# US 2014/0191767 A1 · Detection and location of electrical connections having a micro-interface abnormality in an electrical system

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- Number: US 2014/0191767 A1
- Document ID: US20140191767A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/736,214
- Filed: 2013-01-08
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-08
- Assignees: Eaton Corporation
- Applicants: Eaton Corporation
- Inventors: XIN ZHOU; MICHAEL DADIAN; DALE GASS; MARK GOULD; EDGAR PEREZ FLORES; TIMOTHY THOMPSON
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140191767A1

## CPC

- G01R 31/66: Testing of connections, e.g. of plugs or non-disconnectable joints (testing for incorrect line connections G01R31/55)
- G01R 27/00: Arrangements for measuring resistance, reactance, impedance, or electric characteristics derived therefrom
- G01R 31/3274: {Details related to measuring, e.g. sensing, displaying or computing; Measuring of variables related to the contact pieces, e.g. wear, position or resistance (measuring contact resistance G01R27/205)}
- G01R 31/3275: {Fault detection or status indication}
- G01R 31/00: Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere ({measuring superconductive properties G01R33/1238;} testing line transmission systems H04B3/46; testing or measuring semiconductors or solid state devices during manufacture {H10P74/00})
- G01R 31/08: Locating faults in cables, transmission lines, or networks
- G01R 31/12: Testing dielectric strength or breakdown voltage {; Testing or monitoring effectiveness or level of insulation, e.g. of a cable or of an apparatus, for example using partial discharge measurements; Electrostatic testing (G01R31/08, G01R31/327 and G01R31/72 take precedence; measuring in plasmas G01R19/0061; measuring dielectric constants G01R27/2617; ESD, EMC or EMP testing of circuits G01R31/002)}
- G01R 31/1209: {using acoustic measurements (acoustic measurements G01H3/00)}
- G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12)

## Abstract

A method of detecting and locating a micro-interface abnormality within an electrical system having a plurality of conductors and a plurality of electrical connections includes identifying a subset of the plurality of electrical connections by detecting an acoustic signal within the electrical system and analyzing the detected acoustic signal and determining that the detected acoustic signal is indicative of an electrical fault, measuring a contact resistance of each of the subset of the plurality of electrical connections, and identifying at least one of the subset of the plurality of electrical connection points as having a micro-interface abnormality based on the measured contact resistances.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of detecting and locating a micro-interface abnormality within an electrical system having a plurality of conductors and a plurality of electrical connections, comprising:
identifying a subset of the plurality of electrical connections by detecting an acoustic signal within the electrical system and analyzing the detected acoustic signal and determining that the detected acoustic signal is indicative of an electrical fault;
measuring a contact resistance of each of the subset of the plurality of electrical connections; and
identifying at least one of the subset of the plurality of electrical connection points as having a micro-interface abnormality based on the measured contact resistances.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the electrical system is a switchgear, an uninterruptable power supply, or a motor control center .

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the electrical system is divided into plurality of zones, wherein the step of identifying the subset of the plurality of electrical connections comprises identifying a particular one of the zones by detecting an acoustic signal within the particular one of the zones and analyzing the detected acoustic signal and determining that the detected acoustic signal is indicative of an electrical fault, the subset of the plurality of electrical connections being located within the particular one of the zones.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, further comprising providing at least one an acoustic sensor apparatus in each zone to measure an acoustic signal from one or more of the conductors of the zone, and wherein one of the at least one acoustic sensor apparatuses provided in the particular one of the zones detects the acoustic signal within the particular one of the zones and analyzes the detected acoustic signal and determines that the detected acoustic signal is indicative of an electrical fault.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method according to claim 4, further comprising sending a message from the one of the at least one acoustic sensor apparatuses provided in the particular one of the zones to a remote monitoring sensor indicating that an electrical fault has been detected, wherein the measuring step is performed responsive to receipt of the message.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring step is performed manually using a micro-ohm meter.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising shutting power to the electrical system down after the step of identifying the subset of the plurality of electrical connections and before the measuring step.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying the at least one of the subset of the plurality of electrical connection points as having a micro-interface abnormality based on the measured contact resistances comprises determining that the measured contact resistance of the at least one of the subset of the plurality of electrical connection points is above a predetermined level.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing and determining step includes detecting a number of peak signals based on the detected acoustic signal and determining that the detected acoustic signal is indicative of the electrical fault based on a time difference between adjacent ones of the peak signals and an acoustic noise wavelet profile of the detected acoustic signal.