Variational Mode Decomposition-Based Processing for Detection of Short-Circuited Turns in Transformers Using Vibration Signals and Machine Learning

Transformers are key elements in electrical systems. Although they are robust machines, different faults can appear due to their inherent operating conditions, e.g., the presence of different electrical and mechanical stresses. Among the different elements that compound a transformer, the winding is one of the most vulnerable parts, where the damage of turn-to-turn short circuits is one of the most studied faults since low-level damage (i.e., a low number of short-circuited turns—SCTs) can lead to the overall fault of the transformer; therefore, early fault detection has become a fundamental task. In this regard, this paper presents a machine learning-based method to diagnose SCTs in the transformer windings by using their vibrational response. In general, the vibration signals are firstly decomposed by means of the variational mode decomposition method, where a comparison with the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method and the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method is also carried out. Then, entropy, energy, and kurtosis indices are obtained from each decomposition as fault indicators, where both the combination of features and the dimensionality reduction by using the principal component analysis (PCA) method are analyzed for the global effectiveness improvement and the computational burden reduction. Finally, a pattern recognition algorithm based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) is used for automatic fault detection. The obtained results show 100% effectiveness in detecting seven fault conditions, i.e., 0 (healthy), 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 SCTs.