Machine Learning-Based Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Faulty Power Connections of Induction Machines

Induction machines have been key components in the industrial sector for decades, owing to different characteristics such as their simplicity, robustness, high energy efficiency and reliability. However, due to the stress and harsh working conditions they are subjected to in many applications, they are prone to suffering different breakdowns. Among the most common failure modes, bearing failures and stator winding failures can be found. To a lesser extent, High Resistance Connections (HRC) have also been investigated. Motor power connection failure mechanisms may be due to human errors while assembling the different parts of the system. Moreover, they are not only limited to HRC, there may also be cases of opposite wiring connections or open-phase faults in motor power terminals. Because of that, companies in industry are interested in diagnosing these failure modes in order to overcome human errors. This article presents a machine learning (ML) based fault diagnosis strategy to help maintenance assistants on identifying faults in the power connections of induction machines. Specifically, a strategy for failure modes such as high resistance connections, single phasing faults and opposite wiring connections has been designed. In this case, as field data under the aforementioned faulty events are scarce in industry, a simulation-driven ML-based fault diagnosis strategy has been implemented. Hence, training data for the ML algorithm has been generated via Software-in-the-Loop simulations, to train the machine learning models.