2098 JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS, VOL. 6, NO.

10, OCTOBER 2011

Fault Statistics and Mode Analysis of

Steam-induced Vibration of Steam Turbine based
on FMEA Method
Chengbing He
Key Lab of Condition Monitoring and Control for Power Plant Equipment Ministry of Education (North China Electric
Power University), Beijing, P, R. China
Email: hcbyy@126.com

Yujiong Gu
Key Lab of Condition Monitoring and Control for Power Plant Equipment Ministry of Education (North China Electric
Power University), Beijing, P, R. China
Email: guyujiong@263.net

Abstract—Steam-induced vibration is a kind of self-excited
vibration which is one of the most important issues affecting
the operation reliability of steam turbines. A lot of actual
cases of steam-induced vibration of steam turbine were
collected in this work. And steam-induced vibration fault
was statistical and classified by fault reason, happened time,
occurrence load and fault severity. The statistical results
show that steam-induced vibration usually occurs after
turbine runs one year later and turbine is with a high load.
Oil temperature change is the main running parameters
which affect steam-induced vibration. Improper opening
and order of adjustment valve is the most important factor
causing steam-induced vibration fault. Failure Mode and
Effect Analysis(FMEA) was an analysis method faced to
system specific physical unit. Based on the FMEA method
and the fault statistics results, fault mode of steam-induced
vibration was analyzed in detail. And the fault tree analysis
of steam-induced vibration was constructed. Some valuable
conclusions were achieved, including the fault symptoms,
fault consequence and effect, fault causes, preventive actions
and other information of steam-induced vibration.
Index Terms—steam-induced vibration; Fault statistics;
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis; fault mode; steam
turbine
I. INTRODUCTION
Steam-induced vibration is a kind of self-excited
vibration which is caused by inner flow-induced force of
steam turbine [1]. With steam parameters of steam
turbine increased, the sensitivity that tangential steam
forces act on the gap between rotor and stator and seal
structure is improved. The problem of steam-induced
vibration will become more serious with the flow-induced
force increased [2, 3]. It was proved by operation
experience that steam-induced vibration occurs not only
on subcritical steam turbines but also supercritical steam
turbines. And the possibility occurred on supercritical
turbines is much larger than that of subcritical turbines [4,
5]. Steam-induced vibration has become to one of the
most important issues affecting the operation reliability of
steam turbines. So it has great significance for studying
steam-induced vibration to improve the reliability of
large-scale steam turbines.
Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a widely
used engineering technique for defining, identifying and
eliminating known and/or potential failures, problems,
errors and so on from system, design, process, and/or
service before they reach the customer [6]. When
applying FMEA, a crossfunctional and multidisciplinary
team identifies failure modes, evaluates their risks and
prioritizes them so that appropriate corrective actions can
be taken. A failure mode in one component can serve as
the cause of a failure mode in another component. A
failure cause is defined as a design weakness that may
result in a failure. For each failure mode identified, the
FMEA team should determine what the ultimate effect of
failure will be. A failure effect is defined as the result of a
failure mode on the function of the product or process as
perceived by the customer [12]. FMEA proves to be one
of the most important early preventative actions in
system, design, process or service which will prevent
failures and errors from occurring and reaching the
customer [7-13].
We collected many actual cases of steam-induced
vibration of steam turbine in this work. After studying on
the cases, steam-induced vibration fault was statistical
and classified from four aspects including fault reason,
happened time, occurrence load and fault severity.
Meanwhile, based on the FMEA method and the fault
statistics results, fault mode of steam-induced vibration
was analyzed in detail. And the fault tree analysis of
steam-induced vibration was constructed. Some valuable
conclusions were achieved, including the fault symptoms,
fault consequence and effect, fault causes, preventive
actions and other information of steam-induced vibration.

© 2011 ACADEMY PUBLISHER

doi:10.4304/jcp.6.10.2098-2103
JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS, VOL. 6, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2011 2099

