Winding deformations detection in power transformers by tank vibrations monitoring

There is an increasing interest in applying monitoring systems and on line diagnosis techniques to power transformers, as these are one of the most expensive and critical components of a power system. Detecting failures in an incipient stage can avoid major transformer damages, allowing important savings in investing, and giving time enough to plan transformer outages. In recent years, a great number of monitoring systems have been reported. Some of them, make use of models as a tool to assess transformer condition. In this paper the use of a vibration model to be applied to transformer monitoring is proposed. In the paper, a review of the basic theory of transformer vibration is performed and the results of an experimental set of tests carried out in order to establish the model basis are reported.