Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Greg C. Stone
IEEE Fellow
Iris Power Engineering
1 Westside Drive, Unit 2
Toronto, Ontario M9C 1B2
Canada
Abstract - IEEE standards and test procedures are widely used of testing to performed on the electrical insulation, to ensure
by motor and generator vendors and users to commission that the stator winding will achieve a satisfactory service life
windings in new machines, as well as evaluate the condition of the typically 20-40 years. In addition, many tests have been
winding insulation in operating machines. Until recent revisions,
standardized to be used to evaluate the condition of the
the basic procedures and standards in use were written over 25
years ago. Since the 1970s, motor windings have encountered
insulation during service. The former tests are called
many changes in their design and manufacture. The result was acceptance or commissioning tests. The latter are
that the interpretation of results in many of the standards was no maintenance tests.
longer valid for the more modern motors. Over the past 5 years,
the IEEE Power Engineering Society has conducted a major Over many decades, the Power Engineering Society of
review and updating of most of these standards. Many important the IEEE has been active in documenting most of the stator
changes in test procedures and interpretation guidelines have winding insulation diagnostic tests now used throughout the
resulted. world by both machine manufactures and machine users.
Today, the IEEE lists the following as active insulation test
This paper reviews the main insulation standards used for
stator and rotor winding diagnostic testing, and discusses the
standards, recommended practices and guides that are used
changes that have been made. Standards discussed include: by both manufacturers and users [1-6]:
IEEE 43, 56, 95, 286, 522, and 1434. For example, IEEE 43-2000
now requires a minimum insulation resistance of 100 Megohms 1) IEEE 43-2000: insulation resistance and polarization
for new stator windings rated 2300 V or more, rather than the index (new and aged windings)
kV+1 that was required in the past. Furthermore, the 2) IEEE 56-1977: AC hipot tests (aged windings)
interpretation for polarization index has changed such that a 3) IEEE 95-2002: DC hipot tests (new and aged
motor with a PI of 1 is no longer automatically classed as bad. windings)
4) IEEE 286-2000: power factor tip-up tests (new and
Index Terms stator windings, insulation, testing, diagnostic
tests, DC Hipot, AC Hipot . aged windings)
5) IEEE 522-2004: hipot tests for turn insulation (new
I. INTRODUCTION and aged windings)
6) IEEE 1434-2000: partial discharge tests (new and
For most motors and generators, the expected life of a aged windings)
stator winding depends on the ability of the electrical
insulation to prevent winding faults. That is, the need for a Most of the IEEE guides, practices, and standards
stator rewind is almost always determined by when the intended for both manufacturers and users, were originally
electrical insulation is no longer able to fulfill its purpose, written in the 1950s, and were significantly updated in the
rather than, for example, being determined by a problem with 1970s. There have been few changes to these standards and
the copper conductors. This follows from the fact that the guides for the past 20 years, in spite of the significant
electrical insulation has a large organic content, a lower changes in stator winding insulation systems. Some of those
melting temperature, and a lower mechanical strength that the changes are the following:
copper and the core steel. Thus when a new stator winding is
made, NEMA MG1 and IEC 60034 require an extensive array 1. The widespread application of Class F epoxy and
polyester systems.
2. The expansion of the global VPI process such that which is just Ohms law. V is the applied DC voltage from
virtually all motors are now made using complete the tester, and It is the total current measured after t minutes.
impregnation of the stator core. The reference to the time of current measurement is needed
since the current is usually not constant.
Starting in the mid 1990s, and continuing to today, IEEE
working groups have been completely revising the IEEE There are four currents that may flow when a DC voltage
testing documents to reflect the changing nature of motor and is applied to the winding. These four are:
generator insulation systems. This paper summarizes the
purpose of each test method, provides some theory about the 1. Capacitive current. When a DC voltage is applied to
test, discusses pass/fail criteria where appropriate, and outlines a capacitor, a high charging current first flows, then
differences from past versions of the IEEE standard, practice decays exponentially. The size of the capacitor and
or guide. Additional information on these and other tests is the internal resistance of the voltage supply,
also presented in Reference [7]. typically a few hundred kilohms, sets the current
decay rate. A motor stator winding may have a total
II. IEEE 43 INSULATION RESISTANCE capacitance of about 100 nF. Thus this current
AND POLARIZATION INDEX effectively decays to zero in less than 10 seconds.
