A literature review of motor failure statistics revealed that the majority of failures are

consequential to a lacking in qualified maintenance, protection deficiencies and lesser

component failures. A motor maintenance philosophy requires consideration and decision on
the following:
The mode of operation of the plant

An assessment of the historical failures

Costs of plant outage

Consequences of plant outage due to failure

Cost of planned maintenance

Cost of installed redundancy

Access

Replacement strategies

Engineering support.

Motors that should be included in condition monitoring programmes are those identified as
Critical to the process

Components relating to safe operation and control of the plant

High initial cost

Equipment with high maintenance cost

Efficient motor operation depends on correct installation, application and efficient care in
service. A motor may be taken out of service for one or more of the following reasons:
Preventative or planned maintenance

Failure

Suspected fault developing

Re-deployment

Preventative maintenance is the application of maintenance procedures to operating plant to

obviate the possibility of failure and to extend operating life. Simple on line maintenance
techniques which are used to justify more in depth off line diagnostic testing requirements.
The use of all available information is necessary for effecting predictive condition
assessment.
The equipment required to effect this predictive maintenance includes
A data logger with FFT capability

Transducers for the above including: Velocity probes for vibration measurement

Current clamp

Stray flux coil (If Available)

Tachometer

Thermometers (Alcohol for use in areas of high magnetic field)

Many other instruments and variants of the above are available. As can be seen the list is
simple and much can be measured by employing some sound established engineering and
physical principles.
An important aspect of condition monitoring measurement is that the tests are performed
consistently and all information relating to the machine is recorded. The parameters
including running status, load and environmental condition at time of measurement require
accurate recording. A basic form is appended as an example of the kind of data that should
be recorded during any such condition assessment measurement.
Effective record keeping is a fundamental requirement of any condition assessment
maintenance programme. This is emphasised because the method employed is a trend
tracking procedure . Operational data assists with compiling maintenance and replacement
strategies, reviewing operating procedures and identifying deficiencies, as well as permitting
assessment of how the design specification matches the operating requirements. Analysis of
the trends presented by this information permits cost effective implementation of
maintenance practices.

Failure Modes
Motor failures and reliability are attributed directly to application, operation
maintenance and environmental factors. Some economics of motor maintenance
need to be applied to minimise life cycle costs and offer facts for a condition
evaluation / repair vs replace decision.

The most common failure modes and mechanisms for motors are described as
per the individual components. The failure often results in consequential damage
which masks the root cause in most cases. On line techniques serve to identify
the initiating mechanisms and facilitate early warning for timely remedial action
to be taken.
Stator Insulation failure – The contemporary insulation systems in use are
winding generally of good quality and are reliable. Failure is usually consequential
to one of the following root causes:

Ground wall faults - Abrasion of insulation – vibration induced mechanical

damage.

Inter-turn fault consequential to voltage surges

Surface tracking – a function of contamination
Terminations – Hot connection induced failures.

Wedging and blocking – vibration induced abrasion of insulation defeating

stress control systems. Loosening of wedges and fatigue failures.

Rotor Defects are largely caused by fatigue, heating and cooling cycle
Winding mechanisms and energy absorption during repetitive starting and
transient routines. The failure symptoms are

Cage defects – Broken Bars

Joint failures – bar to short circuit ring joints
Loose bars
Cracked bars.

Wound rotors – as for stator winding faults.

Magnetic Defects arise from local mechanical damage and resonant conditions
circuit pertaining to the excitation of tooth end laminations and fatigue failure.
Laminations – interlaminar faults
Increased hysteresis loss
Excessive tooth movement
Bearings Defects have many potential failure initiating mechanisms from incorrect
fitting, dirt ingress during installation or maintenance, false brinelling and
metal fatigue. Other failure mechanisms include

Lubrication loss
 Vibration induced failure
End of life
Current passage

Shafts Failures are largely consequential to bearing failures however some abuse
Heat and overloading of the machine might expose the shaft to abnormal
Exchanger torsional and bending stresses into and beyond the plastic limit of the
material. Common shaft failure initiating mechanisms are:

Fatigue
Balance

Eccentricity
Top covers of machines suffer the consequence of corrosion, windage
abrasion, thermal cycling and furring or contamination of tubes. Heat
exchanger failures take the form of:

Loose tubes
Leaks
Contamination
Corrosion

Frame Mounting and general stiffness are aspects that require attention as well
as sealing and bonding of frame mounted components. These
mechanisms relate to:

Resonant vibration

(Flexibility/stiffness)
Alignment.
As is shown the list is not exhaustive. Many motor failures are related
to application, installation and maintenance deficiencies. Occasionally
design error is identified as a root cause. The parameters defined
above constitute 90% of failure mechanisms. Methods for detecting
and monitoring the early stages of these anomalies are relatively
simple and can be effected using tools and some sound engineering
and physical principles available at all the power station sites.

