Analysis of the electromechanical vibrations in induction motor drives due to the imperfections of the mechanical transmission system

Mechanical vibrations become a serious concern in drive applications when they adversely affect the dynamic performances of these applications and may end with physical deterioration of their structures. In many process applications, such perturbations must be detected and assessed in order to take the appropriate action to preserve the reliability of the operation. This paper presents a method of detection of one of the major causes of mechanical vibrations in asynchronous motor drive applications. The study, which involves linearized dynamic modeling of the asynchronous motor associated with its multi-mass load, shows the dependence of the vibrations frequencies on both the electrical and mechanical system parameters. Numerical simulations using Matlab/Simulink are performed using the set of parameters of a prototype drive system. The simulation results confirm the validity of the proposed method of detection.