STATOR INSULATION PROBLEMS CAUSED BY VARIABLE SPEED DRIVES

Gregory C. Stone
Iris Power LP.

ABSTRACT

About 1990, low voltage motor stator winding insulation failures apparently caused by short risetime
voltage surges from variable speed drives started to be noticed. The root cause was found to be the large
number of pulses from the converter, which caused partial discharges between turns in the stator. These
discharges eventually eroded the magnet wire insulation, resulting in failure. Medium voltage motors
rated up to 13,200 V and driven by pulse width modulated, voltage-source converters are now being
introduced. Early experience with 4160 volt motors driven by such converters again shows that the
voltage pulses from the drives may adversely affect the stator insulation. However, it seems that different
aging processes tend to occur in medium voltage stators compared to those in low voltage motors. In
particular, the aging can be accelerated as a result of dielectric heating of the groundwall insulation
caused by the high frequency components of the drive voltage. In addition, the voltage stress control
coatings often used in medium voltage motors have much higher capacitive currents flowing in them
when driven by converters – leading to more rapid thermal destruction of the coatings. The processes
involved in form wound stator insulation degradation are described, as well as early standardization
efforts to ensure that variable speed motor stator windings can endure these problems.

INTRODUCTION

Variable speed drives are becoming widely applied as a means of conserving energy when full power
motor output is not always required. Over the past decade, voltage source converters of the pulse width
modulation (PWM) type have become pervasive in motors rated ≤600 V, and are now being applied to
medium voltage drives. A number of issues have arisen as a result of their introduction [1-5]. One of
these issues concerns the effect of repetitive fast risetime voltage surges created by voltage source PWM
converters. Such voltage surges may lead to additional voltage and thermal stresses on the stator winding
insulation system and as a result, could lead to premature stator winding failure.

The reasons for the additional stress on the stator insulation in form wound stators are described in some
detail in this paper, as well as the faster aging processes that result. Finally, the efforts by standards
organizations to develop tests that can assure end-users that stator windings can resist premature failure
due to converters are described.

FORM WOUND COIL INSULATION SYSTEMS

Figure 1 shows a diagram of form wound coils in a stator slot, which consists of:

• Strand insulation to improve the efficiency of the motor by reducing eddy and skin effect losses.
This insulation is typically a film coating on the magnet wire, and/or a Dacron and glass serving.
• Turn insulation to isolate each copper turn from each other. In modern motors the turn insulation
is usually a Dacron and glass composite or mica paper (mica particles on a film or Dacron and
glass backing tape). Sometimes the strand and turn insulation is combined to fulfill both
functions.
• Groundwall insulation to separate the copper conductors from the grounded stator core. At the
phase end of the winding, the groundwall insulation experiences the full phase to ground applied
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 voltage. Almost all modern motor stators use mica paper tapes bonded together with epoxy as the
groundwall insulation. These materials are almost always combined using the global vacuum
pressure impregnation (GVPI) process.
• A partly conductive paint or tape over the surface of the groundwall insulation, in the stator slot
area. This layer is referred to by a large number of (sometimes contradictory) names, but will be
referred to here as the ‘slot conductive’ coating. This coating prevents partial discharge (PD) that
could happen in any air gap that inevitably occurs between the surface of the groundwall
insulation and the side of the slot in the stator [3]. This coating is usually a carbon-loaded tape.
Most motor manufacturers tend to apply this coating on converter duty motors rated 3 kV and
above.
• A stress relief paint or tape that overlaps the slot conductive coating just outside of the slot, and
extends for 10-15 cm into the endwinding. The purpose of this coating is to linearize the electric
stress along the surface of the coil, at the end of the slot conductive coating, and to reduce the risk
of PD. Presently, this coating is most commonly a silicon carbide powder within a tape. The
stress relief coating is most often applied to converter duty motors rated 6 kV and above.

