Stator short-circuit diagnosis in power alternators based on Flux2D/Matlab co-simulation

This paper presents a diagnosis method of stator inter-turn short-circuits in self-excited power alternators. First, a new way to accurately model power alternators is depicted. Thanks to a co-simulation process between Flux2D and Matlab, this model of a healthy alternator is able to faithfully reproduce the waveforms of the signals in the system and therefore their harmonic contents. This information is indeed crucial to perform an efficient diagnosis study. The method is then applied to a faulty machine with stator inter-turn short-circuit. It enables a spectral evaluation of the modifications introduced in the signals by the occurrence of a stator fault. Thanks to experimental measurements, the observations noted for simulated spectra have been validated and an identification of fault indicators has been achieved.