ASHRAE Journal

Alignment

Management Guide
To Alignment
By Victor Wowk, P.E.

s a young plant engineer in 1983, I remember a 230F (110C)

hot water pump that repeatedly wore out mechanical seals every 10 to15 days. Each shutdown cost the company about
$4,000 in lost production. The mechanics told me the pump was aligned
each time they replaced the seals, but it never occurred to me that they
had no instruments to align precisely and no training. This was a failure
in management. Our solution was to replace the pump with a new one
at an installed cost of $8,000. This solved the seal wear-out problem,
and we felt good that we had saved the company from further $4,000
shutdowns to replace seals. But our ignorance was expensive. We could
have aligned the pump initially in a precise manner and saved the company about $32,000 worth of grief.
This type of shaft-to-shaft coaxiality
comes to mind whenever the word alignment is mentioned. Figure 1 shows two
machines on a base coupled together
with a semi-flexible coupling.
However, alignment of machines includes more general orientations to run
smoothly and minimize wear. There are
bearing alignments, i.e., bearings mounted
to be perpendicular to shafts, gear alignments, pulley alignments, and the proper
orientation of mounting surfaces.
Straightness is a significant parameter
for shafts and rotors. Flatness is a significant parameter for bases and foundations.
There are also dynamic and thermal
movement effects that need to be compensated for on some machines.
The alignment technician needs to
have more general knowledge and skill
than simply swinging readings and shimming machine feet, but aligning shafts
to be coaxial is a good place to start. This
article provides an overview of the technology of shaft alignment so that people
November 2001

responsible for expensive machines and

processes can make informed decisions
about the need for alignment and how to
recognize when it is done correctly.
The consequences of inadequate alignment are premature deterioration of couplings, bearings, and seals. Misalignment
creates dynamic stresses on bearings and
couplings, distorts the shafts, and wears
clearances in close running seals.
The time to failure can be very short
(a few minutes for an elastomeric coupling to unravel for gross misalignment)
to several years, until accumulated fatigue damage fails a bearing at 50% of
its expected 20-year life. Misalignment
usually creates some abnormal noise
and vibration, which is detectable immediately at start-up.
How to Recognize Misalignment
Vibration analysis can be used to diagnose misalignment along with other
mechanical defects, but there are some
simple and obvious symptoms that an

inspector can use. One is to ask simple

questions such as:
Was the alignment checked after work
was completed?
What method was used for alignment?
What were the initial and final conditions of the shafts?
Documenting the readings is a good
way to control the process of aligning
and the final outcome. All coupled machines need to be precisely aligned onsite. It is foolish to trust the manufacturers alignment. At the factory, where
the machines are mounted on the base,
they are typically spaced up with a rough
alignment. The evidence of this is the
same shim pack under all four feet. I routinely align new machines on-site prior
to start-up and usually find that the factory alignment does not meet industry
standards. Therefore, all machines need
to be checked for proper alignment prior
to startup, especially if the shims are
painted over. Other indicators of the need
for alignment are:
A repair history of failures of couplings, bearings, and seals;
Binding, when turned by hand;
Fluid leakage;
Shredded elastomeric coupling material in the vicinity;
Loose bolts;
Cracks;
Abnormal noise; and
Excessive temperature at the coupling.
The only real definitive indicator of
proper alignment is to swing a set of readings and compare the shaft positions to
acceptable industry standards. In lieu of
dial indicator or laser readings, vibrations
About the Author
Victor Wowk, P.E., is president of
Machine Dynamics, Albuquerque,
N.M.
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ASHRAE Journal
can be used as acceptance criteria, but not rejection. That is,
low vibration is evidence of a good alignment, but high vibration does not mean poor alignment, because other defects can
cause the same or confounding vibration.
How to Correct Misalignment
To correct misalignment, measure the existing shaft orientation, calculate how much to move and in which direction, and
then precisely move one or both machines with small, controlled movements. Instruments used for measurement are:
Straight edges, feeler gages, and wires,
Dial indicators, and
Lasers.
Prior to 1950, high-speed machines (3,600 rpm) were precisely positioned using straight edges, feeler gages, and wires,
and they ran okay. A precise alignment is still possible today
using these instruments and a conscientious aligner. The variable is the person doing the alignment. Because of the variable
results, many companies have moved on to more precise and
quantifiable measuring instruments. However, acceptable alignments are still achievable using straight edges and feeler gages.
Dial indicators are the most useful instruments because they
are most universal. Dial indicators can be used in the reverseindicator setup (Figure 2) and in the face-and-rim setup (Figure
3) along with all of their variations. Dial indicators can be used to
measure shaft runouts and soft foot directly. Soft foot is a field
term that describes uneven bases and results in casing distortion.
Dial indicators can also measure other types of distortion and
geometric features by re-fixturing the indicators. Dial indicators
are used from the smallest spindles to aligning the largest machines on the planet. They are the most universal because no
other instrument, including lasers, can do all that dial indicators
can. Typical fixture costs are $1,000 to $3,000 for a starter set.
Lasers are the most restrictive. They can only use the reverseindicator method on machines that the clamps and heads will fit
on. They have difficulty with small machines because the clamps
will not fit and there is insufficient clearance to rotate the heads.
Lasers cannot use the face-and-rim method without special sliding T-clamps. The face-and-rim method is necessary when only
one shaft can be rotated. The face-and-rim method, which only