Predictive Maintenance Methods

The systematic acquisition of data for monitoring machine health is the fundamental
objective of condition monitoring. A knowledgeable approach rather than an absolute
measurement from any particular condition monitoring tool yields a significantly better
assessment for qualifying machine health or otherwise. On this basis this guideline serves to
describe the health and operating indicators that should be reviewed at each inspection
interval and provides a diagnostic route to assess any anomaly found.
For a user of motors in a power station or production facility, on line techniques are most
cost effective for monitoring machine health. The proposed tests are those which can be
readily carried out by maintenance personnel using a vibration analyser and simple tools to
measure temperature, current, airflow and speed.
The proposed method is to continue with the normal vibration monitoring route – including
all motors identified as critical to the process, driving components relating to safe operation
and control of the plant, motors of high initial cost and or driving equipment with high
maintenance cost. ( All motors > 15kW)
Important factors and information that should be included to supplement the condition
assessment analysis are:
Current drawn by the motor as load indication

Ambient temperature

(All temperature measurements that are current and available on local

instrumentation or control room instrumentation/DCS systems. eg windings,
bearings, internal air/ cooling water etc.)
Cleanliness of the motor / access to air paths

Security of components / Sealing of air path’s/ enclosures.

Visual inspection of the motor frame for broken components – fins/feet etc

Security of earth straps, cable glands, auxiliary terminal boxes and cabling.

Foundation fixing

Ambient vibration level.

The condition monitoring frequency and effort needs to be related to the available resource
and manpower at each power station site. There are nominally 280 motors per unit with
some 500 other motors as outside plant that can be categorised as requiring regular
condition assessment..
These totals include all the motors from smallest to largest, a more realistic total for
effective condition monitoring placing the selected motors into the categories listed above
sums to:
90 motors as lower criticality requiring condition and maintenance assessment at 6 monthly
intervals, 380 motors of medium criticality, requiring condition and maintenance
assessment at 3 monthly intervals and 90 motors of strategic criticality requiring condition
and maintenance assessment at 1 monthly intervals.
The proposal is to perform a standard vibration analysis in the 3 normal vibration planes
and take cognisance of the operating parameters described above. This information is
assessed to qualify health in terms of the norms defined below. If all is well, no further
action is required, but to continue with the normal cleaning and re-lubrication efforts.

Test Parameters

The routine condition monitoring tasks proposed include overall vibration level measurement in units of
velocity mm/sec. The vibration record measurement should be taken on both bearings in the horizontal,
vertical and axial planes.
When an anomaly is identified some more in depth analysis should be performed to further qualify and
identify the source of the change. The procedures mooted are to use the simple tools identified in a logical
sequence to generate a complete picture for analysis.
Current balance, stability and spectral analysis is a next step measurement for establishing machine
health. The difficulties posed relate to safe access for applying the CT. The measurement should be
performed on each phase. Stray flux is a contemporary non intrusive option that can be used to
complement and extend the current signal analysis.
Temperature is a useful analysis tool. The temperatures that should be measured include Ambient
temperature, Winding temperature from embedded temperature detectors (ETD’s), bearing temperature’s,
and cooling air (internal, direct and external Air or water) both into and out of the heat exchanger and heat
source.
The motor speed or slip measurement serves to indicate load condition and might give warning of some
adverse heating taking place in the machine.
Airflow can readily be derived from the temperature measurement and serve to qualify efficacy of the
cooling circuit.
Noise level and any obvious changes or pure tones can be evaluated to qualify the onset of a
mechanical/resonance or electrical problem. The following list serves as a guide to the norms that would
be expected for most motors.
TEST PARAMETER Normal Level Alarm Level Trip Level
Speed Per nameplate < nameplate < nameplate
Vibration 2.8mm/sec > 3.8mm/sec > 4.5mm/sec
Noise < 85dB(A) > 85dB(A) > 85dB(A)
Current < nameplate > nameplate > nameplate
Temperature(Winding) 1200C 1300C 1400C
Test Sequence

The procedures outlined below are specific to particular alarm levels and starting points are
structured to identify the problem / anomaly quickly using the various techniques described
above. A simple example of a high vibration at the machine running speed is chosen to
demonstrate the procedure.
Anomaly # 1
Higher than normal Vibration – Probable cause :

Out of balance

Foundation loosening

Eccentricity

Component looseness

Review the Vibration spectrum components. Measure the relative phase of machine
vibration to foundation vibration.