d
b
e

3 2

Cutaway diagram showing the form-wound coil insulation components as the coils exit the
stator core [1]. The strand (and often turn) insulation is c, the ground insulation is 2, d shows
the locations of the slot conductive coating and e is the stress relief coating.
FIGURE 1

INSULATION SYSTEM DETERIORATION PROCESSES

In a conventional form wound motor stator, failure is most often the result of either deterioration due to
long term thermal aging, or from the effects of contamination leading to electrical tracking [3, 4].
Thermal aging in conventional motors arises due to the heat mainly created by copper losses and core
losses. The operating temperature depends on the load and the effectiveness of the cooling system
(motors operating at less than synchronous speed often require additional cooling measures to compensate
for significantly reduced cooling air flow from shaft mounted fans). If the stator winding temperature is
high enough (which depends on the thermal class of the insulation), then chemical reactions (mainly
oxidation) take place that gradually reduce the electrical and mechanical properties of the epoxy bonding
material. Some of the epoxy ‘evaporates’ and loses the ability to bond the mica paper tape layers – and
the higher the temperature, the faster this occurs. The result is that the copper strands and turns are
eventually free to vibrate under the 120 Hz magnetic forces, leading to strand and turn insulation abrasion
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and ultimately shorts. In addition, especially in motors 3.3 kV and above, the voids due to the insulation
delamination enable partial discharges to occur, which can also rapidly degrade the insulation

Contamination, in addition to reducing heat transfer, can also lead to electrical tracking failure. Most
contamination tends to be partly conductive (in the megohm range). This leads to small AC currents
flowing over coil surfaces at different potential. At dry (high resistance) spots, breakdown of the air
occurs. The resulting discharge decomposes the insulation creating a carbon track. Over months or years
the tracking can lead to phase to ground or phase-to-phase faults.

These two common stator winding failure processes can certainly still occur in PWM converter driven
motors. But the presence of switching transients from converters can cause some additional failure
processes. Modern medium voltage drives may produce thousands of short risetime pulses per second
[3,5]. The short risetime creates frequencies up to a few megahertz. In addition, (as with low voltage
drives) the transmission line effects between the power cable and the motor can increase the magnitude of
the voltage beyond the step created by switching a DC voltage. The repetitive, short risetime voltage
surges result in a more complicated impact on the insulation system, than occurs in random wound
stators. The resulting additional failure processes are discussed in terms of the insulation system
components.

TURN INSULATION PD

The repetitive, short risetime voltage impulses may cause a high percentage of the voltage step at the
motor terminals to appear between the turns in the first coil [1-3]. If there are any small voids adjacent to
the turn insulation, which is often inevitable even with the best global VPI processing, then partial
discharges may result. The electron and ion bombardment of the insulation by the PD will gradually
erode the insulation. Modern mica paper turn insulation is one of the most PD-resistant materials ever
developed – but even this material will gradually puncture if the PD magnitude is high enough and
enough PD pulses occur over time. If less resistant materials such as Dacron and glass are used as the
turn insulation, failure may follow relatively rapidly (which is why converter duty motors should have
mica paper turn insulation). Once puncture of the turn insulation occurs, a large current will flow around
the affected turn, which will rapidly melt the copper and groundwall insulation in the vicinity of the
original puncture. A ground fault will soon occur. Thus the design of the turn insulation must be
evaluated to determine how it resists this failure process. How significant this failure process is depends
on the risetime of the voltage steps (the shorter, the more likely the process), the magnitude of the steps
(which in turn depends on the DC bus voltage), and the switching frequency of the converter (the higher
the frequency, the greater the number of PD pulses will occur per second, and thus the faster the aging
rate).

