A ROADMAP TO IMPLEMENT ELECTRICAL SIGNATURE ANALYSIS OF

INDUCTION MOTORS TO CONTINUOUS ONLINE CONDITION MONITORING

SYSTEM

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT

Master’s Thesis in Electrical Engineering

2023

Juha Rikkonen

Examiners(t): Dosent Lassi Aarniovuori

Professor Juha Pyrhönen

Advisor: Olli Lindgren

ABSTRACT

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT

LUT School of Energy Systems

Degree Programme in Electrical Engineering

Juha Rikkonen

A ROADMAP TO IMPLEMENT ELECTRICAL SIGNATURE ANALYSIS OF IN-

DUCTION MOTORS TO CONTINUOUS ONLINE CONDITION MONITORING SYS-
TEM

Master’s Thesis in Electrical Engineering

2023

44 pages, 13 figures ja 1 appendix

Examiners(t): Dosent Lassi Aarniovuori

Professor Juha Pyrhönen

Advisor: Olli Lindgren

The reliability demand and the cost-efficiency of the industrial plants forces the maintenance
towards predictive techniques. Electrical motors are the workhorses of industry, and main-
taining the condition of the motors is one excelent method to prevent unplanned interruptions
in the production. Simple measurements are not sufficient to indicate faults in electrical mo-
tors, and there is no single technique to detect any fault from the machine. Fault detection
with electrical signature analysis is a group of methods based on detecting fault characteris-
tics generated to the electrical signals by the fault. Various types of faults can be detected,
and the methods are further developing.

The purpose of this study was to explore the field of induction motor condition monitoring
with electrical signature analysis and the practices to implement the methods to a continuous
online condition monitoring system. Different methods were discovered in the literature
review and the suitability for continuous condition monitoring was pondered. The produced
flowchart works as a basis for further work in establishing electrical signature analysis based
condition monitoring system.

Keywords: condition monitoring, electric motor, frequency converter, signal processing

1
TIIVISTELMÄ (ABSTRACT IN FINNISH)

Lappeenrannan–Lahden teknillinen yliopisto LUT

LUT Energiajärjestelmät

Sähkötekniikka

Juha Rikkonen

MENETELMÄKAAVIO INDUKTIOMOOTTORIN SÄHKÖISEN PIIRREANALYYSIN

IMPLEMENTOIMISEKSI JATKUVATOIMISEEN KUNNONVALVONTAJÄRJESTELMÄÄN

Sähkötekniikan diplomityö

2023

44 sivua, 13 kuvaa ja 1 liite

Tarkastajat: Dosentti Lassi Aarniovuori

Professori Juha Pyrhönen

Ohjaaja: Olli Lindgren

Teollisuuslaitosten kustannustehokkuustavoitteet yhdessä tuotannon luotettavuuden kanssa

ajavat kunnossapitoastrategiaa kohti kunnonvalvontatekniikoita. Sähkömoottorit ovat teol-
lisuuden työjuhtia, ja niiden ylläpito on erinomainen keino vähentää suunnittelemattomia
tuotantokeskeytyksiä. Yksinkertaiset mittausmenetelmät eivät kuitenkaan indikoi riittävällä
tasolla sähkömoottorien kunnosta, eikä ole myöskään olemassa yksittäistä menetelmää kaikkien
vikojen tunnistamiseksi moottorista. Sähköiseen piirreanalyysiin perustuva viantunnistus
on joukko menetelmiä, jotka perustuvat vian tunnistukseen niiden aiheuttamista ominaispi-
irteissä sähköisessä signaalissa. Erilaisia vikoja voidaan tunnistaa edelleen kehittyvillä menetelmillä.

Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli tutkia sähköiseen piirreanalyysiin perustuvien sähkömoottorin

kunnonvalvontatekniikoiden kenttää, sekä menetelmiä implementoida niitä jatkuvatoimiseen
kunnonvalvontajärjestelmään. Erilaisia metodeja löydettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksessa ja ni-
iden soveltuvuutta jatkuvatoimiseen kunnonvalvontaan pohdittiin. Työssä tuotettu vuokaavio
toimii pohjana sähköiseen piirreanalyysiin perustuvien menetelmien implementoimiseksi
kunnonvalvontajärjestelmään.

Avainsanat: kunnonvalvonta, sähkömoottori, taajuusmuuttaja, signaalinkäsittely

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Contents

1 Introduction 7
1.1 Fortum Clean Heat Espoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3 Maintenance types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Predictive maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.1 Continuous condition monitoring system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4.2 Machine learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2 Electrical signature analysis based condition monitoring 15

2.1 Literature review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.1.1 About the fault identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.1.2 Time-frequency analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.3 Wavelet transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.4 Data processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2 Electrical signature analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.1 Motor current signature analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.2 Extended Park’s Vector Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.3 Voltage signature analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.4 Instantaneous power signature analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3 Induction motor fault detection via electrical parameters . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.1 Slip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.2 Bearing faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3.3 Stator faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3.4 Broken rotor bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3.5 Air-gap eccentricity and rotor mass unbalance . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.4 Spectral analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.1 Nyquist-Shannon theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.2 Fast Fourier transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.3 Short-time Fourier transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4.4 Wavelet transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3 Electrical signature analysis in continuous condition monitoring 34

3.1 The roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2 Data-processing challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2.1 Processing capacity demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

3
 3.3 Accuracy of the measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.4 Data-driven vs. model based fault detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.5 Utilizing frequency converter in data acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.6 The effect of the process to the electrical signature of an induction motor . . 37
3.7 Comparison to other methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.8 Comparison of plant-wide condition monitoring system and dedicated mon-
itoring devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

4 Conclusions 39

4
ABBREVIATIONS
CCM Continuous Condition Monitoring
DFFT Discrete Fast Fourier Transform
DWT Discrete Wavelet Transforms
ESA Electrical Signature Analysis
EPRI Electric Power Research Institute
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
IM Induction Motor
MCSA Motor Current Signature Analysis
OT Operational Technology
SS Sum-of-squares

5
SYMBOLS
ϕ Phase angle of the motor load
ψ∗ Mother wavelet function
ψ ∗j,k Mother wavelet function in DWT
τ A wavelet scale and position parameter in CWT
ω Angular frequency
Dpitch The pitch diameter of bearing
f1 Supply frequency
fb rb Broken rotor bar characteristic frequency
fDFT Frequency resolution of discrete Fourier transform
fecc Characteristic frequency of air-gap eccentricity
fi Bearing inner race defect characteristic frequency
fo Bearing outer race defect characteristic frequency
fr Rotation frequency of rotor
frange Frequency range
fs Sampling frequency
fst Turn-to-turn short-circuit characteristic frequency
iL Phase current
IL RMS value of phase current
M Index modulation
Nballs Number of balls in bearing
Ns Number of samples
ns Synchronous speed of rotating magnetic field of stator
nr Rotating speed of rotor
p Number of pole-pairs
R Number of rotor bars
s Slip
vLL Line-to-line voltage
VLL RMS value of line-to-line voltage
z A dilation parameter in CWT

6
1 Introduction

In every modern process industry plant, the measurements used primarily to control the
process is also used to monitor the condition of the process and equipment. High temperature
or low pressure is a typical anomality, which leads to deeper investigation and analysis of the
cause. However the nature of condition monitoring of induction motors is highly analytical
and demands a lot of data acquisition and processing.

