IEC 60034-18-41: A NEW DRAFT TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION FOR QUALIFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE TESTS OF INVERTER DUTY MOTOR INSULATION

Copyright Material IEEE Paper No. PCIC-2005-33

M.K.W. Stranges Member, IEEE GE Consumer & Industrial 107 Park Street North Peterborough Ontario K9H 7A4 Canada Meredith.Stranges@ge.com
Fellow, IEEE IRIS Power Engineering 2-1 Westside Dr. Toronto, ON M9C 1 B2 Canada gstone@irispower.com
*

G.C. Stone

D. L. Bogh Senior Member, IEEE GE Consumer & Industrial 18628 - 182nd Ave NE Woodinville, WA 98077 USA Dennis.Bogh@ge.com

Abstract - A new International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) Technical Specification (TS)is being developed to define the requirements for qualification of insulation systems to be used in machines supplied by voltage converters. Currently being prepared, it is much more indusive than NEMA MG-1 part 31 (Definite-Purpose Inverter-Fed Polyphase Motors). [1] Once approved, it will significantly influence the development of applicable North American specifications. The TS defines qualification and acceptance tests for inverter duty motor insulation systems It applies to random wound and form wound machines, and contains a very good informative section on drive-related insulation issues. The TS applies to insulation systems for bars and coils in both rotors and stators, but this paper addresses only stator windings. Many manufacturers today are working, to develop insulation systems that will meet the stringent requirements of the Technical Specification. This paper presents the highlights of the draft document and how it relates to the current methods of specifying machine insulation systems with non-sinusoidal power supplies. Changes to the way inverter-duty insulation systems are qualified as a result of this specification will be discussed and evaluated.
-Index Terms - Motor Insulation, Qualification, Acceptance, Technical Specification, ASD Motors,
1.

INTRODUCTION

Squirrel cage induction motors intended for use with modern adjustable-speed drives (ASDs) are now pervasive for motors rated < 1000 V. Today, medium voltage induction and synchronous motors with rated power-frequency voltage up to 7.2 kV are increasingly fitted with pulse-width modulated (PWM) ASDs. As has been widely discussed in the literature [2-5], applying PWM type inverters to these motors may create special problems, including: * Higher winding temperature due to reduced cooling at lower speeds, or heating due to harmonic currents, Bearing damage due to induced voltages on the rotor,
and

Winding insulation ageing due to partial discharge and/or dielectric heating. In fact, the vast majority of motors fitted with ASDs operate reliably. Unfortunately, some premature failures have occurred, usually due to the extra stresses that an ASD may impose on the motor. To ensure that a motor can withstand the extra stresses often associated with these applications, standards organizations such as National Electrical Manufacturer's Association (NEMA) and IEC are developing technical specifications to ensure that motors will operate satisfactorily in ASD applications. Some of the first standards concerned with ASD motors were NEMA MG 1 Parts 30 and-31 [1]. In particular, Part 31 requires low voltage (< 600 V) inverter-duty motors to survive a voltage impulse test with a magnitude of 3.1 times the rated phase-to-phase voltage (Vrated). Recently, there has been some recognition that the short impulse test at 3.1 x Vrated may not always insure a satisfactory winding insulation life, at least for low voltage ASD motors [5,7, 8]. Part 31 also requires medium voltage (>600 V) motors to survive an impulse test at 2.04 x Vrated. Alternatively, form-wound coils are often tested according to [6], where the requirement of the test is an applied impulse with a crest value equal to 3.5 times the peak line-to-ground voltage. Another IEC document [10] discusses motor insulation electrical stresses in detail, providing a tutorial on impulse voltage. It provides a curve of expected impulse voltage at motor terminals, and suggests applying motors within that limit. However, as with [1], motor testing is not sufficiently defined to assure satisfactory insulation life. It is important to note that although these specifications provide methods for determining short-term withstand test limits, they do not represent the high-cycle fatigue conditions experienced by the stator winding under inverter-duty operation. In 2002, IEC Technical Committee (TC) 2 on Rotating Machines initiated a Working Group (WG) to develop a Technical Specification (TS) to define the insulation tests that a winding must withstand to assure design suitability for operation with a modern PWM inverter. Over the past four years, the WG has developed a collection of tests for low- and medium voltage motors.

