Alignment

Why Alignment is needed?

What is Alignment ?
Types of Misalignment
Precondition before doing
Alignment
Method of doing Alignment

Drives
For Coupling Drives
Alignment

For Belt Drives

Necessity of Alignment
Misalignment is a single major cause of most
failures of rotating equipment's, it will lead to
failure of coupling,bearings, seals as well as
other components as a result of high vibration.
Hence it is important to check the alignment
periodically .

Definition
Alignment is the process of :
1. Coinciding the shaft axis of Driver
and Driven in the single straight line
for coupling drives
2. Bringing the Driver and Driven shaft
axis in parallel,Bring the face of
pulleys in a straight line for Belt drives

TYPES OF MIS
ALIGNMENT
M i s A li g n m e n t

A x ia l

H o r iz o n ta l

R a d ia l

V e r t ic a l

H o r iz o n ta l

V e r t ic a l

TYPE 1
PUMP

(Angular Horizontal Right)

COUPLING
MOTOR

TOP VIEW

TYPE 2

(Angular Horizontal Left)

TOP VIEW

TYPE 3

(Angular Vertical Up )

SIDE VIEW

TYPE 4 (Angular Vertical Down)

SIDE VIEW

TYPE 5 (Radial Horizontal Right)

TOP VIEW

TYPE 6 (Radial Horizontal Left)

TOP VIEW

TYPE 7 (Radial Vertical Up)

SIDE VIEW

TYPE 8 (Radial Vertical Down)

SIDE VIEW

Dial Gauge
90
80
70
60

00

10
20
30

50

40

Dial indicator or dial gauge is used

for measuring the linear movement
very accurately.The smallest
measurement is 0.01 mm , total
stroke is 10mm When the plunger of
dial gauge moves inwards the
pointer shows positive reading
(needle rotates clock wise) ,
when it moves out ward
shows a negative reading ( needle
rotates anti clock wise)

Precondition for Alignment

Proper alignment can achieved under proper condition only

1.Soft Foot
(soft foot means un even fixing of motor base)
To find out if soft foot exists, keep the motor bolts loose,
gently lift each foot one by one and remove all the shims .
Tighten the all foots normally, place the dial gauge over foot
& loose the bolt one by one, check the lifting of the foot, give
the required shims accordingly. Or check the same by feeler
gauge repeat the same for driven equipment also

2.Pipe Strain
An improperly supported piping system can easily disturb the
alignment. To identify the influence of existing piping strain,
keep one dial gauge vertically (12 oclock position) and the
other horizontally (9 oclock position) on the pump hub. Loosen
the suction, discharge pipe flanges & any additional support for
the over hanging pump. Watch for any noticeable change on the
dial gauge. If any, reinstall the piping supports until there are no
adverse effect of piping strain

3. Thermal Growth
The manufacturers of large rotating equipment (ex. Turbine)
usually specify the extent to which thermal expansion must
be compensated for while carrying out alignment

Fixing of Dial Gauge

Attach a clamp to the dial gauge and set it on a coupling hub firmly, and
note the following points
1. There should not be any gap between the plunger and the
hub.
2.Prefer to load the gauge by setting the plunger pressed
inwards say 2mm.
3. If the pointer reads other than 0, rotate the dial to 0
before starting.
4. Rotate the hub over 360 with the plunger touching the hub;
You should read 0 after this full rotation.
5. Make marks on coupling in the 12,3,6&9 oclock positions.
6. Take a reading and check the sum of the horizontal reading is equal to the
sum of the vertical reading, if not suspect that the set-up of the dial
gauge is not correct.

Methods of Alignment
Alignment

1.Straight
Edge

2.Rim&
Face

3.Reverse 4.Laser
Dial
alignment

Straight Edge Method

By this radial alignment is doing with the help of steel
rule hacksaw blade and axial alignment by feeler gauge

Fixed m/c

Motor to be
shimmed

Fixed m/c

Motor to be
shimmed

Rim & Face Method

Step1- Fix the dial gauge as shown in figure, one dial should
on flange RIM and another on flange FACE. Make the trial
rotation to ensure that it is not fouling with anything else, is it
read for over 360.
Step2- If there is any pull by terminals of motor, remove it to
avoid pulling load of the cables
Step3- Mark the flanges for 12,3,6 & 9 oclock position. 12
oclock position should be at center of the motor by top view

R
A
Fixed m/c

A-axial
R-radial
Motor to be
shimmed

Fixed m/c

Motor to be
shimmed

Step4:- Check the motor leg distance, flange diameter.

