature. Thus, the air temperature has to be chosen adequately if the
value is to be fixed for all calculations. The value of the frame–stator core contact
resistance is set at a value within this range. A sensitivity analysis presented
later is presented to show the impact of these values upon the performance of the
thermal model.
5.9.3 The end–winding region
The end–winding region is modelled as a solid circular toroid with short circular
solid bars that connect the toroid and the stator slot windings. Heat from the
solid toroid is assumed to be transfered radially outwards in a homogeneous way,
and axially to the stator slot windings. The equivalent radius of the toroid is
estimated from the total stator conductor mass (given as specification) minus
the mass in both, the stator slots and the short circular solid bars. The main
interest of the end–winding model is to calculate the peak hot–spot rather than
the average temperature. In a theoretical case, the ratio between the maximum
to mean temperature is 1.5 : 1. This factor is used as a modifier of the thermal

resistance of the toroid. Due to conservation of energy, the thermal capacitance

is reduced by the same amount. This model methodology is the same as the one
presented by Mellor et al. (Mellor et al., 1991).
5.9.4 The end–cap region
The end–winding region is normally the hottest part of a totally enclosed electri-
cal machine. In order to improve its heat transfer coefficient, the machine rotor
is built with protruding geometries known as wafters and/or fins. These geome-
tries aim to move the air in the end–winding and end–cap region to improve
the heat transfer coefficient. The geometries in this region are complex. There-
fore, correlations with simple geometries can not be used. A number of authors
have obtained correlations for this region using CFD and/or experiments. The
correlation is of the form:
hec = k1 ∗ (1 + k2 ∗ υ k3 ) (5.29)
Where he c is the heat transfer coefficient of the end–cap, υ is the air velocity in the
end–cap region, k1 represents the heat transfer coefficient by natural convection,
and k2 , k3 are constants found from correlations of CFD or experiments. Due to
the complex geometries in this region, the air velocity in the region is difficult
to estimate. For practicality, the rotor tangential speed at the outer rotor radius
is often used Boglietti and Cavagnino (2006, 2007). Mellor et al. suggested to
calculate the speed as:
υ = rf ins Ωηf ins (5.30)
Where rf ins is the mean radius of the fins, Ω is the rotor angular speed, and ηf ins

are the efficiency of the fins and wafters to create a fan effect. The value of the
constants in equation 5.29 and equation 5.30 used here, are depicted in table 5.1.
Table 5.1: Constants used for the calculation of convection in the end–cap region.
Source: (Mellor et al., 1991)
Parameter Value
k1 15.5
k2 0.29
k3 1
ηf ins 0.5
5.9.5 Heat transfer in the airgap region
Heat transfer in the airgap region can be calculated by assuming that the stator
and the rotor are two concentric cylinders in close proximity, with a fluid between
them. If the cylinders move at different rotating speeds Ωa 6= Ωb , a flow is induced.
At low relative speeds, radial pressure gradient and radial inertial forces are in
dynamic equilibrium so that the induced flow is dominated by viscous rather than
inertial effects. Thus, the induced flow is laminar and axis– symmetrical. The
heat transfer in this case is dominated by conduction.
At higher relative speeds, the radial inertial forces become larger than the pressure
gradient and the viscous forces, thus, a secondary unstable flow occurs. Rayleigh
developed a criterion for determining the onset of instability by analysing a cir-
cular path line in an inviscid flow and a small element of fluid that is moved to
a new radius. The fluid element is moved quickly enough so that properties and
characteristics are conserved. Thus, if the element is moved from a smaller to a
bigger radius, the element will be rotating faster than the rest of the particles at
that new radius. If the pressure gradient at the new radius is smaller than the
centripetal force, then the element tends to move further outwards giving rise to

instability. Similarly, a fluid element that is moved inwards tends to move further
inwards (Childs, 2011).
Through experimentation, Taylor demonstrated that when unstable criterion oc-

curs, an axis– symmetrical eddy flow with equally spaced vortices along the axial
direction, as shown in figure 5.10, are generated (Taylor, 1923). Vortices next to
each other rotate in opposite directions. The driving mechanism of the vortices
can be explained by the theory used by Rayleigh in his stability criterion. The
opposing direction of the vortices is explained by spacial limitations. If two par-
ticles next to each other move radially upwards or downwards, one particle moves
to the left and the other to the right.
Outer cylinder
br
ar
Ωb Ωa
rm
Inner cylinder
(a) rotating cylinders (b) vortices cells
Figure 5.10: Taylor vortices in rotating annulus. Adapted from: (Childs, 2011)
Taylor defined a stability criterion by taking into account the viscosity of the fluid
and solving the dynamic conditions under which instability occurs. He calculated
an angular velocity, called critical angular speed, at which vortices start to appear
in the flow. For the case of small gap size, g = br −ar , relative to the mean annulus
radius rm = (br + ar )/2 and stationary outer cylinder, the critical angular speed
is given by:
41.19ν
Ωcr = (5.31)
0.5
rm (br − ar )1.5
Where ar and br are the radius of the inner and outer cylinders respectively, ν is

the kinematic viscosity of the fluid, and Ωcr is the critical angular speed. Using
equation 5.31 for speeds other than the critical, Taylor defined a dimensionless
number as a criterion for stability:
0.5
Ωa rm (br − ar )1.5
T am = (5.32)
ν
Where T am is the dimensionless number, now called Taylor number. The Taylor
number gives an indication of the inertial effects relative to the viscous ones. The
underscript m means that the calculation is done at the mean radius. Thus, from
equation 5.31 it could be inferred that for cylinders with small gaps, the critical
Taylor number is T acr = 41.19. This means that if T am < T acr then the flow is
a laminar shear Couette flow, and on the contrary, Taylor vortices such as those
in figure 5.10b start to form.
For larger gap sizes, the critical speed is given:
41.9νFg
Ωcr = (5.33)
0.5 (b − a )1.5
rm r r
where Fg is given by:
−1
π2

br − ar
Fg = √ 1− (5.34)
41.19 S 2rm
and S is given by:

(br − ar )/rm
S = 0.0571 1 − 0.652 +
1 − (br − ar )/2rm
−1
(br − ar )/rm
+ 0.00056 1 − 0.652 (5.35)
1 − (br − ar )/2rm

Once the characteristic of the flow is calculated, the convection heat transfer
coefficient can be calculated from the following equation (Fénot et al., 2011):
N u · kair
h= (5.36)
Dh
Where N u is a dimensionless parameter called Nusselt number, kair is the thermal

conductivity of air, and Dh is the hydraulic diameter. For concentric cylinders,
Dh = 2(br − ar ). The Nusselt number is calculated from experimentally found
correlations depending on the status of the flow. Equation 5.37 gives the criterion
of flow status and the corresponding Nusselt number correlation for laminar,
laminar plus vortices and turbulent flow respectively (Childs and Long, 1996;
Howey et al., 2010; Childs, 2011).

2[(br −ar )/ar ]


 ln[1+(br −ar )/ar ]
if T a < 41.19, or T a2m /Fg2 < 1700

Nu = 0.128(T a2 /Fg2 )0.367 if T a > 41.19, or 1700 < T a2m /Fg2 < 104


 0.409(T a2 /F 2 )0.241

if 104 < T a2m /Fg2 < 107
g
(5.37)
5.9.6 Heat transfer from the outer case to the ambient
Heat transfer from the machine case to the ambient can follow along four paths.
These are: conduction to the structure that holds the machine in place, con-
duction through the shaft and towards the Wells turbine rotors, convection with
the air, and radiation to the surroundings (i.e. the Wells turbine duct, and the
ground). The equivalent thermal resistances for all the paths are very difficult to
obtain unless experimentally. Instead of considering the four paths described be-
fore, Hodgins divided the heat transfer to the ambient in two thermal resistances

in parallel; a convection thermal resistance from the machine case to the air and
another thermal resistance that accounts for conduction from the machine case to
the structure holding it. The value of the thermal resistances calculated by Hod-
gins are shown in figure 5.11. The fact that Hodgins considered only two heat
paths and two equivalent thermal resistances in parallel rather than four does
not make his final results less valid. In both cases, the final equivalent thermal
resistance from the case to the ambient, should be the same. The interpretation
and calculation of each of the thermal resistances however would change. For the
purpose of this thesis, only one thermal resistance that accounts for all effects
is considered. This thermal resistance is as calculated by Hodgins and shown in
figure 5.11.
1e-04
Equivalent thermal resistance (◦ C/W )
R1
8e-05
6e-05
4e-05
2e-05
0e+00
0 5 10 15 20
Output Power (kW )
Figure 5.11: Equivalent heat thermal resistance from the machine casing to the
surroundings.