This thesis was made as a part of the maintenance planning of Espoo district heating pro-
duction sites. The purpose of the study was to explore the possibilities to use electrical
parameters of electric motor driven systems in predictive maintenance and condition moni-
toring of the electric motors. The content of the work is centered on the methods to acquire
and analyse current and voltage data from a motor, though from the perspective of how to
meet the challenges in the maintenance operations of a real industrial environment. Deep
understanding of the online monitoring methods of induction motors is essential to build
usable condition monitoring system and to add value for the company.

The second chapter includes a brief definition of maintenance and condition monitoring.
Machine learning is substantially related to the topic, but the scope of this study is from data
acquisition to the initial data processing and feature extraction. Machine learning is very
briefly reviewed later in this chapter. In the second chapter the electrical signature analysis
methods and some spectrum analysis methods are introduced. The theme comprehends the
data acquisition of current and voltage, but vibration, flux, temperature or other methods are
not covered in the study. The section 2.1 consists of literature review focused on interesting
methods to increase the possibilities to perceive the incipient faults and to overcome the
technical limitations. The most typical faults of induction motors and their theoretic effect
on the measurements are reviewed in section 2.3. The real-world challenges of this kind of
condition monitoring in a complete plant is further reflected in the chapter 3. Finally, the
conclusions of the study is presented in the chapter 4.

1.1 Fortum Clean Heat Espoo

Fortum is a finnish energy company focusing on clean energy production. The following
text is the official description about the mission in Espoo district heating, quoted from the
company website:

"District heating is a local system for cities that transfers energy in heated wa-
ter from energy sources to heat users in a network of underground pipes. It

7
is the only way to recycle heat energy from numerous different and distributed
sources to thousands of buildings under one optimized infrastructure. The heat
is typically used to warm buildings and tap water.

Figure 1: The timeline of clean heat transformation in Espoo district heating (Fortum
2023).

In Finland, Fortum is showcasing a next generation district heating system. Op-

erating since 1954, it is currently undergoing a major transformation to replace
fossil fuels with smart and flexible solutions that are largely based on renewable
electricity: waste heat utilization, heat pumps, heat accumulators and electric
boilers. Approximately 40 percent of district heating demand will be met by
recycling emission-free waste heat from Microsoft’s new data centers. Artifi-
cial intelligence optimizes the operations of the entire system. The solutions are
modular and can be tailored according to local heat sources, be it waste heat or
air.

Fortum and the City of Espoo have committed to this transformation that will
result in carbon-neutral district heating by 2030 in the Espoo, Kauniainen and
Kirkkonummi regions. The use of coal will be discontinued in 2025. This project,
called Espoo Clean Heat, provides a flagship example of efficient decarboniza-
tion and a transition to local self-sufficient heating on a large scale. (Fortum
2023)"

8
1.2 Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring

Unplanned downtimes imposes significant costs on companies in terms of lost production

and mainenance costs. According to Siemens AG, the unplanned downtime cost for Fortune
Global 500 companies in 2021-2022 was estimated to be as high as $1500 billion and 11% of
their turnover. The production losses on a single plant was $129 million per year in average.
In car manufacturing, one hour downtime costs more than two million dollars, while the
hourly cost in oil, gas and heavy industry is around five hundred thousand dollars. (Siemens
2023)

According to General Electric, the average unplanned downtime on oil rig is 27 days per year,
which costs $38 million in average and up to $88 million in the worst cases. An interesting
finding in the statistics is that unplanned downtime costs $60 million with a reactive or
planned maintenance strategy, while data and monitoring based maintenance decreases the
costs of downtime to $24 million. The statistic does not take other factors into account, like
the age of the oil rig or the effect of the maintenance strategy to the duration of the downtime.
However, it indicates that investing in predictive maintenance can lead to significant savings.
(Electric 2016)

This chapter introduces the maintenance types and a bit explicitly explains the terminology
around condition monitoring. The topic of machine learning is introduced very briefly in the
end of the chapter.

1.3 Maintenance types

The PSK standard 6201 defines the term maintenance as following:

"Combination of all technical, administrative and managerial actions during the

life cycle of an item intended to retain it in, or restore it to, a state in which it
can perform the required function."

Preventive maintenance means planned actions to maintain the good condition of an equip-
ment or a device. Preventive maintenance includes both condition based and predetermined
maintenance. The latter usually means maintenance based on timed intervals or operating
time. Predictive maintenance is a maintenance operation, which purpose is to prevent or min-
imize unplanned downtime caused by a failure of the equipment and decrease the amount of
unnecessary scheduled maintenance by detecting and fixing faults in their initial state before
breakdown or excess damage to the equipment.

In the figure 2 is shown an adaptation of figures 2 and 9 from PSK standard 6201 focusing on

9
condition monitoring and predictive condition based maintenance, with an added viewpoint
of condition monitoring as an action producing data to predictive maintenance operations
(PSK-Standardisointi 2022, pp. 26, 40). This data can be analyzed and used with other
data and functions of predictive maintenance. Condition monitoring can be seen as a part of
predictive maintenance, but it is possible to use the data and parameters with other operations
of production facility, e.g. optimization of energy efficiency.

Figure 2: A simplified flowchart of maintenance types focusing on condition monitoring

and preventive maintenance. (PSK-Standardisointi 2022)

1.4 Predictive maintenance

Scheduled maintenance and service of the equipment usually increases the reliability in the
production. As a disadvantage preventive maintenance actions are usually done during the
healthy phase of the device, so it is not very efficient. There is also high possibility that
incipient faults remain undetected during service. Theoretically nothing limits how much
preventive maintenance can be done, and too much preventive maintenance could be actually
more expensive than reactive maintenance with unplanned stoppages.

Figure 3 illustrates the expected maintenance costs and number of failures according to dif-
ferent maintenance strategies. Ideally predictive maintenance is the most cost-efficient strat-

10
egy, but also poorly developed tools or planned operations may lead to high costs with no
value. Cost-effective strategy is built on suitable and right amount of actions, correct and
correctly measured parameters, and correct analysis and diagnosis. Especially with electric
motors and electric motor-driven systems the diagnosis requires specialists analysis. As a
benefit compared to preventive maintenance, with predictive maintenance it is possible to
gain better understanding on the condition of a machine.

Figure 3: The principle of expected costs of a production plant related to the maintenance
strategy. The graph is based on a figure in Sohrmanns article (Sohrmann 2020) with some
modifications to better represent the estimated effect to the revenue and number of failures.

