2011 Electrical Insulation Conference, Annapolis, Maryland, 5 to 8 June 2011

Utilization of Repetitive Surge Oscillograph (RSO) in the Detection of Rotor

Shorted-Turns in Large Turbine-Driven Generators
Isidor Kerszenbaum Clyde Maughan
Southern California Edison Maughan Generator. Consultants
San Clemente, CA Schenectady, NY

Abstract – The use of the RSO technique for the detection of performing this test is time-consuming and generally some
shorted-turns in the field winding of large synchronous field disassembly is needed, e.g., retaining ring removal.
generators with cylindrical rotors has become more widely
accepted in North America in the last few years. The test
procedures have been previously described in a number of
publications. However, interpretation of the RSO traces
haven not been well defined, and the benefits and limitations
of its application are not well understood. Using some recent
experience, this paper is intended to provide guidance on
signal interpretation and to clarify the main advantages and
limitations of the application of the RSO testing.

I. INTRODUCTION

Assessing the condition of high-speed (cylindrical-rotor)

turbine-generators has always been a challenge. This is
especially true of the field windings, which are largely
inaccessible under the wedges and retaining-rings.
Limited access for inspection may be available on some Fig. 1 Typical field endwinding
rotor windings through radial ventilation holes in the
wedges and under the retaining-rings. The Repetitive Surge Oscillograph (RSO) test
The opportunity for tests is equally limited. The overcomes many of the above limitations for shorted-turns
copper resistance can be accurately measured, but if a testing, both at stand-still and with the rotor at speed. The
fracture is developing, the test will not reveal the RSO test is the subject of the remainder of this paper.
condition, so long as there is good electrical connection at
the crack. Groundwall insulation over-voltage test is
generally not recommended and the low-voltage insulation II. BASIC DESCRIPTION OF THE OPERATION OF
resistance (“megger”) test mainly relates only to THE RSO
cleanliness and moisture.
Turn insulation shorts are an important and relatively Figure 1 above shows the end-section (“overhang” or
common field winding failure mechanism. In operation, “endwinding”) of a typical cylindrical rotor (“field”)
turn shorts may be revealed by low and/or erratic field winding. Figure 2 shows the middle-section of a field
temperature readings. (But the instrumentation behavior winding.
may also just be the result of a defective meter or electrical
circuit). The most reliable way of detecting shorted turns
in operation is with the use of a rotor flux monitor. The
probe is a simple, relatively inexpensive device; it will
quite accurately tell the number of shorted turns and
indicate the coils in which the shorts are located. But
installing the probe generally must be done with the field
removed and probes have not yet been installed in many
generators.
At stand-still, if a significant number of shorts exists,
copper resistance will be lower than on the original
winding – in proportion to the percentage of shorted turns.
But this test gives no information as to location of shorts.
Where physical access is available to the copper of the
Fig. 2 Typical field winding showing both the middle
turns or coils, probing for voltage drop or resistance can and end sections. Some of the turns are shown lifted
determine the exact coil (or turn) that is shorted. But from the slots.

978-1-4577-0279-2/11/$26.00
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 Both figures above clearly show that a distinguishing The RSO is an instrument that injects two identical
feature of cylindrical rotor field-windings is their (“twin”) signals – one from each end of the winding. In
symmetry. This characteristic is common to all large addition, a built-in, or separate oscilloscope is used to capture
synchronous cylindrical rotors, belonging to either 2-pole the signals at the other side of the winding, and any reflections
or 4-pole machines. Under operating conditions, the field that occur. Figure 4 shows the typical RSO arrangement,
winding carries a DC current. Thus, the proper circuit including power source, connections and oscilloscope.
representation is simply a resistor. However, if The twin signals generated by the RSO and shown
alternating currents flow thru the winding, a complete schematically in Figure 5, have a fast rise time equivalent to a
circuit representation will also include inductances and high frequency waveform. The impedance presented by the
capacitances. rotor field to this high frequency signal is the wave impedance
Inspection of both figures 1 & 2, show that part of of the R-L-C distributed circuit. From Time Domain
the winding (the “middle” section), is in close proximity Reflectometry theory it is known that a signal encountering an
to the rotor forging. Figure 3 depicts the cross section of abrupt change in wave impedance will result in a reduced thru
a typical slot showing the conducting bars and their signal and a reflected signal. Given the strong symmetry of
proximity to each other and to the forging. the field winding, all thru and reflected signals, in the absence
of a shorted turn or a ground, will be almost identical.
However, if a discontinuity of the wave impedance, created by
a shorted turn or a ground exists, both twin signals will
generate different thru and reflected waveforms. The RSO
takes advantage of this fact to detect shorted turns and
grounds. Because grounds of the field winding can be
detected by other means, the RSO main purpose is the
detection of shorted turns.

SIGNAL
VOLTAGE
AMPLITUDE

CHANNEL A

Fig. 3 Cross-section of a cylindrical rotor slot

showing the winding conductors and
insulation

The proximity between turns exists both in the

middle and end sections of the winding, while the
TIME
proximity to the forging exists only in the middle-section, RISE TIME
inside the slot. This geometry results in a winding with Fig. 5 Twin signals from the RSO
resistance, capacitance and inductance that is very
specific to each design, but that has some common
characteristics to all. Calculation of the circuit
components is not simple, but their measurement is. For a
low-frequency representation, a lumped circuit
representation is easily obtained. For high frequencies, a
distributed circuit representation is required.

