CA1221413A - Detector for shorted rotating diode of a brushless alternator - Google Patents

Detector for shorted rotating diode of a brushless alternator

Info

Publication number
CA1221413A
CA1221413A CA000464293A CA464293A CA1221413A CA 1221413 A CA1221413 A CA 1221413A CA 000464293 A CA000464293 A CA 000464293A CA 464293 A CA464293 A CA 464293A CA 1221413 A CA1221413 A CA 1221413A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
diode
field winding
circuit
voltage
shorted
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000464293A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
William Spencer
Melvin C. Jackovich
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Sundstrand Corp
Original Assignee
Sundstrand Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Sundstrand Corp filed Critical Sundstrand Corp
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1221413A publication Critical patent/CA1221413A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02HEMERGENCY PROTECTIVE CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS
    • H02H7/00Emergency protective circuit arrangements specially adapted for specific types of electric machines or apparatus or for sectionalised protection of cable or line systems, and effecting automatic switching in the event of an undesired change from normal working conditions
    • H02H7/06Emergency protective circuit arrangements specially adapted for specific types of electric machines or apparatus or for sectionalised protection of cable or line systems, and effecting automatic switching in the event of an undesired change from normal working conditions for dynamo-electric generators; for synchronous capacitors
    • H02H7/065Emergency protective circuit arrangements specially adapted for specific types of electric machines or apparatus or for sectionalised protection of cable or line systems, and effecting automatic switching in the event of an undesired change from normal working conditions for dynamo-electric generators; for synchronous capacitors against excitation faults
    • GPHYSICS
    • G01MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01RMEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R31/00Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
    • G01R31/34Testing dynamo-electric machines
    • G01R31/343Testing dynamo-electric machines in operation
    • GPHYSICS
    • G01MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01RMEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R31/00Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
    • G01R31/40Testing power supplies
    • GPHYSICS
    • G01MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01RMEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R31/00Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
    • G01R31/50Testing of electric apparatus, lines, cables or components for short-circuits, continuity, leakage current or incorrect line connections
    • G01R31/52Testing for short-circuits, leakage current or ground faults

Abstract

Detector for Shorted Rotating Diode of a Brushless Alternator Abstract A circuit for detecting the occurrence of a shorted diode in the rotating rectifier of a brush-less alternator. A sensing circuit is responsive to the direction of current flow through the exciter field winding. A reversal of the current indicates that there is a shorted rectifier diode.

Description

1 F:ield of the ~nventlon ... .
This inven-tion rela-tes -to a circuit for de~
tecting the occurrence of a shorted diode in the rectifier oE the rotating ~ield of a brushless alternator.
Background o~ the Invent~on A typical brushless alternator has an exciter ~ield winding which is a part of -the stator s-tructure o~ the machine. The rotor of thc alterna-tor includes an e~citer armature in wh:ich an alternating output is developed. A rectifier which is a part of the rotor is connected with -the exciter armature and provides direct current excitation for the main field winding.
The alternator output is developed in the stator armature windings. The exciter field is connected through a regulator trans stor with a DC source. A diode is connected in parallel with the transistor and reversely poled with respect thereto. A voltage regulator circuit provides a pulse width modulated drive signal to the regulator transistor in accordance with the output voltage o~ the alternator.
A failed diode in the rotating rectifier causes malfunctioning oE t:he regulator/generator com-bination and must be detected to avoid damage to the system.
Prior circuits have, for example, responded to the fre-quency and amplitude of the ripple current in the ~ield winding, ~.S. Patent Nos.3,210,603 which issued March 10, 1965 to Calfee et al., an~ Hyvarinen 3,534,228 which issued October 13, 197Q, or compared the exciter field voltage with the alternator output~ U.S. Patent No.3,705,331 30 which issued December 5, 1972 to South et al.

~, Summa~ ~r t~ n5~95 The present invention provides a detector forshorted diode rectifier in a brushless alternator, which senses the direction of current flow through S the exciter field winding circuit as an indication of the rectifier fault.
More particularly, a resistor is connected in series with the parallel combination of the voltage regulator transi~tor and reversely connected diode.
The detector sensing circuit is resDonsive to polarity of the voltage across the series resistor.
Further features and advantages of the in-vention will be apparent from the following specification and from the drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a block diagram of a brushless alternator illustrating the system in which the de-tector is used; and Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the field circuit of the brushless alternator and the shorted diode rectifier detector.

