The Effect of Stator Inter-Turn Short-Circuit Fault on DFIG Performance Using FEM

Abstract

Doubly-Fed Induction Generators (DFIG) are operated for wind energy production, and as their capacity is increasing, their safety and reliability become more important. Several faults affect the performance of DFIG. The stator winding Inter-Turn Short-Circuit Fault (ITSCF) is one of the most prevalent electric machine failures. This study examined the stator ITSCF effects on DFIG performance for different cases. The DFIG was designed and engineered using the Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Maxwell software, and was examined in healthy operation and four defective cases with various Numbers of Inter-Turn Short Circuit Faults (NITSCF): 4, 9, 19, and 29. These models allowed the examination of the effects and the comparison of each case separately from the healthy state. The comparison was plotted in Matlab to show the effects of the faults. The novelty of this study was that it investigated the effects of different NITSCF on the performance of DFIG and not only on their effect on the stator current and distribution of magnetic flux density. A better understanding of the short circuit effects on the performance of the DFIG can be exploited for subsequent implementations of early fault detection systems.