Since this capacitive current contains little
diagnostic information, the initial insulation
This is probably the most widely used diagnostic test for resistance is measured once the capacitive current
motor and generator rotor and stator windings. It can be has decayed. This time before taking the current
applied to all machines and windings, with the exception of reading has been set as one minute to ensure that this
the squirrel cage induction motor rotor winding, which does current does not distort the insulation resistance
not have any insulation to test. This test successfully locates calculation.
pollution and contamination problems in windings. In older
insulation systems, the test can also detect thermal 2. Conduction current. This current is due to electrons
deterioration. Insulation resistance (IR) and polarization index or ions that migrate across the insulation bulk,
(PI) tests have been in use for more than 70 years. Both tests between the copper and the core. This is a galvanic
are performed with the same instrument, and are usually done current through the groundwall. Such a current can
at the same time. The last revision to IEEE 43 was in 1974. flow if the groundwall has absorbed moisture, which
can happen on the older thermoplastic insulation
A. Purpose and Theory
systems, or if a modern insulation has been soaked
in water for many days or weeks. This current also
The IR test measures the resistance of the electrical flows if there are cracks, cuts or pinholes in the
insulation between the copper conductors and the core of the ground insulation (or magnet wire insulation in
stator or the rotor. Ideally this resistance is infinite, since after random wound machines), and some contamination
all, the purpose of the insulation is to block current flow
is present to allow current to flow. This current is
between the copper and the core. In practice, the IR is not constant with time, and ideally is zero. With
infinitely high. Usually, the lower the insulation resistance, modern insulation, this current usually is zero (as
the more likely it is that there is a problem with the insulation.
long as there are no cuts, etc) since electrons and
ions cannot penetrate through modern epoxy -mica or
PI is a variation of the IR test. PI is the ratio of the IR film insulation. Older asphaltic mica insulations
measured after voltage has been applied for 10 minutes (R10)
always had non-zero conduction currents, since such
to the IR measured after one minute (R1 ), i.e.: insulation systems absorb moisture. If this current is
significant, then the winding insulation has a
PI = R10 /R1
problem.
A low PI indicates that a winding may be contaminated 3. Surface leakage current. This is a constant DC
with oil, dirt, insects, etc. or soaked with water. In the test, a
current that flows over the surface of the insulation.
relatively high DC voltage is applied between the winding It is caused by partly conductive contamination (oil
copper and the stator or rotor core (usually via the machine or moisture mixed with dust, dirt, fly ash, chemicals,
frame). The current flowing in the circuit is then measured.
etc.) on the surface of the windings. Ideally this
The insulation resistance (R t ) at time t is then: leakage current is zero. However, if this current is
large, it is likely that contaminationinduced
Rt = V/It deterioration (electrical tracking) can occur. This
current can be large in round rotor windings where
the copper conductors are bare, and the insulation is The polarization index (PI) was developed to make
just slot liners. interpretation less sensitive to temperature. PI is a ratio of the
IR at two different times. If we assume that R10 and R1 were
4. Absorption current. This current is due to a measured with the winding at the same temperature, which is
precessing (re-orientation) of certain types of polar usually very reasonable to assume, then the temperature
molecules in the applied DC electric field. Many correction factor will be the same for both R1 and R10 , and
practical insulating materials contain polar molecules will be ratioed out. Thus PI is relatively insensitive to
that have an internal electric field due to the temperature. Furthermore, PI effectively allows us to use the
distribution of electrons within the molecule. For absorption current as a yard stick to see if the leakage and
example, water molecules are very polar. When an conduction currents are excessive. If these latter currents are
electric field is applied across water, the water much larger than the absorption current, the ratio will be
molecules all align, just as magnetic domains become about one. Experience shows that if the PI is about one, then
aligned in a magnetic field. The energy required to the leakage and conduction currents are large enough that
align the molecules comes from the current in the DC electrical tracking will occur. Conversely, if the leakage and
voltage supply. Once the molecules are all aligned, conduction currents are low compared to the absorption
the current stops. This current is the polarization current after 1 minute, then PI will be greater than 2, and
current, which is one component of the absorption experience indicates that electrical tracking problems are
current. There are many polar molecules in asphalt, unlikely. Thus, if we can see the decay in the total current in
mica, polyester and epoxy. Experience shows that the interval between 1 minute and 10 minutes, then this decay
after a DC electric field is applied to such materials, must be due to the absorption current (since the leakage and
the absorption current is first relatively high, and conduction currents are constant with time), with the
decays to zero after about 10 minutes. In all practical implication that the leakage and conduction currents are
respects the absorption current behaves like an RC minor.