II. FAULT STATISTICS OF STEAM-INDUCED VIBRATION TABLE 3 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO UNEVEN
RADIAL CLEARENCE
A large number of fault cases of steam-induced poor
improper
vibration were statistical and classified from four aspects: concentricity of rotor
labyrinth others
the rotor and misalignment
fault reason, happened time, occurrence load and fault clearance
cylinder
severity. fault
58% 20% 9% 13%
ratio
A. Fault Statistics according to fault reason
The fault reasons of steam-induced vibration includes c) Poor stability of high-pressure cylinder bearing
four aspects: steam distribution mechanism, uneven radial The reasons of poor stability of high-pressure cylinder
clearance, poor stability of high-pressure cylinder bearing involve following aspects: bearing elevation
bearing, operating parameters changed. The statistical changed, bearing headspace large, improper bearing type.
results according to fault reason were shown in Table 1. It The statistical results according to poor stability of
is obvious that steam distribution mechanism is the main high-pressure cylinder bearing were illustrated in Table 4.
factor causing steam-induced vibration. And the ratio was It can be found that the scale of bearing elevation
high up to 42%. The cases of uneven radial clearence and changed is about 60%. And bearing elevation changed is
poor stability of bearing separately are 23%. The cases of the most important reason for poor stability of
poor stability of high-pressure cylinder bearing are 22%. high-pressure cylinder bearing.
TABLE 1 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO FAULT
REASON TABLE 4 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO POOR
poor STABILITY OF HIGH-PRESSURE CYLINDER BEARING
steam uneven operating bearing bearing
stability of improper
distribution radial parameters others elevation headspace others
cylinder bearing type
mechanism clearance changed changed large
bearing
fault fault
42% 23% 22% 8% 5% 60% 16% 12% 12%
ratio ratio

Every one of reason above mentioned included several d) Operating parameters changed
aspects. The analysis was as follows. Operating parameters changed mainly includes oil
a)Steam distribution mechanism temperature, main steam parameters, seal parameters and
shaft imbalance. Table 5 showed the statistical results
Unsuitable operation of steam distribution mechanism according to operating parameters changed. From the
is the main reason exciting steam-induced vibration. And map, it is clear that oil temperature is the main factor
unsuitable operation modes usually consist of the leading to steam-induced vibration. And the scale of oil
following: improper opening and order of adjustment temperature is about 38%.
valve, single-side jam of high pressure control valve,
misalignment connected between main steam pipes and TABLE 5 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO
cylinder. The statistical results according to steam OPERATING PARAMETERS CHANGED
distribution mechanism were shown in Table 2. It can be oil main steam seal shaft
others
found that improper opening and order of adjustment temperature parameters parameters imbalance
fault
valve is the main factor causing steam-induced vibration. ratio
38% 30% 12% 11% 9%
And the ratio is high up to 74%.
B.Fault Statistics according to fault happened time
TABLE 2 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO
STEAM DISTRIBUTION MECHANISM
Happened time of steam-induced vibration can be
improper misalignment divided into three categories: (1)new machine startup or
single-side early stage;(2)running one year later;(3)startup after
opening and connected
jam of high
order of
pressure
between others overhaul.
adjustment steam pipes The statistical results according to fault happened time
control valve
valve and cylinder
fault
were illustrated in Table 6. It can be found that
74% 7% 7% 12% steam-induced vibration occurred after one year operation
ratio
usually. The scale is about 52%. The reason is that shaft
b) Uneven radial clearence stability will become weak after the unit ran for some
time, which led to thermal deformation, basement
The reasons of uneven radial clearance contain several looseness and bearing fatigue damage. The cases caused
aspects: poor concentricity of the rotor and cylinder, rotor by new machine and startup after overhaul account for
misalignment, improper labyrinth clearance. The nearly half of the total. The reason is that some elements
statistical results according to uneven radial clearance including misalignment between cylinder and rotor,
were shown in Table 3. Obviously, poor concentricity of uneven clearance caused by poor quality of installation
the rotor and cylinder which amount is about 60% total and maintenance brings about steam-induced vibration.
number is the main factor leading to uneven radial So the new units and the units after overhaul will pay
clearance. more attention to monitor and prevent the occurrence of
steam-induced vibration.

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2100 JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS, VOL. 6, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2011

TABLE 6 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO effects on system performance. FMEA is applicable at

