Effects of Turn to Turn Stator Winding Faults in

Synchronous Generators - A Numerical Study

Meinolf Klocke, Jens Rosendahl
University of Dortmund
Chair of Electrical Drives and Mechatronics 1
Emil-Figge-Str. 70, D-44221 Dortmund, Germany
This allows identifying the stator winding fault as
the primary cause of end-winding zone deformation of
the wrecked generator. In this study a finite difference
scheme coupled with an arbitrary circuit containing
windings and lumped elements is applied to a 2pole-775
MVA generator.

Abstract The effects of stator winding faults on the

behaviour of a synchronous generator are of interest for
predicting the severity of the occurring damage. The paper
in hand describes the numerical transient field and network calculation for the sudden occurrence of stator winding turn to turn short circuits within coil groups and between different phases. For a 2-pole 775 MVA generator
six different locations of short circuits varying in the number of shorted turns and the position of the bypassed turns
in the winding are investigated. Transient currents in the
short-circuited windings as well as in the remaining stator
coils are calculated, taking saturation into account. Additionally, the unbalanced magnetic pull is determined and
output as a function of time. The results of the calculations
clarify the severity of such faults even if the machine is
disconnected from the grid and de-energized within a very
short period after the occurrence of the short-circuit.

II. NUMERICAL TIME-STEPPING FIELD COMPUTATION

COUPLED TO STATOR NETWORK ANALYSIS
In a strongly coupled numerical time-stepping computation for field and circuit quantities the governing
equations are solved simultaneously for each time-step.
The time-stepping results from replacing the time derivatives by quotients of differences. In the program
used here this time discretisation is carried out according to the -method as described in [4]. The spatial
discretisation method for the magnetic field applied in
the program is a finite difference scheme. Since these
methods are not novel, only a basic sketch of the resulting system of equations (1) for a given time-step is described in the following [3, 4, 5, 6 and 7].
Like in the finite element method a reluctance matrix
() results from the spatial discretisation process, which
interrelates the unknown nodal values of the magnetic
vector potential on the discretised machine cross-section
to each other. It should be noted that such a nodal approach on a 2D cross-section can be considered equivalent to a 3D edge approach applied to a cross-sectional
one-element-layer model. The inherent constraints are
given by edges in the front and back plane with a value
of zero whereas the unknown values occur for edges in
perpendicular direction.
In massive conductive regions like the rotor core and
the damper bars eddy currents have to be taken into
account. They are assumed to close ideally, i.e. without
additional voltage drop in the machine end region. Their
current densities do not occur explicitly. Since they are
only determined by the time derivative of the vector
potential and the material conductivity, their expressions
can immediately be inserted in the equations for the
vector potentials. Discretisation and rearrangement leads
to a diagonal matrix of nodal conductance coefficients
(F) with time step width h and the -method weighting
factor (1 ) in the denominator.

Index TermsElectrical machine, stator winding fault,

numerical field computation, coupled problems.

I. INTRODUCTION
Stator winding faults are of great importance in large
synchronous generators as they not only damage the
stator winding of the machine severely, but can also
destroy the whole stator core. Common reasons for these
faults are material fatigue of the insulation conditioned
by mechanical stress in the end winding zone as well as
thermal influences and moisture [1, 2 and 3].
The transient numerical field and network calculation appears to be an adequate and advantageous tool for
the quantitative prediction of effects of stator winding
faults since experimental studies are much too costly or
completely unfeasible. In opposition to a merely network based analysis the transient variation of mutual
and self inductances caused by changes in the level of
iron saturation is implicitly taken into account since the
discretised model can be considered a representation of
the whole magnetic circuit.
The output quantities can be used for further evaluations, e.g. the reconstruction of disturbances having
finally destroyed a generator. Forces having been exerted on the end-winding zone of a destroyed generator
for instance can be calculated from the resulting coil
currents.
1

The Chair of Electrical Drives and Mechatronics, University of

Dortmund, Germany, is held by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. S. Kulig.