Detailed Description of the Invention A brushless alternator system, elements of which are shown diagrammatically in Figure 1, has an exciter with a stati~nary field winding 10. The r~tor of the machine is driven by a prime mover (not shown) and includes an exciter armature winding 11 in which an alternating voltage, typically three phase, is generated. A rectifier 12 is connected with the armature and provides DC current to the main alterna-tor field winding 13, Rectifier 12 is typically a ~ 3 ~

three phase, full wave rectif.ier using six semicon-ductor diocles. The alternator output is developed - in stator 14, provid.ing three phase power to c- load (not shown).
Power for the exciter field is, in the system ~ strated, developed in the stator winding 15 of a pennanent magnet ~enera~or (PMG) which has a permanent magnet (not shown) mechanically a part of the main machine rotor. The three phase output of the P~G ic connected with a three phase full wave rectifier 16 which provides DC power to a pulse wid~h modulated amplifier 17 that controls the current to exciter field winding 10. Voltage regulator 19 is responsive to ~he output voltage of the main machine providing an appropriate base drive signal to pulse width modulated amplifier 17.
Turning now to Figure 2, the three phase out-put from the PMG stator is connected with three phase full wave diode rectifier lÇ which has a filter capacitor 21 oonnected across the rectifier output, providing a DC source for exciter field winding 10.
The exciter field winding 10 is connected in series with the collector-~mitter circuit of NPN
transistor voltage regulator amplifier 17. Terminal lOa of the winding is connected with the positive terminal of the DC source and tlerminal lOb is con-nected with the collector element of transistor 17.
The emittex el~ment of transistor 17 is returned to the DC reference or ground 22. A pulse width modulated base drive signal from the voltage regula-tor 19 is connected with the base element of tran-sistor 17, controlling conduction of the transistor and the current through field windin~ 10. Diode 23 - 4 - ~ ~4 ~

is connected across field winding 10 and conducts when transistor 17 is shut off to allow the current to continue to flow through the ~ield winding.
Diode 24 is connected across the collector-emitter circuit of txansistor 17 and poled oppositelyto the emitter-collector circuit. Diode 24 limits the negative potential of the transistor collector element, and thus terminal lOb of the field winding, to one diode drop or approximately 0~5 volts, below the reference potential.
In normal operation, i.e., without A shorted diode in the rotating rectifier, the field current is in the direction sh~wn by the solid line arrow 25 through the field winding from terminal lOa to terminal lOb U~on occurrence of a shorted diode in the rotating rectifier, the generator field winding 10 acts as an energy or voltage source. This in turn influences the voltages at the field winding terminals lOa, lOb. The positive end lOa of the field windiny puts energy into the DC source filter capacitor 21.
The volta~e at terminal lOa rises, back biases the PMG recti~ier supply 16 and is reflected on capacitor 21. This causes a reverse field current to flow from the terminal lOa through capacitor 21 and diode 24, back to the field winding 10 and diode 230 The reverse current is indicated by the dashed arrow 26.
The reverse current which flows when a diode is short~d is utilized in the detector of ~his inven-tion. A current sensing resistor 28 is connec~edbetween the junction of the emitter of ~ransistor 17 with the anode of diode 24 and ground 22 r and the negative terminal of the field current power ~upply~
The normal field current 25 flowing thxough resistor 28 establishes a voltage drop with the left end of the resistor negative and the right end positive.
A shorted diode and reverse field current flc~ causes a voltage drop with the left end of xesistor 28 positive and the right end negative. This change in the polarity of the voltage across the current sensing resistor 28 signifies that there is a shorted rotat-ing rectifier.
A sensing circuit 30 is connected with the left end of resistor 28 and with ground 22. Upon the occurrence of a voltage positive with respect to ground at the input of sensing circuit 301 an output is established indic2ting that a diode in the rotat-ing rectifier is shorted. This output may be utili~ed to shut down the alternator or to give an alarm, as to an operator. In a system having a pro-gramed microprocessor generator control, the sensing circuit 30 provides an input to the microprocessor.

Claims (6)

