Reverse Dial Alignment

Mis-alignment can be the most usual cause for Choose a graph

unacceptable operation and high vibration levels. scale large enough
New facilities or new equipment installations are to provide sufficient
often plagued by improper alignment conditions. accuracy when all
calculations are
Many methods are used to align machinery. The completed. Lay out
simplest method is using a straight edge to bring the physical
the machines into rough alignment. A rough dimensions of the
alignment is necessary due to the range limitations machine train and
of the dial indicators. A popular method used for show the collected
years and is still in use today is the rim and face data on the graph
method. This method produces acceptable results, for completeness.
but is less accurate than the reverse dial indicator
method covered in this application note. On the graph show
Additionally, reverse dial alignment does not require the locations of the
removal of the coupling to collect data. machine feet, the
dial indicator sweep
WORKING WITH DIAL INDICATORS plane, and the
location of the power
Dial indicators are available in many physical sizes transmission points.
and ranges. For most Note that for this
alignment applications the example, the power
smaller sized indicators transmission points
should be used to reduce do not coincide with the sweep path of the dial
indicator bar sag. Dial indicators.
indicators should be
chosen that have a range When actually
of 0.100 inch and accurate plotting the vertical
to 0.001 inch. offsets, start with
the stationary set
Indicator readings, and first. Remember that
many other types of the data collected
readings, are represents twice the
expressed in several actual differences
units. A reading of between the shaft
1/1000" is equivalent to centerlines. A
0.001 inch and is positive result is plotted above the line representing
commonly expressed as 1 mil. the stationary machine centerline. When plotting the
moveable machine readings a rule of thumb is that
opposite signs are plotted on the same side of the
A common convention used when reading dial stationary machine centerline on the graph.
indicators is that when the indicator plunger is
moved toward the indicator face the display shows
a positive (+) movement of the dial needle by For simplicity's sake, the horizontal readings are
sweeping the needle clockwise. As the plunger is plotted separately in this example. A better
stroked away from the face a negative (-) reading is approach is to combine the vertical and horizontal
displayed by sweeping the needle plots onto a single plot.
counterclockwise. Negative movements of the dial
needle may be confusing if the indicator is not
observed carefully throughout the rotation cycle of
the machine shafts.
Another convention to employ is that when all Just as was
readings are recorded, they should be interpreted performed for the
recorded by viewing from the stationary machine to vertical plots, the
the moveable machine. This convention is horizontal plot has a
necessary to distinguish right from left readings scale reference, the
during data collection process and will be applied field collected data,
when the calculations and graphs are made to and other important
decide upon the actual moves required at the dimensions shown for
moveable machine. completeness. Also,
note that the
PRE-ALIGNMENT CONDITIONS stationary machine centerline is labeled right and
left.
Prior to any alignment activity an extensive list of
items must be checked to ensure acceptable The same process
results. The obvious item involves ensuring that the of plotting the data
machine shaft axes are roughly aligned within 50 is followed, but note
mils. Other inspections should include: that the field
collected data has
been adjusted so
1. The foundation base plate is adequate and that the right side
that grout has been installed properly. readings have a
2. All machine feet are in full contact with the magnitude of zero
foundation baseplate or supports. to make plotting
3. Piping is not inducing strain onto the easier. The opposite sign rule of thumb also applies
machine cases. Piping should be aligned to for horizontal plotting.
within " of their flanges.
4. The machine feet bolt holes have enough After all the data has been plotted, the required
clearance to conduct alignment activity. corrections of the moveable machine can be
5. The coupling faces are axially aligned; the obtained directly from the graph. Obtaining this
axial spacing between the coupling faces information in this manner eliminates mathematical
as correct. errors possible using other methods. Graphical
6. Coupling radial runout is less than 2 mils. presentations allow experimentation and study of
7. Coupling face runout is less than ½ mil. many possibilities for
correcting alignment.
8. The moveable machine has as initial shim
pack installed; the shim pack should be
comprised of one thick spacer and one or For this example, the
two smaller shims. Too many shims will act motor outboard feet
like a spring causing additional problems. need to be lowered 17
9. The required amount of cold offset mils and the inboard
compensation is available; this may be feet must be lowered
available from the machine manufacturer. 12.5 mils for a perfect
alignment with the
10. The alignment bracketry is appropriate to pump.
the activity required.
This alignment condition assumes that the pump
MOUNTING DIAL INDICATORS does not thermally grow as it operates. If some
thermal growth is anticipated, then this information
Many commercially available reverse dial indicator can be plotted on the graph as an offset of the
alignment kits have modular bracketry which can stationary machine's centerline and appropriate
encompass the majority of applications. However, moves of the moveable machine can be obtained
some applications will require a custom bracket. by projecting the stationary machine's centerline
Regardless of the type of bracket used, the amount over to the moveable machine's location.
of bracket or bar sag should be documented so that
this information is available to be included in the
The horizontal movements for this example are
calculations. 35.5 mils to the left at the motor outboard and 16.5
mils to the left at the inboard motor feet.
Bar sag can be easily documented by installing the
bracket and dial indicator, in the identical Graphically plotting the results makes the
arrangement to be movement computations easier, but prior to any
used on the moves the following topic "ACCEPTANCE
machine, onto a TOLERANCE" should be considered because the
pipe. Zero the existing alignment may be acceptable. Re-
indicator while it is alignment of a machine with acceptable alignment
on top of the pipe. conditions is a waste of time and is only a practice
Now rotate the exercise at best that may produce a worse
pipe 180 so that alignment condition.
the indicator is at the bottom position. The indicator
will now display twice the amount of bar sag. ACCEPTANCE TOLERANCE
Mounting the indicator onto the bracketry should be Determining whether the existing alignment
performed carefully so that the indicator plunger condition is acceptable or the actual machine
axis is perpendicular to the machine shaft axis to moves resulted in an acceptable
ensure accurate readings. An error of only 10 will
produce a 16% error in the indicator reading.