5.10 The full equivalent thermal network
The full equivalent thermal network was built based upon that developed by
Mellor et al. (Mellor et al., 1991). Some differences in the calculation of the
resistances however exist. Mellor et al. do not consider heat generation at the
stator back iron, thus, the stator core losses are applied to the stator teeth. In
the proposed model, the stator is composed of more than one node, losses are
distributed along these nodes as will be shown in the following chapter. This
difference however does not necessarily improve the accuracy of the winding tem-
perature prediction. Mellor et al. consider all geometries of the machine are
cylinders, this includes stator and rotor windings, and stator and rotor teeth. An
equivalent radius that corresponds to the same cross–sectional area of the machine
section in question is calculated. In the proposed model, the base geometry is
an arc, thus, equivalent arcs rather than equivalent cylinders are calculated using
the same principle. Using arcs rather than cylinder elements is not necessarily
translated in improved accuracy. The precision of both methodologies is highly
dependant on the fine tuning of the lumped parameters. The advantage of using
arc elements is that the machine can be intuitively split in these shapes, and
losses can be more accurately distributed (see figure 5.12). Figure 5.13 detailed
the full parameter thermal network.
The analogy between electrical circuits and thermal heat transfer allows the usage
of all techniques used to solve electrical circuits. Thus, the solution of the thermal
network in figure 5.13 can be solved by obtaining a set of differential equations
by either super–meshes, super–nodes or any other technique. The resulting linear
differential equations written in a matrix form are:
Cth θ0 = Rθ + Q (5.38)

Figure 5.12: Electrical machine split in arc shaped elements.
Where Cth is the matrix of capacitances, θ0 represents the derivative of the tem-
perature with time, R is the matrix of resistances, and Q is the matrix of heat
generation plus the known temperatures. The system of first order differential
equations was solved in python using the numpy and scipy libraries, although any
other software such as matlab or R can also be used.

Tambient
Ra
Rb C1 Re
Rc Rd
2
20
C2 Rf
Rq 40
Rg Rj
Rh Ri
7 6 4 3
30
Rx Rp Ro
C6 , q6 Rk C3 , q3 Rl
Rm
Rr Rs
8
80
C8 , q8 Rn
9
90
Ru Rt
C9
10
Rv
C10
Figure 5.13: Equivalent lumped parameter thermal network. Adapted from:

(Mellor et al., 1991). R indicates a thermal resistance, C indicates a thermal
capacitance, and q represents the location of the losses. The capacitances and
the losses are connected from the ambient temperature to the corresponding node.

5.11 Sensitivity analysis
The sensitivity of the thermal model to the value of the main parameters assumed
parameters is considered by choosing a baseline scenario, and changing parame-
ters one by one in a steady–state simulation. The baseline for the analysis is the
machine running at 4000 rpm, 19.56 kW power output, and ambient tempera-
ture of 15 ◦ C. Each parameter is in turn reduced by 20%. The most important
temperature in this thesis is the hottest stator winding temperature. This occurs
at the end–winding region. The reason for this is addressed later in the chapter.
The results of the sensitivity analysis are shown in table 5.2.
The parameters that mostly affect the results in descending order are: the ther-
mal resistance from the frame to the ambient, the thermal conductivity of the
slot liner, the radial thermal conductivity of the laminations and the thermal
conductivity of copper. Therefore, these parameters have to be chosen carefully.
The thermal resistance from the frame to the ambient was found to be the most
influential factor by Mellor et al. and Hodgins. This resistance was obtained
from regression of experimental data and thus is considered fixed. The rest of
the parameters however were obtained from different sources. These parameters
can be altered to increase the accuracy of the results. In order to do this, a
sensitivity analysis like this is very valuable, as the impact of each parameter on
the temperature of interest or temperature distribution is quickly obtained. As
explained before, the model neglects heat transfer by radiation, thus, in some
cases there is a need to “tune” the model.

Table 5.2: Sensitivity analysis of the end–winding temperature to the main pa-
rameters used in the thermal network. The baseline scenario is the machine
running at 4000 rpm and 19.56 kW power output. A 20% reduction on each
parameter is introduced.
Change in end–winding
Parameter temperature
◦
C %
Case–ambient thermal resistance -3.60 -5.86%
Thermal conductivity of internal air 0.06 0.10%
Thermal conductivity of aluminium -0.13 -0.21%
Thermal conductivity of copper 0.98 1.60%
Axial thermal conductivity of laminations 0.04 0.07%
Radial thermal conductivity of laminations 1.36 2.22%
Thermal conductivity of liner 3.73 6.07%
Thermal conductivity of shaft 0.19 0.30%
Thermal conductivity varnish 0.08 0.12%
5.12 Results
Results from lumped parameter thermal network models are typically compared
against temperatures obtained experimentally. In this case however the electri-
cal machine was not accessible, thus, comparisons had to be made against the
available data. Table 5.3 shows the steady state model results compared with
a certificate test data. The results show a difference of 2.6 ◦ C. As explained
before, the thermal resistance from the frame to the ambient is a combination
of: forced and natural convection, conduction towards the structure holding the
machine, and radiation. Mellor et al. calculates this thermal resistance exper-
imentally. Here, the value of this resistance is adjusted arbitrarily to obtain a
frame temperature close to the certificate test point, and let the model calculate
the winding temperature, which was the only available temperature in the test.
The mentioned thermal resistance in this case was set to Ra = 0.0357 ◦ K/W .

Table 5.3: Steady state model results against certificate test data. The machine is
running as motor at 2940 rpm and 18.5 kW. The certificate test data is obtained
from: (Bro, 2004)
Location Certificate Test Modelled Error

(◦ C) (◦ C) (◦ C) (%)
Ambient 20 20 0.0 0.0
Frame 42.0 43.6 1.3 3.80
Winding 75.0 77.6 2.6 3.41
A steady state comparison between the data experimentally obtained by Hodgins

and the model is presented in figure 5.14 and table 5.4. As it can be seen, the
model closely follows the experimental data with relatively small errors. The
maximum error of the model is 2.8 ◦ C and 8.25% at 15.06 kW of output power.
The model seems to be more accurate at high powers, showing an error of 0.16
and 2.14 ◦ C for the points obtained at 19.5 and 19.56 kW of output power. The
precision of the sensors are unknown. However considering the big jump that
exists between these two last points obtained experimentally, it could be argued
that the model is probably within the sensor precision limits.
60
Modelled
Experimental Data
50
Temperature (◦ C)
40
30
20
10
0
0 5 10 15 20
Output Power (kW )
Figure 5.14: End–winding temperature rise comparison between the model and
experimental data. The experimental data was obtained from: (Hodgins, 2010).

Table 5.4: End–winding temperature rise comparison between the model and
experimental data. The experimental data was obtained from: (Hodgins, 2010).
Temperature rise
Power output Error
Experimental Modelled
(kW ) (◦ C) (◦ C) (◦ C) (%)
0 16 17.24 1.24 7.72
3.7 17.6 18.38 0.78 4.43
7.2 21 21.65 0.65 3.11
8.85 23 23.94 0.94 4.07
15.06 34 36.8 2.8 8.23
17.3 41.9 43.1 1.2 2.87
19.5 50 50.16 0.16 0.32
19.56 52.5 50.36 -2.14 -4.07
140
Stator core
120 Stator winding
Stator end-winding
100
Temperature (◦ C)
Rotor bars
Rotor core
80 Frame
60
40
20
0
0 50 100 150 200
Time (minutes)
Figure 5.15: Transient response of thermal model with constant power output
and ambient temperature.
The results of the transient thermal model are shown in figure 5.15. The model
was run at a constant power output of 19.5 kW, and constant ambient tempera-
ture of 15 ◦ C. Hodgins presents experimental results for the outer casing of the
electrical machine, the machine fins, and the flow. However, he does not present
any temperature measurement for any of the internal electrical machine compo-

nents. Furthermore, no acess to the electrical machine was possible. Thus, no

validation for the transient thermal model was feasible. The transient thermal
model presented in this section is used hereafter. It is important to note that the
thermal model was validated on steady state conditions as shown in figure 5.14.

