Process Plant and Equipment Up-time
The basic engineering tradesmen and operators need to keep plant reliability up and operating costs down.
From www.feedforward.com.au – The world best practice plant and equipment maintenance site.
SHAFT ALIGNMENT ON PUMPS
ABSTRACT
Shaft alignment on pumps. Shaft misalignment is one of the
most common reasons for bearing and mechanical seal
failures. Rotating misaligned shafts produce vibration and
complex fluctuating radial and axial loads that lead to
breakdowns. Shaft alignment is a precision maintenance
requirement that requires exacting care and detail and if not
performed will cause much production down time.
Keywords: axial alignment, laser alignment, dial indicator,
soft foot, shaft coupling.
Misaligned shafts are the single greatest reason for failure of
rotating equipment and connected components. When
misaligned shafts are coupled together each shaft rotates
about a different centre and has different orbits. If the two
shaft positions in the orbits are not directly opposite each
other the coupling is distorted. The coupling reacts to the
distortion by pulling or pushing each shaft and which
produces fluctuating forces throughout the equipment.
The axial, radial and bending forces developed by the ‘push-
pull’ action, and the resulting non-circular shaft motion, is
transferred through to bearings, shaft seals and, in pumps, to
the mechanical seal. Vibration, fatigue and unnecessary
damage result. The motion that causes the most damage is
axial movement of the shaft. This is because parts are
clamped together one against the other and there usually is
little allowance for axial movement. Figure 1 shows the
types of misalignment.
In order to prevent rapid failure of equipment the shafts must
be purposefully aligned to within very close tolerances. A
simple way to look at it, for 4 pole motor speeds and slower,
is that the centerlines of aligned shafts must be within 0.050
mm (0.002”) along their full length at operating temperature.
Machine Speed Max Offset at Max offset at
Machine Feet Coupling Centre
line
Up to 1500 rpm 0.050mm (0.002”) 0.025mm (0.001”)
Over 1500 rpm 0.025mm (0.001”) 0.013mm (0.0005”)
Table 1 Alignment Tolerances for Rotating Equipment
Table 1 shows alignment tolerances recommended by
specialists after compiling equipment reliability data over
many years and industries. Figure 2 shows an overhead
view (plan view) of how Table 1 is applied.
ANGULAR PARALLEL AXIAL
Misalignment Misalignment Movement
Y bolt can keep the foot in its ‘natural’ location.
P
X GAP
Figure 1 Types of Misalignment
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0.025mm
(0.001")
coupling
alignment
0.050mm
(0.002")
Feet
Alignment
Pump feet
Motor feet
Figure 2 Achieving Radial and Angular Alignment of Shafts
This approach of aligning the whole machine guarantees
parallel shafts and accurate coupling alignment. The
common practice of measuring between and across the
coupling faces can produce a coupling within alignment
tolerance but with backends on both machines still skewed.
THE CAUSES OF MISALIGNMENT
To prevent misalignment becoming a serious cause of
equipment failure it is necessary to understand why it occurs
so it can be corrected. Table 2 lists the most common causes
of misalignment and explains what to do in each case.
CAUSE REMEDY
Insubstantial Concrete foundation mass must be 5-times the
foundations, bases and mass of the equipment it supports. This is usually
hold down bolts. only possible if the plinth is formed in the floor.
Base plates must be thick and stiff to prevent
distortion when the equipment applies torque.
Typically thicker than 20 mm (3/4”). Hold down
bolts must be bonded to the concrete and not just
held in place by friction. Hold down bolts must
stop the equipment flexing. On 2.2 - 11 kW drives
use 16 mm diameter bolts, from 15 - 75 kW use 20
mm bolts, for 100 kW and above use 25 mm bolts.
Machine components Make sure looseness in bearings that cause shafts to
damaged, poorly made rattle and rotate off centre is taken-up. Replace
and worn. bent shafts. Bore couplings on-center making sure
the bore is parallel with the hub and square with the
face so there is no run-out (wobble) as it turns. The
bore machined into a coupling must be central to
within 0.02 mm (0.001”).
‘Soft-foot’ (‘spongy’ ‘Soft-foot’ is the term used to describe the situation
support) at the where the machine support feet do not all make
machine feet. complete and even contact with the base plate or
frame on which it sits before the hold-down bolts
are tensioned. It is easy to pull a foot down with
the hold-down bolts but the result is a bent and
twisted machine with bent and twisted internal
parts. A machine bent out of shape will fail before
it should. Use 316 stainless steel shims (plastic is
too soft and mild steel– rusts) under each foot so
the foot is positioned ‘naturally’ and the hold down
Mike Sondalini – Equipment Longevity Engineer
E-mail: mailto:info@feedforward.com.au.