Converting Blogs

Motor failure: Rotor faults

By Clarence Klassen  
 
The rotor is the moving part of an ac induction motor and is subject to the greatest number of faults. These include:

  • Thermal overload, unbalance due to contamination or abrasion
  • High rotor losses due to foreign particles
  • Hot spots due to inadequate ventilation
  • Sparking due to excessive temperature
  • Rotor pullover due to casting faults
  • Noise due to loose laminations
  • Vibration
  • Runs off magnetic center due to breakage
  • Saturation of the laminations due to design
  • Circulating currents due to steel or other deviations
  • Stress concentrations
  • Overspeeding
  • Cyclic stresses
  • Centrifugal force

An excellent article describing motor rotor faults including photos is in IEEE Industry Applications, Vol.18 No. 6, “Root Cause Methodology For Induction Motors” by Bonnet, Austin H.


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