TY - GEN
T1 - In-situ health monitoring of power converter modules for preventive maintenance and improved availability
AU - Aliyu, Attahir M.
AU - Chowdhury, Shajjad
AU - Castellazzi, Alberto
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 EPE Association and IEEE.
PY - 2015/10/27
Y1 - 2015/10/27
N2 - This paper proposes an on-board methodology for monitoring the health of power converter modules in inverters driving inductive loads such as induction motors. The ability to keep regular track of the actual degradation level of the modules enables the adoption of preventive maintenance, reducing or even eliminating altogether the appearance of failures during operation, significantly improving the availability of the equipment. The novelty and originality of the solution proposed here is twofold. First, health monitoring routines are carried out during non-operation phases of the inverter. Secondly, only the circuitry already implemented in the inverter for nominal operation is made use of, without any additional components, apart from an analogue measurement circuit. Degradation is tracked by means of thermal impedance measurements, processed in the form of structure functions for greater resolution and accuracy of information. Vector control is used to supply the heating current from the inverter's DC source, while making sure that the motor load remains at a standstill. The use of vector control gives the advantage of using the existing control software. Experimental results showing the identification of degradation using structure function and thermal transient measurement extracted from the integration of the inverter and measurement circuit are presented in this work.
AB - This paper proposes an on-board methodology for monitoring the health of power converter modules in inverters driving inductive loads such as induction motors. The ability to keep regular track of the actual degradation level of the modules enables the adoption of preventive maintenance, reducing or even eliminating altogether the appearance of failures during operation, significantly improving the availability of the equipment. The novelty and originality of the solution proposed here is twofold. First, health monitoring routines are carried out during non-operation phases of the inverter. Secondly, only the circuitry already implemented in the inverter for nominal operation is made use of, without any additional components, apart from an analogue measurement circuit. Degradation is tracked by means of thermal impedance measurements, processed in the form of structure functions for greater resolution and accuracy of information. Vector control is used to supply the heating current from the inverter's DC source, while making sure that the motor load remains at a standstill. The use of vector control gives the advantage of using the existing control software. Experimental results showing the identification of degradation using structure function and thermal transient measurement extracted from the integration of the inverter and measurement circuit are presented in this work.
KW - Maintenance
KW - Measurement
KW - Reliability
KW - Vector Control
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84965080968&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/EPE.2015.7309348
DO - 10.1109/EPE.2015.7309348
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84965080968
T3 - 2015 17th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications, EPE-ECCE Europe 2015
BT - 2015 17th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications, EPE-ECCE Europe 2015
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 17th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications, EPE-ECCE Europe 2015
Y2 - 8 September 2015 through 10 September 2015
ER -