GROUNDWALL INSULATION HEATING

The PWM converter voltage waveform can lead to increased groundwall insulation heating, which can
increase the winding temperature and thus accelerate the normal thermal aging processes described above.
The epoxy mica insulation material has a property called dielectric loss or dissipation factor [3,6,7].
Ideally the insulation acts as a pure capacitance, and when a voltage is applied, there is no power loss and
thus no self-heating of the insulation. However, real materials such as epoxy mica contain polar molecule
groups that tend to respond (move) when a changing electric field is placed across them. This vibrational
motion of the molecules causes heating of the material. For epoxy mica, about 0.5% of the 60 Hz
capacitive current in the insulation goes to molecular losses that cause heating. This is termed the
dissipation factor (which is essentially the same as the power factor). The loss is often electrically

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modeled as an ideal (lossless) capacitor in parallel with a resistor [7]. In a conventional motor, this
“dielectric loss” is very minor compared to the copper I2R and core losses.

If the frequency of the applied voltage increases, as is the case in a PWM converter, then the capacitive
current through the ‘resistor’ in the electrical model will increase, increasing the power consumed within
the dielectric and thus increasing the temperature of the insulation [7]. As the PWM switching frequency
increases, the power consumed increases linearly and so does the winding temperature. This is made
worse since the dissipation factor itself often increases with temperature and frequency. Consequently
PWM converters will cause the stator winding temperature to be higher than for a conventional motor, all
other things being equal, and therefore thermally age faster. The current generation of medium voltage
drives (with frequencies up to 2 kHz and DC bus voltages of about 1000 V) do not seem to produce
significant increases in temperature in the groundwall due to dielectric heating – but this could change as
the switching frequency and the magnitude of the voltage steps increase.

GROUNDWALL INSULATION PD

All conventional stator windings rated 3.3 kV and above may have PD within the groundwall if voids of
sufficient size are present. The voids may be from poor manufacturing, or occur over time as a result of
delamination due to thermal aging. Similarly, PD may occur as a result of the voltage surges from
converter drives. But the PD may be larger and more frequent with a converter, because the peak
voltages are usually higher than the peak voltage from a sinusoidal supply. The peak-to-peak voltage can
be higher from a 50/60 Hz supply due to the transmission line effects, which may cause the step voltage
changes that occur with converters to possibly double. The peak to peak voltage in a drive system will be
worse if fewer stages are used in the converter (thus a greater jump voltage occurs), if the voltage risetime
is shorter, and/or if the power cable between the converter and the motor is longer. The rate of aging is
primarily determined by the fundamental frequency of the converter.

PD SUPPRESSION COATING DEGRADATION

The partly conductive coatings that normally cover the coil insulation in the stator slot and the silicon
carbide material at the slot exits are intended to suppress the probability of PD occurring on the coil
surface in the slot and just outside of it. Several studies have shown that under PWM voltage, these
coatings will operate at higher temperatures and thus increase the rate of thermal aging if they are not
properly designed [5,8,9,10]. Since PWM voltage waveforms contain voltages at high frequencies (from
the risetime of the voltage steps and the PWM switching rate), higher capacitive currents flow through the
groundwall and then through the PD suppression coatings. These higher currents create higher I2R losses
in the coatings than would occur under 60 Hz operation - increasing the operating temperature of the
coatings. The effect is exacerbated because the higher frequencies also cause the silicon carbide materials
to be less effective in linearizing the voltage along the surface of the coils – which tends to concentrate
the heating to a shorter area near the slot exits [8]. The net result is that an inadequately designed stress
relief system may create a temperature rise as much as 50º C above that which would occur with a 60 Hz
sinusoidal voltage [5,8,9,10]. This local heating of the coatings will accelerate the thermal aging of both
the coatings, and the adjacent groundwall insulation. When the coatings degrade, surface PD may be
extensive, creating lots of ozone gas [3]. In the voltage source PWM medium voltage converter fed
motors in operation to date – this is the problem that has created the greatest concern about the service life
of the stator insulation.

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NEW IEC STANDARDS UDER DEVELOPMENT

The new demands on the stator insulation systems are starting to be recognized by standards
organizations. NEMA MG1 part 31 was added to indicate that converter duty motors should be surge
tested (using the procedure in IEEE 522) to a higher voltage level than conventional motors. However,
aside from this, North American standards organizations such as NEMA and IEEE have been silent.