(Allowable tolerance for normal equipment is
for axial <0.05mm,for radial <0.05)
for special equipment the manufacturer will give the tolerance
PUMP

MOTOR

d
L-1 FLS

SLS

L-2
d-diameter in which axial gauge positioned(normally axial
gauge should fix in the end face of the flange so that flange
diameter can taken as d)
L-1-first leg length from radial gauge position
L-2-second leg length from radial gauge position

Step5- Do the horizontal alignment(side out) so that the axial

& radial readings approximately equal to zero at 3,9 oclock
positions by adjusting motor side-jack screws
Step6-Take 2-3 readings and ensure that the horizontal
reading is equal to vertical reading. If not equal the setting,
marking is incorrect and make it proper
eg. readings
0.00

0.05

Radial

0.09

0.00

0.04 -0.06

Axial

-0.09

-0.03

Step7-Apply the readings in the

formula given bellow
First Leg Shim(FLS) = (L1*A/d) + R/2
Second Leg Shim(SLS)= (L2*A/d) + R/2
If result is in -ve value remove shims,
If it is in +ve value add shims

Plotting graph for the Rim & Face

method

R/2

FLS

L-1
L-2

SLS

Step8-Again check the dial gauge reading,

if it is come under the tolerance tighten
the bolt. If not, take more reading and
add/remove shims accordingly mostly by
2-3 readings you will get alignment for the
equipment.
If after tighten the bolt, alignment reading
get more variation then there may be the
problem in soft foot, hole of the motor and
base is not getting match. Make it proper
and do the alignment

Step9-After getting aligned, couple

the motor & pump without disturbing
the alignment
(before couple the flanges check for
the distance between couplings as
required)
* If only one dial gauge is available
first do the axial alignment and then
radial

Reverse Dial Method

Step1- Fix the DBSE(distance between shaft ends) as specified

Step2- Assemble the dial gauge with the help of alignment
clamps as in figure.
Step3- Ensure that the center line of the motor and the fixed
machine(pump) are aligned, as viewed from top. This can be
done by adjusting the motor side jack screws in a such a way
that the dial gauges read approximately equal at 3 and 9 oclock
position as indicated in the figure below
0.00
D-1
0.00

Fixed m/c

D-2
Motor to be
shimmed

0.46

Pump
D-1
D-1
hub

0.96

-0.26
0.5

Motor
D-1
D-2

-0.56

-0.3

Step4-Verify that the dial gauge plungers are

still touching the hub flanges and set them to
zero when D-1( Dial on pump flange ) in top
position . Now rotate both hubs together
through 180 deg in the same direction .
Record the total indicator reading for each
gauge when D-1 at the bottom position. while
doing this, check again that the readings at 3
o clock and 9 o clock positions are not
disturbed.

Step 5 :- Measure the distance between

the dial gauges and the plungers as
shown in the drawing below. Also
measure the distance between gauge
plunger of driven pump to the motor feet
Fixed m/c

Motor to be
shimmed

D1

D2
C1

FLS

L1 C2
L2

L3

SLS

Apply the readings in the formula given below

d2= D2/2,

d1 = D1/2

FLS= ((d1-d2)xL2/L1) - d1
SLS= ((d1-d2)xL3/L1) - d1
If negative result comes shims to be removed
If positive result comes shims to be added
( OR )
Plot these distance on the graph sheet and put the
readings as d1 in C1 & d2 in C2 and draw the line
Step 6 :-The correction required to level the motor feet
depends on where the plotted line cut the vertical axis
on F1 and F2.

Plotting the graph for Reverse

indicator method

(D-1)/2
(D-2)/2
C-1

L-1

C-2

FLS

L-2
L-3

SLS

Step 8 :- After carrying out the corrections

ensure the following
a) The reading at 3 o clock and 9 o clock positions are
still approximately equal
b) Confirm DBSE ( Distance Between Shaft Ends )
against the specification
c) secure base bolts
d) Take the final set of TIR readings on both the hub
flanges
e) Verify if the corrected TIR is within 0.05 mm
OR tolerance which given by the manufacturer

LASER ALIGNMENT
1. Target
2. Infrared Data
Receiver
3. Laser
4. System Display
5. Ruggedized
laptop computer
6. Mounting
Brackets

Laser
The L-575 uses two adjustable,
visible-diode Class
II laser beams with an operating
range of up to 30'.
Angular accuracy of the system
is guaranteed to
10 micro radians. Set-up time is
minimal. In most
cases, you can show
misalignment data and calculate
shims and moves in as little as 5
minutes.

Target
The T-1275 features a true 5-axis
target that
reads both horizontal and vertical
center and angle
measurements simultaneously.
Target data is sent
instantly via an IR link to the CPU
for real-time
processing, analysis and display of
misalignment
data. Largest cell size on the
market accommodates
thermal growth offsets up to 1".

Infrared Data Receiver

Unlike competitive systems that
rely upon unstable
AM frequencies, our in-house
designed A-908 wire-less
IR link is an extremely robust, FMbased unit.
Data is sent up to 15 times per
second via the most
reliable IR link on the market
today. Successfully
proven in field use, at distances of
120', by a major
aircraft manufacturer since 1994.

Mounting Brackets
A-907 standard mounting bracket
sets are designed
to work with shaft diameters
ranging in size from
3/ 8 " to 12". Brackets can be
adapted to 18" shaft
dimensions with additional chain
links. Laser and
targets are pre-aligned to brackets
to facilitate
rough-in alignment. Magnetic
mounts standard.
Speed nuts allow quick, easy setup.

System Display

Belt Alignment
Fixed m/c

Step1-Take some thread and place it as shown

in figure, check whether it is touching all the
four corners properly or not.
Step2-If not, adjust the motor/pulley to touch
the thread in all the four corners

Motor to be
shimmed

Step3-Place the recommended belt,

Step4-Adjust the tightness of belt to the
recommended belt tension

Questionnair
e?