HAPPENED TIME
various levels of system decomposition from the highest
running one new machine startup or startup after
year later early stage overhaul
level of block diagram down to the functions of discrete
fault components. FMEA is an analysis method faced to
52% 31% 17%
ratio system specific physical unit. Failure mode analysis uses
the bottom-up method. Based on the basic failure mode
C.Fault Statistics according to load of system unit, potential fault reasons will be found out.
The statistical results according to load were illustrated Analyzing the effect by fault reasons, some actions are
in Table 7. It is showed that most of steam-induced took to reduce and prevent the impact of fault on the
vibration occurred when the load of steam turbine was system[9]. The process for carrying out an FMEA can be
high. And low frequency vibration has a good divided into several steps which are briefly explained
reproducibility with load. With high load, steam flow and here [7]:
exciting force will increase. That is easier to bring about 1) Develop a good understanding of what the system is
steam-induced vibration. In order to prevent or suppress supposed to do when it is operating properly.
steam-induced vibration, most of the units ran with 2) Determine the system analytic hierarchy. Divide the
limited load. That caused lower economy for power plant. system into sub-systems and/or assemblies in order to
‘localise’ the search for components.
TABLE 7 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO LOAD 3) Structure system reliability block diagram. Use blue
>100% 80%~100% 60%~80% <60% prints, schematics and flow charts to identify components
rated load rated load rated load rated load
fault and relations among components.
6% 56% 32% 6% 4) Determine failure modes of each component and the
ratio
effects of failure modes on assemblies, sub-systems, and
D. Fault Statistics according to fault severity the entire system.
According to fault severity, steam-induced vibration 5) Evaluation the impact on the system caused by
can be divided into four categories: vibration near to failure mode.
alarm value, vibration up to about 80um, unit stop and 6) Categorise the hazard level (severity) of each failure
check, forced shutdown. Statistical results according to mode (several qualitative systems have been developed
fault severity were shown in Table 8. It illustrated that the for this purpose).
cases of vibration near to alarm value which are the main 7) Estimate the probability and Calculate the risk
fault result are about 43%. The cases of unit stop and priority number (RPN).
check are about 27%. The cases of vibration up to about 8) Develop recommendations to enhance the system
80um are 15%. And the cases of forced shutdown are performance. These fall into two categories: a) Preventive
15%. Once steam-induced vibration is excited, there will actions: avoiding a failure situation. b) Compensatory
be a sudden vibration on turbine rotor which led to actions: minimising losses in the event that a failure
vibration amplitude increase rapidly. occurs.
9) Summarise the analysis: this can be accomplished in
TABLE 8 STATISTICAL RESULTS ACCORDING TO FAULT a tabular form.
SEVERITY Generally, an FMEA table will have a major row for
vibration vibration up
near to alarm
unit stop
to about
forced each component. As these components may have multiple
and check shutdown failure modes, the major row is sometimes divided into
value 80um
fault sub-rows where each sub-row summarises a specific
43% 27% 15% 15%
ratio failure mode. The table is organised into the following
To sum up the above arguments, steam-induced columns: Component, Failure mode(s), Effects (by failure
vibration usually occurs after turbine runs one year later mode), Probability, Hazard level (severity), Causes of
and turbine is with a high load. Oil temperature change is failure mode[8-13].
the main running parameters which affect steam-induced According to the above method, the FMEA table of
vibration. Distribute steam mechanism, especially steam-induced vibration was shown in table 9. By using
improper opening and order of adjustment valve, is the FMEA, we will at least get the fault symptoms, fault
most important factor causing steam-induced vibration consequence and effect, fault reason, preventive actions
fault. and other information of steam-induced vibration.
The main monitoring object in FMEA is the
Ш. FAULT MODE ANALYSIS OF STEAM-INDUCED monitoring parameters including bearing temperature,
VIBRATION BASED ON FMEA METHOD seal pressure, and so on. And the monitoring parameters
have a threshold value, shown in table 10.
Failure Modes and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is known
to be a systematic procedure for the analysis of a system
to identify the potential failure modes, their causes and

© 2011 ACADEMY PUBLISHER

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TABLE 9 FAULT MODE ANALYSIS OF STEAM-INDUCED VIBRATION

fault mode steam-induced vibration
occurred position rotor-support system of high-pressure cylinder
opening and
x、y bearing bush main steam order of jacking oil
name frequency load gap voltage
monitoring parameters

vibrations vibration pressure adjustment pressure

valve
symptoms

amplitude amplitude
fault symptoms

value sudden sudden happened significant

f=0.5fp amplitude fluctuating fluctuating
increased increased with high relationship
sudden
nk load, strong between
or f ≈ increase with
60 representatio pressure and
125µm 60µm some opening fluctuating fluctuation
threshold n vibration
alarm alarm value>20% value>0.2MPa

visual signs of
physical violent vibration; a humming noise in high-pressure cylinder bearing
phenomena
current level rotor-support system of high-pressure cylinder
fault consequence
and effect

effect described shaft stability decreased; induced rotor instability; oil pressure fluctuation; bush or shaft journal fatigue failure

up level shafts of steam turbine

effect described shafts or unit damage; rub-impact between rotor and cylinder; rotor bending or breaking; load output limited

current level bearing headspace large improper bearing type improper oil temperature bearing elevation changed
stability of barrel bearing
judgement headspace＞ output oil temperature of deviation from the
fault reasons