The field excitations caused by stator and rotor

winding currents (iw) and (if) are included by the matrices of turn density coefficients (FN,1)T for the stator and
(FN,2)T for the rotor. The same matrices in transposed
form occur for the flux linkage calculation in the branch
voltage equations of stator and rotor windings. The
matrices (Bw) and (Bf) contain the loop incidences of
stator and rotor winding branches in the overall network. (Dw) and (Df) are diagonal matrices for the winding currents in the voltage equations. Their coefficients
are calculated from resistances and leakage inductances
directly associated with the windings. In the present case
the coefficients of (Dw) are zero since the armature
winding resistances and leakage inductances are modelled as external network elements (see Fig. 1b).
Network branch currents and voltages are embraced
in the vector (xb). The coefficients in matrix (Mb) on the
one hand result from the dynamic current-voltage behaviour of the branches. On the other hand loop incidences for voltages and node incidences for currents are
explicitly included there, too. The matrices (Cw) and (Cf)
provide these nodal incidences for the stator and rotor
winding currents (iw) and (if) as they are not included in
(xb).

(F )

( ) +
(1 ) h

(0)

(FN,1 )

(FN,2 )

(0)
(Mb )

III. APPLICATION TO A SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR

A stator circuitry including three possible locations
for turn to turn short circuits within a given coil group
and three positions for short circuits between neighbouring phases is set up according to Fig. 1a -c.

(F ) (F ) ( A)
T

N,1

(Cw )

(1 ) h (B ) (D )
w
w
lFe
(1 ) h (B )
f
lFe

star and delta connection of an m-phase winding with all

coil groups of a phase connected in series or in parallel.
In contrast the stator coil groups are treated like independent branch elements in (1). This concept was already introduced in [8] for the rotor circuitry. It has
been adapted for the stator without the need of changes
of the program source code. A virtual polyphase winding is prescribed for the machine stator with a non regular winding scheme explicitly forced to be read in.
By neither specifying the star or delta connection of
phases an option previously implemented for considering grounded neutral points the distinction between an
external supply network and the stator winding arrangement vanishes. The former output line to ground
voltages of the network may be reinterpreted as independent winding branch voltages by a proper choice of
loop equations. This procedure allows modelling an
arbitrary stator network topology.

(0)

(rA )

(Cf ) (xb ) (rb )

(0) (iw ) (rw )

(Df ) (if ) (rf )

N, 2

upper
layer
lower
layer
upper
layer
lower
layer

ws_I

slot numbers
7

21

20

19

18

25

26

27

28

41

42

positive
coil group

U
39

40

negative
coil group

ws_II
21

20

19

18

17

16

15

38

37

36

35

34

33

32

ps_I

(1)
The right hand side of (1) is calculated from initial
values or the results of the previous time step. It is emphasised that all network equations are explicitly taken
into account without the use of reductive methods like
node potential or loop current formulations. This approach for network analysis is known as the sparse
tableau approach as referred to in [9].
The number of network equations appears to be negligible in the presence of thousands of field equations.
Moreover, ill-conditioned systems, which would result
from practically cutting or short-circuiting branches by
extreme values of their resistances in reductive methods,
can be avoided by the sparse tableau approach.
The solution of the linear system of equations is carried out directly, where a total pivot search is applied
during the elimination of the lower network matrices.
The nonlinear magnetic characteristic of stator and rotor
core material makes the reluctance matrix () become
field dependent. This requires a few iterations per time
step, where the permeability is adapted by underrelaxation.
In the program used here the stator was formerly related to fixed topologies and winding arrangements, i.e.

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

ps_III

ps_II

35

34

33

32

31

30

29

10

ws_III
8

10

11

12

13

14

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Fig. 1a. Connectivity of the investigated windings.

