Graphical Root Cause Analysis of Magnetically Induced Vibrations in Synchronous Machines

Structural vibrations caused by magnetic forces in synchronous machines constitute a multi-domain problem involving both electromagnetic and mechanical phenomena. Recent years have seen an increasing effort in the scientific community to improve the capabilities of the calculation models used to assess this problem. On the one hand, this trend contributes to increasing the accuracy of the calculated results obtained. But on the other hand, the increased complexity of the models tends to make the identification of cause-effect relationships more difficult. In this context, this work proposes a new graphical tool for the comprehensive analysis of stator core vibrations in synchronous machines. The development of a holistic diagram for the root cause analysis of the electromagnetic and mechanical phenomena, called the vibration cause diagram (VCD), is presented and applied to two example machines of different sizes. The analysis method obtained is particularly useful during the design phase of a new machine or for the troubleshooting evaluation of existing machines.