Electrical Monitoring of Mechanical Defects in Induction Motor-Driven V-Belt-Pulley Speed Reduction Couplings

Tae June Kang, Chanseung Yang, Yonghyun Park, Doosoo Hyun, Sang Bin Lee, Mike Teska

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

V-belt-pulley couplings are commonly used for speed reduction in induction-motor-driven industrial applications since they provide flexible transmission of power at low cost. However, they are susceptible to mechanical defects such as belt wear or crack that can cause slippage or damage of the belt and lead to decrease in efficiency and lifetime of the system. There are many limitations to applying existing tests such as visual inspection, thermal or mechanical monitoring as they require visual, or physical access to the system and/or costly sensors. Considering the large quantity of belt-pulley systems employed in industry, the impact of the economic loss incurred by low-efficiency operation, and unplanned process outages is significant. In this paper, electrical monitoring of belt-pulley coupling defects based on the analysis and trending of the stator current frequency spectrum under steady-state and starting conditions is presented. The proposed method is verified on the following: 1) 6.6-kV motor-driven pulpers; and 2) a custom-built motor-driven air compressor with speed reduction belt-pulleys under controlled fault conditions. It is shown that the proposed method can provide automated, remote, and safe detection of belt-pulley defects based on existing current measurements for improving system reliability and efficiency. It is also shown that the proposed method can be applied to vibration measurements for motors where vibration sensors are installed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2255-2264
Number of pages10
JournalIEEE Transactions on Industry Applications
Volume54
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018 May 1

Keywords

  • Belts
  • condition monitoring
  • couplings
  • electrical fault detection
  • induction motors
  • maintenance
  • mechanical power transmission
  • spectral analysis
  • vibration analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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