TAKING READINGS
After the bracketry is firmly attached and the dial
indicators are installed, four reading locations are
required. These
locations are along the
circumference of the
alignment condition can be quantified by
shaft or coupling in the
referencing the chart at the end of this application
path of the indicator
note. This chart may be applied to all machine and
plunger. They are top,
coupling types. The chart takes into account the
bottom, right, and left.
coupling span and the machine operating speed.
These location are to
be separated by 90 of
shaft rotation. Marking The key to applying the chart is to determine the
these locations with an locations at which the power is transmitted. For
indelible marking pen gear type couplings the power transmission points
is adequate. Another approach is to use a common are the gear teeth on each coupling half. For
two axis trailer level attached to a coupling face or diaphragm type couplings the power transmission
other surface to determine when the shaft has been points are the coupling faces.
rotated 90 . Placing four pieces of tape equally
spaced around the circumference of the shaft will The locations of the power transmission points
work, as long as the tape is not in the path of the should be noted on the graphical plot. Depending
indicator plunger. upon the data collection method and the coupling
type,. the power transmission points may not
Before any readings can be taken the dial indicators coincide with the coupling faces or the dial indicator
must be set. A simple test of rotating the machine sweep path. Following are the calculations
shaft through an entire 360 sweep will verify that necessary to determine the alignment accuracy:
the indicator plunger tip is in complete contact with
the shaft. When the indicator is at the top location Alignment Accuracy = Maximum (X, Y)/D
the indicator should be reset to display zero. This is where
accomplished by rotating the outer bezel of the X = ( XV2 + XH2 )½
indicator until the dial face, which is attached to the Y = (YV2 + YH2 )½
bezel, shows "0" under the needle.
Collecting the data is simply a matter of rotating the XV and XH = amount of offset, vertically and
machine shaft in 90 increments and noting the dial horizontally, at the power transmission point on the
indicator readings with their signs (+ or -). stationary machine.