circuit with a long time constant. The absorption
current, like the capacitive current, is neither good B. Test Method
nor bad. It is merely a property of the insulation
materials. In addition to molecular re -alignment, The IR is measured with a high voltage DC supply and a
absorption currents may aris e in high voltage sensitive ammeter. The DC supply must have a well-
laminated insulation (such as in high voltage stator regulated voltage; otherwise a steady state capacitive
groundwalls), due to electron trapping at interfaces. charging current will flow. The ammeter must measure
currents smaller than a nanoamp. There are several special
The total current It is the sum of all these current purpose megohmeters available commercially. Sometimes
components. Unfortunately, each of these component currents these are known as Megger Testers, after the name of the
cannot be directly measured. instrument first developed for this purpose (Megger is a trade
name of AVO). A megohmeter incorporates a regulated DC
The currents that are of interest, as far as a winding supply and an ammeter that is calibrated in megohms.
condition assessment is concerned, are the leakage and Modern instruments can apply voltages exceeding 10 kV, and
conduction currents. If just R1 is measured (after 1 minute), measure resistances higher than 100 G ?.
the absorption current is still non-zero. However, if the total
current is low enough, then R1 may still be considered The IR and PI test results will depend strongly on the
satisfactory. Unfortunately, just measuring R1 has proved to humidity. If the winding temperature is below the dew point,
be unreliable, since it is not trendable over time. The reason is there is no way that R1 and R10 or PI can be corrected for
that IR is strongly dependant on temperature. A 10 o C increase the humidity. If the results are poor, then the test must be
in temperature can reduce R1 by 5 to 10 times. Worse, the repeated with the winding above the dew point. It will
effect of temperature is different for each insulation material probably be necessary to heat the winding in some fashion,
and type of contamination. Although some temperature sometimes for several days, to dry off the moisture that has
correction graphs and formulae are in the IEEE 43, they are condensed on the winding. IEEE 43-2000 suggests the IR
acknowledged as being unreliable for extrapolation by more and PI tests be performed with the winding heated above the
then 10C or so [1]. The net result is that every time R1 is dew point.
measured at different temperatures, one gets a completely
different R1 . This makes it impossible to define a IEEE 43-2000 suggests that test voltages be higher than
scientifically acceptable R1 over a wide range of temp eratures. recommended in the past, because tests at higher voltages are
It also makes trending R1 almost useless, unless one can be more likely to find major defects such as cuts through the
sure the measurement temperature is always the same. insulation in the endwindings. Note that the test voltages are
still well below the rated peak line-to-ground voltages of the
windings. Thus the IR test is not a hipot test. Table 1 shows 2. The minimum R1 is the value corrected to 40o C.
the suggested test voltages. Unfortunately, any more than 10-20o C correction is
unlikely to be valid.