The object of predictive maintenance is to minimize the total cost of maintenance and oper-
ation by determining the optimal moment for maintenance. The figure 4 represents a typical
fault development curve. Fault developing from early wear-out to a fault that can be detected
with normal check may take relatively long time. In best case, detecting the fault in its incip-
ient phase the corrective action can be scheduled to a time when no excess production losses
follow. Correcting an incipient fault usually is requires less actions.

1.4.1 Continuous condition monitoring system

Condition monitoring is a method or methods to produce data to determine the demand for
maintenance of equipment based on its condition. It includes methods based on continuous
or intermittent measurements, inspections, etc.

ISO 13374 is a standard for data processing, communication and presentation related to
condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines. The intent of ISO 13374 is to standardise
the data processing, communication and presentation to alleviate the integration of systems.

11
 Figure 4: The aim of predictive maintenance is to carry the maintenance operations in right
time, not executing unnecessary actions and neither letting the device reach failure.

The standard defines a data processing block diagram as seen in figure 5.

In industrial plants the existing operational technology (OT) infrastructure, i.e. automa-
tion systems, instrumentation, fieldbuses and other data transfer technologies, data collec-
tion servers and centralized systems provides a possible platform for a continuous condition
monitoring system. Regarding induction motor condition monitoring with electric param-
eters, the data acquisition is done with current and voltage sensors, while motor itself acts
as a transducer. Usually separate current and voltage measurements are not provided from
smaller motors except from frequency converters. Using a frequency converter as an instru-
ment is possible, but the problematic around it, as well as requirement for the capacity of
data communications, are discussed in the chapter 3.

The data manipulation block is associated with signal analysis and data processing methods
discussed in the chapter 2. The possibilities and challenges of the topic is further discussed
in the chapter 3. The blocks state detection, health assessment and prognostic assessment
relates strong to induction motor faults in the section 2.3, and some example studies of suit-
able fault diagnostic methods is examined in chapter 3. The advisory generation is extensive
topic that is outside of the scope of this study.

12
 Figure 5: ISO 13374 data processing block diagram (ISO 2008).

1.4.2 Machine learning

While computational power rises and data storage costs decrease, combining machine learn-
ing to the condition monitoring system has became as an interesting solution. Machine learn-
ing is a mathematical tool to continuously monitor and discover patterns from measured data.
Machine learning program can be taught to detect known patterns related to electric motor
condition, but it can also find differences between healthy and faulty motors data, that are
difficult or impossible to detect by human eye.

Machine learning algorithms can be divided to three main groups: supervised learning, un-
supervised learning and reinforced learning, which is practically just a mix of the first two.
With supervised learning the model is trained to discern between healthy and faulty condi-
tions. Training data of both conditions is required, which is a challenge in real environment,
because the training data of faulty conditions usually is not available. Unsupervised method
seeks mathematical relations from the data and doesn’t need supervised training. The dis-
advantage is that the method may find pseudo relations, and depending on the model the
real characteristics may remain unnoticed. Reinforced learning model is trained with small
amount of training data, and based on that the model is set to examine more training data
with unsupervised methods.(IBM 2022)

Machine learning can be signal based, model based or data-driven. In chapter 2.3 the char-
acteristic equations of machine faults is related to model based learning, while data-driven
methods is based on collected data from healthy or faulty motors. Simulation and laboratory

13
studies is used to produce the fault data. (Gonzalez-Jimenez et al. 2021)

Many studies has adopted machine learning as a part of the method discovering faulty condi-
tions of machines. Machine learning is unignorable topic nowadays when discussing about
predictive maintenance. The methods or algorithms are not further covered in this work, but
it is highly proposed method to implement in condition monitoring system.

14
2 Electrical signature analysis based condition monitoring

Electrical signal analysis is a viable way to practice condition monitoring of the motors and
also the drivetrain. This chapter consist of four parts, which gives an oversight to the ex-
tensive field of the topic. The first section is the literature review part, in which some case
examples are referred and considered from the perspective of the aim of this work. The
second section introduces some common methods of ESA. The section 2.4 describes the
principles of the raw signal processing tools. The last part is dedicated for typical induction
motor faults and their representative characteristic equations identifiable from the electric
current. This study covers only induction motors. The ESA-based methods are applicable to
any electric motor type, but the methods may vary and are to be chosen by the dynamics of
the motor, e.g. synchronous motors does not have slip, which is causing specific character-
istics in induction motors. (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

15
2.1 Literature review

From the exhausting amount of brilliant studies related to the topic, a small selection of
findings are presented here. The examples have been chosen with the modern industrial
environment in mind. Because typical production plant includes various types of motors and
drives, it is difficult, if not impossible to find one universal solution for any fault. Studies
however show that it is possible to detect anomalities from any system with a particular
solution.

2.1.1 About the fault identification

In Roczeks and Rogalas study a fault diagnosis method with EPVA is presented. Various
faults diagnosed with harmonic content analysis of raw signal and EPVA. According to the
study, EPVA gives better result than harmonic analysis of raw signal due to decreased in-
cluence of first harmonic. Lissajous figure used to further analyse the signal, which proves
that eccentricity can be seen as a dislocated center point in the figure. Faulty stator winding
was also clearly visible from Lissajous figure, as the distortion made the circular form to
disappear. The experiment was carried out using frequency converter. The results shows that
the characteristic components of different faults are visible even with low speed. Another
important factor to note is that with overload the switching frequency of the inverter drops to
protect the device from overheating. This changes the frequency content of the current signal
and could lead to misinterpretation of the signature (though that in this case the switching
frequency dropped from 4 kHz to 3.25 kHz, which is quite high frequency compared to the
characteristic components of faults). (Roczek and Rogala 2019)

An experimental study on early fault diagnosis of a centrifugal pump was conducted by

Araste and Sadighi. The results show clear difference in 1st and 3rd harmonic with vane tip
fault, as the harmonics of healthy pump was significantly higher. The faulty condition was
also visible in the raw current signal. The study mentions that vibration analysis is more
common in fault diagnosis of centrifugal pumps, but MCSA with FFT is able to provide
satisfactory results too. Support vector machine, or SVM, a supervised machine learning
algorithm based on statistical learning theory, was implemented and the accuracy of recog-
nization of the faults in the tests was high, even 100 % depending on the fault type. The
method was completely data-driven, which has an advantage over physics models, as the
models are susceptible to the errors and specific parameters of the system. (Araste, Sadighi,
and Jamimoghaddam 2022)