Chapter 6
A proposed asset management plan
6.1 Introduction
This chapter starts by proposing an asset management plan for offshore marine
energy converters. This plan is built with the objective of maximising the plant’s
profits. The proposed asset management plan takes into consideration: the state
of the asset, its deterioration rate, and its costs.
As previously discussed, for electrical machines the deterioration rate is a function

of the stress factors: temperature, electrical, ambient, and mechanical. These
stress factors are very device dependant. An oscillating water column will be
used as a case study to show the rationale of the proposed asset management
plan.
143
Chapter 6. A proposed asset management plan
6.2 The proposed asset management plan for off-

shore marine energy converters
As discussed in chapter 3, a good asset management plan places at its centre the
plan’s final objective and all the information of the asset around it (figure 3.1).
This way, all administrative decisions are in–line with the final objective, and
supported by all the information of the asset in question. Since the concern of
the industry is to reduce its cost per energy produced (US$/kWh), the objective
of this asset management plan is to increase profitability.
As aforementioned, availability is closely related to profitability. An offshore en-

ergy converter would be more profitable if it is able to produce and sell electricity
for a longer period of time.
The propose asset management is constructed based on:
• The relation between profit and availability.
• The PAS 55 framework (figure 3.1).
• The presented multi factor insulation framework (figure 3.3).
• The flow of information from the device to the asset management (fig-
ure 3.4).
• The limited access to maintenance (it is assumed that assets are non–
repairable, so maintenance hereafter means replacement) .
The asset management decision level is proposed to have three possible outcomes:
continue operation as normal; stop the production and replace the electrical ma-
chine at the next available window; or lower the machine’s power rating, continu-
ing production and extending the operating time. Lowering the power rating has

a positive effect on the device availability and reliability at the cost of producing
less power. The increase in availability could also have an economical benefit,
as the plant would still produce electricity that could be sold. This economic
benefit however has to be evaluated apriori, and based on it make the manage-
ment decision. Figure 6.1 presents a schematic of the asset management decision
process.
Management
Decision
Continue Lower Power Stop &

Operation Rating Replace
Figure 6.1: Proposed asset management decisions.
As seen in figure 6.1, the required information for the management decision are
the economical consequences of taking each of the decisions and the remaining life
of the electrical generator. The economical consequences of each possible decision
are calculated based on the cost function defined by equation 3.1. The remaining
life of the electrical generator is calculated by defining a damage parameter D as a
function of the stress factors and the time these factors are applied. The rationale
behind the definition of the damage parameter and its usage is explained ahead.
First an ageing model and their corresponding stress factors are chosen as de-
scribed in chapter 3. These ageing models give the expected life time when stress
factors are constant:
texp = L(s1o , s2o , · · · , sno ) (6.1)

Where texp , is the expected life time, and s1 , s2 , · · · , sn are the corresponding
stress factors. The subscript o denotes that the stress factors are kept constant
at some value. From equation 6.1 it is possible to recognise that if the constant
stress factors are applied for a period of time ∆t, the percentage life lost, %Llost
is equal to:
∆t
%Llost = (6.2)
texp
Combining equation 6.1 and equation 6.2, and renaming the percentage life lost
and the expected life time as a damage parameter Do and life at constant stress
factors Lo respectively, the following relation is obtained:
∆t
Do = (6.3)
Lo
In normal operation of electrical machines, the stress level factors change with
time. If it is assumed then that the effects of the damage experienced by each
stress factor value can be aggregated, the damage for each stress level factor can
be calculated separately. This assumption leads to:
m m
X X ∆ti
Dtot = Di = 1 2
(6.4)
i=1 i=1
L(si , si , · · · , sni )
Where Dtot is the total accumulated damage of the insulation system, m is the
number of constant stress factor levels applied, Di is the damage experienced
by the i-th stress factor level, and ∆ti is the time that the i-th stress factors
(s1i , s2i , · · · , sni ) are applied.
Equation 6.4 can also be written in its integral form by doing ∆ti infinitesimally
small and integrating it over the exposure time period tfi − toi :

m m
"Z #
tfi
X X 1
Dtot = Di = · dt (6.5)
i=1 i=1 toi L(s1i , s2i , · · · , sni )
The damage parameter represents the percentage of life lost by applying the stress
factors for a given period of time. Thus, 0 ≤ Di ≤ 1 and 0 ≤ Dtot ≤ 1. The
limits Dtot = 0 and Dtot = 1 represent the insulation, in this case the machine,
when no deterioration is present and when a failure is imminent.
The remaining life time (RLT) of the machine is then defined as the time it
would take to reach an accumulated damage of 1. The RLT is estimated by
extrapolating the damage accumulation rate. Knowing the state of the insulation
by the remaining lifetime extrapolation, a decision to lower the power rating of the
device could be made in order to reduce the damage accumulation rate and make
the remaining life time longer. Figure 6.2 graphically explains this procedure.
Damage
100% ith s
i on w ition ting
o lat cond we r ra
rap of g po
ext ange lo werin
ch ion
no apolat
e x t r
D3 Extended
Life
D2 Remaining
Life Time
D1
now
Lifetime
failure failure
Figure 6.2: Life estimation using damage factor. D1 , D2 , and D3 represent the
damage of three different stress factor levels. The remaining life time is extrap-
olated using the historical accumulation rate at rated power. An estimation of
the extended life time is obtained by analysing the damage accumulation rate at
partial power. Finally the asset management decision is made.
The benefits of the proposed asset management plan are better demonstrated
using a case study. The rest of the chapter presents a case study using an os-

cillating water column. This device was chosen due to information availability.
Hodgins studied different electrical machine options for this type of devices. His
work serves as a source of information, especially that related to the electrical
machine topology employed and its performance (Hodgins, 2010).
6.3 Predicting loss of life at time changing stresses
6.3.1 Assuming only thermal degradation
A number of studies can be found in literature that use essentially two ways of
estimating the life of electrical insulation systems under time changing stresses
(Gnacinski, 2008). These studies however take into account only thermal age-
ing. The two methodologies are briefly revised in order to deduce analogy for
multi–stress type degradation. The first method takes the shape of the following
equation:

θc −θi

 100 · 2 exp for θ < θi
HIC
L% = 100
(6.6)
 θc −θi for θ > θi
2 exp( HIC )
Where L100 is the life of the insulation at rated temperature, θr and θx are the
temperatures at rated and real time conditions, HIC is the halve interval index,
and L% is the percent of life lost. This equation assumes that the insulation
deterioration is mainly due to temperature changes. The halve interval index
parameter is calculated experimentally, and is an analogy of the 10◦ or Montsinger
rule. This index is calculated on the realisation that different materials react
differently at a different level of stresses (i.e. different chemical reactions). The
value of HIC is given according to the temperature class of the insulation. This
is shown in table 6.1.

Table 6.1: Halve interval index, temperature rise, and apparent activation energy
(φ) for electrical insulation systems of different thermal class. The temperature
rise is given at an assumed ambient temperature of 40◦ C. Source: (EPR, 1985)
Rated Temperature Temperature rise HIC φ

Thermal Class
(◦ C) (◦ C) (◦ C) (eV )
A 105 65.0 14.0 0.60
B 130 90.0 11.0 0.80
F 155 115.0 9.3 1.05
H 180 140.0 8.0 1.38
H+ 220 180.0 10.0 1.27
As stated before, a machine is subjected to different temperatures during its

operational life time. The life lost at different temperatures can be converted
into an equivalent time at a reference temperature using the following equation
(EPR, 1985; Brancato, 1992):

ti φ 1 1
ln = − (6.7)
tref K θi θref
Where ti is the time the machine is subjected to temperature θi , tref is the

equivalent time at reference temperature θref , K is the Boltzman constant (equal
to 0.867 ∗ 10−4 eV /◦ K) and φ is the apparent activation energy of the chemical
reaction involved in the degradation process. The apparent activation energy is
obtained experimentally, and/or from table 6.1.
6.3.2 Assuming multi–stress degradation
First, it is necessary to choose the equation that is going to describe the multi–
stress degradation process. In this scenario Grzybowski’s model, equation 3.22,
is chosen and repeated here for completeness.


m2 A B
L(E, θ, f ) = C · f (m1 + E ) · exp + (6.8)
E θ

field and switching frequency respectively.
Second, it is necessary to question how to handle different stress levels that change
in time. As it was done in the thermal ageing case, the time a machine spends
at different stress level can be converted into an equivalent time at a reference
stress level. The equation involved in this equivalent time calculation is obtained
as follows.
First, the equation that is going to express the deterioration of the insulation
system under multiple stresses is taken and evaluated under two levels of stress,
f1 , E1 , θ1 , and a reference level fref , Eref , θref . This leads to :

m

m1 + E 2 A B
t1 = C · f1 1
· exp + (6.9)
E1 θ1

m2
m1 + E

ref A B
tref = C · fref · exp + (6.10)
Eref θref
If it is assumed that the voltage and frequency levels remain unchanged (valid
if the machine is connected to an inverter with fixed DC link voltage and fixed
switching frequency). And then taking the natural logarithm of both sides of the
equations and subtracting them leads to:

tref 1 1
ln =B − (6.11)
t1 θref θ1

Then, solving for tref leads to:

1 1
tref = t1 · exp B − (6.12)
θref θ1
Thus, tref represents the equivalent time that the machine has to be subjected
to reference stress levels in order to experience the same amount of deterioration
of subjecting the machine to stress levels 1, applied for a period of time equal
to t1 . By analysing and comparing equations (6.7) and (6.11) it is possible to
observe that the experimentally obtained parameter B is equal to φ/K. Thus, B
is related to the activation energy of the dominant chemical reaction involved in
the degradation process.
For the general case when voltage, frequency and temperature do change in time,
equation 6.11 might be written as:

tref m2 m2
ln = m1 − ln f1 − m1 − ln f2
t1 E1 Eref

1 1 1 1
+A − +B − (6.13)
Eref E1 θref θ1
6.4 Case Study: The Oscillating Water Column
Among the diversity of marine energy converters, the oscillating water column
(OWC) stands as one of the most studied. The operating principle is the same
regardless of the device location (onshore, near shore or offshore). First, the
ocean waves impact the device structure. This impact energises the mass of water
contained in the semi–open chamber. The energy contained in the moving water is
then transferred to the air in the chamber as an oscillating compression–expansion

phenomenon. This compression–expansion of the inner air mass induces a bi–

directional air flow along a ducted passage that connects the chamber with the
outside. An air turbine placed inside the duct extracts energy from the moving
fluid, transforming it to mechanical energy. An electrical generator mechanically
linked to the air turbine then makes the final transformation to electrical energy.
The energy conversion from the waves in the open sea surface to electricity is
not straight forward. From all the steps in the transformation there are losses
that present a challenge for the overall system modeller. Waves, and the energy
they contain, can be absorbed or diffracted. The amount of energy absorbed or
diffracted depends on the OWC geometry and the response of the turbine.
As a first step in the analysis, it is necessary to relate the response of the surface
of water inside a chamber as a function of the excitation from incident waves.
This hydrodynamic problem can be split in two sub–problems: one external, that
calculates the energy transfer from the open sea to the OWC; and one internal,
which calculates the kinematic and dynamic response of the surface of water inside
the chamber. These two problems can be linked by matching the responses over a
common boundary. This common boundary extends vertically from the bottom
edge of the front chamber wall to the seabed. Josset and Clément solved and
linked these two problems by using linear wave theory and two boundary element
method solvers named ACHIL3D and ACHIL (Josset and Clément, 2007).
The next step in the analysis is to investigate the interaction of the free surface
of water inside the chamber with the mass of air. Pressure of the air inside the
chamber reacts according to the conditions of the free surface of water, so the
two are strongly linked. It is out of the scope of this thesis to analyse in detail
the performance of an OWC. A couple of points however about its performance
are noted:

1. The dynamics of an OWC could be thought as those of a mass–spring–

damper system. In this analogy, the displacement of water inside the cham-
ber could be thought as the spring, the inertia of the water could be con-
sidered as the mass, and the turbine extracting energy from the moving air
would be the damper. The analogy is only valid theoretically, as all the
non–linearities of the physical system would make it very hard to calculate
the mass, spring and damper constants (Hodgins, 2010).
2. For maximum energy capture, the pressure drop across the turbine should
match the dynamic response of the OWC. Otherwise, the movement of the
free water surface inside the chamber would get restrained. This would
reduce the absorption and increase the reflection of energy of the system.
The case study is therefore simplified in order to focus on the response of the
electrical machine. The scope of the model is shown in figure 6.3. The input of
the system is the pneumatic energy at the air–duct. This energy is oscillatory
in nature as a consequence of the waves, as described above. The following
sections will outline the system characteristics, assumptions and the way they
were modelled.
Pneumatic Mechanical Stress

Power Torque Factors
Incomig Wells Electrical Insulation
OWC System
Waves Turbine Generator
Control
Model Scope
Figure 6.3: Oscillating water column model schematic.

6.4.1 The Wells Turbine
The heart of the oscillating water column is the turbine that extracts energy from
a bi–directional flow. In 1976 the British engineer Alan Arthur Wells proposed
and patented a rotatory transducer, afterwards called the Wells turbine. This
turbine has the characteristic of rotating in the same direction in spite of the
direction of the flow.
In its more simple version, the Wells turbine consists of symmetrical airfoils
around a hub, with the chord line normal to the axis of rotation. According
to classical aerofoil theory, an aerofoil placed in a fluid flow at an angle αW ,
defined as the angle between the stream flow and the chord line, generates two
forces: drag and lift. The drag force, FD , acts along the direction of the stream
flow and the lift force, FL , is always perpendicular to the stream. These two
forces can be decomposed into an axial component Fx , which is responsible for
the thrust along the turbine axis, and a tangential component Fθ which creates
a torque around the axis of rotation.
air speed
F αW
θ
D
L
Fx
Fx
FL
FD
FθαW
air speed
Figure 6.4: The Wells turbine working principle schematic. Adapted from:
(Raghunathan, 1995)

In rotatory machinery, the stream flow velocity is defined as a vector summation

of the actual flow velocity and the rotor rotational velocity. Therefore, for an
unidirectional rotating turbine, subjected to a bidirectional flow, the angle of
incidence will vary from positive to negative.
As it can be seen in figure 6.4, the symmetrical nature of the Wells turbine
generates a tangential force always pointing into the same direction, regardless
of whether αW is positive or negative.
The performance of a Wells turbine can be evaluated using the torque coefficient
CT , the input power coefficient CA , the flow coefficient φf low , and the efficiency
η (Takao et al., 2007; Murthy and Srinivasa Rao, 2005).
2T0
CT = (6.14)
ρa (va2 + UR2 ) bb lr zrR
2 · ∆pQair
CA = (6.15)
ρa (va2 + UR2 ) bb lr zva
va
φf low = (6.16)
UR
T0 ω CT
η= = (6.17)
∆pQair CA φf low
Where:
The input, torque and efficiency coefficients can be obtained using computational
fluid dynamics or experimentation. In both methodologies, the flow coefficient is
changed by varying the rotational speed of the turbine while keeping the axial
air velocity constant (Taha and Sawada, 2010).

T0 is the output torque.

Qair is the air flow.
ρa is the air density.
va is the mean axial flow velocity.
UR is the tangential speed of the rotor at the mean blade length.
bb span of the blade.
lr is the blade chord length.
rR is the mean blade radius.
z is the number of rotor blades.
∆p is total pressure drop across the turbine.
ω is the turbine rotational speed.
There are a number of Wells turbines in literature, such as: Wells turbines with
guide vanes, self–pitch–control blade, biplane Wells turbines, contra–rotating
Wells turbines. Setoguchi and Takao make a performance comparison under
steady–state conditions (Setoguchi and Takao, 2006).
For this study a bi–plane Wells turbine is used. The physical and performance
characteristics of the Wells turbine utilised are summarised in figure 6.5 and
table 6.2. The sudden drop in figure 6.5b reflects the stalling effect of the turbine.
Stalling is normally undesirable in turbo machinery as it can induce large forces to
the rotor and shaft. Thus, the operating point of the turbine should be kept below
this point. Two control strategies can be used to control the turbine operating
point. One is the usage of bypass valves that connect the air duct with the
atmosphere. The second strategy is to control the rotational speed of the turbine
with the electrical generator.