The higher the tip-up, the greater is the energy consumed The tip-up test is not likely to be sensitive to loose coils
by PD. Some organizations will record the PF or DF at in the slot, semiconductive coating failure or endwinding
several different voltage levels, and calculate several different electrical tracking. In all these cases the PD is at a relativity
tip-ups between different levels. By plotting the tip-up as a low repetition rate, or the damage is confined to the relatively
function of voltage, the voltage at which PD starts is small portion of the winding, and thus the PD contribution to
sometimes measurable. If the PF or DF is measured in tip-up is relatively minor.
percent, then the tip-up is in percent.
VI. IEEE 522 SURGE TESTS
Historically the test was first applied to high voltage
stator bars and coils, to ensure that the insulation was None of the tests discussed above directly measure the
completely impregnated. However, since the late 1950s, some integrity of the turn insulation in form wound or random
motor and generator operators have applied the test to wound stator windings. The stator voltage surge test
complete windings to detect various aging mechanisms that described in IEEE 522-2004 does this by applying a
produce PD. relatively high voltage surge between the turns. This test is a
hipot test for the turn insulation, and may fail the insulation,
Measurement of the tip-up is complicated by the presence requiring a repair, coil replacement or rewind. The test is
of silicon carbide stress control coatings on coils rated 6 kV or valid for any random wound or multi-turn form wound stator.
above. At low voltage, the silicon carbide is essentially a very IEEE 522 is currently being revised, but the changes are
high resistance coating, and no current flows through it. Thus likely to be mainly be clarifications.
there is no power loss in the coating. However, when tested at
A. Purpose and Theory risetime surge imposed on the line end turns, together with
weak turn insulation, the inductance of the winding will
Switching on a motor causes a fast risetime voltage surge decrease, and thus the resonant frequency will increase. Thus
to hit the stator winding terminals. Similar voltage surges one looks for the increase in frequency of the voltage surge
occur from IFDs and faults in the power system. These fast on an oscilloscope screen as the voltage is gradually
risetime surges result in a non-uniform voltage distribution increased and as the winding moves from no turn shorts to
across the turns in the stator winding. If the risetime is short having a turn short.
enough, the surge voltage high enough, and the turn insulation
weak enough, then the turn insulation punctures, rapidly The increase in frequency is small, typically only a few
leading to a stator ground fault. percent. Such a small increase is difficult to detect. To aid in
detecting the frequency shift, modern surge testers digitally
The surge test duplicates this action of an external surge. capture the resonant waveform at low voltage, where the turn
As such, this test is analogous to the AC and DC hipot tests: insulation is still intact. The surge voltage is gradually
apply a high voltage to the turn insulation, and see if it fails. increased by raising the voltage that the capacitor charges to,
The surge test is a destructive go-no go test. If the turn and triggering the switch after the capacitor has charged up
insulation fails, then the assumption is that the stator would (usually the switch is automatically triggered once per
fail in service due to motor switch-on, IFD surges or transients second). If a change in the waveform is noted above a certain
caused by power system faults. If the winding does not voltage, which can be detected by scaling the low voltage
puncture, then the assumption is that the turn insulation will stored waveform up to the current applied voltage, then turn
survive any likely surge occurring in service over the next few insulation puncture has occurred.
years. Thus the main question is whether a maintenance surge
test should be performed or not, and this is a philosophical Older surge test sets were called surge comparison
question identical to that posed for the AC and DC hipot. testers. They consisted of two energy storage capacitors,
which were connected to two phases. The waveform from
The main difficulty with the surge test is determining each phase is monitored on an analog oscilloscope. The
when turn insulation puncture has occurred. In the DC or AC assumption is that the waveform is identical for the two
hipot test, groundwall puncture results in the insulation phases. As the voltage is increased, if one of the waveforms
resistance plummeting to 0 . This causes the power supply changes (increases in frequency) then turn puncture occurred
current to increase dramatically, opening the power supply in the phase that changed. This approach has lost favor now
circuit breaker. There is no question that puncture has since it is possible for two phases to have slightly different
occurred. A turn-to-turn puncture in a winding does not cause inductances due to different circuit ring bus lengths, mid-
a huge increase in current from the power supply. In fact, if winding equalizer connections or even due to rotor position
there are 50 turns between the phase terminals and neutral, the (since it affects the permeability).
