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Internal Fault Diagnosis of 
  Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator#   
 
Fang Hongwei* 
(School of Electrical Engineering and Automation,Tianjin University,Tianjin, 300072) 
Abstract: A coupled field-circuit method by taking into account the saturation is proposed in this paper. 
The stator winding inter-turn short circuit and the rotor eccentricity hybrid fault of permanent magnet 
synchronous generators (PMSG) is analyzed. The harmonic currents were used in order to investigate 
this kind of fault in a 7.5 kVA PMSG suitable for low-power wind generation applications. Simulation 
results have shown that the sideband frequency currents at 25 Hz and 75 Hz, and the 17th and 19th 
order components of terminal currents can be used as fault detection criteria.
Key words: Permanent magnet synchronous generator; inter-turn short circuit fault; rotor eccentricity; 
coupled fieldcircuit 
0  Introduction
 
Along with the development of renewable energy and electrical power industry, diagnostics 
and monitoring of the internal faults of wind generators has attracted greater research attention [1, 
2].  Permanent  magnetic  synchronous  generator  (PMSG)  and  doubly-fed  induction  generators 
(DFIG) are the most widely used in variable-speed wind turbines at present. PMSG is increasingly 
finding its applications in wind  power  generation because of its  outstanding advantages such as 
simple  structure,  high  efficiency,  small  size  and  easy  control  [3-6].  In  addition,  there  is  a  clear 
tendency to use this kind of generators with a full-rate converter. However, stator winding faults 
of PMSG, which occur due to a combination of thermal, electrical, mechanical and environmental 
stresses that act on the stator, are found to be one of the major causes of machine failure. Accurate 
diagnosis and  protection for this  kind  of fault  can  play  a vital role in reducing the  unnecessary 
production downtime and enhancing the reliability of wind power system, which leads to a cost 
effective  generator  operation.  In  the  meantime,  rotor  eccentricities  detection  and  fault  severity 
assessment in electrical machines have regained increased interests for many researchers [7-12]. If 
the air gap eccentricity is large, then the resulting unbalanced radial forces can cause rotor to stator 
rub. This can result in the damage of the stator core and stator winding. Notice that the inter-turn 
short circuit probably leads to a vibration  or eccentricity in generator too. In order to  overcome 
these problems, this paper aims to study the hybrid fault, namely the inter-turn short circuit and 
the rotor eccentricity. Furthermore, it is our worth to enhance the detection accuracy for this kind 
hybrid fault in PMSG, proper harmonic currents, such as the sideband frequency current at 25 Hz 
and 75 Hz, the 17th and 19th order currents, are selected to be the fault detection criteria. The finite 
element  (FE)  model  for  PMSG  was  presented.  The  common  methods  employed  to  model  and 
detect the inter-turn short circuit and eccentricity fault are described. The hybrid fault is analyzed 
by the coupled field-circuit method and FFT technique. 
                                                        