16
 2.1.2 Time-frequency analysis

Antonine-Daviu et al. introduces a new paradigm for diagnosing broken rotor bar and air-gap
eccentricity faults. The paper presents an idea of measuring current and flux during start-up
of a motor, and analysing the signals with STFT. The method is based on faults characteristic
patterns that form in the time-frequency map. The method was proven to work with direct
on-line starting motor with one and two broken rotor bars. Paper also states, that the method
can be applied also with auto-transformer, stator resistor, star-delta starter and soft-starter.
With soft-starter the harmonic content is higher, but the characteristic curves or patterns are
still visible. Benefits from the perspective of continuous condition monitoring are that the
method requires only one phase current to be measured (to be noted that the paper promotes
stray flux analysis over current analysis due to better results). The sampling rate in the study
was 5 kHz, which is low compared to the accuracy in the example figures. (Antonino-Daviu
2020)

Remarkable benefit with modern electric drives is that time-frequency analysis is suitable for
variable speed drives too, but because VSD alternates the supply frequency, the characteristic
differs from direct starting. Another study on time-frequency analysis describes a method
based on Dragon transform with a statistical technique called as ANOVA. Frenandez-Cavero
et al. successfully detected broken rotor bar fault in transient phase of a inverter-driven motor.
The fault appears as dual sideband components along the first harmonic in the t-f map, even
that during the transient phase the first harmonic is rising linearly. The energy of the line in
the figure represents the severity of the fault. The study states that e.g. STFT or DWT are not
accurate enough to discover the fault harmonics in transient conditions. (Fernandez-Cavero
et al. 2021)

2.1.3 Wavelet transforms

Chikkam and Singh uses wavelets to discover bearing and broken rotor bar faults in an exper-
iment. DWT with Daubechies-44 mother wavelet are used to decompose the stator current
in 8 levels. The decompose level is rather low and does not reach very high resolution, but
calculating energy, standard deviation, skewness, RMS value and variance of the coefficient
gives a fault indexing parameter, that can be used in the comparison between healthy and
faulty conditions of a motor. According to the study, especially energy and standard devia-
tion gives good results with all wavelet coefficients. The study underlines selecting optimal
amount of decomposition levels, as too few leads to inaccuracy, and despite the good resolu-
tion gained with high-level decomposition, it grows the number of coefficients and amount
of data while making the diagnosis more difficult and possibly leads to wrong diagnosis. The

17
study also implemented machine learning algorithm called artifial neural network. (chikkam
and Singh 2022)

2.1.4 Data processing

In a publication from Chen et al., sum-of-squares (SS) of three-phase current in broken rotor
bar fault detection was explored. The technique is based on the modulation effect of BRB on
the current signal. In the experiment the SS was calculated from the measured three-phase
current, and FFT was applied to the signal to find out the signature frequency components
from the harmonic content. The method found all the signature components with different
loads and differents supply frequencies. The method is therefore usable with frequency
converter in stationary state. Very useful information in the study was also a comparison of
computation power requirement between SS and other common methods. The competitive
algorithms had 1.3 to 12 times higher processing time, while only Park’s vector modulus was
as efficient as SS. (Chen et al. 2020)

According to the study of Naha et al., sub-Nyquist sampling is one solution to resolve the
challenges caused by high data amount and computational power demand. The study used
so called multicoset sampling method to detect eccentricity, broken rotor bar and bearing
faults. The sampling is initially done with a rate higher than Nyquist criterion, but the final
average sampling rate was 100 Hz. Still the characteristic components of the faults could be
extracted. The method keeps the data only near the frequencies of the components, which
further decreases the data amount. Another great advantage of the method is that the original
harmonic content can be reconstructed, which allows deeper investigation of the problem in
case of fault detection from the sub-Nyquist curves. The study conducted a comparison of
number of operations in different fault detection methods. The sub-Nyquist method required
1E5 operations, while the common competitors from 10E5 to 10E9 and up. The method
requires only one current transformer, which makes it easy and affordable to commission.
(Naha et al. 2017)

18
2.2 Electrical signature analysis

Electrical signature analysis (ESA) is a general term for many procedures to gain information
from a machine through electrical signal. It comprehends an idea of gaining information
by extracting and recognising features from processed signal. The standard ISO 20958 for
machine condition monitoring with electrical signature analysis includes current and voltage
based online analysis methods, but also covers e.g. partial discharge analysis - which is an
off-line method - and magnetic flux analysis. Mainly current signature analysis is discussed
in this document.

Figure 6: The principle of the workflow with ESA. (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

In ESA the electric motor itself functions as a transducer, transforming the mechanical and
electrical quantities to measurable electrical quantities, which are generated in current, volt-
age or magnetic flux. The principle workflow of ESA is shown in figure 6. ESA is more
complicated measurement compared e.g. to a temperature measurement, as the measured
quantities i.e. fault indicators must be extracted from the electrical signals. This requires
high-rate sampling from the data acquisition device and spectral analysis.

2.2.1 Motor current signature analysis

Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is a method to detect various problems in induction
motor. It is based on the analysis of the frequency components of one phase current signal.
Defects in the stator, rotor and bearing causes identifiable sideband components to the supply
frequency. The faults are inducing currents to the stator by affecting the rotating magnetic
flux. The flux is passing all three phases of the winding, so theoretically the faults are equally
identifiable from any of the three phase currents.

MCSA is common technique and the identifiable fault characteristics are well-known. The
equations for the fault specific characteristics are presented in the section 2.3. (Bonaldi et al.
2012; Thomson and Gilmore 2003)

19
 Figure 7: Data-acquisition in MCSA. (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

2.2.2 Extended Park’s Vector Approach

The Extended Park’s Vector Approach, or EPVA, utilises three phase currents and calculates
a current vector in DQ axis. FFT of the square of the Park’s vector module (including imagi-
nary component) results to a single harmonic component at twice the supply frequency. The
amplitude of the component represents the severity of stator electrical asymmetries. (Bonaldi
et al. 2012, p. 503)

The equations for phase currents are

iA = id cos(ωt − αd ) + ii cos(ωt − βi ), (1)

 
2π 2π
iB = id cos ωt − αd − ) + ii cos(ωt − βi + (2)
3 3

and

 
2π 2π
iC = id cos ωt − αd + ) + ii cos(ωt − βi − , (3)
3 3

where id is the maximum value of current direct sequence, ii is the maximum value of reverse
sequence current, αd is the initial phase angle of the current direct sequence in radians and
βi is the initial phase angle of the reverse sequence current in radians. The Park’s vector is
given by D- and Q-components of the current as (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

20
 √ !
3
iD = √ (id cos(ωt − αd ) + ii cos(ωt − βi ) (4)
2

and

√ !
3
iQ = √ (id sin(ωt − αd ) − ii sin(ωt − βi ) (5)
2

Ideally a current of a faultless motor is seen as a perfect circle in DQ axis, with the center
point in the origin. Distortions or unbalances tends to skew the circle towards an elliptical
form. The elliptical shape is indicating an asymmetries in stator currents. (Bonaldi et al.
2012)

2.2.3 Voltage signature analysis

Voltage signature analysis (VSA) is voltage based method similar to the MCSA. The method
does not have very much applications, but it can be used in motor power and stator imbalance
related issues. (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

