Building Sciences Committee

Fall Meeting
Francis Marion Hotel
Charleston SC
September 17-19 2014

MACHINERY ALIGNMENT
LUDECA, INC.
Mr. Mark Homes
Solute, LLC Ludeca Solutions Provider

WHO WE ARE
LUDECA is a leading provider of Preventive, Predictive and Corrective
Maintenance Solutions including machinery laser alignment, vibration
analysis and balancing equipment as well as software, rentals, services
and training.

Training Center
Main Building

ALI 2000 DIAL INDICATOR SYSTEM

In the early 1980s, LUDECA introduces the ALI 2000 Computerized

Dial Indicator Alignment System.

LASER SHAFT ALIGNMENT IS BORN WITH OPTALIGN

In 1983, LUDECA introduces the first laser alignment tool, the

OPTALIGN IR

LASER SHAFT ALIGNMENT

ROTALIGN ULTRA

OPTALIGN smart

Keep your machines aligned.

Intrinsically safe systems available

SHAFTALIGN

Why Precision

Shaft Alignment

WHY BOTHER WITH PRECISION SHAFT ALIGNMENT?

WHY PRECISION ALIGNMENT?

WHY PRECISION ALIGNMENT?

When misaligned, the loading of shafts dramatically increase due to the
reaction forces created within the coupling.
This leads to:

Premature bearing, seal,

shaft and coupling failures.
High bearing and coupling
temperatures.
Excessive vibration.
The breaking (or cracking)
of shafts at or close to the
inboard bearing.
High power consumption.

WHY PRECISION ALIGNMENT?

These thermograms clearly indicate that misalignment creates friction, which produces
heat. This in turn leads to greater thermal growth, yet more misalignment and even
greater energy loss.

WHY PRECISION ALIGNMENT?

Plain and Simple:

To save money and improve efficiency.

DEFINITION OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

Aligning Shafts Rotational Centerlines

Collinear No offsets, No Angularity
Coupling Point (Point of Power Transmission)
At Operating Conditions

SHAFT ALIGNMENT METHODS

Eyeball and thumb

Straightedge and feeler / taper
gage
Dial Indicator
Laser

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

MTBM
STAT

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

ANGULARITY
OFFSET
AND
OFFSET
ANGULARITY

EXPRESSING ALIGNMENT

VO VO
HO
VA
HO
HA

VA
HA

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

Offset means the distance between lines at a given

point.
For shaft alignment, the offset is measured at the
coupling center (point of power transmission)

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

Angularity means the angle between two centerlines.

The angles are the same whether they are measured at

the coupling face or at the shaft centerlines.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

Understanding Angularity
Angle a = A/B
C

A
90

a
B

Any triangle that has one angle exactly equal to 90 is

called a right triangle.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

Angle a = A/B = Rise/Run

Rise A

a
B
Run

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

How does this relate to shaft alignment?

Angle a = A/B = Rise/Run = Gap/Diameter

Rise=Gap

Run=Dia
90

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

How does this relate to shaft alignment?

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

FUNDAMENTALS OF SHAFT ALIGNMENT

Sign Conventions

STAT

MTBM

+
-

+
-

ALIGN TO TOLERANCES

SOFT FOOT

SOFT FOOT

Soft Foot
Is a condition where the machine feet do not make solid contact
(at least 80% ) with the soleplate surface
There are four major types of soft foot:
Parallel Air Gap
Bent Foot or Angled Base
Squishy Foot
Induced Soft Foot

SOFT FOOT

Parallel Air Gap

Three feet sit solidly on base with gap on fourth foot
Machine typically rocks diagonally
Should only shim one foot(one with largest gap)

SOFT FOOT

Bent Foot or Angled Base

Causes include machinery dropped, soleplates not machined
properly, foundation settling, extreme vertical angular
misalignment, previous welds on feet or soleplates.
Correct feet, soleplates or make a step-shim

SOFT FOOT

Squishy Foot
Causes include: bent shims, too many shims, paint or dirt
between shims, shims not marked for proper thickness and
shims cut with a torch.
Should use no more than 4 shims

SOFT FOOT

Induced Soft Foot

Caused by outside influence such as pipe or coupling strain , belt
or chain loads, conduit strain, overhung or extended shafts,
structural supports and jacking bolts.
Correcting soft foot may not get better and it may move to
another foot between shim changes.
Relieve source of strain before proceeding.

Measuring the

LUDECA Difference

3-EASY STEPS: 1. ENTER DIMENSIONS

ROTALIGN Ultra iS

OPTALIGN smart RS

SHAFTALIGN

2. MEASURE
ROTALIGN Ultra iS

OPTALIGN smart RS

SHAFTALIGN

3. VIEW RESULTS
ROTALIGN Ultra

OPTALIGN smart

SHAFTALIGN

THE PATENTED CONTINUOUS SWEEP MEASUREMENT

(EXPLAINED)

Starting in any position

and rotating in either
direction Hundreds of
readings are continuously
taken.
Using elliptical math, a bestfit curve is calculated selecting
up to 128 points. This produces
misalignment results of
unmatched and unsurpassed
accuracy.

REAL APPLICATION

MEASUREMENT QUALITY

OVERALL ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE

1. Pre-Alignment Checks
Safety: Lockout, Tag out
Clean Up
2. Rough Alignment to eyeball clean
All bolts loose
3. Rough Soft Foot
All bolts loose, check for loose shims.
Fill in any obvious gaps and tighten bolts.
4. Initial Alignment
Align to less than 20 mils at coupling
5. Final Soft Foot
Back off all jacking bolts
All values must be less than 3.0
6. Final Alignment
Using laser equipment, align to specified tolerances

Thank You
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