IEC 60034-18-1:2022

IEC 60034-18-1 ®
Edition 3.0 2022-12
COMMENTED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Rotating electrical machines –
Part 18-1: Functional evaluation of insulation systems – General guidelines
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IEC 60034-18-1 ®
Edition 3.0 2022-12
COMMENTED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Rotating electrical machines –
Part 18-1: Functional evaluation of insulation systems – General guidelines
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 29.160.01 ISBN 978-2-8322-6315-0

– 2 – IEC 60034-18-1:2022 CMV © IEC 2022
CONTENTS
FOREWORD .3
INTRODUCTION .5

1 Scope .6
2 Normative references .6
3 Terms and definitions .7
3.1 General terms .7
3.2 Terms relating to the objects being tested .8
3.3 Terms relating to factors of influence and ageing factors .9
3.4 Terms relating to testing and evaluation .9
4 General aspects of functional evaluation . 10
4.1 Introductory remarks . 10
4.2 Effects of ageing factors . 11
4.3 Reference/candidate insulation system . 11
4.4 Evaluation of minor changes by components, or manufacturing changes or
design . 12
4.5 Functional tests . 13
4.6 Acceptance tests . 13
5 Thermal functional tests . 14
5.1 General aspects of thermal functional tests . 14
5.2 Analysis, reporting and classification . 14
6 Electrical functional tests . 15
6.1 General aspects of electrical functional tests . 15
6.2 Analysis and reporting . 16
7 Mechanical functional tests . 16
8 Environmental functional tests . 16
9 Multifactor functional tests . 17

Bibliography . 18
List of comments . 19

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
ROTATING ELECTRICAL MACHINES –
Part 18-1: Functional evaluation of insulation systems –
General guidelines
FOREWORD
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This commented version (CMV) of the official standard IEC 60034-18-1:2022 edition 3.0
allows the user to identify the changes made to the previous IEC 60034-18-1:2010
edition 2.0. Furthermore, comments from IEC TC 2 experts are provided to explain the
reasons of the most relevant changes, or to clarify any part of the content.
A vertical bar appears in the margin wherever a change has been made. Additions are in
green text, deletions are in strikethrough red text. Experts' comments are identified by a
blue-background number. Mouse over a number to display a pop-up note with the
comment.
This publication contains the CMV and the official standard. The full list of comments is
available at the end of the CMV.

– 4 – IEC 60034-18-1:2022 CMV © IEC 2022
IEC 60034-18-1 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 2: Rotating machinery. It is an
International Standard.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2010. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) provides general guidelines for functional evaluation of different types of windings as before
but incorporates those changes, which have been introduced for the electrical qualification
and evaluation of windings which are electrically stressed by converter-supply;
b) is now focused on general guidelines with all technical details of procedures and
qualification principles moved to the subsequent parts;
c) details additional general aspects of functional evaluation and qualification, particularly the
procedure for comparison between reference and candidate insulation systems, the
introduction of the concept of qualification for different expected life-times in service and
the evaluation of minor component or manufacturing changes.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
2/2113/FDIS 2/2118/RVD
Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/standardsdev/publications.
A list of all parts in the IEC 60034 series, published under the general title Rotating electrical
machines, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the data related to the
specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The "colour inside" logo on the cover page of this document indicates that it
contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding of its
contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

INTRODUCTION
IEC 60034-18 comprises several parts, dealing with different types of functional evaluation and
special kinds of test procedures for insulation systems of rotating electrical machines.
IEC 60034-18-1 provides general guidelines for such procedures and qualification principles,
whereas the subsequent parts IEC 60034-18-21, IEC 60034-18-22, IEC 60034-18-31,
IEC 60034-18-32, IEC TS 60034-18-33, IEC 60034-18-34, IEC 60034-18-41 and IEC 60034-
18-42 give detailed procedures for the various types of windings. Beyond that, part IEC 60034-
18-41 and IEC 60034-18-42 contain special test procedures for electrical evaluation of windings
electrically stressed by converter-supply.
The following standards provide the basis and background for the development of the afore
mentioned standards.
IEC 60505 establishes the basis for estimating the ageing of electrical insulation systems under
conditions of either electrical, thermal, mechanical, environmental stresses or combinations of
these (multifactor stresses). It specifies the general principles and procedures that should be
followed defining functional test and evaluation procedures.
The IEC 60216 series deals with the determination of thermal endurance properties of single
insulating materials. On the assumption, that the Arrhenius formulas describe the rate of
thermal ageing of the materials, test procedures and analyzing instructions for getting
characteristic para
...