Motor bearing damage detection using stator current monitoring

This paper addresses the application of motor current spectral analysis for the detection of rolling-element bearing damage in induction machines. Vibration monitoring of mechanical bearing frequencies is currently used to detect the presence of a fault condition. Since these mechanical vibrations are associated with variations in the physical air gap of the machine, the air gap flux density is modulated and stator currents are generated at predictable frequencies related to the electrical supply and vibrational frequencies. This paper takes the initial step of investigating the efficacy of current monitoring for bearing fault detection by correlating the relationship between vibration and current frequencies…