The two parallel coil groups of each winding phase

are split into two partial windings, which in Fig. 1b are
denoted w1 w7 and w10 w4 for phase U, w2 w8 and
w11 w5 for phase V as well as w3 w9 and w6 w12 for
phase W. The RL-elements in series to the partial windings represent the ohmic resistance of a partial winding
and its contribution to the end zone leakage inductance.
Both are assumed to be turn number proportional to the
total values of one coil group.

Furthermore, the voltage between the winding neutral point and ground becomes an accessible output
quantity as the branch voltage of the related network
element. The partial windings w1, w2 and w3 with one,
two and three turns can be shunted by a resistive branch
in parallel in order to simulate a turn to turn winding
fault within one coil group. The separating nodes between the partial windings w10 w4 and w11 w5 as well
as w6 w12 can be interconnected by corresponding
resistive branches allowing for the simulation of winding faults between neighbouring phases. All cases are
listed in Table 1. The undisturbed operation is modelled
by interconnecting resistances of 1012 .

Fig. 1b. Network arrangement of stator windings with partial winding

coil groups w112 coupled directly to the field problem.

The resistive-inductive branches RL13 stand for the

impedance of the grid and the leakage inductance of the
machine transformer. The relative short circuit voltage is
set to 11 %. A capacitive-ohmic neutral to ground connection of the winding star node with practically negligible admittance is inserted in order to allow for a symmetric arrangement of network loop equations.
TABLE 1: CHARACTERISTICS AND ABBREVIATIONS

case
ws_I
ws_II
ws_III
ps_I

phases
U
V
W
U/V

coil group
positive
positive
negative
neg. / neg.

ps_II

V/W

neg. / pos.

ps_III

W/U

pos. / neg.

affected turns
2nd from terminal U
5th, 6th from terminal V
3rd, 4th, 5th (central turns)
1st / 1st, 2nd from neutral
1st, 2nd from neutral
/ 1st-3rd from terminal W
1st-3rd from terminal W
/ 1st from neutral
Fig. 1d. Finite-difference polar grid of the machine cross-section Slot
numbering clockwise beginning with the first slot above the horizontal
line on the left side

Partial winding no.:

+12 5 5 11 11 +7+1+7 +7 9 9 9 3 3 +8 .. +8 +2+2 +8 -410 .. -10+6 +6+6+12 ...

ps_II

ws_I

ws_II

ws_III

ps_III

ps_I

Fig. 1c. Winding scheme with locations of short circuits within single coil groups ( ) and between different phases ( ). Shorted turns are marked
by for the shorts in a single coil group, and by for the shorts between different phases.

At the instant of the short circuit (tsc = 3.5 s), this

value is reduced to 5 m for the winding fault under
consideration. The prescription of the complete topology
of the stator circuitry including all possible short-circuit
branch elements artificially enlarges the network and
leads to additional computational cost. For a given fault
under investigation many obsolete network elements
appear and twelve stator voltage equations instead of
six, seven or eight have to be solved permanently. However, as an advantage only one time consuming calculation has to be carried out for reaching steady state operation of the machine.
The locations of the winding faults under consideration are shown in Fig. 1c. Coil conductors on slot
ground are depicted thick on the left and upper layer
thin on the right. Short circuits at the marked crossing
points in the end winding zone result in different numbers of shorted turns and positions within the affected
coil groups. The cases also differ in the phases these coil
groups belong to as briefly characterised in Table 1. In
Fig. 1c the turns of these coil groups are also marked.
The cross-section of the machine is discretised by a grid
with about 19,000 nodes as shown in Fig. 1d, which also
shows the positions of coil cross-sections of w1, w2 and
w3, the partial windings to be shunted. Fig. 1d additionally contains the rotor reference frame axes d and q.
This coordinate system is used as a frame of reference
for the magnetic pull on the rotor later on. The simulations start with short-circuiting the connection under
investigation. A period of time later (0.2 s) the machine
is disconnected from the power grid as a result of protection equipment interaction and de-excitation is initiated by immediately reducing the exciter voltage to
zero.