Measure the bearing spike energy.

Check the current amplitude, balance and measure spectrum for analysis.

Measure the temperatures

Measure the running speed.

Compare all of these values to the norms defined in Tables 1 and 4 and to the machine
nameplate data and available design information.
The following questions have to be answered:
Can the machine safely be switched off? If so then perform a run down vibration
trace measurement in the plane of highest measured vibration, capturing the point at
which the machine is switched off and the coast down. This exercise permits
separation of a mechanically induced vibration from an electrically induced vibration

Evaluate the data and make a decision as to the most likely cause and severity of
this anomaly. Consider the failure risk and decide whether to manage the anomaly or
effect repair.

The procedure proposed is to continue the practice of vibration monitoring as a

normal routine activity. This can be enhanced with some simple temperature
measurement and assessment either from a DCS system if available or simply by
reading plant thermometers or ETD’s using simple multi-meters.

When an anomaly is identified or suspected an investigative procedure, using the

tools described above, along the lines of that offered in the following flowchart can
be adopted
The test parameter norms are best defined in tabular form and are taken from design norms
for electric motors. Often the design is such that the normal operation of the motor is well
within these defined limits of operation and in these cases it is essential that these
conditions are known to be able to track and qualify deviations from this norm.
Parameter Measuring Point Normal Level Alarm Trip Units Notes
Level Level
Bearings 2.8 3.8 4.5 mm/sec No high frequency
rms components
Vibration
Frame 4 5 6

Temperature Bearings
Plain Type 65 75 85 Degrees Normally < 40 above
(sleeve) C ambient
Antifriction 75 85 95
Windings 120 130 140 Class B for Class F
Insulation
External Air In 40
External Air Out 50
Internal Air In 50
Internal Air Out 85
Water In 27
Water Out 33
All 3 Phases < Rating Plate Amps
Current Balanced
1 m hemisphere 85dB(A) Mean Sound pressure( A Weighted) No Pure
Noise Tones
1. Speed Shaft Rating Plate< n < rpm
Synchronous
Note on method of capturing motor data.
Some simple norms should be adhered to, to standardise the format for complete motor
detail data capture. It is important when diagnosing a failure to qualify as precisely as
possible the consequences of the failure to permit a reasonable diagnosis of the root cause
to be made. Tables 5 and 6 [6] have been compiled to provide a structure for effecting this
information capture during condition monitoring and for assessment of failed motors. The
initial information includes all obvious nameplate data and should extend to other
nameplates as might have been fitted by a repair company.
TABLE 5 : Example Motor Condition Assessment Report
Motor Condition Assessment Report

Motor Description
Frame Size Bearing Type
Serial DE
No
kW NDE
Voltage
Speed
No of Poles
Enclosu
re

Condition Report

Cleanliness
Clean Comment
Dirty Heavy contamination
Dusty
Oily

Vibration Level
DE Amplitu Dominant NDE Amplitud Dominant frequency.
de frequency. e
horizontal horizont
al
vertical vertical
axial axial

Current Balance
red phase Amps
white phase Amps
blue phase Amps
Temperatures
Ambient Degrees C
Winding 1 Degrees C
2 Degrees C
3 Degrees C
4 Degrees C
5 Degrees C
6 Degrees C
Bearing DE Degrees C
NDE Degrees C
External Air in Degrees C
External Air out Degrees C
Internal Degrees C
Air in
Internal Air out Degrees C
Water in Degrees C
Water out Degrees C
Frame Degrees C

Speed rpm

Tested By:
Date:
Table 6 : Example Motor Failure Assessment Report (6)
Date Motor failure report
Date failed
Run h at fail
Starts at fail

Main plant
Driven machine

Motor maker
Motor serial
Motor kW
Motor V
Motor rpm

New or repaired?
Previous repair date
Previous repair cost
Previous repairer name