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Although this draft Specification is not yet finalized, the basic features of the tests that will be required have been defined. The TS describes the design and acceptance tests proposed for both low- and medium voltage (up to 7.2 kV) motor windings intended for ASD operation.
II.

CHALLENGES FOR ASD MOTOR INSULATION

The principal concern of both ASD motor manufacturers and users is reliability of the ASD system [9]. Of special concern is the stator winding insulation system, which consists of turn-to-turn, phase-to-ground, and phase-to-phase insulation. Experience shows that the mechanism of insulation failure due to voltage impulses from PWM inverters is likely to be different for random wound and form wound stators [2, 4]. Thus the ageing processes involved are discussed separately.
A) Random Wound Motor Stators

Figure 1 shows the components of the winding insulation system in a random wound stator. Random wound motors are usually rated < 1000 V. PWM inverters using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) or similar switching devices create relatively high magnitude, short rise time voltage impulses that strike the motor terminals. Depending on the cable length, cable grounding, and the relative surge impedance of the cable and the stator winding, the impulse voltages may be as much as 3 or 4 times the rated, rms phase-toground voltage, with a rise time as short as 50 ns [2-3, 8]. Impulses with such short rise times create harmonic frequencies as high as 5 MHz. This high frequency results in a non-uniform distribution of the impulse voltage across the winding components [2-4, 10]. Specifically, the voltage between the series coils and between turns in the first coil may be a very high percentage of the applied impulse voltage. The shorter the impulse rise time, the greater is the non-uniformity, and thus the higher the turn-to-turn voltage stress. The severity of the ASD impulses increases as either the magnitude increases or the rise time decreases.

between phases where the magnet wire may be in close proximity. The high voltage impulses, although brief, may cause the electrical stress in these small air gaps to exceed the dielectric breakdown strength of air (about 3 kV/mm). The result may be a partial discharge (PD) - a small electric spark. Repetitive PD will eventually erode organic insulation such as the insulation film on the magnet wire, or even the ground and phase insulation barriers. If PD occurs as a result of in-service impulses from the drive in a stator winding that has not been designed to withstand the discharges, the stator winding will eventually fail [2, 3, 5, 7, 8]. Motor designers have developed many ways to prevent the occurrence of PD in random wound stator windings, or at least limit their effect. These include the use of inorganic particles in the magnet wire ihsulation [2, 3, 12], which slows the PD deterioration process. Other methods increase the insulation thickness of the magnet wire and/or the ground and phase insulation. In addition, improved varnish impregnation methods by vacuum pressure using trickle impregnation, impregnation (VPI), and other processes may reduce the number and size of voids. The intent of the new IEC document is to determine if a stator insulation design can either eliminate the PD both when new and over the useful life of the motor (Type I insulation), or resist the PD over the expected life of the motor (Type II). Some motor manufacturers are currently working on the design qualification of Type I random wound motors [5, 7].
B) Form-Wound Motor Statots

Form-wound coils are typified by conductors organized into distinct turn packages consisting of a number of stranded conductors. Unlike random-wound systems, the turns in form-wound coils always occupy a defined location within the coil. These machines generally operate at higher rated voltages (> 690 V) and because they may experience PD within their lifetime, they are defined by the Technical Specification to be Type II. The principal characteristic of Type II insulation systems is the use of inorganic filled and micaceous materials treated with VPI and/or resin-rich pressing operations, to minimize voids and resist degradation by PD. Figures 2 and 3 show an example of one type of design for form-wound coil in the endwinding region, where the coil exits the slot. In principle, the same physical considerations with respect to applied impulse voltage and harmonic stress apply to form-wound systems as in the lower-voltage random-wound applications. The key difference is that due to the PD-resistant nature of the insulation system and the output characteristics of the ASD, the impulse voltage magnitude, rise time and pulse frequency will not have exactly the same effect on form-wound coils.