In general their characteristics qualitatively are quite

similar to the one depicted in Fig. 2 showing one extreme case ws_III. The time-course is characterised by a
quickly vanishing asymmetric part at the very beginning, the intensity of which strongly depends on the
phase condition at the instant of time before the fault
occurs.
The effective value of the uninterrupted short-circuit
current Isc, eff is reached within about 0.15 s. It is not
much reduced after de-excitation and disconnection of
the machine from the power grid. Isc, eff, disc is at most
only about 20 % less than Isc, eff, as shown in Table 2.
Even 1.8 s after disconnection there is still a high level
of short-circuit current up to about a half of the value at
the instant of disconnection and start of de-excitation.
TABLE 2: CHARACTERISTIC SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENT VALUES
For comparison: rated value per coil group Ieff, group = 8.6 kA.

Case
ws_I
ws_II
ws_III
ps_I
ps_II
ps_III

|isc, peak|
kA
215.2
207.9
307.4
139.4
250.1
259.2

Isc, eff
kA
107.8
118.7
128.2
96.6
113.5
103.5

Isc, eff, disc

kA
107.9
105.5
104.8
87.8
79.72
79.56

Isc, eff, 1.8 s

kA
59.96
51.14
45.48
41.25
29.89
34.87

The process of de-excitation is shown in Fig. 3.

Right after the short-circuit the contribution of the
shorted windings to the overall fundamental MMF is
reduced to zero. This loss of MMF is partly compensated by the field winding hence its current is raised.
The excitation if is superposed by a grid frequency
alternating current which is induced by the asymmetric
field distribution of the armature winding. After disconnection it drops off sharply until it reaches a more flat
course later on. The transient characteristic of whole
process is rather double exponential than single exponential, due to the inductive interaction between the
massive iron and the damper bars on the one hand and
the field winding on the other hand

IV. RESULTS
A. Currents
In all investigated cases high short circuit currents
occur as listed in Table 2.

Fig. 2. Current in short-circuit resistance for three-turn winding fault

in phase W (case ws_III) from FD calculation.

Fig 3. Excitation Current for case ws_III with de-excitation starting at

3.7 s.

Fig. 4a. Line currents in case ws_I (Phase U) from FD calculation

Fig. 5a. Line currents in case ps_I (between Phase U and V)

Fig. 4b. Line currents in case ws_II (Phase V) from FD calculation

Fig. 5b. Line currents in case ps_II (between Phase V and W)

Fig. 4c. Line currents in case ws_III (Phase W)

Fig. 5c. Line currents in case ps_III (between Phase W and U)

In contrary to the fast reduction of if, the short circuit

current isc is decaying slowly. The degressive course of
induction due to nonlinearity and iron saturation prevents a fast drop down of isc. In addition the massive
iron and the damper winding are taking over the amperage of the exciter due to induction; this also is a reason
for the rather single exponential decay of current amplitude in Fig. 2.
The line currents at the terminals iline in the Figures 4
and 5 show a strong asymmetric behaviour, which finally triggers protection equipment for all investigated
cases.

Obviously the transient behaviour after the occurrence of the short circuit is stronger the more windings
are shorted, as shown in Fig. 4c for case ws_III with
three shorted windings. The maximum effective value
occurs in the phase following the one with the shorted
turns, whereas the line current in the phase before is
decreased in cases ws_II and ws_III.
Winding faults between different phases are of much
higher effect regarding the terminal currents, as shown
in Fig. 5 a-c. The current peaks are much higher and a
stronger asymmetry occurs.

groups are little affected by short-circuits, by reason of

inductive coupling between all windings of the machine,
e.g. in Fig. 6c. The first peak of the current in the undisturbed coil group w3 and w9 is about 4 times of its rated
value. After disconnection it is even rising to about 3
times the rated value.
All those currents do not disappear before total deexcitation of the machine.
B. Unbalanced magnetic pull
Another phenomenon, which was already discussed
in context with the rotor short-circuits [8], is the unbalanced magnetic pull generated by the asymmetric field.
The forces in the rotor d-, q- coordinates follow a characteristic similar to the time-function of the short-circuit
currents since they are strongly related to each other.
Hence the resulting force magnitude is displayed in
Table 2 for 4 characteristic values (in similar manner as
for the currents in Table 2).
As expected the highest peak occurs instantly after
the short circuit. The magnitude is decreasing exponentially during the transient phase of 0.2-0.3 s. In the case
of ps_II a very high peak value acts on the rotor, which
is equivalent to a weight of 736000 kg.

