Research and development of online diagnostic monitoring systems for electrical machines

A team of researchers at the Robert Gordon Institute of Technology (RGIT) in Aberdeen have researched, developed, and applied new online condition monitoring techniques and diagnostic instrumentation systems for three-phase electrical machines. The author provides an overview of this research work through to its industrial application. Reference is made to the fundamental studies of fault mechanisms and signal processing techniques required to extract the information from signals which are characteristic of a malfunction in an electrical machine. The philosophy of approach to the research and development work is mentioned and the importance of carrying out extensive field trials prior to the commercial development of stand-alone instrumentation systems is emphasised. Laboratory and on-site results are presented and the new range of condition monitoring projects being researched at RGIT are mentioned