Apparent damage
Cause(s) of damage:
Age
Air contamination
Alignment
Ambient temperature
Bearing alignment
Bearing clearance
Bearing temperature
Bearing vibration
Chemical attack
Coupling alignment
Current cycling
Dirt ingress
Earth fault
Foundation vibration
Frequency deviation
Greasing interval
Lubrication
Moisture ingress
Motor application
Motor choice
Motor design
Oil contamination
Oil flow
Oil pressure
Oil type
Overcurrent
Repeated starts
Rotor/stator gap
Shaft alignment
Shaft vibration
Stalled
Torsional resonance
Turn to turn short
Ventilation
Voltage sag
Voltage surge
Winding temperature

Other (describe)

This report by Print: Sign:

Management of LV motors condition and repair

All of the above principles and methods apply equally to condition monitoring and
assessment of low voltage motors. The LV motor repair costs are collectively the highest
and are consequential to the relative perceived low maintenance requirements for smaller
induction motors. This misconception creates problems in that lesser attention is paid to
alignment and installation integrity and even cleaning, bearing life and regreasing intervals
become neglected.
The practical issues that need to be assessed include the criticality of the machine to the
process, and to the safe operation and control of the plant.
A common sense approach is required for condition assessment and qualification of the
health of LV motors. Familiarity based on a scientific appreciation for the normal operating
condition permits a qualified assessment of normal operating temperature, noise and
vibration level and current balance without the use of sophisticated instruments.
Methods currently employed involve bulk removal for overhaul of all LV electric motors on
unit outage. Costs incurred include removal, repair or refurbishment and re-installation
costs. The scope of repair work includes, stripping, cleaning, replacing broken or damaged
components, dipping and baking windings, replacing bearings, re-assembly and light run
testing.
This work is carried out on the generation national contract for motor repair. The complete
scope of work that has been performed is difficult to qualify as is the detailed assessment.
Test certificates provided give little information and no evidence of suitability or detraction
from normal running performance.
Some facts pertaining to small LV motors.
Maintenance requirements are limited by the robust and totally enclosed nature of the
machines, however some simple design and maintenance requirements exist:
The motor casing should be kept clean to maximise the efficiency of heat transfer from the
frame to the blow over cooling air.(Contemporary small motors use class H (1800C)
insulation materials permitting a class F(1400C) temperature rise.)
Foundation fixings and external connections should be tight and correctly alligned with the
driven equipment. The frame should have no broken components. Phase resistance and
impedance should be within 1% of each other this can be noted on the three phase
ammeters.
Rolling element bearing life is required to be of the order of 50000Hrs (L10h) with re-greasing
intervals ranging from 2000 Hrs for 2 poles to 4000 Hrs and greater for slower running
machines. These parameters subject to regular maintenance and proper alignment etc.
Efficiency can readily be qualified from the light run at full voltage simply by using the
uncoupled input power as the magnetising loss and then using the nameplate data of slip
and current and a physical resistance measurement to calculate the machine full load
efficiency.
Comment on the analysis of vibration signatures for diagnosing machine health.
Table 4. is a chart extracted from the literature [5] and modified slightly to better represent
the parameters for electric motors. The chart offers a detailed description of the spectral
components of vibration typical of most defects in rotating machines.
The main frequency components of the measured signal are described and the relative
amplitude of that component is graded on a scale from 1 – 10, where 1 is least and 10 is
most significant. The chart further describes the profile of these measured vibration spectra
in terms of the orientation of the measurement. The most likely source of the anomaly is
offered as a starting point for investigation. A phase relationship describes the number of
reference marks that can be detected, 1,2 or 3 and the nature of the phase relationship, i.e.
whether it can be marked, is repeatable or erratic. The last columns in the chart describe
the relative noise level associated with the vibration condition.
Note on how to use the chart:
From the measured vibration spectrum, identify the running speed component and the
spectral peaks with significant amplitude.
Grade the amplitude of the frequency components using the largest as 10 and the other
components weighted in terms of this.
Study the chart and identify probable cause by matching the spectral frequency content with
probable causes using the predominant frequency bands.
Review the relative amplitudes of the measurement taken in each of the horizontal, vertical
and axial planes and adjudicate whether they indeed do match the described profile.
A description of the generated noise is offered as a means to further support the analysis.
A probable location of the source of the vibration is offered to assist with further diagnosis.
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