In contrast, the IEC has expended considerable effort in the past 5 years to develop new technical
specifications for the insulation systems of converter driven motors. In 2006, a new technical
specification was approved for low voltage stator insulation systems [1]. This extensive document
describes the tests motor manufacturers must do to qualify stator winding insulation systems for use with
PWM converters. Since for low voltage stators the only key issue relates to PD, the approach taken by
IEC is to ensure that PD will never occur below a specified surge voltage during the expected life of the
winding [1,11]. In addition, an acceptance test is defined. This is a PD test on a normal production
stator, and the partial discharges should not occur below a specified voltage. For example, a 460 V motor
intended for use in the most extreme type of surge environment should have a partial discharge inception
voltage higher than 2800 V [11].

A similar technical specification for form wound stators is still being developed by IEC. Due to the more
complicated impact of the converter surges on medium voltage stators, a series of qualification tests for
each component of the insulation system has been proposed [12]. The details of the testing are still in
transition and the new technical specification for medium voltage converter driven motors is not expected
until 2008.

CONCLUSION

Variable speed drives using voltage source converters can create thousands of short risetime voltage
surges per second. These surges may lead to more rapid aging of the insulation in stator windings than
would occur under sinusoidal voltage. In medium voltage machines, the converter surges will also
increase the stator winding temperature – both due to dielectric heating of the groundwall insulation, as
well as due to heating of the stress control coatings. In addition, the surges may cause an increase in PD
activity, both between turns, and within the groundwall. The IEC is developing technical specifications to
enable motor manufacturers to evaluate the ability of various system insulation system designs to
withstand these additional deterioration processes.

REFERENCES

1. IEC 60034-18-41, “Evaluation and Qualification of Electrical Insulation Systems Used in Rotating
Electrical Machines When Fed from Voltage Converters”.

2. Persson, E., “Transient Effects in Applications of PWM Inverters to Induction Motors”, IEEE Trans
IAS, Sept 1992, pp 1095-1101

3. Stone, G.C. et al, “Electrical Insulation for Rotating Machines – Design, Evaluation, Aging, Testing
and Repair”, Wiley – IEEE Press, 2004

4. Bonnett, A. et al, “Cause And Analysis Of Stator And Rotor Failures In Three-Phase Squirrel-Cage
Induction Motors”, IEEE Trans IAS, July 1992, pp 921-937

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All Rights Reserved
5. Wheeler, J.C.G, “Effects of Converter Pulses on the Electrical Insulation in Low and medium Voltage
Motors”, IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, March 2005, pp22-29

6. IEEE Standard 286-2000, “Recommended Practice for Measurement of Power Factor Tip-Up of
Electric Machinery Stator Coil Insulation”

7. Barnikas, R., “Engineering Dielectrics Volume IIB – Electrical properties of Solid Insulation
Materials”, ASTM STP 926, 1987.

8. Espino-Cortes, F.P. et al, “Study of Stress Grading Systems Working Under Fast Risetime Pulses”,
IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, Jan 2007, pp16-28

9. Li, M. et al, “Effects of Repetitive Pulse Voltages on Surface temperature Increase at End Corona
Protection Region of HV Motors”, Insucon, Birmingham, May 2006, pp105-108

10. Wheeler, J. et al, “Novel Stress Grading Systems for Converter-fed Motors”, IEEE Electrical
Insulation Magazine, Jan 2007, pp29-35

11. Stranges, M.K.W. et al, “IEC 60034-18-41 and -42: New Technical Specifications For Inverter Duty
Motor Insulation”, Industry Applications Magazine, Jan 2007.

12. IEC 60034-18-42, “Qualification and Acceptance test for Type II Electrical Insulation Systems Used
in Rotating Electrical machines Fed form Voltage Converters”, November 2006 WG Draft

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