5 0.6
4
0.4
CA 3
CT
2
0.2
1
0 0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
φ φ
(a) Axial force coefficient (b) Torque force coefficient
Figure 6.5: Wells turbine performance curves. Source : (Setoguchi and Takao,
2006)
Table 6.2: The Wells turbine parameters. (Solidity is defined as the ratio of total
lr z
blade chord to turbine circumference. σ = 2πr where lr , z, and r are the blade
chord length, the number of blades, and the turbine radius (Consul et al., 2009).)
Parameter Dimension
Turbine diameter 298 mm
Aerofoil NACA0020
Hub to tip ratio 0.7
Aspect ratio 0.5
Chord length 90 mm
Solidity at mean radius 0.45
6.4.2 Connection to the grid
In some instances, the OWC generator has been directly connected to the grid
(i.e. Trivandrum project in India). More modern designs include the usage of
power converters as an interface between the grid and the electrical generator of
the OWC (Hodgins, 2010). The power converters allow the turbine–generator
arrangement to extract energy at different rotating speeds. For the purposes of
this study a variable speed system, which includes a power converter system, is
assumed. The schematic of the system is shown in figure 6.6

SCIG
Wells Turbine Grid

Machine–side converter Grid–side converter
Figure 6.6: Schematic of the system’s connection to the grid.
6.4.3 Generator Model
The generator model consists of two parts, one electromagnetic and the other
thermal. The electromagnetic submodel consists of a standard dq model with
reference to the stator frame. The thermal model consists of a lumped parameter
thermal network. The electromagnetic and the thermal model are subject to
further review in the following chapters.
Electromagnetic
Torque Model
Reference temperature
Reference resistances
Voltages Conductor Resitances

Currents
Loss Calculate new

Model conductor resistances
Losses
(Heat sources) Temperatures
Thermal
Model
Figure 6.7: Block diagram of the induction machine electromagnetic–thermal

model interaction. The parameters in blue are those needed only for initialisation
of the solving process (step time 1).

6.4.3.1 Generator rating and temperature class
The characteristics of the electrical machine used for this case study are depicted
in table 4.2, and reproduced in table 6.3 for completeness. Measurements taken by
Hodgins showed that at full rated power, the machine was operating at about 51
◦
C of temperature rise (Hodgins, 2010). He then proposed to increase the power
rating of the machine to about 24.6 kW to achieve the same temperature rise as
the one reported by the manufacturer (75 ◦ C). Commonly the temperature rise of
electrical machines is obtained assuming an ambient temperature of 40 ◦ C. This
means that, the maximum allowed operating temperature of the machine is about
115 ◦ C. This temperature is much lower than that reported for an insulation class
F (table 6.5). This underclassification is done to increase the expected life time
of the machines. The ambient temperature in an oscillating water column located
at the north of Scotland, where the mean and maximum temperatures are 8.5 and
19 ◦ C respectively, is very unlikely to reach 40 ◦ C. For this study, the ambient
temperature is assumed fixed at 15 ◦ C. For this case study, the machine power
rating is changed to give an expected life of the insulation to about 20,000 hours
of continuous operation. The power rating of the machine will be addressed later
in the chapter.
Table 6.3: Electrical machine parameters.
Parameter Value
Power rating 18.5 kW
Nominal voltage 400 V
Internal connection Delta
Nominal Frequency 50 Hz
Number of poles 2
Temperature class F
Temperature rise 75 ◦ C

6.4.4 Control
The control of the electrical machine is done using field oriented control. Field
oriented control allows the independent control of magnetic flux and torque in
AC drives. This kind of control is very similar to that of separately excited
DC machines but requires information such as the stator current phasor and
the position of the rotor flux linkage. The stator current phasor is decomposed
into a component along the rotor flux direction, which is then regarded as the
field–producing current, and the other component is called the torque–producing
current.
Field oriented control can be classified in two groups according to the way the
rotor field angle is acquired. Direct field oriented control (DFOC) or indirect field
oriented control (IFOC). DFOC describes a control scheme where flux position
is calculated with machine voltages and currents, which in turn are directly mea-
sured by sensors. On the other hand, IFOC describe a scheme where the flux po-
sition is estimated through rotor position and other machine parameters. DFOC
schemes are simpler in their logic but require higher number of physical compo-
nents that are potential sources of failures. IFOC are more complex to design
and implement; however the lack of additional sensors or physical components
makes these systems more reliable than DFOC. Reliability advantages together
with microchip development has increased the popularity of IFOC schemes.
The control implemented for the machine encompasses a PI speed controller

coupled to a space vector modulation (SVM) that commands the signal to a
three phase ideal converter that in turns controls the voltage of the stator of
the induction machine. A schematic showing the high level control is shown in
figure 6.8. A speed reference curve was obtained and treated as a target speed.
The speed control then calculates the speed error and commands the required

voltage and frequency signal to the SVM. The latter receives this command signal
together with the voltage signal and then calculates the switching signals of the
three–phase inverter.
AC–DC converter DC–AC converter
SCIG
Grid
Speed sensor Voltage sensor

SVM Speed Control Speed Reference
Figure 6.8: High level control schematic.
The SVM works in the following manner. First the three–phase required voltage
signal is converted into a vector using the abc to αβ or Clark’s transformation
given by:
 
  va (t)
1 1
2 1 − 2 − 2   
vαβ (t) =
 
√ √  vb (t) 
3 0 3
− 23  
2
vc (t)
Then it is noted that each of the legs of a three–phase H–bridge inverter have
two states. A 1–state corresponding to the top switch being closed while the
bottom switch is open, and a 0–state corresponding to the top switch being closed
while the bottom switch is closed. Then it is recognised that for a three phase
inverter there are only 8 posibilities, as shown in table 6.4. These 8 switching
possibilities are normally represented in a vector diagram, placing the first and
last possibilities at the centre of a the diagram due to the fact that the voltage
output of all legs being at the 1– or 0– states results in a net voltage of zero.

Thus, in order to create any vector Vs a modulation between the two adjacent
vectors and the origin vectors V0 and V7 is performed. A graphical representation
of the vectors and the calculation of a random vector Vs is shown in figure 6.9.
Table 6.4: Switching states for a 3–phase H–bridge converter
Possibility Name of state Switch states

1 V0 0,0,0
2 V1 1,0,0
3 V2 1,1,0
4 V3 0,1,0
5 V4 0,1,1
6 V5 0,0,1
7 V6 1,0,1
8 V7 1,1,1
β – axis
V3 (0, 1, 0) V2 (1, 1, 0)
Vs
α α – axis
V4 (0, 1, 1) V1 (1, 0, 0)
V0 (0, 0, 0)
V7 (1, 1, 1)
V5 (0, 0, 1) V6 (1, 0, 1)
Figure 6.9: αβ vector sector. In order to create the voltage vector Vs , the modu-
lation is performed using the two adjacent between vectors V1 , V2 , and the zero
vectors V0 and V7 .
A schematic of the high level and speed controllers as implemented in Simulink

is presented in figure 6.10.

(a) High level control
(b) Speed control
Figure 6.10: Simulink implementation of the control.
6.4.5 Insulation system ageing model
As discussed in section 3.5.3, the ageing model to be used in this thesis is Grzy-
bowski’s. This model is the only one in literature that takes into account three
types of stress factors: temperature, voltage, and switching frequency. His model
is given by equation 3.22 and reproduced here for completeness:

(m1 + m2
) · exp A B
L(E, θ, f ) = C · f E + (6.18)
E θ


field and switching frequency.
6.4.5.1 Magnet wire
The constants of the model depend on the insulating material or system. Some of
the most common insulation materials used for electrical machines are presented
in table 6.5.
Table 6.5: Magnet wire classification & typical materials used.
Temperature limit
Thermal Class Common materials
(◦ C)
A 105 Polyurethane, Polyurethane Nylon
B 130 Polyurethane, Polyurethane Nylon
Polyurethane, Polyurethane Nylon,
F 155
Dacron glass
Polyurethane, Polyurethane Nylon,
H 180 Polyesterimide, Polyester, Polyester
Nylon, Dacron glass
Polyester, Polyester Polyamideimide,
K 200
Polytetrafluoroethylene (teflon)
C 240+ Polyimide
Unfortunately, there is very limited information publicly available for electrical

insulation materials using the chosen ageing model. Table 6.6 depicts information
of three different enamel wires gathered from the literature.

