Demerdash Description: This award is to support a cooperative research by Dr. Nabeel Demerdash, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Dr. Faeka Khater, Electronic Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt. They plan to investigate on-line fault diagnostics for induction motor drives-system through electronic signals and artificial intelligence techniques. The goal is development of online fault diagnostic techniques using electronic signals such as motor terminal voltages and currents in conjunction with innovative signal processing diagnostic techniques and modern artificial intelligence methods such as Neural Networks and Gaussian Mixture Models. The drive system to be studied is a sensor-less Field Oriented Controlled (F.O.C) one without the need for a speed sensing device. The proposed technique will diagnose failure occurrences and identify the severity of the fault. Modeling and analytical algorithms will be used to predict the performance and enable the implementation of the diagnostic system in the drive controller. Experimental work on a 5-hp induction machine and analysis of recorded results will be used to evaluate and validate the developed fault diagnostic techniques.
Intellectual Merit: The problem of fault diagnostics in modern motor-drive systems (adjustable/variable speed drives) is a challenging and technically difficult one, especially if the motor-drive system is of the field oriented (vector control) closed-loop class. In such a class of motor-drives, whenever a fault or defect materializes in the motor, a corresponding compensating action takes place within the drive control system. This action usually tends to mask the existence of a fault particularly in its early stages. This research will address this compensating fault masking problem, and development of new diagnostic methods and means to detect such faults in the presence of drive control compensation actions. The results would constitute a major original contribution to the state of the art in motor-drive fault detection and diagnostics.
Broader Impact: Modern AC motor-drive systems are extensively used throughout the manufacturing, processing, and service industries, including critical services such as auxiliaries and life support systems in the medical field. The sophistication of the controls employed in such drives complicates the task of diagnosing faults in such systems before faults evolve into catastrophic or serious equipment failure. The unmasking of such faults in the presence of closed-loop controls would constitute a significant improvement in avoiding dangerous failures and associated consequences in practical applications, which increasingly rely on AC motor-drive systems. The results of the proposed work could have a great impact on the design of future electric drive systems to have an online fault diagnosis and detection system. The project involves high-level research, teaching, and application, as well as considerable breadth in culture exchange through the joint effort by researchers and students from the US and Egypt. Two Marquette University graduate students will participate in the project.
This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.
