ROTATING -ALIGNMENT

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION BEFORE STARTING ALIGNMENT

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION BEFORE ALIGNMENT

• Make sure that runout at the shaft as well as coupling is les than 0.05mm ON both
machines( Runout should not exceed 0.05mm).
• Decide which machine will be kept stationary and which one will be moved. Generally, for a motor
pump combination , pump is kept stationary, for turbine-pump combination , turbine is kept
stationary.
• Check for rusty or broken shims /too many shims under the supports legs. Number of shims should
not exceed four.
• Make provision for moving the machinery ( both sidewise and up-down motion)for sidewise
motion, using jack bolt is the preferred method. For up-down motion , wedging at the appropriate
place is done and then shims are kept below the legs.
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE( TAKING ALIGNMENT READINGS )-
STEP NO. 1

• Dial pointer should preferably kept on the machine to be moved.

• The sum total of both side readings should be same as sum total of top bottom readings. In actual
practices, we can allow a difference of about 15 %. This rule is called validity Rule.
For examples, 0.00
sum total of side reading = 0.15+0.25 = 0.40
0.15 0.25 sum total of top bottom readings =0.00 +0.36=0.36
Difference =0.40-0.36 = 0.04
0.36 This difference should be less than 15% = 15% of 0.40 = 0.06
Thus difference is less than 15% hence alignment reading is valid.
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE( TAKING ALIGNMENT
READINGS )- STEP NO. 1

• Alignment correction should be attempted only when sum total of

side readings and top bottom readings are matching within 15% as
shown in the above Examples.
WHAT CHECKS TO DO IF ALIGNMENT READINGS ARE FOUND
INVALID:

• Check the clamp for looseness. If found loose , tighten.

• Check the dial pointer is leaving contact contact during rotating. If so, do rough
alignment with straight edge first.
• check the coupling for eccentricity / ellipticity and shaft for runout, rectify , and rotate
both shafts together.
• if still alignment readings are found invalid, it means that there is sag in the dial clamp.
SAG MEASUREMENT AND CORRECTION

• This step is to be carried out only if the sum total of side readings is not
matching with the sum total of top- bottom readings.
• The movement of clamp causes change in dial readings. Due to this
change , sum total of top –bottom readings does not match with sum total
of side readings. The effect is called SAG.
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE:- STEP NO. 2

• How to remove sag error from the alignment readings:

• Measure the value of SAG with the help of SAG measurement setup.
• This SAG value will be Negative.
• Add the SAG value to the Alignment Readings.
• As we can see, Sum total of top-bottom readings & side readings is not matching. All
three checks , given in step no. 1 have been done. Still difference is coming dial readings
from the SAG measurement setup. It means there is SAG of 0.08mm.
• Now Sum total of side readings and top bottom Readings is matching. Now , we can
proceed to step no. 3 of alignment procedure.
 ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE –STEP NO. 3
(CALCULATION MACHINERY MOVEMENT)

• Important : for best results , radial and axial alignment correction should be done together. A table
for this purpose is shown as follow:-
• Amount of shims required
front leg Rear leg
For radial alignment A (mm) A(mm)
For axial alignment B( mm) C(mm)
Total alignment correction A+B (mm) A+C (mm)
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE – STEP NO. 3A
(CALCULATING RADIAL MISALIGNMENT)

• Radial correction value is half of the total indicator reading.

• For example : 0.00
+0.20
• Dial is clamped on pump coupling and pointer is on motor coupling.
• Dial is set to zero at upper position.
• Dial is reading +0.20 mm at lower position.
• This means that motor shaft is down( +sign means dial pointer has got Compressed).
• Thus motor shaft will have to be lifted up by +0.20/2=+0.10 mm . That is, shimming of 0.10mm is
required at all the four legs.
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE – STEP NO. 3A

• Important :-
For Radial misalignment correction , the value of shimming
required will be same for all the four legs , as we saw in the above
examples.
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE :- STEP NO. 3B

• D=diameter on which the dial is moving.(approx. equal to coupling diameter).

• L1= Distance at front leg from motor coupling.
• L2=Distance at back leg from the motor coupling.
• Shimming required at front / back leg= L1& L2*dial reading /D
• For example:- 0.00

+0.30 mm
• D =100 mm
• L1= 200 mm ; L2 =400 mm .
• This means that top gap between coupling is more than bottom Gap(+ sign means dial pointer has got
compressed).
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE :- STEP NO. 3B
( CORRECTING AXIAL MISALIGNMENT)

• Thus motor shaft will have to be lifted up.

• Shimming required at front leg = L1*dial reading /D
= 200 *0.30/ 100 = 0.60 mm
• Shimming required at back leg =L2 *Dial reading/D
= 400* 0.30/100 =1.20 mm
• For axial misalignment correction , the amount of shims required to be added or removed is
different for the front legs and back leg
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE :- STEP NO. 3C
(CORRECTING TOTAL MISALIGNMENT )

• As per our example, the top bottom readings are :- 0.00 0.00
R A
0.20 0.30
• Shimming required for radial & axial misalignments respectively have been calculated on the previous slides. The total
shimming required is calculated as follow:-
• Amount of shims required in
Front leg Rear leg
To correct radial alignment +0.10 mm +0.10 mm
To correct axial alignment +0.60 mm +1.20 mm
To alignment correction 0.10 + 0.60= 0.70 mm 0.10 + 1.20= 1.3mm
Thus in order to do total(radial + axial) alignment, put shim of 0.70mm in front leg and 1.3mm in back leg of motor in out
example
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE:- STEP NO. 4
( MOVING THE MACHINERY)

• For top to bottom movement shims are added or removed from below the feet of the
machine to be moved. For this purpose, the machine is lifted up by wedging , and then shims
are added or removed.
• For side wise movement, using jack bolts is the preferred method. A light hammer can also
be used on small machines. The movement should be closely monitored by two dial gauges.
• After making the required movement, one final alignment reading should be taken.
 CONCLUSION

• We have to see that it is very convenient to do radial and axial alignment correction together.
• Hence , we can say that ultimately there are only two types of misalignments- top-bottom(radial +
axial) misalignment and side wise (radial+ axial) misalignment.
• For best results top-bottom alignment should be done first , followed by side wise alignment. The
reason is that if you do side wise alignment first, then while doing top-bottom alignment, side wise
alignment will again get disturbed.
• How ever, if during step no. 1:- (taking alignment readings) it is found that side wise misalignment
is very large as compare to top-bottom misalignment, then rough alignment (of side wise) should be
done first. After that final top-bottom alignment and then final side wise alignment should be done.
 CONCLUSION

• Remove coupling guards and coupling spool piece if necessary . Measure the shaft and coupling
hub run out on both units. Inspect coupling for any damaged or worn parts. Keep track of the
coupling parts and label then if necessary . If equipment's is going to be removed for servicing,
make punch marks on casing and baseplate as a reference during reinstallation.
• Check for soft foot, casing or frame warpage, excessive static piping or conduit forces, damaged
or rusty shims, loose foundation bolt. etc. correct any of the potential problem areas.
• Take and record a set of alignment reading.
• Calculate and perform the necessary axial , vertical and horizontals move, recheck alignment ,
calculate and move until equipment is within acceptable alignment tolerance foundation bolts to
required value. Record final alignments reading.