Automatic fault diagnosis of electric machinery: A case study in PM brushless DC motors

This article presents an overview of diagnostic principles of incipient faults in electric machines and drive systems. Applications of AI tools in automating the task of fault detection are also highlighted. Operating principles of CSI-fed PM brushless DC motors are briefly introduced. A summary of an extensive study of automatic fault diagnosis and location in CSI-fed PM brushless DC motor drives, based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS), is reported. A sample of ANFIS testing cases and acceptable matching between simulated and measured performances of the drive show effectiveness of the proposed methodologies.