failure of one turn will only slightly reduce the inductive
imp edance of the winding, since the impedance of only one It is easy to detect turn insulation failure on individual
turn has been eliminated. Thus the other 49 turns can continue coils, since the shorting of one turn will have a much larger
to impede current flow, and the circuit breaker does not trip. impact on the total inductance of a coil, thus drastically
changing the waveform. Machine manufacturers and rewind
In the surge test, turn failure is detected by means of the companies use individual coil surge testing to check the
change in res onant frequency caused by shorting out one turn. quality of the turn insulation. Such testing is best done after
The inductor is the inductance of one phase of a stator the coils are wound, wedged and braced since by then they
winding, or in the motor stator where the neutral ends can not have been exposed to all the mechanical handling and
be isolated, the inductance of (say) the A phase and B phase stresses associated with the winding process.
windings in series. A high voltage capacitor (C) within the
surge tester is charged from a high voltage DC supply via the B. Test Method
winding inductance (L). Once the capacitor is charged to the
desired voltage, a switch is closed. The switch is a thyratron IEEE 522 provides the best description of both an
in older surge testers, or an IGBT in modern sets. The energy acceptance and maintenance surge test for form wound stator
stored in the capacitor then oscillates back and forth with the windings. The existing standard is being revised to recognize
winding inductance. The resonant frequency (f) of either the new types of digital surge testers, but the test voltages remain
voltage or current waveform is approximately: the same. As an acceptance test, the surge is recommended
to have a risetime of 100 ns and a maximum magnitude of 3.5
f = 1/2p(LC)0.5 per unit, where 1 per unit is the peak line to ground rated
voltage. For a maintenance test performed after the winding
If there is no turn fault, there will be a fixed frequency of has seen service, the surge should have the same risetime, but
oscillation. If a turn fault occurs as a result of the short reach only 2.6 per unit. As for the DC and AC hipot test
voltages, these limits were set because they represent the
worst surge that is most likely to occur in normal service. Many stator winding failure processes exhibit PD as a
Voltages higher than these maximums should not be applied to direct cause or as a symptom of the process. When a partial
the stator winding, otherwise there is a significant risk that discharge pulse occurs, there is a very fast flow of electrons
good turn insulation will fail unnecessarily. from one side of the gas filled void to the other side. Since
the electrons are moving close to the speed of light across a
As discussed above, the surge voltage is gradually small distance, the pulse has a very short duration, typically a
increased to the maximum recommended test voltage. If the few nanoseconds. Since the electrons carry a charge, each
waveform changes on the oscilloscope, then the turn insulation individual discharge creates a current pulse. In addition to
has likely punctured. If the winding is form wound, the failed the electron current flow, there will be a flow of positive ions
coil will have to be located and isolated. If a turn puncture has (created when the electrons are ionized from the gas
occurred, it is not acceptable to ignore it, and return the stator molecules) in the opposite direction.
to service. Once the first significant surge occurs in service,
the punctured turn insulation will breakdown again, allowing Each PD pulse current originates in a specific part of a
power frequency currents to flow, rapidly leading to winding. The current will travel along the coil. Since the
groundwall failure. surge impedance of a coil in a slot is approximately 30 ohms,
a voltage pulse will also be created, according to Ohms law.
C. Interpretation The current and voltage pulse flows away from the PD site,
and some portion of the pulse current and voltage will travel
The surge test is a go-no go test, and the stator either to the stator winding terminals. A Fourier transform of a
passes or fails. There is no real diagnostic information current pulse generates frequencies up to several hundred
obtained. If one combines the surge test with a partial megahertz.
discharge test, then it may be possible to detect significant
voids between the turns, before actual puncture occurs. This Any device sensitive to high frequencies can detect the
requires a special PD detector, since conventional PD PD pulse currents. In a PD test on complete windings, the
detectors will be damaged by the high voltage surges [12]. most common means of detecting the PD currents is to use a
high voltage capacitor connected to the stator terminal.