RSO

SLIPRING

OSCILLOSCOPE
Fig. 6 – RSO twin signals as picked from a rotor
Fig. 4 RSO test arrangement winding without shorted turns. The quasi-straight line
is the sum of the signals with one of them inverted

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 The frequency of the twin signals and rise time are larger coils. (The “small” coil is the coil closest to the pole-
specific to each RSO vendor, thou they are typically in face of the rotor, while the “largest” coil is closest to the
the kHz region with rise times of several microseconds. quadrature axis of the rotor).
Figure 6 shows the typical twin signals as picked up from It is well known that a large portion of all shorted-turns
a rotor without winding shorted-turns or grounds. tend to “disappear” when the rotor is at stand-still. The reason
As shown on Figure 6, it makes it easier to identify is that those shorts depend on the centrifugal forces
the existence of shorted-turns or other anomalies, by encountered while the rotor is turning a high speed.
inverting one of the signals and summing it up with the
other. This can be done in the oscilloscope. The resulting
waveform is a straight line, if shorts are not present, or a
line with kinks on it, if there are shorted-turns. Figure 7
shows typical traces from a rotor with shorted-turns
present.

Fig. 8 RSO trace showing multiple shorted-turns

Some of these pressure-dependent short may be detected

with the rotor at standing-still, taking measurements at various
rotor angles, i.e.: the rotor is rotated by hand and stopped at
various angles until it moved a full turn. Often the RSO will
Fig. 7 The waveform shows the summed up signal detect a short in one rotor angle, and not in others. For those
from a rotor with a shorted-turn. shorts that will completely go away with the rotor standing
still, the “spinning RSO test” (describe in Section IV, below)
can be carried out.
III. RSO APLICATION ISSUES One concern of is how safe is the RSO to personnel and
the field winding insulation. Is there an operator hazard and
As explained in the Introduction above, there are a can the test create shorted-turns or grounds where they didn’t
number of techniques for detecting shorted turns in turbo- previously exist? All RSO instruments generate twin signals
generator rotors. The RSO has a prominent place among in approximately a 5 to 15 volt range, thus presenting
them. The RSO, first used in the Great Britain in the essentially no personnel hazard. A typical large 4-pole field,
1970’s, has gradually penetrated North America from the with, say 600 VDC and 400 turns, results in 1.5 volts/turn, and
middle 1990’s. The RSO’s great advantages are: its at forcing field condition of 2.5 times rated voltage, it will
simplicity use and swift setup and measurement times, as equal about 3.75 volts/turn. Although the voltage distribution
well as the fact all readings can be taken from the of the RSO signals is not linear, the 5 to 15 volts applied by
collector rings (and the case of brushless units, from the the RSO to the entire winding are certainly of the same order
end of the field winding next to the diode-wheel). The of magnitude or lower. Also, the source impedance of the
main use of the RSO is on rotors standing still, either RSO instrument is very high resulting in mere milliamps at the
assembled in the stator or outside. But,as shown below, most, of current flowing from the RSO, even under a full short
the RSO can be used on rotating fields with collector circuit. Finally, the low voltage output from the RSO allows
rings. This has been done with great success by the testing personnel and maintenance personnel to work on the
authors of this paper and others. This capability is rotor winding with the RSO connected and operational. This
particularly important for those cases where a rotor flux feature is very helpful during some stages of a winding repair
monitor is not permanently installed in the airgap. or installation, when any mistake resulting in a shorted-turn
The RSO cannot pinpoint the exact location of a can immediately be detected and corrected.
shorted-turn, although experienced users can develop the One must be careful before calling any kink on the curve
dexterity that allows them to identify with high likelihood a shorted-turn. A winding with extremely distorted turn in the
the coil and pole where a short(s) may be located. Figure endwinding may exhibit enough impedance asymmetry to
8 shows multiple shorted turns on the first (“small”) coils result in a somewhat distorted RSO trace. A ground fault
of a rotor. A kink on the resultant curve close to the will show up as a very large kink, thus making it easy to
beginning of the trace indicates a shorted-turn close to differentiate from a shorted-turn. Thus, experience is
one of the sliprings. As the kinks move away from the important in the application of this technology.
beginning of the curve, they indicate shorted-turns in the

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 IV. SPINNING RSO

Figure 9 shows the RSO measuring setup for testing

rotors at speed. It is critical when carrying out an RSO
test with the rotor spinning, that all connections to the
exciter are open. One proven method is by removing all
commutating brushes and installing for the duration of the
test one or two brushes per slipring. These brushes must
be insulated to the brush-holder. To insulate the brushes,
they may be slightly grinded and coated on their side with
a thick layer of insulating epoxy paint. Then, the pigtail
of the brush is connected to the RSO output and the
oscilloscope. The RSO instrument ground must be
connected to the spinning shaft either by holding
(carefully!) against the shaft a grounded braid on a stick,
or by connecting to the shaft grounding brushes. An
alternative method to connecting the RSO to the winding
is by connecting it to the plus and minus polarities of the
brushgear, but opening the circuit from the exciter side (
Figure 9).
DC Leads Opened

Rotor Winding

Excitation
System

RSO Scope

Fig. 9 Measuring setup for a “spinning RSO” test

V. CONCLUSIONS

The RSO is an excellent tool in the bag of tools existing

to discover shorted turns. However, like any other tool, it
must be used only when applicable, and with the insight
of experience. The goal of this paper is to make potential
users aware of the capabilities of the RSO, as well as to
alert them to its limits.

VI. REFERENCES

EPRI TR-114016: “On-line Detection of Shorts in

Generator Field Windings.

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