Detector for Shorted Rotating Diode of a Brushless Alternator Claims
1. In a brushless alternator having an exciter field circuit including a source of DC
potential with a reference, a stationary exciter field winding and a voltage regulator transistor connected in series with the field winding across the DC source, a rotor with an exciter armature, a diode rectifier connected with said armature and a main field winding connected with the diode recti-fier, a stator winding in which the alternator out-put voltage is developed coupled with the main field winding, and a voltage regulator responsive to the alternator output providing a base drive signal to the voltage regulator transistor, an improved de-tector for a shorted diode rectifier, comprising:
a sensing circuit responsive to the direc-tion of current flow through the generator field winding for indicating the occurrence of a shorted diode on the rotor.
2. The shorted diode detector of claim 1 in which the sensing circuit is responsive to the direction of current flow through the circuit of the generator field winding.
3. The shorted diode detector of claim 2 in which a resistor is connected in series with the generator field winding, the polarity of the voltage across the resistor indicating the direction of cur-rent flow through the field winding, and in which said sensing circuit is responsive to the polarity of the voltage across said resistor.
4. The shorted diode detector of claim 1 wherein the exciter field winding and the emitter collector circuit of the voltage regulator transis-tor are connected in series across a DC source, and a diode is connected in parallel with the transistor and reversely poled with respect to the emitter col-lector circuit, the detector including a current in-dicating resistor connected in series with the tran-sistor and diode to conduct field current in either direction and in which said sensing circuit is con-nected with the resistor and is responsive to the polarity of the voltage across the resistor.
5. In a brushless alternator having a sta-tionary exciter field winding, a rotor with an exciter armature, a diode rectifier connected with said armature and a main field winding connected with the diode rectifier, and a stator winding in which the alternator output voltage is developed coupled with the main field winding, an exciter field circuit including a voltage regulator transistor connected with the exciter field winding, a DC power supply for said exciter field circuit, said power supply having a shunt connected capacitor across its output, and a voltage regulator responsive to the alternator output providing a base drive signal to the voltage regula-tor transistor, the circuit of the exciter field winding in series with the parallel combination of the voltage regulator transistor and shunt diode being connected across said power supply capacitor, an improved detector for a shorted diode rectifier, comprising:
a sensing circuit responsive to the direction of current flow through the series circuit of the field winding, transistor and diode.
6. The shorted diode detector of claim 5 including a resistor in series in the exciter field circuit between the parallel combination of the tran-sistor and diode and the power supply capacitor, the sensing circuit being responsive to the polarity of the voltage across said resistor.
CA000464293A 1983-12-27 1984-09-28 Detector for shorted rotating diode of a brushless alternator Expired CA1221413A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US565,346 1983-12-27
US06/565,346 US4559486A (en) 1983-12-27 1983-12-27 Detector for shorted rotating diode of a brushless alternator

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1221413A true CA1221413A (en) 1987-05-05

Family

ID=24258218

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000464293A Expired CA1221413A (en) 1983-12-27 1984-09-28 Detector for shorted rotating diode of a brushless alternator

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US4559486A (en)
EP (1) EP0167592A4 (en)
JP (1) JPS61500885A (en)
CA (1) CA1221413A (en)
IL (1) IL73573A (en)
IT (1) IT1178328B (en)
WO (1) WO1985002949A1 (en)

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US5227942A (en) * 1991-05-20 1993-07-13 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Structure and method for distributing failure-induced transient currents in a multiphase electrical machine
JPH04355628A (en) * 1991-05-31 1992-12-09 Toshiba Corp Dc transmission line short circuit detector
US5206801A (en) * 1991-09-18 1993-04-27 Flick John R Ac/dc converter fault detector
JP2940843B2 (en) * 1992-01-23 1999-08-25 三菱電機株式会社 Overcurrent protection method and device, and overcurrent detection device
US5532574A (en) * 1994-03-28 1996-07-02 Westinghouse Electric Corporation Brushless exciter protection circuit
AU3962495A (en) * 1994-10-14 1996-05-06 Magnetic Bearing Technologies, Inc. Brushless generator
US5508601A (en) * 1994-11-15 1996-04-16 Sundstrand Corporation Protection system for a shorted rectifying diode within a synchronous generator
US20070273205A1 (en) * 2006-05-22 2007-11-29 Denso Corporation Communication system for use in data communications between power generator and external unit
JP4656328B2 (en) * 2006-11-06 2011-03-23 株式会社デンソー Vehicle power generation control device
CA2674819A1 (en) 2007-01-09 2008-07-17 Visa U.S.A. Inc. Mobile phone payment process including threshold indicator
US8072191B2 (en) * 2008-01-02 2011-12-06 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Shorted rotating diode detection and protection
CN102005888A (en) * 2010-10-09 2011-04-06 中科华核电技术研究院有限公司 Branch state monitoring method and device of rotary rectifier
US8970183B2 (en) * 2011-01-14 2015-03-03 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Overvoltage limiter in an aircraft electrical power generation system
US8941341B2 (en) 2013-03-14 2015-01-27 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Rotating diode assembly including overvoltage protection circuit
US9431941B1 (en) 2015-02-12 2016-08-30 General Electric Company Method and apparatus for detecting alternator rectifier diode short fault
US10995804B2 (en) 2018-04-26 2021-05-04 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Actuator with rotating electromagnetic clutch utilizing inductive coupling
US11015661B2 (en) 2018-04-26 2021-05-25 Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation Rotatable electromagnetic clutch utilizing inductive coupling
CN117554810B (en) * 2024-01-10 2024-03-19 南京师范大学 Fault diagnosis method for aviation three-stage starting/generator rotating rectifier

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US4559486A (en) 1985-12-17
JPS61500885A (en) 1986-05-01
IL73573A0 (en) 1985-02-28
IL73573A (en) 1988-04-29
IT8449355A0 (en) 1984-12-24
EP0167592A4 (en) 1986-12-16
EP0167592A1 (en) 1986-01-15
WO1985002949A1 (en) 1985-07-04
IT1178328B (en) 1987-09-09

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