Vibration characteristics of a disk-type winding simulated by coupled concentric rings

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Mechanical faults in the winding are often related to the changes in the vibro-acoustical response of the transformers with respect to the electromagnetic force in winding. Understanding of the effects of the faults on the vibration characteristics of transformer windings is useful when diagnosing winding faults using transformer's vibration signature, and when predicting the environmental noise emission from transformers. In this paper, mechanical faults, such as failure of interlayer insulation pressboards and local winding deformations, of the disk-type windings in a 110-kV power transformer, and their effects on the vibration responses of the windings are presented. The disk-type windings are also experimentally modeled by a stack of coupled concentric rings with well-defined faults. A good qualitative agreement is found between measured responses of the power transformer and of the stack of coupled concentric rings. The dependence of the response of the stack on increasing degree of faults provides useful details for understanding the cumulative effect of the faults on the winding's vibration characteristics. Methods for identifying the location and severity of the faults based on the measured vibration responses are also outlined.