2.2.4 Instantaneous power signature analysis

Instantaneous power signature analysis is an another spectral analysis based method, but
it is focusing on the characteristics of power. Similarly to the MCSA, the characteristic
amplitudes of power are identifiable as harmonic components. The three phase instant power
is given by (6): (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

p(t) = vLL (t)iL (t) (6)

where p(t) is the instant power, t is time, vLL is line-to-line voltage and iL is a current of one
phase. The line-to-line voltage and current are given by (7) and (8): (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

√
vLL = 2VLL cos(ωt) (7)

√ π
iL,0 = 2IL cos(ωt − ϕ − ) (8)
6

21
where VLL is the RMS value of line-to-line voltage, iL,0 is the phase current, IL is the RMS
value of the current, ω is the angular frequency and ϕ is the phase angle of the motor load.
As the mechanical faults modulates current by impulses of speed and slip, the modulation
index can be added to the formula: (Bonaldi et al. 2012)

MIL h  π  π i
iL = iL,0 (t) + √ cos (ω + ω f )t − ϕ − + cos (ω + ω f )t − ϕ − (9)
2 6 6

where iL is the modulated current, M is the modulation index and ω f is the angular frequency
of the failure. Finally, the equation for the instant power is conducted in 10: (Bonaldi et al.
2012)

MVLL IL h  π
p(t) = VLL (t)iL,0 (t) + √ cos (2ω + ω f )t − ϕ − (10)
2 6
 π   ϕ i
+ cos (2ω + ω f )t − ϕ − + 2 cos ϕ + cos(ω f t)
6 6

As a conclusion from the literature review done in this study, the majority of the ESA-based
fault analysis methods was based on the current signature. No studies regarding IPSA was
reviewed, but the method could be used in conjunction with THD analysis. The method
however needs more measurements than MCSA.

22
2.3 Induction motor fault detection via electrical parameters

The majority of the kinetic energy in industry is produced by electric motors. Induction mo-
tors structure and operating principles are relatively simple and has low demand for mainte-
nance. Many studies have been conducted on the reliability and failures of electric motors in
industry. One of the most cited, perhaps, is a study by EPRI and General Motors in 1983, in
which the reliability of electric motors was estimated based on the failure statistics of almost
5,000 motors in first phase (P. F. Albrecht et al. 1984) and additional 1527 motors in second
phase. The percentages of failure modes in the report of the second phase was 41 %, 36 %, 9
% and 14 % for bearing, stator, rotor and other faults, respectively. There was only a minor
change between the results of the first and the second phase. (P. Albrecht et al. 1986)

The application has high impact to the typical fault modes, which is not very specifically
reported in the studies of EPRI or IEEE. According to Nikhil et al., stator faults are more
common than bearing faults in stone crushing applications, where even 60 % are stator faults
and comparably 27 % are bearing faults. One explaining reason is dust and stones piling up
on top and inside of the electric machine causing the cooling of the motor to fail. Pulsating
load is another common reason for the rotor and stator failures. (Bonaldi et al. 2012; Nikhil,
Kale, and Valmik 2020)

In this chapter the failure modes of induction motors and common methods to detect the
failures are introduced. Also the mathematical basis of the effect to the electrical signature
is explained. There is many methods to measure and analyse the condition of IMs, e.g.
vibration and acoustic measurements, but this study focuses only on electrical signal and
signature based methods.

2.3.1 Slip

Defining the slip of the motor is essential with many mathematical models of the induction
motor faults. If the slip is not accurately defined, also the ESA-based analysis may produce
false results which leads to false diagnosis. The slip is given by equation 11:

 
ns − nr
s= (11)
ns

where s is slip, ns is the synchronous speed of the rotating magnetic field of the stator, and
nr is the rotating speed of the rotor.

The slip can be obtained easily from the shaft speed sensor, but if the sensor is not available,

23
the slip frequency may be obtained from rotor-slot harmonics or rotor-asymmetry harmonics.
In case of small rotor asymmetry, the accuracy of the last two may be improved by combining
the two frequencies with the Bayesian method of estimation. (Jung, Lee, and Kwon 2006)

2.3.2 Bearing faults

Defects in bearing causes mechanical vibrations, which can be detected with vibration fre-
quency analysis. A ball or a roller contacting a defect on inner or outer race, or races con-
tacting a defect on ball, roller or cage generates an impulse that can be measured. The basis
of detecting the defects from the current signal is in the same, as the vibration causes similar
disturbances to the flux and current through the rotation of the rotor. This means that the
frequency sidebands in the current signal incurred from the defect can theoretically be cal-
culated from the geometry of the bearing. The characteristic frequency components shown
in figure 8 of the impulse is similar in vibration and current analysis. (Lindh 2003)

Figure 8: Sideband frequency components caused by bearing damage (Bonaldi et al. 2012,
p. 508).

The figure 9 shows the geometry of an ball bearing. Frequency of impulses caused by an
outer or inner race defect is calculated from the number of balls and the rotating speed of
the rotor added by the rotation of the ball in relation of the race. In case of an inner race
defect the rotating of the balls between the races increases the frequency of balls contacting
the defect, and vice versa with outer race. Contact angle α is important to take into account,
that the true rolling radius and the speed of a ball is used in calculations. (Lindh 2003)

The outer race defect frequency can be theoretically expressed as

24
 Figure 9: The geometry of a ball bearing with angular contact to the inner and outer races
(Lindh 2003).

 
Nballs dball
fo = frotor 1 − cos α , (12)
2 Dpitch

where N is the number of balls or rollers, fr is the rotation frequency of the rotor, d is the
diameter of the ball, D is the diameter of a circle passing through the middle points of the
balls or rollers, called as a pitch diameter, and α is the contact angle of a ball, as represented
in the figure 9. The equation for inner race defect is (Lindh 2003)

 
Nballs dball
fi = frotor 1 + cos α . (13)
2 Dpitch

The exact type and geometry of the bearing is usually not available, especially while the
motor is running. In reality the balls or rollers of bearing also partly slides. For these reasons
there is approximated equations 14 and 15: (Lindh 2003; Miljković 2015)

fo = 0.4Nballs frotor (14)

fi = 0.6Nballs frotor (15)

2.3.3 Stator faults

Stator lamination may damage mechanically e.g. during manufacturing or maintenance, but
the most common stator faults are winding-related. Excess heat, load and impurities as well
as over-voltage and other electrical faults imposes the stator to insulation faults. These kind
of faults does not necessarily prevent the motor from running, but may cause problems in
efficiency and power quality. Different types of winding faults are presented in the figure 10.

25
(Bonaldi et al. 2012; Thomson and Gilmore 2003)

Figure 10: Different winding faults of a stator (Bonaldi et al. 2012, p. 507).

