ANN-Based Pattern Recognition for Induction Motor Broken Rotor Bar Monitoring under Supply Frequency Regulation

Abstract

The requisite of direct-on-line (DOL) starting for various applications in underground mines subjects the rotor bars of heavy-duty squirrel cage induction motors (SCIMs) to severe stresses, resulting in sustained fault in the rotor bars, unlike the applications where mostly reduced voltage starting is preferred. Furthermore, SCIMs working in underground mines are also affected by unforeseen frequency fluctuations. Hence, the paper proposes a discrete wavelet transform (DWT)-based broken rotor bar detection scheme using the stator current analysis of SCIM when subjected to a frequency regulation (±4% of 50 Hz supply) in steady-state, as prevalent in underground mines. In this regard, the level-seven detailed coefficient obtained by the DWT-based multi-resolution analysis of stator current corresponding to the healthy rotor is compared with that of the faulty rotor to extract the necessary features to identify the fault. Further implementation of the proposed scheme is done using artificial neural network (ANN)-based pattern recognition techniques, wherein both feed-forward backdrops and cascaded forward backdrop type ANNs have been used for fault pinpointing based on the feature extraction results obtained from DWT. The scheme is developed and analysed in MATLAB/Simulink using 5.5 kW, 415 V, 50 Hz SCIM, which is further validated using the LabVIEW-based real-time implementation.