Foundations: Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20090032120078). 
Brief author introduction:Fang Hongwei(1977-), Male, Associate Professor, Main research: Electrical machine and 
its control. E-mail: hongwei_fang@tju.edu.cn 
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1  Modeling of Inter-turn short circuit and eccentricity with couple 
field-circuit 
Many references have addressed the principles of how a wind turbine works [13-15]. Although, there 
are  many  models  that  have  been  derived  for  the  PMSG  wind  turbine,  all  of  them  have  slightly 
differences. Based on these papers, the wind turbine power can be expressed as   
CP
=
p
(
,
)
βλ
3
w
=
C
p
(
,
)
βλ
Avρ
2
vRρ
π
2
32
w
                                                (1) 
where  Cp  is the  performance  coefficient,  λ  is the  tip  speed ratio,  β  is the  blade  pitch  angle, A is  the 
effective air volume flow in the rotor area, ρ is the air density, and vw is the wind speed.   
The typical Cp-λ characteristics can be shown in Fig. 1. 
Taking the saturation and other nonlinear effects into account, the coupled field-circuit method [16] 
is used to model the stator winding inter-turn short circuit fault and air-gap eccentricity in PMSGs.   
Neglecting the displacement current, then the electromagnetic governing equation for a PMSG can 
be represented as   
∂
x
∂
⎛
⎜⎜
⎝
v
A
∂
z
x
∂
⎞
+⎟⎟
⎠
∂
y
∂
⎛
⎜⎜
⎝
v
A
∂
z
y
∂
⎞
−=⎟⎟
⎠
J
z
+
σ
z
A
∂
t
∂
                                      (2) 
where  Az is  the  magnetic  vector  potential,  Jz    is  the  current  density,  and  v  and  σ  are  the  material 
reluctivity and conductivity respectively. 
Using Galerkin discretization method, equation (2) can be rewritten as   
b
+
⋅p
=⋅
b ICAKAT
⋅
                                                      (3) 
where A is the magnetic vector potential to be solved; Ib is a Z-dimension current vector, in which Z 
represents  the  number  of  equivalent  windings;  p  is  the  differential  operator;  T  is  the  eddy  current 
coefficient matrix; K is the element stiffness matrix;    and Cb is the node incidence matrix for Ib.   
Fig. 2 shows a typical multi-loop model of the stator winding for the generator with an inter-turn 
short circuit fault in different branch at the same phase. Using this model (Ns loops) with Nd damping 
loops (Nd is the number of damper bars), the voltage equation of all the N loops (N= Ns+Nd) can be 
written as 
                                                          (4) 
  represents  the  N×1  column  vector  of  voltage,  flux  and 
IRΨ
p
⋅′+′
=′
U
′
where  R′is  a  N×N  matrix, 
current respectively. The loop current  I′ and Ib will satisfy 
IG
′
⋅
                                                     
ΨU
and
=
,
′
I
′
′
Ib
                                                                  (5) 
where G is the incidence matrix between the branch and loop circuits. 
Notice that the flux  Ψ ′ contains two parts: the ending flux linkage 
The latter one is related to the saturation, and can be calculated from the finite element model. 
'
LΨ   and the remainder 
BAu ′
′
ACu ′
′
CBu ′
′
KLi
   
'
MΨ . 
 
                                Fig. 1.    Cp-λ curves.                                                                Fig. 2.    Stator winding multi-loop model. 
 
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It  is  well  known  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  eccentricity  in  electrical  machines,  i.e.,  the  static 
eccentricity (SE) and the dynamic eccentricity (DE).    Further, these two eccentricities can result in a 
nonuniform air gap between the stator and the PM rotor, which is shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3, Os is the 
symmetry center of the stator, Or is the rotor symmetry axis, and Ow is the rotor rotation center. From 
Fig. 3, it can be seen that the whirling angular velocity is the same as the mechanical angular velocity of 
the rotor under dynamic eccentricity, and thus it will be zero under static eccentricity. 
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where g is the average airgap length, and 
wrOOe =Δ
  is the dynamic eccentricity vector in PMSG.   
 
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Hereinafter, the degree of dynamic eccentricity is defined as 
e
%100×Δ=
e
g
                                                          (6) 
Notice that this dynamic eccetricity vector is fixed in all angular positions of the PM rotor, however 
its angle varies as can be seen in Fig. 3(b). Thus, in such a condition, the air gap around the PM rotor is 
time varying and nonuniform. 
Here, the static and dynamic eccentricity is realized by placing the rotor in a new position with mesh 
regeneration in the FEM. Fig. 4 shows the corresponding FEM for the healthy PM generator that is used 
in this paper. The transient equations of the multi-loop circuits and the motion equations are combined 
with  the magnetic  field  equations in the  finite  element modeling  procedure. Thus,  we  can  obtain the 
corresponding stator terminal currents with different kinds of inter-turn short circuit faults and different 
degree of dynamic eccentricity.   
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Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of eccentricity for PMSG: (a) static eccentricity; (b) dynamic eccentricity. 
 
Fig. 4.    Finite element model. 
 