The motor can continue operation with coil to coil or turn to turn faults. These evolves into
phase to phase and phase to ground faults, which causes the protection device to function and
leads to stoppage of the motor. Open circuit faults causes imbalance to the phase voltages
and currents, and depending on the protection device and load the motor does not necessarily
stop. (Thomson and Gilmore 2003)

The turn to turn short-circuit is a minor, probably non-stopping fault in the winding that
can be detected with MCSA. Short-circuit causes short-circuit current to flow in winding,
which changes the waveform of air-gap flux by negative magneto-motive force. The flux
induces corresponding components to the stator current. The flux distortion components can
be found with the equation (16): (Jung, Lee, and Kwon 2006; Thomson and Gilmore 2003)

 
n
fst = f1 (1 − s) ± k (16)
p

where fst is short-circuit frequency component, fs is supply frequency, n = 1, 2, 3..., k =

1, 3, 5..., p is the number of pole-pairs and s is slip. Similar components appear in stator
current, which can be diagnosed with MCSA. (Thomson and Gilmore 2003)

26
 2.3.4 Broken rotor bar

Rotor is mechanically connected to the load through shaft, thus all the mechanical stress
caused by coupling, process, etc. is on the rotor and the bearing. Rotor induced currents has
effect to the flux of the stator, and any asymmetry in the construction or position of rotor
causes disturbance to the electrical signature. (Thomson and Gilmore 2003)

The main causes of broken rotor bar are pulsating load and direct online starting current
peaks due to frequent starts of a motor (Miljković 2015). With healthy machine the rotating
magnetic field speed of the rotor is the same as the rotating magnetic field of the stator.
With broken rotor bars an additional, backwards rotating magnetic field occurs at a negative
slip speed −sNs . The equation for broken rotor bar frequency components are given by 17:
(Thomson and Gilmore 2003)

   
1−s
fbrb = f1 k ±s (17)
p

where:

fbrb = frequency of broken rotor bar

f1 = supply frequency
s = slip
p = pole-pairs
k = 1, 2, 3...

2.3.5 Air-gap eccentricity and rotor mass unbalance

Internal misalignment, load or rotor unbalance due to asymmetrical mass addition or subtrac-
tion, manufacturing fault, rotor (thermal) bending, etc. may cause eccentricity in the air-gap
between rotor and stator. Moving rotor bar in the magnetic field affects to the current flow in
the stator, and due to eccentricity current and voltage are asymmetric. (Bonaldi et al. 2012;
Karmakar et al. 2016)

Static eccentricity occurs, when rotational axis and the center line of the rotor are not collinear.
With static eccentricity the rotors rotational axis and the center line of the stator may be par-
allel or may coincide, whereupon the shaft is at an angle to the stator. This means that the the
air-gap eccentricity is stationary. Static eccentricity also causes static imbalance in current
and voltage. The characteristics sideband components of the static eccentricity is shown in
the figure 11. (Karmakar et al. 2016)

27
In dynamic eccentricity the minimum air-gap rotates in respect to stator, meaning that the
center point of mass also rotates. Dynamic eccentricity causes sideband components to the
sideband components of static eccentricity. (Karmakar et al. 2016)

(a) Static eccentricity.

(b) ynamic eccentricity.

Figure 11: Figures showing characteristic components of static and dynamic eccentricity
(Bonaldi et al. 2012, p. 507).

The equation for eccentricity is given by:

   
1−s
fecc = f1 (R ± nd ) ±s (18)
p

where:

28
fecc = frequency of eccentricity
f1 = supply frequency
R = number of rotor bars
s = slip
p = pole-pairs
nd = ±1
nws = 1, 3, 5... (Thomson and Gilmore 2003; Miljković 2015)

29
2.4 Spectral analysis

The basis of most ESA techniques is in spectral analysis of the signal. In stationary con-
ditions the harmonic content of the signal is usually enough for the fault analysis. Time-
frequency analysis is more suitable for dynamic systems condition monitoring. The basic
signal processing and spectrum analysis methods are reviewed in this section.

2.4.1 Nyquist-Shannon theorem

The famous Nyquist-Shannon theorem includes two equations regarding data sampling: the
first is that the sampling rate must be at least twice the highest measured frequency com-
ponent, and the second is that frequency resolution (spectral line resolution) is the ratio of
sampling frequency and number of samples. The last mentioned means that gaining higher
frequency resolution requires longer sampling time. The equations are given by 19 and 20:
(Jung, Lee, and Kwon 2006)

fs
frange ≤ (19)
2

fs
∆ fDFT = (20)
Ns

where frange is the desired frequency bandwidth, fs is sampling frequency, fDFT is frequency
resolution and Ns is number of samples. The equation 20 is due to aliasing of the signal
components. (Jung, Lee, and Kwon 2006)

2.4.2 Fast Fourier transform

Fast Fourier transform (FFT) is a method to extract frequency components from the current
signal. FFT is a technique for fast calculation of discrete Fourier transforms. Mathematically
any signal waveform can be presented as a sum of sine waves with different frequencies. The
frequency component amplitudes are shown in frequency-domain. FFT is suitable for sta-
tionary signals, because transforming from the time-domain to the frequency-domain makes
the time information to disappear completely. The equation for Fourier transform is given
by (23): (Karmakar et al. 2016)

Z ∞
fˆ(ω) = f (t)e−jωt dt (21)
−∞

30
where ω is angular frequency, t is time and f (t) is the function in time domain to apply the
transform for. The equation for discrete Fourier transform is given by (22): (Karmakar et al.
2016)

∞
fˆ(ω) = ∑ f (n)e−jωn . (22)
n=−∞

FFT is common tool with basic motor current signature analysis. (Thomson and Gilmore
2003)

2.4.3 Short-time Fourier transform

Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) is a solution to retain the time-information with discrete
Fourier transform. In STFT it is assumed that during relatively short time the signal is
stationary. A window function is applied to divide the function to short pieces, for which
the Fourier transform is executed. Mathematically the window function makes the function
become zero outside the specific time-interval. (Karmakar et al. 2016)

The accuracy of the method depends also on the frequency of the components. With low
frequency components the time-accuracy is poor. (Karmakar et al. 2016)

Z ∞
F(τ, ω) = f (t)w(t − τ)e−jωt dt (23)
−∞

∞
fˆ(ω) = ∑ f (n)e−jωn (24)
n=−∞

The accuracy between the time and frequency is always a compromise. The disadvantage
of STFT is that the size of the window function is fixed. With narrow window the time
resolution is good, but frequency resolution is poor. The wider the window function the
better the frequency resolution, but then the accuracy of time decreases. (Karmakar et al.
2016)

2.4.4 Wavelet transforms

Continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) and discrete wavelet transforms (DWT) are relatively
new methods to analyse signals. Simplified, the difference between continuous and discrete
methods in digital technology is that CWT uses near-continuous discredization to achieve

31
higher resolution. Due to it CWT requires much more computational power. DWT is there-
fore more suitable in continuous condition monitoring. The equation for CWT is given by
25: (Karmakar et al. 2016)

1 t −τ
Z ∞
F(τ, z) = p f (t)ψ ∗ ( )dt (25)
|z| −∞ z

where z is the dilation parameter, τ is the wavelet scale and position parameter and ψ ∗ is
the mother wavelet function. The CWT wavelet function over some random function is
presented in figure 13. The discrete form of the equation is as follows:

j
!
1 t − kb0 a0
Z ∞
DWT( j, k) = q x(t)ψ ∗j,k j
(26)
j −∞ a0
a0

where j and k are positive integers, a0 ≥ 1 and b0 ≥ 0. In practice in DWT the signal is
divided in high-pass and low-pass frequencies for so many times, that the desired number of
coefficients is provided. The method is illustrated in the figure 12. (Karmakar et al. 2016)

Figure 12: In DWT the bandwidth is divided to high-pass and low-pass, and the low-pass
bandwidth is further divided . According to the Nyquist theorem, after every division half
of the samples are discarded.