Fig. 1: Random wound motor stator, showing the insulation

system components In random wound stators, there are often small air gaps between turns, between turn and ground, and

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III.

KEY DEFINITIONS

A) Type 1, Type I/ Systems:

Type I systems should not experience any PD during their service lifetime. They are normally random wound. In these systems the ageing mechanisms are considered to be thermo-mechanical rather than electrical. For this reason, test objects (motorettes or formettes) are constructed to represent the insulation system and subjected to an extended ageing cycle employing heat, agitation and humidity followed by a PD test [13, 14]. Type II systems will probably experience PD during their service lifetime, and for this reason, their principal ageing mechanism is considered to be electrical. They are normally form wound. A Type II system will employ micaceous turn-to-turn and/or phase-to-ground insulation in order to combat the long-term effects of PD. Form-wound systems rated > 3 kV will generally feature semi-conductive materials for in-slot partial discharge suppression and may have high-voltage endwinding grading.
Fig. 2: Example of the slot exit area of a form-wound stator

B) Stress Categories:
Many different types of ASD system configurations exist, and to list all the possible permutations would make the Technical Specification terribly complex. To complicate matters further, inverter manufacturers are constantly introducing new configurations. Thedocument emphasizes the importance of the inverter designer's role in defining the characteristics of the output wave shape as it appears at the motor terminals. This wave shape is described more or less completely by three principal parameters: impulse repetition frequency, peak impulse voltage, and impulse rise time. In turn, the overall waveform defined by these entities is classified by the TS as benign, moderate, or severe. The stress category severity increases with increasing voltage impulse magnitude and pulse repetition frequency, and as the rise time of the wave front of each impulse decreases. Problems are encountered when defining stress categories for ASD machine insulation. For example, in some applications, an impulse voltage magnitude that is considered severe may have a moderate rise time and a benign pulse repetition rate. In others, the voltage arriving at the motor terminals may not be onerous but the rate of rise could be very steep, and so on. The individual and combined effects of varying each of these factors are extremely difficult to define, particularly when the myriad of coil designs and material combinations available are considered. Wave form parameters for Type I systems are better defined than for those for Type II. The limited experience of manufacturers and users with fastswitching ASD driven machines rated > 6 kV means that the combined effect of the waveform parameters on these windings remains largely unknown. Thinner groundwall insulation builds and the semi-conductive materials used for stress grading and corona protection

Slot corona suppressor tape

Epoxy Epoxy
Enamel,

Tum insulabon

Grundwall (main) insulation

nd irsuabon

fibre tape, or combinabon

polyester/glass

ins ia=i_

Fig. 3: Example of the coil section of a form-wound stator

The most significant factors associated with ageing of ASD machine insulation are PD imposed by voltage overshoots on each applied impulse, dielectric heating of phase-to-ground insulation, and heating of the corona protection materials. These are caused by the short rise time, high repetition frequency impulses of the ASD. If the rise time of the repetitive voltage impulse appearing at the motor terminals is short enough (i.e., < 500 ns), the turn insulation may be affected by the PD fatigue mechanism when the number of repetitive cycles is considered.

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may impose limits on the ability of the winding to operate under repetitive impulses. Increased switching rates of IGBT power electronics and advances in cooling systems for medium-voltage inverters, particularly PWM drives, lead to increasingly severe wave forms arriving at the motor terminals. The characteristics of system ageing under these conditions are not fully understood. Under the scheme proposed by the TS, there is an expectation that the designer of the inverter shall, at the start of the system design phase, determine the nature of waveform, profile at the motor terminals. This information must be shared with the motor designer so that the appropriate qualification and acceptance tests can be defined. The Technical Specification encourages open communication between the purchaser of the drive system, the inverter designer, and the motor designer. C) Partial Discharge Inception Voltage:
For the TS, the conventional definition of PDIV applies; it is the lowest voltage at which PD can be detected when the voltage is raised gradually from zero. Under the terms of this document, detection of PD > 1 OpC (pico-Coulomb) at any point during the qualification test of a Type I insulation system constitutes failure.
D) Impulse:

test set. Impulse testing is required if the test object is a conventional coil or winding.

