Vibration investigation of a DC-VRM synchronous condenser prototype

In this paper, an investigation is conducted into the causes of strong vibrations in a 12/10 DC excited vernier reluctance machine (DC-VRM) prototype operated as a synchronous condenser. FEA models of the machine are simulated at different operating conditions to determine the vibrational characteristics. Experimental validations at similar conditions are conducted with accelerometers attached to different sections of the prototype’s frame. The nature of the machine vibrations are captured and compared with the FEA simulations of the prototype to determine the causes.