Fig. 6a. Winding currents in phase U (case ps_III)

TABLE 3: FORCE MAGNITUDES OF UNBALANCED MAGNETIC PULL

Fig. 6b. Winding currents in phase V (case ps_III)

Case
ws_I
ws_II
ws_III
ps_I
ps_II
ps_III

G
F peak

G
F

MN
1.076
2.206
1.267
1.980
7.361
6.364

MN
0.741
1.718
0.582
1.894
4.157
3.275

max

G
F

max, disc

MN
0.750
1.604
0.502
1.850
3.541
2.753

G
F max,1.8s

MN
0.257
0.388
0.0847
0.496
0.525
0.558

G
The transients level of to a steady state value | F | max
until the machine is disconnected from the power grid.
Thereafter the force magnitudes decay like the shortcircuit currents. Case ws_I shows the lowest values in
Table 3, but is still more critical than rotor winding
shorts.
Figures 7 and 8 display the trajectories of the magnetic
force exerted on the rotor in the d-, q- reference frame.
Since all cases generate a similar pattern, only the least
and most critical cases are included here, namely ws_I
on the left side and ps_II on the right. The upper trajectories are shown during 0.2 s after the instant of the
short circuit and the lower ones display the time after
disconnection during de-excitation.

Fig. 6c. Winding currents in phase W (case ps_III)

Strong circulating currents in the parallel coil groups

of the affected as well as the undisturbed phases arise
during the fault and after disconnecting the machine
from the grid. The currents in the winding partitions for
case ps_II are displayed in Fig. 6 a-c, where the windings w12 and w4 form a shorted loop through the neutral
point. Hence strong currents can be observed in the two
windings (see Fig. 6a and c).
After disconnection (t=3.7s) still serious circulating
currents are induced in those windings, which are only
little lower than before and decreasing slowly.
On the other hand, the undamaged coil groups in
phase V (Fig. 6b) carry much lower currents, as expected. However, it is not the rule that undamaged coil

Fig. 7a. Trajectory of force vector on rotor in rotor reference frame for
a period of 0.2 s after winding fault in phase U (case ws_I).

Fig. 8a. Trajectory of force vector on rotor in rotor reference frame for
a period of 0.2 s after the fault between V and W (case ps_II).

Fig. 7b. Trajectory of force vector on rotor in rotor reference frame

after disconnection (case ws_I).

Fig. 8b. Trajectory of force vector on rotor in rotor reference frame

after disconnection (case ps_II).

The orbit of the force vector follows an epicyclical

curve getting smaller during the transient process and
stabilizing after a few turns of the rotor. During the
steady state process the force vector can be separated
into of a fundamental frequency and a triple frequency
part of the same magnitude. In stator related coordinates
this corresponds with the sum of a constant and a double
frequency part, whereas the rotation is oriented in the
opposite direction. The shorted windings create a constant pressure on the rotor as well as an alternating part
every time a pole passes the axis of the coils.
In the Figures 7 and 8 a continuous change of the
angle between the long axis of the epicycle and the daxis of the rotor after disconnection can be observed.
This result in a slow variation of the direction of the
magnetic pull related to the stators reference frame.