Table 6.6: Magnet wire life characteristics. Source: (Grzybowski and Bandaru,
2004a; Grzybowski et al., 2004)
Name C A B m1 m2
Polyestirimide 2.56E-37 50633.67 16776.36 0.6124 -1274.8
Estersol 1 3.34E-6 10153 3726 18.0146 -14905
Estersol 2 4.5965E-14 34141.5 2183.37 0.5814 -1165
In order to choose between the above presented materials, a constant switching

frequency and voltage and changing operating temperature are assumed and sub-
stituted in equation 6.18. The switching frequency is set to 25 kHz. Inverters
constructed with IGBT’s are able to work at this frequency. The voltage expe-
rienced by the insulation is that of the dc link. In this case, the dc link voltage
(Vdc ), is approximately Vdc ≈ 725V .
Figure 6.11 and table 6.7 show the life of the above mentioned materials. Ester-
sol 1 is easily dismissed because life times are very small when the desired stress
factors are applied. Polyestirimide shows the best performance at the lower tem-
peratures, with an expected life of about 6.3 x 104 years at 90◦ C and a very sharp
decrease in performance to about 3.2 x 103 years at 115◦ C. These life times are
obviously very high when compared to what is expected of the machine. Estersol
2 seems the right choice, reporting expected life times of about 18 and 12 years at
operating temperatures of 90◦ C and 115◦ C respectively. Estersol 2 is the material
used for the rest of this case study.
Table 6.7: Expected life time of material candidates for this study. Data obtained
at switching frequency 25 kHz and 725 V.
Expected life time (years)

Material
at 90◦ C at 115◦ C at 155◦ C
Polyestirimide 6.36E4 3.24E3 57.25
Estersol 1 9.79E-11 5.05E-11 2.06E-11
Estersol 2 18.32 12.44 5.55
The temperature class of these materials is unknown. This temperature class

105
104 20, 000 hours
103
102
101
Life (hours)
100
10−1
10−2
10−3
10−4
10−5
10−6
10−7 estersol 1
10−8 1
10 102 103
Temperature (◦ C)
(a) Estersol 1
1012
polyestirimide
1011
estersol 2
1010
109
Life (hours)
108
107
106
105
104 20, 000 hours
103
102 1
10 102 103
Temperature (◦ C)
(b) Polyestrimide and Estersol 2
Figure 6.11: Expected life time of material candidates for this study. Data ob-
tained at switching frequency 25 kHz and 725 V.
however is commonly given as to give an expected life of 20,000 hours under

continuous operation. According to this definition and figure 6.11, it could be
concluded that estersol 2 belongs to temperature class H (180◦ C). This means
that the machine power rating could be significantly increased even beyond the

24kW as reported by Hodgins (see section 6.4.3.1). As it was discussed before,

the manufacturer underclassfied the machine, probably to reach longer life times.
Using the same reasoning, estersol 2, is given here a thermal classification F
(155◦ C), and a temperature rise of 115◦ C (see table 6.1). As it was disucssed in
chapter 5 the temperature increase of the machine end–winding in steady–state
can be modelled by figure 6.12. Using the temperature increase of 115◦ C for
estersol 2, and this machine temperature profile, the machine power rating is
increased to 33.4 kW. The total and individual damage suffered by the insulation
is calculated using equations (6.4) and (6.12) respectively.
160
140
120
Temperature (◦ C)
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Output Power (kW )
Figure 6.12: End–winding temperature rise in steady state.
6.4.6 The full model
Due to the high computing intensity required to solve the full model, encom-
passing the Wells turbine, the electrical generator, the control and the insulation
system described in figure 6.3, the model was split into three sub–models. The
first one includes the electrical generator, the power converters and the connection
to the electrical grid, and the control system. The inputs to this sub-model are

the torque in the shaft and the target speed. The Simulink implementation of this
sub–model is presented in figure 6.13. The block called ’Space Vector PWM VSI
Induction Machine’ contains the high level control portrayed in figure 6.10. The
important results of this sub–model are the operating conditions of the machine
such as speed, torque, stator current, the power generated from the machine, and
the power losses inside the machine.
Figure 6.13: The full machine–converter model.
The second sub–model is presented in figure 6.14. It represents the Simulink

implementation of the thermal model as described in chapter 5. The inputs
of the model are the output power from the electrical machine, the speed of the
machine and the power losses. The key outputs of the model are the temperatures
of the machine. These temperatures are then used in the insulation system ageing
model.

Figure 6.14: The Simulink thermal model.
The third sub–model comprises equation 6.18, equation 6.4 and the data for
estersol 2 found in table 6.6. Figure 6.15 shows the simulink implementation of
the life and damage parameter model.
Figure 6.15: Simulink implemantation of the ageing model. The model is pre-
sented in equation 6.18. The constants used for running the model are those
corresponding to the material called estersol 2, presented in table 6.6.
6.5 Results
In order to demonstrate the rationale behind the reduction of power to extend the
life of the electrical machine while in operation the following procedure was taken.
Run the electrical machine–converter model, depicted in figure 6.13, assuming a
sinusoidal torque input and a defined speed target curve. Then a second run

is performed assuming the same sinusoidal torque input and a different target
speed. Having the same torque input but different speed profiles results in two
different power ratings.
For the first scenario, a speed profile is set between 3000 and 4000 rpm. This
corresponds to an electrical power output of 22.7 kW . For the second scenario,
the speed profile is set between 2500 and 3500 rpm. This scenario corresponds to
an electrical power output of 13.6 kW . These scenarios were chosen arbitrarily
but show that a small change in the target speed (500 rpm) result in a reduction
of the electrical power output of about 60%. The latter can be seen in figure 6.16
where the instant power produced is integrated accumulatively. It is important
to note that the purpose of this exercise is not to find the optimum operating
point of the system but rather to demonstrate the rationale behind the change
in power rating and demonstrate its potential benefits. Nonetheless, from the
results obtained here it could be concluded that the system is probably better
running at a power rating in between the two scenarios here described. Later it
will be shown that the losses and the operating temperature, and thus, the life
of the machine do have a significant change from one scenario to the other.
Figure 6.17 shows the stator current Ia of one of the phases of the machine, the
operating speed, the mechanical torque, and the DC bus voltage. The speed
and torque plots demonstrate that the machine is following a repetitive sinusoid.
This is expected as both the target speed and input torque where chosen of
sinusoidal shape. The current and torque oscillate between positive and negative
values. The reason of that oscillation might be explained by the acceleration or
deceleration requirement for the machine to match the target speed. The DC
bus voltage remains almost constant at a value of about 1000 V . An even more
constant DC bus voltage could be achieved by optimising the grid side converter
control depicted in figure 6.10a. This voltage level is the one utilised by the
inverter to control the machine, thus the voltage to be used at the ageing model

is 1000 V . Another important result from the first sub–model is the switching
frequency of the converter. The converter was modelled as ideal switches with a
switching frequency of 5.5 kHz. This frequency will also be used at the ageing
model.
40000
speed range in rpm
35000 3000–4000
2500–3500
30000
Energy (W s)
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s)
Figure 6.16: Two power scenario results: Energy.

Figure 6.17: Two power scenario results: Current, Speed, Torque and DC Bus
voltage.
Figure 6.18 and figure 6.19 show the input and output power of the machine
together with the power losses. The opposite sign of the mechanical and electrical
power in figure 6.18a and figure 6.19a shows that for most of the time the machine
is acting as a generator, taking power from the external load and transforming it
into electricity. Figure 6.18b and figure 6.19b show that the iron losses are almost

constant. Furthermore, iron losses are the biggest losses of all at some specific
times. This is more noticeable in figure 6.19b between 12.5 and 13.5 seconds
where the machine is consuming some power to keep the machine energised and
account for the power losses. The latter is also evident by the fact that stator and
rotor joule losses are almost zero between 12.5 and 13.5 seconds in figure 6.19b.
(a) Mechanical and electrical power
(b) Power losses
Figure 6.18: Power outputs of first case scenario. Speed range 3000–4000 rpm

(a) Mechanical and electrical power
(b) Power losses
Figure 6.19: Power outputs of second case scenario. Speed range 2500–3500 rpm
As explained before, the output power, rotation speed, and other conditions com-
puted in sub–model one were taken as inputs to the thermal model. Figure 6.20
and figure 6.21 show the result of running the thermal model for the two scenarios.
The temperature profile of the machine resembles the case where a constant out-
put power was assumed (figure 5.15). The high time constant of thermal systems

compared to that of the electrical machine mechanical and electrical dynamics

could explain this resemblance. The little up and down spikes in figure 6.21 denote
that the power output and the losses of the machine are indeed not constant.
The end–winding temperature settles to about 64.1 and 32.4 ◦ C for each case
respectively. These temperatures are lower than that of the estersol 2 temperature
rating (90 ◦ C), meaning that the power rating of the machine could be further
increased for these scenarios. Nonetheless, it is important to note that these
temperature distributions depend on the input power and target speed for the
OWC. For these scenarios the input torque was taken as a perfect sinusoid with
a constant frequency of 0.5π radians. This is very different to the conditions that
an OWC would experience on a real sea state. Thus, the output power of the
machine could be further increased only when the sea profile is known a priori.
Figure 6.20 shows that the frame, rotor iron, and even the endcap and shaft
temperatures for scenario 2 are higher than the end–winding temperature. This
could be explained by the high thermal resistance that the rotor encounters at
the airgap in an air cooled machine. Due to the high thermal resistance of the
airgap, most of the heat generated at the rotor is dissipated through the shaft
and the shaft bearings. In contrast, most of the heat generated at the stator is
dissipated through conduction towards the case and the machine mounting.