TABLE I PHASE-TO-GROUND STRESS CATEGORIES FOR TYPE I INSULATION SYSTEMS fi1] Impulse risetime, t Stress Peak Impulse voltage v V (&3s) Category 2_1 A Benign s 2.0 2_1 B - Moderate s 3.6 2 0.3 s 2.8 C - Moderate 2 0.05 < 5.3 D - Severe Note: Where VP.k = peak value of impulse voltage arriving at the motor terminals, and Vph. = peak rated lineto-neutal voltage.
-

5.3

* 3.8

0 g!

2.8

E
a.

2-

0.05

1l 0.05R0.3

0.

1l

'impulse" refers to the voltage transient that comes from a drive or a special high voltage 'surge" tester. PD creates low voltage pulses in response to the applied
impulse. IV.

For the purpose of this paper and the TS, the term

Fig. 3: Phase-to-phase stress categories for Type 1 insulation systems

1. 1.0 s Rise lime (jis)

16 1.5

TYPE I TESTS

Testing for both Type I and Type 11 tests consists .of qualification tests and acceptance tests. Qualification tests are used to prove materials and processing technique. Acceptance tests are performed for completed motors on a design basis. A) Qualification Test:

The premise of the qualification test for Type I insulation systems is that PD will not occur at any time during the expected life of the stator winding. If PD does occur, the expectation is that deterioration and failure will be relatively rapid. Thus each design first needs to be evaluated to determine its PDIV when new. The PDIV must be greater than the voltages shown in Table 1, plus a 30% safety factor, corresponding to the different severities of impulse voltage magnitude and rise time. As indicated in Table 1, the applied voltage 'used to measure the PDIV may either be 50/60 Hz AC, or an impulse (from a suitable short rise time surge tester). Testing with a sinusoidal applied voltage is acceptable for special test objects where the turn insulation stress is simulated by having two parallel magnet wires, one of which is grounded, and the other energized from the AC

To determine if PD due to ASD transients would occur during the expected life of a motor, the proposed TS indicates that the PDIV must be measured during an accelerated ageing test. It also recommends the accelerated ageing test be the same as those described in [13] (for random wound machines) or [14j (for form wound machines). These are essentially the same ageing tests as those described in [15, 16], which are used to determine the thermal classification of the insulation system. The ageing consists of exposing special test coils (in motorettes or formettes) to repetitive cycles of heating, vibration, and humidity, For followed by a short voltage withstand test. qualification as a Type I insulation system for an inverter duty application, the PDIV measured after each ageing cycle must remain above the levels shown in Table I for the ageing cycle required for its thermal class. B) Acceptance Test:
To ensure that a stator winding was made according to design, at least one stator from a production lot must have a PDIV that exceeds the level for the stress category indicated in Table I plus a 30% safety factor. This test must be done using impulse voltages from a surge generator.

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V.

TYPE II TESTS

B) Turn-to-Turn Insulation:
These samples are made solely to represent the insulation between turns. They must be constructed from the same materials and dimensions as those used for the machine's insulation system. Tests of the turn insulation may not be required if it can be determined that no PD activity will occur between turns under service conditions.

A) Qualification Test:

Qualification tests ensure that an insulation system design is sufficiently robust for the requirements of its specified stress category. The envelope defined by the appropriate stress category (Table II), the test qualifies the materials and processes used to build the insulation system, and provides a relationship between life and service stresses for that particular configuration. The test endpoint is defined by the elapsed time to electrical breakdown of the insulation under the specified waveform conditions.
TABLE 11 CLASSIFICATION OF STRESS CATEGORIES FOR TYPE 11 INSULATION SYSTEMS 111] Stress Impulse Voltage Impulse Risetme, t (s) Category Voltage Overshoot Wth Stress Without Repetition (VpeWV*w) Grading Stress
Moderate Severe