There is many different wavelets, e.g. Morlet, Haar and Daubechies. The waveforms of the
wavelets are different, but every wavelet must fulfill two rules: the integral of the wavelet is
zero, and the energy of the wavelet must be finite. The advantage of WT is that it is dynamic,
i.e. it provides high frequency resolution for low frequencies, and high time resolution for
high frequencies.

32
Figure 13: An illustration of Morlet wavelet over a random made-up function. A frequency
component at a particular time is gained from the overlapping area of the function and the
wavelet, and the spectrum is gained by sliding the wavelet in respect of time and repeating
it with different wavelet scales.

33
3 Electrical signature analysis in continuous condition monitoring

The idea of using ESA in recognizing incipient faults of induction motors is convenient,
however it has many drawbacks. As shown in previous chapters, ESA is not a particular so-
lution to a specific problem, but rather a general method possible to apply in many problems.
With current and voltage measurements it is not only possible to analyse motor faults, but it
is actually possible to extend in condition monitoring of other equipment and finding latent
problems in the process. In the other hand, there is no single quantity to determine machines
whole condition.

In this chapter the literature review presents some recent studies around the topic to better
understand the wide area of the topic. The next parts of the chapter are considering the
identified challenges in implementing ESA as a part of the continuous online condition mon-
itoring. The biggest single matter to overcome is the amount of data to be collected, which
also affects to the calculation operations along with the chosen technique. Compared to e.g.
pressure or temperature measurements, the sampling rate of a current measurement is huge.
The data-related problematic is discussed in the section 3.2. Frequency converter related
subjects are gone through in section 3.5.

3.1 The roadmap

A roadmap was created in the study to give the big picture of the field. The flowchart works
as a basis on further developing of ESA based condition monitoring. Every aspect covered
in this study is included in the flowchart. The top level theory basis is on the ISO13374
block chart described in the introduction part. The information and decisions required are
presented in the flowchart along the logical process beginning from the process and ending to
the advisory generation and maintenance action. The complete roadmap is seen in appendix
A.

3.2 Data-processing challenges

The aforementioned Nyquist theorem gives an equation for frequency component line res-
olution, meaning how accurately two close frequency components can be separated. The
closer the frequencies are, the longer they overlap in time. For this reason the sampling time
must be extended if the frequency resolution is increased. The sampling time is an inverse
of frequency resolution. Thomson et al. determines in (Thomson and Gilmore 2003), that

34
e.g. detecting broken rotor bar-caused sideband components, if slip is less than 1 %, the line
resolution should be 7.8 mHz. This requires 128 second sampling time. To be mentioned,
the line resolution and frequency component amplitude resolution are different.

With e.g. MCSA the harmonic content up to 5 kHz should be measured, so the sampling
frequency should be at least 10 kHz (Bonaldi et al. 2012). According to Thomson and
Gilmore, ±2% accuracy of the current transformer should be sufficient for reading from 30
kHz to 10 kHz (Thomson and Gilmore 2003). In process control the measures are sampled
and stored typically every half or one second with a resolution of two bytes (216 ). For current
measurement the minimum bytes per sample can be calculated as an inverse of the accuracy
of the CT times two (or adding one bit), because of the both negative and positive values of
alternating current.

With 1 % accuracy, one byte or 28 bits is enough, but the data transfer protocols or applica-
tions still may use bigger data blocks for one sample. One byte of data sampled continuously
at 10 kHz would reach almost 300 GB of data in a year. This includes only one phase current,
not other currents or voltages, timestamps, slip, frequency etc. It is obviously not reasonable
to collect such amount of data, not to mention the processing capacity demand if all the data
needed to be processed. The better strategy would be taking smaller, a few minute samples
e.g. once per hour or once per day.

3.2.1 Processing capacity demand

The study of Naha et al. was considering the area of computational power requirement (Naha
et al. 2017). The problem is acknowledged, but was not further discussed or examined in
this study. However the subject must be carefully studied with experiments to determine the
optimal efficiency of the selected condition monitoring strategy.

3.3 Accuracy of the measurements

MCSA has been successfully used in condition monitoring for decades. It is proven to be a
reliable method in fault detection. However there is many variables affecting to the accuracy
of the measurements, e.g. number of pole-pairs, slip, number of rotor bars and slots, the type
of bearing (huge amount of fine details exists regarding bearing types), shaft angle to the
coupling, coupling and gear type, etc. The more accurate the initial data is the better results
can be expected. Lacking of the detailed information is typical in industry especially with
smaller size motors. Further thinking the world is never perfect, meaning that there is minor
asymmetries and other flaws in every equipment.

35
3.4 Data-driven vs. model based fault detection

As shown in this work, the characteristics of various faults are well-known. Implementing
these equations in the CMM is called as a model based fault detection. If measurement
contains a lot of disturbances the characteristics remain undetected when comparing it to the
model. Data-driven methods are based on the measured data and detected faults, that can be
used to monitor the evolution of the signal in respect of time. With data-driven analysis the
unique figures of the signal may be detected by implementing machine learning algorithm.
Data-driven analysis can be more reliable than model based, and with it the latent faults may
be found. But the signal possibly does not contain characteristics that can be associated to
any fault by experts, and there might be another explanation for the change in the signal
than a motor fault (e.g. change in the process). That could lead to unnecessary maintenance
actions due to uncertainty.

The study of fault diagnosis of a centrifugal pump (Araste, Sadighi, and Jamimoghaddam
2022) is an example of data-driven method. The study does not propose any mathematical
model for the characteristics of the fault in the current signal, even the mechanism of emer-
gence is explained to be related to the impact on the torque. Because the difference between
the pump faults can be seen from the curve, it would be beneficial if the characteristics could
be further refined as an equation, i.e. mathematical model. In the other hand, this would lead
to even more data and calculations.

3.5 Utilizing frequency converter in data acquisition

Every frequency converter has built-in current and voltage measurements (or the voltage
is not measured, but controlled). Ideally utilizing frequency converters in data acquisition
would be a good solution, as it does not need any separate sensors or investment in process
equipment. However phase-specific current data with high sampling rate is usually not avail-
able from frequency converter to users. In the other hand, frequency converters typically has
current measurements only for two phase, and the third phase current can be calculated. This
way frequency converter does not take the zero point into account and any unbalance in the
load cannot be detected.

