Impact of 3D air gap eccentricity on winding insulation temperature characteristic in PMSG

The static air gap eccentricity is one of the prevalent faults in permanent magnet synchronous generators. In previous studies, the variation of magnetic flux density, stator current and vibration have been studied mostly. However, the temperature characteristic of winding insulation under 3D static air gap eccentricity fault is rarely investigated. As a supplement, this paper comprehensively analyzes the influence of radial static air gap eccentricity, axial static air gap eccentricity and the combined static air gap eccentricity (radial static air gap eccentricity and axial static air gap eccentricity) fault on the winding insulation thermal response. The whole work is based on not only the loss of core and windings but also the temperature rise of the winding insulation, which is carried out through theoretical analysis, finite element calculation, and experiment verification. It is shown that radial static air gap eccentricity will increase the winding insulation temperature whatever in singe radial static air gap eccentricity or combined static air gap eccentricity, while axial static air gap eccentricity has the opposite effect. Specifically, the winding insulation temperature in radial static air gap eccentricity 0.1 mm, 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm cases are 57.18℃, 59.10℃ and 61.04℃, respectively, which is 3.29℃, 5.21℃ and 7.15℃ higher than that under normal condition. However, under axial static air gap eccentricity, winding insulation temperature will decrease by 1.84℃, 4.11℃ and 5.9℃, respectively. When axial static air gap eccentricity is unchanged and radial static air gap eccentricity is increased, the winding insulation temperature will increase by 1.5℃ and 3.23℃, respectively. On the contrary, when radial static air gap eccentricity is unchanged and axial static air gap eccentricity increases, the winding insulation temperature decreases by 2.54℃ and 5.66℃, respectively. The end part and the join between the end and line parts of the winding insulation are the most dangerous positions to suffer from static thermal wear.