C. Field map
The field map in Fig. 9 on the cross-section of the
investigated machine at an instant of time with maximum rotor forces at 3.693 s (case ps_II) shows obvious
irregularities. It illustrates the influence of the asymmetric field distribution on the unbalanced magnetic pull on
the rotor. The shorted coils are marked with the reference direction of the short-circuited loop.
Obviously the current in this loop strongly disturbs
the field. Knowing that normal components contribute
tensile stress to the fictitious Maxwell stress tensor,
whereas the tangential components result in compressive stress, the extreme high forces may be explained.

The tangential field lines are pushing mainly on the

left side of the rotor, whereas much more normal flux is
pulling on the right than on the left. A flux density of 1
Tesla creates a tensile stress of about 400 kN per square
meter. With diameter of 1 m and a length of 7 m of the
rotor, the calculated values in Table 3 appear plausibly.
A more distinct asymmetry leads to stronger forces.

REFERENCES
[1] T. S. Kulig, Die innere Unsymmetrie von
Synchronmaschinen, PhD thesis AGH, Krakau
1974.
[2] T. S. Kulig, ber die Beeinflussung der Strme und
des Elektromagnetischen Drehmoments von
Turbogeneratoren
durch
Windungsund
Phasenschlsse, PhD thesis, Hannover 1979.
[3] M. Daneshnejad, Erfassung von Windungsschlssen
in
der
Erregerwicklung
eines
Turbogenerators, PhD thesis, University of
Dortmund, Institute of Electrical Machines, Drives
and Power Electronics, 2001.
[4] M. Klocke, Zur Berechnung dynamischer Vorgnge
bei von einem Drehstromsteller gespeisten
Antrieben mit Asynchronmaschinen und mehreren
gekoppelten Massen mittels Finite-DifferenzenZeitschrittrechnung, PhD thesis, University of
Dortmund, Institute of Electrical Machines, Drives
and Power Electronics, 1999.
[5] R. Gottkehaskamp, Nichtlineare Berechnung von
Asynchronmaschinen mit massiveisenem Rotor und
zustzlichem Dmpferkfig im transienten Zustand
mittels Finiter Differenzen und Zeitschrittrechnung,
PhD thesis, University of Dortmund, Institute of
Theoretical Electrical Engineering and Electrical
Machines, 1992.
[6] A. Krawczyk, J. A. Tegopoulos, Numerical Modelling of Eddy Currents, Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1993.
[7] T. S. Kulig Anwendung der numerischen
Feldberechnung zur Modellierung elektrischer
Drehstrom-Maschinen mit inneren Fehlern Bulletin
SEV/VSE(1990)7.
[8] M. Klocke, M. Daneschnejad: New Aspects of
Winding Faults in the Rotor of a Large
Synchronous Generator, Record of the 2001 IEEE
International Symposium on Diagnostics for
Electrical Machines, Power Electronics and Drives
(SDEMPED 2001), p. 161-166. Grado, Italy,
September 1-3, 2001.
[9] W. Mathis: Theorie nichtlinearer Netzwerke,
Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York,
1987.

Fig. 9. Field map 3.693 s after occurrence of sudden short circuit in

phase W (case ps_II).

V. CONCLUSION
Six different stator winding faults differing in the
number of shorted turns and affected phases have been
investigated by means of a combined transient networkfield computation. In all cases a strong impact on the
machine arises while the machine is still connected to
the power-grid. But even immediately disconnecting the
machine from the grid cannot be considered an effective
measure for reducing the occurring damage unless a
quick de-excitation is provided. The turn currents remain at a high level of about six to nine times their rated
values in the short circuit loop and also winding parts
not included in the short circuit path are exposed to
inadmissibly high currents, if the excitation remains at
its previous level.
As for the rotor, attention has been paid to the unbalanced magnetic pull which besides the damper currents
and eddy current losses not dealt with here appears to be
a quantity with problematic values. Further investigations concerning the mechanical consequences of such
strong impacts on the mechanical properties of bearings
and the shaft train seem to be indicated. However, practical observations of bearing damages or permanent
bending deformation of rotor shafts caused by stator
winding faults are not known to the authors.