(a) Speed range 3000–4000 rpm
(b) Speed range 2500–3500 rpm
Figure 6.20: Machine temperature distribution
The big differences in the machine and end–winding temperatures, observed in

figure 6.20 and figure 6.21, could be explained by the fact that the 2500–3000 rpm
scenario has an instant power output reduction of about 60% when compared to
the 3000–4000 rpm scenario. This is also noticeable in the power losses, which
are smaller for the 2500–3000 rpm scenario. The largest difference in the power

losses from one scenario to the other are in the stator joule losses (see figure 6.18b
and figure 6.19b). Another cause that could explain the temperature differences
is that some thermal resistances of the machine are related to its rotating speed.
This is the case for all those resistances where forced convection occurs, such as
the end–winding, end–cap, and the airgap regions (see section 5.4, section 5.9.3,
section 5.9.4, and section 5.9.5). Thus, the different thermal behavior of the
machine on each scenario could be explained by a combination of machine losses
and a change in thermal resistances that depend on the speed of the machine.
Figure 6.21: End–winding temperature of both cases.
Once the stress factors (end–winding temperature, switching frequency, and DC

voltage) are known, it is possible to estimate the remaining life of the EIS by
calculating the damage parameter, defined in equation 6.4 with its Simulink im-
plementation depicted in figure 6.15, for the two dicussed scenarios. Figure 6.22
depicts the calculation of the damage parameters for the two scenarios. The life
of the 2500–3500 scenario is substantially larger when compared with the 3000–
4000 rpm scenario (≈ 680 and ≈ 420 seconds respectively). The estimated time
of the machine on each of the scenarios responds to the stress differences, mostly
temperatures. It is important to note that for the life of the EIS on this plot is

only in the range of some seconds instead of years. This could be explained by
the fact that the calculated operating voltage for this particular EIS is about 725
V. In order to reduce the simulating time, a higher voltage of about 1000 V was
chosen for these case studies. The conclusions drawn from these scenarios would
be the same as running the materials for several years (only the life times would
be different).
1.2
1.0
Damage parameter
0.8
0.6
0.4
speed range in rpm
3000–4000
0.2 2500–3500
End of Life
0.0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Time (s)
Figure 6.22: Damage parameter of the two scenarios.
After calculating the damage parameter and the estimated lifetime of the two
scenarios, a third one is created in the following manner. First it is assumed that
the system is run at the maximum power rating of the two chosen scenarios (3000–
4000 rpm). This power rating setting is maintained until the machine reaches 80%
of its allowed damage parameter (or reaches 80% of its expected lifetime at that
power rating), which ocurs at about 360 seconds. At this point a decision to
reduce the power rating to the 2500–3500 rpm scenario is made. The result of
this change in power rating is that the new remaining lifetime of the machine
increases to 510 seconds, whereas not changing the power rating would lead the
machine to ends its operational life at about 420 seconds. Thus, the power rating
change increased the life of the machine in about 90 seconds. Figure 6.23 presents

the results of the three scenarios. The latter figures resembles figure 6.2 theorised
before.
1.2
1.0
Damage parameter
0.8
0.6
speed range in rpm

0.4
3000–4000
2500–3500
0.2 Combined
End of Life
0.0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Time (s)
Figure 6.23: Damage parameter of the two scenarios plus a logic change.
In order to asses the potential economical benefit of the derating strategy the
net present value method (NPV) was used. This method allows to determine the
value of an investment in the present time by summing the discounted cash flows
received by the project. The N P V method is described by equation 6.19
T
X Ci
N P V = −C0 + (6.19)
i=1
(1 + r)i
Where N P V , C0 , T , Ci , r, i are the net present value, capital investment, cash

inflow for the ith period, time in years, the discount rate (assumed constant), and
the number of period or year. The cash inflow for each period is calculated as
the period times the electrical power output times the price of the energy sold
(usually in £per kWh). These simulations are run in seconds rather than years.
Therefore, in order to use the N P V method the following adjustments are made:

1. The time period is defined as 100 seconds rather than years. Thus a 230
seconds would have three periods, two full periods of 100 seconds and a
third period of 30 seconds.
2. The discount rate is assumed constant and equal to 2% for period.
3. A capital investment of £10,000 is assumed.
4. Cost of energy equal to £10 per kWs.
The result of applying the N P V method together with the above described as-
sumptions are shown in table 6.8. The net present value of the first two scenarios
(3000–4000 rpm and 2500–3500 rpm) are £80,547 and £75,651 respectively. This
clearly shows that producing more power for less time would make more eco-
nomic sense. The third case in which the system is run for 80% of its life time
at the 3000–4000 rpm and then is derated to the 2500–3500 rpm power rating for
the remainder of its life has a N P V of £86,598. These numbers are completely
illustrative but show how the derating logic or asset management presented in
this work could make a benefit towards reducing the costs of marine renewable
technologies against traditional power plants.
Table 6.8: The N P V method applied to the three scenarios described above
Power Time Energy Partial Total

Scenario output run produced NPV NPV
(kW ) (s) (kW s) (£) (£)
3000–4000 rpm 22.7 420 9,534 80,547 80,547
2500–3500 rpm 13.6 680 9,284 75,651 75,651
22.7 360 8,172 68,047

Combined 86,598
13.6 150 2,040 18,551

6.6 Discussion
The results from the three scenarios described, and solved Simulink (Mathworks),
show that it is indeed possible to extend the life of a machine by changing its
control or derating a machine. This is expected as the stress levels that the
device suffers are proportional to the power that it is generating. A solution
like the one proposed in this thesis could be applied not only for the electrical
insulation systems but with components where the physical phenomena involved
in the device degradation is poorly understood and/or difficult to asses, such as
bearings, seals, etc. It is by no means suggested that this methodology should
be followed as the only way to manage assets involved in the energy generation
industry, but it could aid devices when difficult access for maintenance such as
those for the offshore energy industry exist.
The N P V applied to the three scenarios, two at constant power output and one
using the proposed asset management strategy, shows that there could be an
economical advantage of using the methodology. The numbers are only illustra-
tive but the exercise demonstrates how the methodology could reduce the gap
between marine renewable technologies and traditional land–based power plants.


Chapter 7
Conclusions and Further Work
7.1 Achievement of thesis aim
The aims of the thesis as stated in chapter 1 was:
“to improve the reliability of electrical machines used for renewable

energy generation.”
The case study in chapter 6 demonstrated that it is possible to increase the

availability and reliability of an electrical machine by changing the power rating
of the device. This is expected. In the test case presented, the change of power
rating was done as a response to the expected electrical deterioration rate. A
similar study could be done for bearings, or other components where the ageing
procedure is still unknown.
7.2 Contribution to knowledge
The contributions of this thesis include first, the concept of derating. Second,
the adaptation of the PAS 55 asset management framework to the ocean en-
ergy industry. Third, the revision of different electrical insulation systems ageing
183
Chapter 7. Conclusions and Further Work
models. Fourth, the arched element employed to model the heat transfer of an
electrical machine. Finally, the transfer knowledge from one industry to another.
Regarding the concept of derating, the contribution lies in the idea that changing
the power rating of an ocean energy converter could increase its life expectancy.
This is important in an industry where most devices are envisaged to be placed
where access to maintenance would be limited. Thus, derating the device keeps
it operating, and thereby selling energy to the grid. The decision to derate the
machine or keep it operating as usual is an economical one. As it could be more
business beneficial to operate the machine at a lower power generation set point
for a longer period of time, than having it operating at full power for less time.
The economics of the decision would then depend, as the numerical example
presented at the end of chapter 6, on the unitary cost of energy, the amount of
change in the operating conditions and load profile due to the power management
change, the discount rate applied; and other factors such as the availability for
maintenance, and its costs.
The idea of derating a machine in service was founded on the adaptation of the
PAS 55 asset management framework to the ocean energy industry. In the adap-
tation, the objective of ’maximising profits’ at its centre, with all decisions regard-
ing the physical assets of the industry around it. Thus, all the asset management
decisions have to be made towards achieving that objective. The adaptation of
the PAS 55 framework concluded with the management decision of whether the
machine should: continue operation, lower the power rating, or stop and replace.
This decision has to be made taking into account the ageing state of the electrical
insulation system and its remaining life.
In order to estimate the life of an electrical insulation system, different age-

ing models were revised. Most of these models are phenomenological. It was
found that although not all the phenomena involved in insulation ageing are

completely understood, it is possible to construct multiple–stress ageing models.