C) Main Insulation, Stress Grading and Corona Protection

In a form-wound coil insulation system, the main insulation, stress grading and corona protection materials interact under the applied stress. Therefore, for qualification tests on coil designs where all three materials will be used, they must be combined; the samples are constructed from full production coils, fitted into fixtures representing slots. For voltage ratings where stress grading is not required by design, the test purpose is to obtain a life curve for the mainwall insulation using elevated voltage. In effect, this amounts to a simple room temperature voltage endurance (VE) test. The curve is constructed from test points for life at three different voltages at a given frequency. The inverse frequency rule [17] is applied by multiplying the ratio of frequencies to the lifetime obtained at power frequency, for a given voltage. The result is a curve providing a mean time to breakdown that must be equal to or better than that of a proven system. Systems that employ endwinding stress grading materials in their designs must be tested under impulse voltage conditions. They must survive a minimum lifetime under the specified stress category conditions, both at room temperature and at their thermal class limit minus 300C. The dual-temperature condition is imposed to take into account the local temperature elevation associated with dielectric thermal losses at the stress grading. Qualification criteria are met when each of the samples reaches 100 hours without failure, and without showing visible deterioration of the surface of the materials.

Benign

Rate (kHz) <1

<4

available to this cication Note: Where Vp.k, = peak value of impulse voltage arriving at the motor terminals, and V,. = peak rated line-to-neutral voltage.

>4

'1.5

< 1.2

> 1.5

>1 t,>0.3 Machines are not currently

>10 10>t,>1

Grading

111+tJ

I 1 0.3

.1

Imnpulse rise time (Pfs

1 ~~~~~~~~I I 10

D) Acceptance Test:
The acceptance test ensures that a selected production run of coils or motors is fit for purpose. Type 11 sample windings must meet a minimum life requirement on VE of 250 hours. The applied sinusoidal voltage waveform is 50/60 Hz, where the magnitude of the voltage is equal to 2.5 times the peak-to-peak voltage at the motor terminals under the specified inverter operating conditions. Any single failure within a given test set occurring before the minimum time constitutes failure of the entire sample set. V].

4Classifications of stress categories for Type If insulation systems

Since it is difficult to test all form wound coil insulation components at the same time, the Technical Specification addresses each component separately. Thus each of the insulation interfaces (turn-to-turn, phase-to-ground, and stress grading materials) must withstand a voltage endurance (VE) test. These tests require only a 50/60 Hz sinusoidal applied voltage waveform, with the exception of the grading materials. Systems employing these materials require ageing under impulse conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Technical Specification IEC 60034-18-41 is the first complete document of its kind to define criteria for evaluating rotating machine insulation for use with

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inverters. Currently there is no internationally accepted means by which to define "inverter duty' insulation systems. Thus a considerable need exists for this type of guide. The desire for energy economy means that more and more industrial and utility applications call for -the use of very advanced power supply devices such as PWMs. The development of the lEC Technical Specification is an important step towards unifying the classification of inverter duty windings. The Technical Specification as defined for Type I systems is nearing completion and should be released within 2006. However, for form-wound systems, the state of the art is constantly changing. Inverter drive designers are employing higher voltages and faster As switching devices with steeper wave fronts. insulation systems evolve, some of the category options may not be applicable. ASD standards will also evolve, and these changes will need to be recognized. The TS requires further definition, particularly concerning the waveform classifications and test requirements for Type 11 insulation systems. The complete qualification and acceptance scheme for Type 11 systems may be published at a later date as a 'part 2' document.

9.

10.
11.

12. 13. 14.

15.

VII.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

16.
17.

The authors wish to thank the members of IEC 6003418-41 Working Group 27 for their contributions to the Technical Specification. Dr. Jeremy Wheeler deserves special mention for his hard work as the convener of the WG. Vil.
1.

