95. Condition Monitoring of Induction Machines

Statistical life estimation is based on the experimental knowledge of the behaviour of an aging component. It can take into account many ambient factors such as the loading rate and the operating temperature but there remain many unpredictable factors that can lead to failure without condition monitoring. Even the run-to-failure strategy can be selected. The selection between the strategies is normally based on economical or security factors. The sum of all maintenance costs such as production losses, repair costs, new components and the condition monitoring costs should be minimized. The predictive condition monitoring of electrical motors means continuous or periodical evaluation of the healthiness of the motor. As a result of this evaluation an estimate of reliable lifetime is achieved if the tested motor is found to be broken on healthy. The main objective of condition monitoring is to raise an alarm against future damage if no action is taken. This is the main difference between condition monitoring and protection of the motors which prevents additional damage to the motor but also often causes very high economical losses caused by the shut-down of the production process. This article discuss the procedures & techniques and methods for condition monitoring of induction machines.