These models however require extensive experimentation at precisely controlled
environments.
The arched element as a geometrical modification of the cuboidal element pro-

posed by other authors, simplifies the thermal distribution analysis of cylindrical
electrical machine, specially when the thermal modelling is linked to an electro-
magnetic model that only takes into account an arched section of a machine,
which is very common in FE analysis. Furthermore, the arched element could
be used when no angular symmetry is considered. For instance, there could be
a case where the contact to the floor, which dissipates heat from the machine
breaks the angular symmetry from the machine top, sides and bottom part. In
those cases it would probably be more precise to break the machine in arched
shaped elements.
Finally, its has to be mentioned that derating a machine in service is a concept

commonly practised in the aviation industry, where machines with a certain level
of deterioration are derated to lower powered machines and used for extended
periods of time. In that regard, this thesis does a transfer of knowledge from one
industry to another.
It is worth mentioning that General Electric (GE) anounced in 2015 a project

called The digital windfarm (GE2, 2005). The project involves the creation of a
digital copy of each physical wind turbine installed in order to properly manage
all the turbine individually. Among other things, the project encompasses the
online monitoring of the stress factors and real time simulation of the wind turbine
components in order to asses the reliability of its components and manage them
accordingly. The asset management strategy proposed in this thesis could very
well work with a project like the one described by GE. The real time information
together with ageing models could help not only to predict faults but to manage

assets more intelligently and even give more security to the calculations of the
cash flow of wind farm owner.
7.3 Further Work
Chapter 2 presented a theory of reliability, discussing reliability studies for on-

shore and offshore wind energy devices and wave and tidal energy devices. As
discussed in chapter 2, the reliability studies rely on the quantity and quality of
the data available. Until now, even the most up–to–date studies are conducted
using outdated data. The technology in these industries is changing at a very
fast pace so these studies may not represent the actual failure rates of devices
used today (data for most studies is 15 or more years old). The problem of data
availability is related to the closeness within the industry, with individual com-
panies trying to solve their own problems aiming to sustain a market advantage
over other companies. This lack of cooperation has a detrimental effect when it
comes to the progress of the technology, as companies intent to provide solutions
to the problems using their own and sometimes limited knowledge and resources
rather than taking advantage of open cooperation.
More progress has been likely made in terms of technological developments when
cooperation between companies exists. In the past, the state owned electricity
market allowed all these data to be public. Cooperation and progress was not
hindered by these effects. State owned electricity companies and markets are un-
likely to return, so other approaches have to be taken. Some have suggested that
the renewable energy industry should learn from oil and gas, where a framework
of cooperation in terms of reliability has been established. In this framework,
companies and developers share their failure rate data in a way that allows for a
wider community. This includes academia to pinpoint the needs of the industry

as a whole without compromising specifications of the devices used.
Sharing information would not only solve problems with failure rate data. It
should also provide information about common failure mechanisms, stress pro-
files and load cycles. All of these are crucial for the industry to reach competitive
levels that other industries in the energy sector have already reached. Also it is
important to remember that fossil fuel, hydro power and nuclear power indus-
tries have bred under different regulations, when data was open and funding was
public. It is not the objective of this thesis to elaborate more in detail on the
advantages and disadvantages of open markets versus state owned energy sectors.
However, research and industries should recognise the advantages and the need
to generate channels of communication and cooperation.
Chapter 2 and chapter 3 discussed the reliability of electrical machines. As shown

in these two chapters, generally speaking, the weakest components of an electri-
cal machine are the bearings and the insulation systems. The latter were chosen
for more in–depth investigation. Arguments were presented suggesting that the
deterioration of electrical insulation systems is a complex phenomenon due to
multiple stresses found in both the microscopic and macroscopic levels. Chemical
degradation is the dominating factor, however, phenomenological models are still
used because of the lack of understanding of the ageing mechanisms. In this field,
material specialists and physicists have to be involved to finally link the micro-
scopic to the macroscopic property changes. From the practical point of view,
phenomenological deterioration models should and will be used in the present
and future. However, more research into multi–stress rather than single stress
degradation models has to be done to update the current standards by which
electrical insulation systems are studied and explain the circumstances in which
electrical machine temperature rise are chosen.
Throughout this thesis, a model that takes into account thermal and electrical

degradation using a fast switching converter and developed by Grybowski was

utilised. Further work needs to focus on improving its validity and acceptance
using a reproduction of his experimental results. If this model or any other
multi-stress model is accepted then international standards should be updated,
including the specifications for selecting electrical insulation systems for electrical
machines that are powered by converters.
Chapter 6 proposed the use of a multi factor deterioration model to control elec-
trical machines in the renewable energy industry. Limitations on the approach
are present. The phenomenological models presented in the research are based
on probability of failure rather than actual failure, so the risk that the models
encompass has to be taken into consideration. Therefore, results should be taken
as guidelines of machine life rather than actual life. This limitation would only
be resolved when enough understanding of the ageing mechanisms is achieved.
Therefore, it is expected that electrical machines operating in industries where
failure is critical, such as aviation, will continue to be replaced before their ex-
pected life times.
Obviously, the entire model of the OWC could be subject to further improvements
and investigation. The model is based on pressure drop (stagnation pressure)
across the Wells turbine. This simplification allowed the chapter 6 to focus on
the phenomena happening at the electrical generator. However, the interaction
between the waves and the OWC should be considered for accurate production.
More over, the control of the OWC was not tuned to maximise power production
but only to produce some results at time changing power input.

Appendix A
The electrical machine lamination

drawings
189
Appendix A. The electrical machine lamination drawings
Figure A.1: The electrical machine stator lamination drawing. Data from the
manufacturer was deleted in order to protect business sensitive information.
Figure A.2: The electrical machine rotor lamination drawing. Data from the
manufacturer was deleted in order to protect business sensitive information.

Appendix B
The electrical machine winding

diagram
193
Appendix B. The electrical machine winding diagram
Figure B.1: The electrical machine winding diagram. Data from the manufacturer
was deleted in order to protect business sensitive information.

Bibliography
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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree

Isaac Portugal Rosas

The University of Edinburgh

1st September 2015

The University of Edinburgh vi Isaac Portugal Rosas

The realisation of a PhD is indeed a personal achievement, performed largely

• My parents, thanks for your unconditional love and support.

• To Neil Hodgins: Thanks for sharing with me important information from

• Finally, thanks to the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONA-

(Isaac Portugal Rosas)

1 Resource & Technology assessment 1

1.1 Renewable Energy and its framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Resources and Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2.1 Offshore Wind Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2.2 Wave Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.2.3 Tidal Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

1.3 Power Takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

1.3.1 Hydraulic power takeoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

1.3.2 Pneumatic Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

1.3.3 Geared Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

1.3.4 Direct–Drive Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

1.5 Thesis aims and layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2 Reliability of electrical machines for offshore energy converters 33

2.2 Theory of reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.2.1 Concepts and definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

2.2.2 Basic Models of reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

2.2.3 Reliability models for systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

2.2.3.1 Reliability Block Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2.3 The impact of electrical machines upon the reliability of an offshore

2.3.1 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

2.3.2 The Onshore Wind Industry Experience . . . . . . . . . . 52

2.4 Reliability of electrical machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

3 Asset Management in the Marine Energy Industry 59

3.3 Types of maintenance programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

3.5 Ageing models of electrical insulation systems for prognosis . . . . 71

3.5.1 Single Factor Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

The University of Edinburgh xii Isaac Portugal Rosas

3.5.1.1 Thermal Ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

3.5.1.2 Electrical Ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

3.5.2 Multi–stress Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

3.5.2.1 Simoni’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

3.5.2.2 Crine’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

3.5.2.3 Grzybowski’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

3.5.3 An ageing model for air–cooled low voltage electrical machines 85

4 Induction machine electromagnetic modelling 89

4.2 The electrical machine used in the OWC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

4.3 Electromagnetic model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

4.4 Loss Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

4.4.1 Joule losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

4.4.2 Iron losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

4.4.3 Friction & windage losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

4.4.4 Stray or additional losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

4.4.5 The full loss model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

5 Thermal Modelling of Electric Machines 103

Isaac Portugal Rosas xiii The University of Edinburgh

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

5.2 One dimensional heat equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

5.3 General heat conduction equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

5.4 Heat transfer by Convection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

5.5 Heat transfer by radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

5.6 Definition of the finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

5.7 The lumped parameter thermal network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

5.8 General Cuboidal Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

5.8.1 The arched shaped element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120