Alignment with target values reduces vibrations

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Article published in
Erneuerbare Energien 10/2007

Dr. Edwin Becker

PRÜFTECHNIK Condition Monitoring

Ole Holstein
PRÜFTECHNIK Alignment Systems

PRÜFTECHNIK Condition Monitoring GmbH • 85737 Ismaning • eMail: info@pruftechnik.com • www.pruftechnik.com

A member of the PRÜFTECHNIK Group
Alignment
with target values
reduces vibrations
Misalignment in the drive trains of wind tur-
bines can cause vibrations that reduce the
service life and availability of gears and ge-
nerators. These errors can be identified by
means of vibration measurements or using
condition monitoring systems.
If the simple rotational frequency (1st order) and/or
the double rotational frequency (2nd order) strongly
dominates the vibration velocity spectra of the generator
or gearbox, the most recent alignment report should be
checked and the shaft alignment between the generator
and gearbox should corrected, if necessary.
Aligning drive trains
in wind turbines
In the drive trains of wind turbines, the alignment of
the generator shaft to the gearbox output shaft should be
corrected by taking into consideration the flexible gener-
ator and gearbox setup and the coupling type. The
objective of aligning the system is to reduce the horizon-
tal and vertical parallel offset and the horizontal and
vertical angular offset under operating conditions to the
point where the coupling is able to compensate any
remaining forces without a reaction force and with low
wear. The alignment tolerances depend on the type of
coupling in use and the rotational speed. Figure 2 shows
a joint coupling being aligned. While this type of cou-
pling is able to compensate a relatively high angular
offset, this will increase the restoring forces that the
coupling and bearings need to absorb. The offset values
contained in coupling catalogs are operating offset val-
ues that should never be exceeded. The alignment offset
is already contained in this operating offset. In the
interest of a long service life of the couplings and the
connected machine train, the coupling manufacturers,
too, recommend keeping the alignment offset as low as
possible to compensate for the additional displacements
that occur. When misalignments do occur, this raises the
strain on the coupling, thereby increasing vibration,
temperatures and wear. Machines can be aligned using
dial gauges or laser-optical alignment technology. Laser-
optical alignment is fast and reliable, and the results are
clearly recorded in the laser alignment device. Operators
of wind turbines are recommended to ensure that the
current condition of the machine alignment be "readable,
identified with a plus/minus notation and interpretable",
even when aligning with dial gauges. Figure 3 shows
examples of results taken from the Alignment Center
software that were measured using a dial gauge and a
laser.
Fig. 1:
Mounting
Alignment corrections
the laser/
Before correcting the alignment, the current position of receiver unit
the generator relative to the gearbox should be exam- on the gear-
ined. The generator can be too high or too low and/or box
shifted to the left or right. In all of its alignment systems
and in the software, PRÜFTECHNIK uses the plus/minus
notation shown in Figure 4. A feature of most wind
turbines is that, due to the flexibly mounted gearbox and
generators, shaft positions vary greatly relative to each
other as a function of load and rotational speed. There-
fore, the machines must be aligned with target values, or
the drive train must be "incorrectly aligned" while at a
standstill so that the ideal shaft alignment is reached
under operating conditions. For example, it is common
for "back-heavy" generators to be erected several milli-
meters higher when they are first aligned to compensate
for "fatigue" of the flexible rubber-bonded metals. Of
course, the exact target values also depend on the extent
to which the base frame yields. Operators are encour-
aged to ask the system manufacturer to provide the
alignment target values specific to the system or to have
the target values determined. These target values can
then be entered as shown in Figure 4 and are automati-
cally taken into account during the alignment procedure.
Target values for alignment
Target values can be calculated and/or determined by
measurements. The influences on gearboxes that need to
be taken into account are clearly described in the VDI
Guideline 2726 [1], published by the Association of
German Engineers (VDI). The guideline differentiates
 between the following influences on the alignment con-
dition: l Heat expansion of the drive foundation, housing
and shafts due to their temperature difference during
mounting and operation, l Flexible deformations of the
drive foundation, housing and shafts during operation, l
Shaft displacement due to differences between the instal-
lation and operating condition in bearing play, gear tooth
forces and hydrodynamic lubrication, l Skewed position
of the gear shafts due to masses applied on the outside
(couplings, brake discs), l Radial and axial runout of the
flange, l Radial and axial rigidity of the connecting
coupling. Apart from the influences listed above, drive
trains are also subject to considerable displacements due
Fig. 2: Laser to the "soft" mounting of generators and gearboxes.
setup for Some wind turbine types combine different versions of
alignment of base frames, drive train components, rubber-bonded met-
a drive train als and rubber buffers from different manufacturers. This
with a joint results in varying shaft displacements, which means that
coupling different alignment targets need to be used every time.

