The rapid deployment of electric vehicles on a large scale is placing higher expectations on component reliability on manufacturers. These demands have implications for quality and process control requirements in the production line.
The insulation system of electrical machines is a critical reliability feature, as a failure of the insulation can lead to system failure. Standard electrical tests, required by regulations, are not sufficient to identify all types of failures because many faults produce only partial discharges, and these can only be identified by the partial discharge test method.
The LT400, a partial discharge winding analyzer for the R&D and quality control department, is a Marposs solution to identify all latent defects in the insulation system that could lead to failures.
A single unit capable of performing standard high voltage tests (AC/DC and Pulse) plus partial discharge measurements that allows to: select wires, plastic insulating materials, impregnation process; identify insulation weak points inside stators; identify the beginning of permanent insulation degradation during life tests.
The LT400 partial discharge measurement system is based on capacitor coupling technology. Compared to the antenna type solutions normally applied in this market, the capacitor coupling technique is more sophisticated and less sensitive to external noise and therefore more suitable for applications in the production area. Since it does not use an external sensor, the capacitor coupling approach requires equipment that can detect partial discharge simply by connecting the terminals of the product under test with the same cables used to perform standard tests. The result is a solution that is very easy to use (without any external sensors) and optimized for the production environment.
The LT400 uses the same flexible test software (developed in-house) as the production machines. This means that the calibration of the test parameters, optimized during the development of the device in the laboratory, can be fully transferred to the production test machines.