Thermal signature analysis of an 8/6 switched reluctance motor under inter-turn short circuit fault

Switched Reluctance Motors (SRMs) are well known for their resilience and ability to perform under harsh environments. However, these machines are still subject to common electric machine faults such as short circuit, insulation failure, eccentricity and broken bearings. This paper presents a detailed analysis of thermal signatures due to inter-turn faults. By comparing thermal simulations to copper loss analysis of a faulty 8/6 SRM, this paper shows that thermal imaging of electric machines can be used as a viable noninvasive method to detect inter-turn short circuit faults.