Determining target values

by measurement
Alignment targets can be determined by measurement
using CMS and two PERMALIGN sets. This involves
mounting laser components and reflectors in a vertical
and horizontal direction to continuously measure the
current horizontal and vertical radial and angular posi-
tions of the generator relative to the gearbox at a rate of
once per second. If there is a spatial displacement, the
precision laser beam is diverted to a new position on the
receiver surface and the parallel and angular surface
positions are measured. Figure 1 shows the laser/receiv-
Fig. 3: Exam- er unit mounted on the gearbox. The radial and angular
ples of clearly xy positions can be recorded, and can also be converted
documented to coupling offset and shim values online. For customers
alignment re- who already use a Condition Monitoring system of the
sults (dial WinTControl, VIBROWEB XP or VIBGUARD brand as an
gauges and online system, the installed CMS can be used to deter-
laser values) mine the target values by measurement. The two PER-
MALIGN sets are simply connected to the internal RS232
interface and the program used for the alignment mea-
surements is loaded into the existing CMS and started.
PERMALIGN measurements should then be made under
conditions of no wind (with the system at a standstill),
low wind (with the system turning slowly), medium
wind and strong wind. Figure 6 shows examples of
results in xy displays that have been scaled for compari-
son. PRÜFTECHNIK experience has shown that the tem-
porary measurement sessions take from one to four
weeks, depending on the location and wind conditions.
This period may be shorter after measurements have
been made under calm and high wind conditions. If
condition parameters and vibrations are recorded as
well, it will be easier to evaluate the data later on, and it
becomes possible to determine when the additional
Fig. 4: Soft- vibrations occur. If there is a possibility of mailing the
ware masks measurement results to the Monitoring Center, an evalu-
for entering ation can be performed online. PRÜFTECHNIK deter-
target values mines alignment targets as a service and for a rental fee.
with plus/mi- If a PRÜFTECHNIK CMS is not in use in the wind turbine,
nus notation a CMS can be provided temporarily.
Fig. 5: Flexible generator and gearbox setups in 'classi-
cal' drive trains.

Fig. 6: Results measured at high wind speeds (A), medium wind

speeds (B) and in calm conditions/low wind (C)

Final remarks
It is still a common belief that alignment is not an issue
because catalogs specify such large misalignments for Dr. Edwin Becker
PRÜFTECHNIK Condition Monitoring GmbH
couplings. Please note that the coupling working ranges Oskar-Messter-Straße 19-21
specified in the catalogs are not alignment tolerances 85737 Ismaning
www.pruftechnik.com
[2]. The rule of thumb is that the alignment tolerance Tel. 089/99616-340
should be assumed to be at least 1/3 of the coupling eMail: edwin.becker@pruftechnik.com
working range. Thus, only 2/3 of the coupling working ... is Director of the PRÜFTECHNIK
Service & Diagnose Center and is an expert
range is available for operational displacements over the for the wind sector and beyond.
entire operating duration. For competitive reasons, cou-
pling manufactures usually only specify the working
range of their couplings without noting that the reaction
forces increase with increasing parallel and angular
offsets within the working range of their couplings. The Ole Holstein
PRÜFTECHNIK Alignment Systems GmbH
restoring forces are zero only if there is no misalignment. Technisches Büro Nord
Kremper Weg 97
25524 Breitenburg/Nordoe
Literature Tel. 04821-89100
[1] VDI Guideline 2726: Ausrichten von Getrieben, 1982 eMail: ole.holstein@pruftechnik.com
[2] Edwin Pernleitner: Ausrichten von Maschinensatz- Wellen, ... is at home in northern Germany
and has been working in the field for
VDI-Verlag 1995.s PRÜFTECHNIK for 16 years.