is poor than elliptical

rules 1.5‰shaft journal oil cooler＜35 specified value＞0.2mm
bearing
improper steam improper steam distribution of main steam pressure
up level uneven radial clearence
distribution mechanism gland fluctuation
check with steam stop machine, stop machine,
judgment rules >0.1MPa
distribution process maintenance record maintenance record
fault reason search open cylinder and check
1 strictly control bearing neck up-rising inclination, bush pre-tighten force and bearing load when steam turbine
installation.
2 carefully adjust safety clearance of gland over shroud, diaphragm gland shaft external gland; prevent excessive
clearance.
3 adjust bearing elevation of cold state should seriously considered the change character of bearing elevation when
preventive actions
unit has different load.
operation aspects：
1 potimization opening and order of adjustment valve.
2 prevention a large number of steam leakage, which caused bearing lost stability.
3 adjustment oil temperature.

TABLE 10 THE THRESHOLD VALUE OF MONITORING PARAMETERS OF STEAM-INDUCED VIBRATION

monitoring parameters the threshold value of monitoring parameters signal source
x、y bearing vibrations standard：normal≤125µm，alarm value 125~254µm，stop machine≥254µm。 TSI
bush vibration normal≤65µm，alarm value 65~110µm，stop machine≥110µm TSI
bearing gap voltage fluctuating value 20% TSI
jacking oil pressure fluctuating value 0.2Mpa TSI
differential expansion alarm value of differential expansion: -3mm，+6mm TSI
axial displacement alarm value of axial displacement: -1.05mm，+0.6mm TSI
rotor eccentricity not exceed the original value 20 TSI
main steam pressure alarm value of main steam pressure fluctuation: >0.1Mpa DCS
shaft seal inlet steam pressure alarm value of shaft seal inlet steam pressure fluctuation: >0.1Mpa DCS
load good correspondence TSI
bearing oil temperature normal: 35℃-48℃ DCS
bush temperature alarm value: >65℃ TSI
bearing return oil temperature alarm value: >65℃ TSI

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Figure 1. fault tree analysis of steam-induced vibration
From table 9, we can find that FMEA method is ease
to realize the classification of failure mode and analysis
of several possible consequences. At the same time, the
weakness of FMEA method is exposed, that is the
method is very cumbersome and ease to occure omissions
in practical use. The consequence classification depends
largely on subjective factors, which affected the
reliability of the classification. However, if fault tree
analysis(FTA) method is used to fault clssification, it can
improve the analysis accuracy compared with FMEA.
FTA is a graphical interpretation method. Using graph
can show what is the failure of the system clearly. It is
also a snapshot about a particular fault status of the
system. FTA makes system faults and components faults
close integration, and using FTA can find all the possible
failure state of the system. The fault tree analysis of
steam-induced vibration is shown in figure 1.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
With steam parameters of steam turbine increased,
steam-induced vibration fault seriously affects the
reliable operation of supercritical steam turbine. We
collected many actual cases of steam-induced vibration of
© 2011 ACADEMY PUBLISHER
JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS, VOL. 6, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2011
steam turbine in this work. The cases divided into four
categories: fault reason, happened time, occurrence load
and fault severity were statistical and classified. The
results show that steam-induced vibration usually occurs
after turbine ran one year later and turbine is with a high
load. Oil temperature change is the main running
parameters which affect steam-induced vibration.
Distribute steam mechanism, especially improper
opening and order of adjustment valve, is the most
important factor causing steam-induced vibration fault.
Meanwhile, based on the FMEA method and the fault
statistics results, fault mode of steam-induced vibration
was analyzed in detail. Some valuable conclusions were
achieved, including the fault symptoms, fault
consequence and effect, fault causes, preventive actions
and other information of steam-induced vibration.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are grateful for the financial support from
National Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
50905058), program for new century excellent talents in
university(NCET-08-0769) and the Fundamental
JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS, VOL. 6, NO. 10, OCTOBER 2011
Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.
10MG14).
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Chengbing He is an associate professor in the school of
energy, power and mechanical engineering at North China
Electric Power University. He received his PhD in thermal
power engineering from North China Electric Power University
in 2004. His research interests include coupled flexural and
torsional vibrations of steam turbine, condition monitoring and
control of steam turbine, state maintenance for power plant
equipment.
Yujiong Gu is a professor and associate dean of the school
of energy, power and mechanical engineering at North China
Electric Power University. He received his PhD from Tsinghua
University in 1996. He is currently active in the areas of fault
diagnosis of steam turbine, state monitoring and maintenance
for power plant equipment. He has published over 50 refereed
papers. He has conducted research for Ministry of Science and
Technology of China, the National Science Foundation of
China, and companies.