R. A. Hanna, S. Prabhu, "Medium-Voltage AdjustableSpeed Drives - Users' and Manufacturers' Experiences", IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 33, No. 6, Nov/Dec 1997. IEC 60034-25 TR, Guide for the Design and Performance of Cage Induction Motors for Converter Supply IEC 60034-18-41, Evaluation and Qualification of Electncal Insulation Systems Used in Rotating Electncal Machines When Fed from Voltage Converters, draft version, 30 November 2004. W. Yin, et al, "Improved Magnet Wire for Inverter Fed Motors", Proc of the IEEE Electnical Insulation Conference, Chicago, Sept 1997, pp 379-382. IEC 60034-18-21, Functional Evaluafion of Insulation Systems: Test Procedures for Wire-Wound Windings Thennal Evaluation and Classification IEC 60034-18-31, Functional Evaluation of Insulation Systems: Test Procedures for Form-Wound Windings Thermal Evaluation and Classification of Insulation Systems used in Machines up to and including 50 mVA and 15 kV IEEE 117-1974 (reaffirmed 1991), Standard Test Procedure for Evaluation off Systems of Insulating Materials for Random-Wound AC Electric Machinery IEEE 275-1992, Recommended Practice for Thennal Evaluation of insulation Systems for Altemating-Current Electric Machinery Employing Form-Wound Pre-insulated Stator Coils for Machines Rated 6900 V and Below D. R. Johnston, J. T. LaForte, P. E. Podhorez, H. N. Galpern, "Frequency Acceleration of Voltage Endurance", IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation, Vol. El-14, No. 3, June 1979.
IX.

REFERENCES

VITA

2. 3.

4.

5.

6.
7.

8.

NEMA Standards Publication MG 1 - 2003, Part 30, 31 Motors and Generators, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Rosslyn, Virginia G. Stone, E.A. Boufter, 1. Culbert, H. Dhirani, Electrical Insulation for Rotafing Machines, Wiley IEEE Press, January 2004. A.H. Bonnett, "Analysis of the Impact of Pulse Width Modulated Inverter Voltage Waveforms on AC Induction Motors', IEEE Pulp and Paper Industry Conference, 1994, pp. 68-75. J. Wheeler, "Effects of Converter Pulses on Electrical Insulation - the New IEC Technical Specification" IEEEDEIS Electrical Insulation Magazine, March/April 2005, Vol 21, No. 2, pp 22-29. M. J. Melfi, "Low Voltage PWM Inverter Fed Motor Insulation Issues", IEEE PCIC Conference Record, Sept 2004, pp. 137-142. IEEE 522-2004, Guide for Testing Tum Insulation of Form-Wound Stator Coils for Altemating-Current Electric Machines. D. Bogh, J. Coffee, G.C. Stone, J, Custodio, "Partial Discharge Testing on Low Voltage Motors" IEEE PCIC Conference Record, Sept 2004, pp. 241-248. M. Fenger, S. Campbell, J. Pedersen, "Motor Winding Problems Caused by Inverter Drives", IEEE Industry Applications Magazine, July 2003, pp. 22-31.

Meredith Stranges holds degrees in Chemistry and Metallurgical Engineering from Brock University and McMaster University, respectively. Meredith joined General Electric in 1997and in 2004 became the Lead Insulation Engineer for GE Peterborough.. Meredith has co-authored several papers in conjunction with colleagues. She is active in the IEEE Dielectrics and Insulation Society, and is a contributing member to international standards working groups for the IEEEStandards Association and- IEC Technical Committee 2 on Rotating Machines. She is registered as a Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario. Greg. C. Stone has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada. For 17 years he was with Ontario Hydro, a major Canadian utility, where he was involved in motor and generator testing. Since 1990, he has been a Dielectrics Engineer at Iris Power Engineering, a manufacturer of machine test equipment. He is past President of the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society, and has published 2 books and numerous papers. He is a Fellow of the IEEE. Dennis L. Bogh has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. He has been employed by General Electric since 1975 in various capacities including field engineering, management, sales and application engineering. He is a member of the API 547 committee, and a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Washington.

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