Figure 1: Alignment usually denotes coaxial shafts.

dial indicators can do, is the preferred method for large machines and long drive shafts with significant shaft sag. Lasers
do automate the measurement and calculation parts of the task
and remove some opportunities for confusion. Lasers do not
leave the machines in any better alignment condition than dial
indicators are capable of achieving. They achieve equivalent
results as dial indicators, but at 10 times the initial cost. Typical
laser fixtures costs are $5,000 to $40,000.
The important observation to make when observing alignment is that two indicators are required. A single indicator
cannot determine the four points required to plot the orientation of the two shafts.
All machines are moveable; it is just that some are more
easily moved than others. When the proper instruments and
methods are used, it is perfectly valid to move either, or all,
machines to achieve coaxiality.
There are presently no ISO or ANSI standards for machine
alignment, but there are some guidelines and/or specifications
within industry and government. A good specification should
define the final desired results at the machine shaft interface.
It should not restrict the technician to specific instruments,
like laser aligned, or specific methods like no more than
0.002-in. (0.05 mm) rim-and-face runout of the coupling. The
latter does not consider coupling runout, bar sag, thermal
growth, or casing distortion.
The aligner is typically the last person to handle the machine prior to startup. There is a window of opportunity here,
with tools in place, to detect and correct some defects that

Dial B

Shaft A

0.010 in.

Shaft B

Dial A

Figure 2: Reverse indicator setup.

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ASHRAE Journal

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November 2001

Rim Reading

Face
RDG

Shaft A

Shaft B

Figure 3: Face-and-rim setup.

affect reliability. Therefore, a good specification should ask

the aligner to measure for, or as least consider, the following
factors:
Safety: Is everything tight?
Timing: of the alignment when all work around the machine is done;
Pipe strain;
Couplings: for proper axial spacing;
Bases and foundations: for rigidity and stability;
Casing distortion (soft foot): caused by non-flat mounting surfaces;
Allowable shims: stainless steel is preferred;

Shaft runout: more than 1.0-mil Total Indicator Reading

(T.I.R.) will cause vibration problems;
Thermal growth: when temperature rise is more than 20F
(11C) (which means all motors); and
Bolt-bound conditions: how can this be handled (i.e.,
what are the allowable fixes)?
A good alignment specification should also define the acceptable offset and angularity of the shafts, and require documentation of its final condition. Such an alignment specification was composed for Sandia National Laboratories as part of
a federally funded project. This specification is available on
the web at www.mt-online.com/current/05-00sa.html.

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November 2001

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