2  Hybrid Fault Analysis   
It has been pointed out in [17] that the DE fault can be diagnosed by using a novel pattern frequency, 
which can be calculated as 
 
f
eccentrici
ty
=
                                              (7) 
f
s
±
⎡
1
⎢
⎣
1
2
k
−
P
⎛
⎜
⎝
⎞
⎟
⎠
⎤
⎥
⎦
 
where P is the number of pole pairs, k is an integer number 1, 2, 3…, and fs is the supply frequency. 
The reason to choose the 17th and 19th order harmonic currents as DE fault indicators is that they 
have a considerable increase at such a case. Thus, the sideband frequency currents at 25 Hz and 75 Hz, 
and the 17th and 19th order harmonic currents are chosen to be the fault indicators for the inter-turn short 
circuit and DE hybrid fault.   
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Combined  the  FE  model  with  the  multi-loop  method,  the  17th  and  19th  order  harmonic  currents 
spectrum under  inter-turn  short  circuit and  dynamic  eccentricity  hybrid  fault  can  be  obtained.  Fig.  5 
shows the stator winding taps diagram for a 7.5kVA PMSG used in wind generation. Fig. 6 presents the 
analysis results in the condition that the inter-turn short circuit fault occurs between the stator winding 
taps A11 and N.    Fig. 7 shows the corresponding results of the sideband frequency harmonic currents at 
25 Hz and 75 Hz with the same hybrid fault. 
 
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Fig. 5.    Diagram of winding distribution and eight short-circuit taps. 
 
 
I/A                                                                                            I/A 
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
 
0
Eccentricity fault
Hybrid fault
 
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.05
0.045
0.04
0.035
0.03
0.025
0.02
0.015
0.01
 
0
Eccentricity fault
Hybrid fault
 
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
e (%)                                                                                              e (%) 
(a)                                                                                                    (b) 
Fig. 6.    The terminal harmonic currents under eccentricity: (a) the 17th order; (b) the 19th order. 
 
 
I/A 
0.05
0.045
0.04
0.035
0.03
0.025
0.02
0.015
0.01
 
0
25Hz
75Hz
 
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
e (%) 
 
Fig. 7.    Terminal sideband frequency harmonic currents under eccentricity. 
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From Fig. 6, we can see that the amplitude of the 17th and 19th harmonics (phase A) decreases when 
the inter-turn fault occurs. Notice that the 17th harmonic is bigger than the 19th one. After the inter-turn 
faults  appears,  the  17th  and  19th  harmonics  increase  when  increasing  the  percentage  of  dynamic 
eccentricity. In Fig. 7, the sideband frequency harmonic currents at 25 Hz and 75 Hz also increase with 
the DE severity. In addition, the 25 Hz harmonic current is bigger than the 75 Hz component. Thus, 
these four quantities can be used to detect the hybrid fault. 
3  Conclusion 
In this paper, the stator winding inter-turn short circuit and dynamic eccentricity hybrid fault in PMSG was 
modelled  by  using  the  FEM  and  the  multi-loop  circuit  method,  while  taking  the  saturation  phenomena  into 
account.Then,  the  sideband  frequency  currents  at  25Hz  and  75Hz,  and  the  17th  and  19th  order  stator  current 
components were introduced to analyze them by using FFT technique. The main contribution of this paper is that 
the 17th and 19th order stator current components, and the sideband frequency currents at 25Hz and 75Hz, are 
used  as  fault  characteristics  for  PMSG  with  stator  winding  inter-turn  short  circuit  and  dynamic 
eccentricity hybrid fault. 
 
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190 
         
永磁同步电机内部故障分析 
(天津大学电气与自动化工程学院,天津市  南开区  300072) 
方红伟 
摘要:提出了一种考虑饱和现象的磁路耦合分析法,分析了永磁同步发电机的定子绕组匝间
短路和转子偏心综合故障。谐波电流被用以分析一台 7.5kVA 的低功率永磁同步风力发电机。
仿真结果表面,边频 25Hz、75Hz 频段的谐波电流和 17 阶、19 阶的谐波电流可以作为该类
故障的诊断判据。 
关键词:永磁同步电机;匝间短路故障;转子偏心;场路耦合 
中图分类号:TM614 
 
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