Thrust Bearing End Play (Axial Clearance) Basics

Scope:
Purpose of End Play (EP)
Typical Values and Tolerance
Setting End Play
Changes in End Play
The purpose of thrust bearing end play is to provide axial clearance between the thrust collar and
the thrust bearing asseblies! The end play allows roo for the foration of an oil fil"
isalignent" and theral expansion of the bearing coponents! End play is the total distance
the shaft can ove between the two thrust bearings and is soeties called float" thrust bearing
clearance or axial clearance!
Typical values of end play can be calculated by the following forula:
EP (ils) # $!% & 'abbitt (utside )ia! (in!) * +
Exaple: a ,$!-. thrust bearing would re/uire !$,-. of end play! The noral tolerance is $!$$-."
so the EP range would be $!$,0. 1 $!$,2.!
3hile these values are typical" larger or saller values are often used! 4n general" higher shaft
speeds re/uire ore end play then lower speed applications! 5s end play becoes larger" the
unloaded (slac6) bearing will see a larger gap! 4n soe cases" slac6 side pad flutter can occur if
the gap" speed" and oil viscosity are at precisely the right values to excite it! (n any achines"
pad flutter never occurs regardless of the end play! 5t very large gaps" the oil fil is not fored at
all and so there are no dynaic effects on the slac6 side! Soe gear applications use up to $!-$.
of end play! 4n cases such as these" the shoes should be retained so they do not fall towards the
collar! The end play ust not be so large to allow rotating eleents to contact stationary
coponents!
5nother proble that can occur with lightly loaded thrust bearings is shaft shuttling! 4n this case"
the whole shaft bounces bac6 and forth between the loaded and slac6 thrust bearing!
3ith saller end play values" a strong oil fil will develop on both side of the bearing which
increases the stiffness and daping of the bearing! Values of half the typical aount of end play
have been used with great success to reduce shuttling and pad flutter! The challenge with reduced
end play is the tolerance! The idea is to reduce the end play enough to solve the proble without
getting it too tight which can raise oil fil teperatures due to increased forces! 4n these cases"
the tolerance should be reduced! Values less than 7-8 the typical end play should be avoided!
The setting and chec6ing of end play is a critical step in the setup of a achine! There are several
ethods utili9ed in the process of setting end play! (ne ethod is to achine the thrust bearing
and cavity to a very accurate value so that the end play is designed in! The ost coon ethod
however" is to use shis or filler plates behind the thrust bearing that can be used to ad:ust the
bearings overall height (stac6ed height!) This ethod also allows for the positioning of the rotor
within the achine by shiing one bearing ore or less than the other!
4nitially setting end play re/uires easuring the available space between the bearing housing and
the thrust collar and the bearing;s overall height! <or e/uali9ing bearings" the height ust be
chec6ed using a flat plate" placed on the bearing shoes or placed babbitt face down on a flat
surface! 3ith this inforation" the thic6ness of the shi or filler plates re/uired behind the
bearings can be deterined!
(nce the shis or filler plate thic6nesses have been deterined the bearing coponents can be
assebled into the bearing housings with the cover assebled! The end play should be verified
by chec6ing the axial oveent of the shaft! The shaft should be oved in each direction and
loaded with a force e/ual to between -$ to ,-$ psi bearing unit load! This is iportant to a6e
sure the bearing shoes and leveling plates are set in their correct positions and that shis and
filler plates are flat!
4f using a dial indicator to easure shaft oveent" it should be located as close as possible to
the bearing! 4deally" axial proxiity probes should be used to easure the gap along with dial
indicators to confir the probes setup!
Changes in end play can soetie occur! =ydrodynaic thrust bearings are designed to operate
on an oil fil without etal to etal contact! >nder this condition the bearing babbitt surface will
not wear" however there are conditions that can cause a reduction in babbitt thic6ness! The rate of
reduction would vary depending on the cause and severity! Several factors that can contribute to
such a situation include erosion" cavitations" cheical attac6" electrostatic discharge" and stray
electric currents! These conditions will eventually lead to a bearing wipe and failure if not
addressed! 'abbitt wear can also occur in achines that start and stop under load? however even
with any start@stop cycles" the wear will be very inial with clean oil!
'abbitt loss can be deterined by easureent of the shoe height and surface profile! 5nother
ethod to deterine babbitt loss is by routine oil analysis! 5n analysis can identify trace
eleents of babbitt (tin) in the lubricating oil however it does not indicate the aount or location
of loss!
Changes in onitored shaft position or end play ay also occur as a result of elastic and plastic
deforation of the bearing coponents! Aine and point contacts in the bearing coponents create
high contact stresses which can cause sall peranent indentations! Bost of this deforation
occurs early in the operation of the syste and then levels off (see attachent!) The end play and
position can be ad:usted at the next aintenance cycle bac6 to the specified end play! 4f the
bearing is disassebled" it is iportant to put the coponents bac6 in their original locations!
5fter this first ad:ustent" the end play should change very little!
5nother reason for increasing end play is axial shaft vibration! The coon source is collar
wobble where the leveling plates are constantly wor6ing to e/uali9e the rotating high point of the
collar! E/uali9ing thrust bearings are not designed to ta6e high dynaic loads or swashplate
loads! These loads cause the contact points of the leveling plates to wear" reducing the bearing;s
height and leading to increased end play! 4t is iportant to chec6 the runout of the assebled
collar and shaft prior to installation!
The following is a /uote fro a ,%++ Cingsbury catalog: .Buch tie ay be saved if it is
reali9ed that" for ost installations" the aount of end play is not an exacting atter! >sually the
noinal aount" plus or inus a few thousandths" is /uite satisfactory!. 3hile this ay still hold
true today" 4 would suggest 6eeping the end play on the saller side rather than on the larger side!