If only one dial indicator setup is available, the YV and YH = amount of offset, vertically and
bracketry must be relocated to the other coupling or horizontally, at the power transmission point on the
shaft and the sweep should be repeated. moveable machine.
Remember, that all readings should be collected
while observing from the stationary machine to the Maximum (X, Y) = larger of X or Y, calculated
moveable machine to maintain right and left above.
consistency.
Plotting the resultant alignment accuracy on the
ACCURACY VERIFICATION chart will determine whether the existing alignment
condition is acceptable or whether the proposed
Collecting the necessary data is simple enough, but correction moves will produce acceptable results.
will be entirely useless without some form of
accuracy verification. Each time the dial indicator is MOVING THE MACHINE
rotated to the top location it should display a
reading of zero. If it does not then something has Moving a machine is, in many cases, difficult due to
moved during the rotation: indicator, bracket, their size and weight. Extremely heavy machines,
clamping mechanism, machine. Correct the
such as power plant generators will require
problem and start over.
hydraulic jacks. Most other machines can be moved
using jacking screws, which are rigidly attached to
Another test, which the foundation base plate, and pry bars to lift the
can be performed machine.
as the data is
collected, is to verify
Prior to any horizontal move a dial indicator should
that the sum of the
be installed to monitor each foot along one side of
top and the bottom
the machine for horizontal movements. Vertical
readings should movements will require an indicator on each foot on
equal the sum of the both sides of the machine. Vertically oriented
left and right
indicators should be observed as the machine foot
readings.
bolts are re-torqued. The displayed indication
should not change by more than 1-2 mils, indicating
CALCULATIONS that all feet are supporting the machine equally.
Finally, after the bolts are re-torqued the jacking
As the dial indicator is swept around the bolts should be backed out so that they do not
circumference of a coupling or shaft it displays influence the natural thermal growth as the machine
twice the difference between the projected heats. Other machines, such as gear boxes,
centerline of the indicator's attachment point and turbines, and compressors should have dowel pins
the measured shaft centerline. This argument installed at strategic locations to control the thermal
applies for both the vertical and horizontal readings. growth direction.

Thus, the sum of the vertical and horizontal The best choice for shim material is stainless steel.
readings must be divided by two to represent the This material is very stable and is easy to maintain.
actual differences in the two shaft centerlines. Carbon steels should be avoided because it will rust
Remember to observe the signs of the indicator and eventually compromise the machinery
readings closely to prevent errors in these alignment. Synthetic or plastic shim material should
calculations. be avoided for industrial applications because it is
easily damaged and under heavy load will deform
Two vertical offset numbers and two horizontal which compromises the alignment condition.
offset numbers will be obtained; one set
representing the readings while the bracketry is The shims used for industrial applications should be
installed on the original shaft and another set large enough to adequately support each foot.
representing the readings while the bracketry is Commercial shims are available in various
installed on the second shaft. dimensions. These shims are precut and
dimensioned to standard thicknesses which are
Horizontal calculations sometimes present some labeled on a small tab. These shims are easy to
confusion because one side does not start at zero. install and are difficult to mix up. If shims are
Adding or subtracting the magnitude of the right manufactured in the field they should be large
side reading to both sides will force the right side to enough to support the machine foot and all edges
zero. should be smoothed to eliminate burrs. Kinked or
otherwise damaged shims should be discarded and
new ones obtained. The shims, the base plate
GRAPHING THE RESULTS surface, and bottoms of the machine feet should be
clean and free of defects prior to installing any
shims.

WHICH MACHINE MOVES?

Generally, the stationary machine has certain
constraints which make in impractical to move it.
Pumps have rigid piping attached, generators have
complex cooling systems, and gear boxes are
relatively sensitive to any orientation other that flat
and level. When these machine types are moved
the attached systems must be relocated to
eliminate sources of strain.
Presenting the calculated results in a graphical
format will assist in visualizing the required machine
moves. Although any size graph scale is adequate Multiple case machine trains, such as dual
for this process, expanding the scale as large as compressors driven by one turbine, pose another
possible will improve the accuracy of the move problem. All three machine shafts must operate co-
calculations because the measured differences of linearly to function efficiently. By studying the
the shaft or coupling centerlines are projected out to graphical plot of the current alignment and the
the locations of the moveable machine's feet. desired alignment it may prove most effective to
move the center machine case, instead of moving
two or three machines.
As the figure shows, two sets of dial indicator
readings are collected. The readings taken on the
stationary coupling are located above the stationary Alignment Checklist
machine (pump) and the readings collected on the
moveable coupling are located above the moveable 1. Pre-alignment Conditions
machine (motor). When plotting these readings start 2. Shim Materials
with the stationary readings and then proceed to 3. Indicator Bracket Sag
plot the moveable readings. 4. Graph Materials
Directly plotting the measured readings will display
a representation of the existing mis-alignment. The
desired alignment condition can be drawn onto the
graph. The desired condition should include any
offset compensation so that when the machine train
is operating under normal conditions the alignment
is within acceptable tolerances.