Robustness Evaluation of Machine Learning Models for Fault Classification and Localization In Power System Protection

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Oelhaf, Julian, Pashaei, Mehran, Kordowich, Georg, Bergler, Christian, Maier, Andreas, Jäger, Johann, Bayer, Siming
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Oelhaf, Julian
Pashaei, Mehran
Kordowich, Georg
Bergler, Christian
Maier, Andreas
Jäger, Johann
Bayer, Siming
author_facet Oelhaf, Julian
Pashaei, Mehran
Kordowich, Georg
Bergler, Christian
Maier, Andreas
Jäger, Johann
Bayer, Siming
contents The growing penetration of renewable and distributed generation is transforming power systems and challenging conventional protection schemes that rely on fixed settings and local measurements. Machine learning (ML) offers a data-driven alternative for centralized fault classification (FC) and fault localization (FL), enabling faster and more adaptive decision-making. However, practical deployment critically depends on robustness. Protection algorithms must remain reliable even when confronted with missing, noisy, or degraded sensor data. This work introduces a unified framework for systematically evaluating the robustness of ML models in power system protection. High-fidelity EMT simulations are used to model realistic degradation scenarios, including sensor outages, reduced sampling rates, and transient communication losses. The framework provides a consistent methodology for benchmarking models, quantifying the impact of limited observability, and identifying critical measurement channels required for resilient operation. Results show that FC remains highly stable under most degradation types but drops by about 13% under single-phase loss, while FL is more sensitive overall, with voltage loss increasing localization error by over 150%. These findings offer actionable guidance for robustness-aware design of future ML-assisted protection systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_15385
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Robustness Evaluation of Machine Learning Models for Fault Classification and Localization In Power System Protection
Oelhaf, Julian
Pashaei, Mehran
Kordowich, Georg
Bergler, Christian
Maier, Andreas
Jäger, Johann
Bayer, Siming
Machine Learning
Signal Processing
The growing penetration of renewable and distributed generation is transforming power systems and challenging conventional protection schemes that rely on fixed settings and local measurements. Machine learning (ML) offers a data-driven alternative for centralized fault classification (FC) and fault localization (FL), enabling faster and more adaptive decision-making. However, practical deployment critically depends on robustness. Protection algorithms must remain reliable even when confronted with missing, noisy, or degraded sensor data. This work introduces a unified framework for systematically evaluating the robustness of ML models in power system protection. High-fidelity EMT simulations are used to model realistic degradation scenarios, including sensor outages, reduced sampling rates, and transient communication losses. The framework provides a consistent methodology for benchmarking models, quantifying the impact of limited observability, and identifying critical measurement channels required for resilient operation. Results show that FC remains highly stable under most degradation types but drops by about 13% under single-phase loss, while FL is more sensitive overall, with voltage loss increasing localization error by over 150%. These findings offer actionable guidance for robustness-aware design of future ML-assisted protection systems.
title Robustness Evaluation of Machine Learning Models for Fault Classification and Localization In Power System Protection
topic Machine Learning
Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.15385