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Continuous Electrical Signature Analytics (ESA)

ESA captures subtle variations in the motor’s magnetic field caused by rotor–stator air-gap perturbations. The demodulated signal reveals component frequencies once hidden beneath the 60 Hz carrier. Over time, as the amplitude of the component frequencies changes, they become indicators of changes within the system.

Diagram of FFT, transforming time domain signals into amplitude of individual frequencies

Electrical and Mechanical Fault Detection

Using a 5 step approach, we take time domain measurements and graph the amplitude over time using a Fast Fourier Transform algorithm. 

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  1. Signal Acquisition: Current and voltage waveforms from all three phases are sampled at 32 kHz to ensure sufficient resolution for sub-harmonic fault frequencies.

  2. Pre-Processing: Signals are filtered and normalized to remove transient noise.

  3. FFT and Demodulation: Conversion into the frequency domain reveals load-dependent harmonics.

  4. Fault Frequency Mapping: Each frequency band is mapped to a known mechanical component, such as bearings, gearboxes, pulleys, fans, pumps, etc. The more mechanical metadata encoded (fan curves, gearbox ratio, pulley diameters, etc.), the more precise the diagnosis can be.

  5. Machine Learning Layer: Anomaly detection models flag deviations from the established baseline, which are validated by a human analyst before notification is sent to reduce false positives.

Outcomes

With a single device installed inside an Motor Control Cabinet, a vast amount of information can be monitored and validated giving maintenance and operations teams insight into the complete health of rotating assets. 

An ID fan driven by a belt with a motor

Mechanical Faults

â—Ź Anchoring issues

â—Ź Soft foot

â—Ź Unbalance

â—Ź Gear issue

â—Ź Worn out belt/pulley or chain

â—Ź Slipping belt

â—Ź Cavitation

â—Ź Resonance

â—Ź Wear on bearinging

â—Ź Impeller damage

â—Ź Coupling degradation

One phase of a three phase system showing hot using a FLIR camera

Electrical Faults

â—Ź Turn-to-turn short circuits

â—Ź Phase to phase shorts

â—Ź Phase-to-ground faults

â—Ź Broken or cracked rotor bars

â—Ź Power quality issues

â—Ź Static & dynamic eccentricity or the rotor

â—Ź Current and voltage harmonics

â—Ź Discharge currents for bearing currents

â—Ź VFD related issues

​○ IGBT Failure

â—‹ DC Bus Ripple

â—‹ Switching frequency issues

â—Ź Power factor

â—Ź Corroded terminals or loose lugs

a chart increasing over time

Energy Monitoring

Electrical consumption

Load and cycle optimization

Cost/Run Time analyics

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