High-Frequency Voltage Injection Based Stator Interturn Fault Detection in Permanent Magnet Machines

An interturn short-circuit fault in the stator winding of an electric machine, denoted as turn fault, has been recognized as one of the most severe faults in permanent magnet machines, which require a swift and reliable detection, in order to implement appropriate mitigations. The asymmetry brought by a turn fault is widely used for fault detection. However, similar features also emerge in a less severe high-resistance connection (HRC) fault, which may lead to an incorrect fault identification. In this article, a more exclusive turn fault detection method with the ability to differentiate from the HRC fault is proposed. It injects high-frequency square-wave voltage signals and makes use of the difference in the high-frequency impedance under the two fault conditions. The sensitivity to the HRC fault is largely reduced. The proposed turn fault indicator is independent of the operating conditions and robust with respect to state transients. This method is validated in a fault-tolerant permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance machine drive.