Frequency converters has sometimes auto-correcting functions for unbalanced currents. Be-
cause the principle of detecting broken rotor bars is to analyse the harmonics caused by
unbalanced currents, the faults may remain undetected due to correction. Also Park’s Vector
Approach requires all three phase currents to be measured.

36
3.6 The effect of the process to the electrical signature of an induction motor

As the electric motor functions as a transducer to the bearing fault and other mechanical
faults, so it will to the process. The process affects to the load and torque of the electric
motor and may cause disturbances to the current signal. Like many complex industrial sys-
tems, the district heating network is dynamic, constantly controlled system. Changing one
parameter of the system affects to the other parameters. One process pipe line typically has
multiple pumps and control valves, that are controlled by the feedback from the process mea-
surements. Changes e.g. in temperature or pressure may change the speed, torque or load
of the motor, which affects to the electrical signal of the motor. Especially when analysing
long-time evolve of the signals, the measurements should be either done in similar conditions
or should be compensated somehow. With sudden changes in the process the possible fault
analysis of motor condition should be taken into account.

Executing the measurement in right time with non-continuous methods is necessary to gain
reliable results. Whether the motor is in steady or transient state is essential information for
the analysis. This leads to the conclusion, that providing the process state to the condition
monitoring system is a benefit, so the measurement can be triggered automatically e.g. when
the motor speed is increasing. Also the measurement does not necessarily take too long
in slow processes, so CMM could request the control system to freeze the process during
the measurement. This kind of application should be always done with safety first, and the
critical control demand should override the request. However the processes in district heating
are typically kept in steady state, and the control of e.g. variable speed drive could usually
kept the same for couple of minutes.

3.7 Comparison to other methods

Vibration analysis is probably the most common condition monitoring tool especially with
smaller motors. Characteristics of mechanical vibrations and oscillations are well-known
and vibration analysis has been proven to be a good e.g. in bearing fault identification.
Machine learning algorithms has been often implemented with vibration analysis. It however
requires more sensors and does not detect any electrical faults. Mechanical vibrations has
high frequency components that requires high sampling rate, like electrical quantities, and
data processing is also similar between the two. Vibration analysis should be seen as a
supplementary, not as a competing method to the electrical methods.

Off-line diagnosis is reliable method to estimate the condition of electric machine. E.g. par-
tial discharge measurement is good method in detecting insulation faults. The drawback

37
of off-line methods are of course that the motor has to be stopped and isolated from the
source. Typically measurements can be done only during stoppage of the plant, so contin-
uous monitoring is not possible. The advantage is that no external distortion can affect to
the measurements, and the motor is in stationary environmental and process conditions. On
building the continuous condition monitoring system the off-line measurements can be sup-
portive in detecting latent fault and comparing the results to the history data of the system.
E.g. machine learning algorithm can be trained afterwards this way.

3.8 Comparison of plant-wide condition monitoring system and dedicated monitoring

devices

Various dedicated devices designed for motor fault analysis are found in the market, but those
were not explored in this document. Productizing this kind of device the most probably leads
to more affordable solutions, but probably they lack with the precision of the data available
from the device. The data from plant-wide continuous condition monitoring system may be
used in detailed analysis of the faults, but also in improving the process (due to the fact that
major proportion of the motor failures conducts from the harmful process conditions, as per
experience of the author).

The following advantages of a custom condition monitoring system over dedicated devices
was recognised:

• The fault analysis methods are different for stationary and transient phase of the mo-
tor. With condition monitoring system this is completely customisable and multiple
methods can be implemented.

• The sampling can be triggered by the process state. If the factors affecting the elec-
trical quantities are determined in advance, the sampling can be done with similar
process conditions, which produces comparable results and decreases the risk of false
conclusions (process measurement compensated analysis).

• The unique characteristics can be identified and observed.

• Implementing machine learning algorithms provides an autonomous methods to make

observations on the complete system and detecting latent problems.

• The acquired raw data is certainly available and can be used for further analysis by
experts.

38
4 Conclusions

In this study the possibility to implement electrical signature analysis based methods to a
plant-wide continuous condition monitoring system. The literature review was made and
the condition monitoring methods were evaluated from the perspective of predictive mainte-
nance and the limitations of implementing the methods to the plant-wide condition monitor-
ing system. Some recent studies with promising new solutions were also examined. The aim
was to gain big picture of the enormous field of the subject.

The basics of the predictive maintenance as well as condition monitoring was first covered.
In the second chapter some interesting findings from the studies introduced, and the wide
concept of ESA was presented. The topic was further analysed in context of continuous
condition monitoring. The conclusion is that the methods are possible to implement in a
condition monitoring system with some limitations. Carefully evaluating and selecting the
best practises a reliable condition monitoring system could be established.

Further studies should be conducted about the processing power demand of different meth-
ods. Comparing the required operations per method to the estimated efficiency and benefits
would be the main criterion in deteremining the strategy. Suggested further studies also in-
cludes combining and comparing vibration, flux and other measurements with current and
voltage signature analysis.

39
References

Albrecht, P. F. et al. (1984). “Assessment of the Reliability of Motors in Utility Applica-

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 ISO 13374

Data acquisition Data manipulation State detection Health assessment Prognostic assessment Advisory generation

Dedicated condition monitoring device

System / interface

Plant-wide condition monitoring system

Stationary or Broken rotor bar Process measurements

Nyquist theorem Transform functions
transient state?
Pole-pairs Machine learning
Air-gap eccentricity
Number of rotor bars Torque Expert contribution
Information
Number of rotor slots Bearing defect

Bearing type Load

Stator fault

History data

Frequency Slip
Frequency converter Model based Analysis Advisory generation
methods
Speed

Torque

Feature extraction
Time domain
Machine learning
model based
analysis

Data acquisition Feature extraction

Current sensor board Frequency domain
Data acquisition
and processing Current
THD

Voltage sensor Voltage DFT Frequency domain

Feature extraction
Computational
Time-frequency map
Time domain power demand
Transducer
Maintenance increasing
action (expected)
MCSA STFT Expert analysis
EPVA Data storage
IPSA Time-frequency map Feature extraction demand
M DWT
Time domain increasing
(expected)

Feature extraction
Frequency domain

Time-frequency
evolve

Feature extraction
Time-frequency map

Data-driven
methods

Decisions

Sensor type Sampling rate VSA Analysis methods

Transfer function Maintenance action

Sensor accuracy Resolution MCSA

Analysis method
Sampling time EPVA

Data transfer IPSA

interface

VSA Voltage signature analysis DFT Discrete Fourier transform

MCSA Motor current signature analysis STFT Short-time Fourier transform
EPVA Extended Park's vector analysis DWT Discrete wavelet transform
IPSA Instantaneous power signature analysis