VII. IEEE 1434 PARTIAL DISCHARGE Typical capacitances are 80 pF to 1000 pF. The capacitor is a
TESTING very high impedance to the high AC voltage (needed to
energize the winding sufficiently to create the PD in any
IEEE 1434 is a new diagnostic testing guide that was just voids that may be present), while being a very low impedance
issued in 2000 [6]. The guide describes off-line and on-line to the high frequency PD pulse currents. The output of the
partial discharge (PD) test methods. A PD test directly high voltage capacitor drives a resistive or inductive-
measures the pulse currents resulting from PD within a capacitive load. The PD pulse current that passes through the
winding. Thus any failure process that creates PD as a capacitor will create a voltage pulse across the resistor or
symptom can be detected with this method. The test is mainly inductive-capacitive network, which can be displayed on an
relevant for form-wound stator windings rated 2300 V and oscilloscope, frequency spectrum analyzer, or other display
above. As described in IEEE 1434, there are a large number device. The bandwidth of the detector is the frequency range
of test methods: of the high voltage detection capacitor in combination with
the resistive or inductive-capacitor network load. Early
1. Off-line PD test on the entire stator to quantify the detectors were sensitive to the 10 kHz, 100 kHz or 1 MHz
PD activity. ranges. Modern detectors can be sensitive up to the several
2. TVA (corona) probe test to locate the PD. hundred megahertz range [6]. In addition, high frequency
3. Ultrasonic probe test to locate the PD. current transformers are sometimes installed on surge
4. Blackout or ultraviolet imaging to locate the PD. capacitor grounds to detect the PD [6].
5. On-line PD test to quantify PD during normal
service. Every PD will create its own pulse. Some PD pulses are
larger than others. In general, the magnitude of a particular
The first four methods are performed with the motor or PD pulse is proportional to the size of the void in which the
generator out of service, and in some state of disassembly. PD occurred. Consequently the bigger the detected PD pulse,
The last test is performed during normal motor or generator the larger is the defect that originated the discharge. In
operation, however, either an expert must do the test, or contrast, smaller defects tend to produce smaller PD pulses.
advanced electrical interference technology is needed to The attraction of the PD test is that one concentrates on the
ensure electrical noise does not cause a false indication. larger pulses, and ignores the smaller pulses. In contrast to
the power factor tip-up test, which is a measure of the total
A. Purpose and Theory PD activity (or the total void content), the PD test enables the
measurement of what the biggest defects are. Since failure is 2. The capacitance of the winding. If the winding has
likely to originate at the biggest defects, and not at the smaller a large capacitance, the impedance to ground at high
defects, the PD test can indicate the condition of the winding frequencies will be very low. Thus most of the PD
at the most deteriorated portion of the winding. pulse current is immediately shorted to ground,
leaving little to be detected at the stator terminals.
B. Test Methods 3. The inductance between the PD site and the PD
detector. The pulse will be attenuated as it
Like the tip-up test, the off-line PD test requires a power propagates through the winding to the terminal. In
supply to energize the winding to at least rated phase-to- general, the further the PD site is from the PD
ground voltage. Thus for large generator stators, a detector, the lower will be the magnitude detected at
conventional or resonant transformer rated 20 to 40 kVA may the machine terminal.
be needed.
These plus other effects make it difficult to define a
For on-line tests, the motor or generator voltage is self- high PD magnitude that indicates that a winding has serious
generated or comes from the power system. The most deterioration [6]. The PD test is thus a comparison test. One
common on-line PD tests use 80 pF capacitors permanently can determine which phase has the highest Qm, and thus
installed on the motor or generator terminals, and connected in which phase has the greatest deterioration. One can also
such a way as to suppress electrical interference from the compare several similar machines to see which has the
power system. highest PD. Finally, one can compare the PD from the same
stator over time, i.e. trend the data. In general, if the PD
IEEE 1434 discusses the specific on-line and off-line test doubles every 6 months, then the rate of deterioration is
methods. increasing [6].
IX. REFERENCES