Motor Shaft Misalignment Versus Efficiency Analysis

by Stephen Jesse, J. Wesley Hines, James Kuropatwinski, Andrew Edmondson, Thomas G. Carley The University of Tennessee College of Engineering Maintenance and Reliability Center Knoxville, TN 37996 John Kueck Oak Ridge Center for Electric Machinery System Testing Y-12 Plant Bldg 9401-1 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Dan Nower Computational Systems, Inc. 835 Innovation Drive Knoxville, TN 37932 Frank Hale Duke Power Corporation 610 Toddville Rd Charlotte, NC 28214

ABSTRACT U.S. industry invests significant time and money performing precision alignment of rotating machinery. The basis for this expenditure is two assumptions: misalignment causes a decrease in motor efficiency, and misaligned machinery is more prone to failure due to increased loads on bearings, seals, and couplings. This paper addresses the first statement while future research will focus on investigating the second statement. Controlled experiments were performed at The University of Tennessee and at Oak Ridge Center for Electric Machinery System Testing to clearly discern what relationships exist between motor misalignment and motor efficiency. The results of these tests show no significant correlation between misalignment and changes in efficiency when the tested couplings were operated within the manufacturer's recommended range. This paper will discuss in detail how these results were attained. 1.0 Introduction Small improvements in motor performance can have a large impact on the overall economic performance of an industrial plant. In competitive industrial situations, any increase in production and decrease in cost is certainly desired. From the aspect of maintenance and reliability, an increasingly large amount of attention is paid to the alignment of rotating machinery for finding solutions to decreasing costs and increasing reliability. Two reasons are generally given to substantiate the performance of precision alignments. The first is that loads on mechanical parts, such as bearings, seals, and couplings, decrease with improved alignment. Reduced loads result in decreased noise and vibration, decreased operating temperatures, decreased wear on mechanical systems, and decreased downtime due to breakage. All of these result in a longer and more reliable operating life span of equipment [P/PM Tech 93]. The second reason stated is that power efficiency will increase with improved alignment [Daintith 1996, P/PM Tech 93, Weiss 91, Ludeca 94, Xu 93, Nower 94]. This notion stems from the belief that that couplings and bearings

operating in a misaligned state will consume power; power that costs money and is not only wasted but acts against mechanical systems. The case for proper alignment is strong. Clearly, a precision alignment maintenance program is not without costs. Alignment equipment, personnel training, labor associated with alignment, and machinery down time are all expenses associated with a program to assure proper alignment. All of these costs need to be weighed against any proposed benefits. Thus, it is necessary to measure in real terms and in a systematic and scientific manner what these benefits really are. The purpose of this research was to quantify those benefits for the proposition that misalignment increases electrical power costs. This paper will discuss test results where motor shaft alignment was changed and motor efficiency was measured. A future project will investigate the effects of misalignment on bearing loads. Current published literature comparing shaft alignment and motor power consumption all state that efficiency will increase with improvements in alignment. Sources claim 1%-10% [Daintith 96] electrical power savings resulting from improved alignment, but the variations in ranges of improvements are as numerous as the methods used in determining these values. A more reliable standard is needed. Many of the sources conducted experiments on mechanical systems operating on-line, in a plant environment where supply and output power and many other critical determinants in motor performance were subject to change [Weiss 91]. Other reports of decreased power consumption result from more controlled test situations [Ludeca 94]. But even in these tests, input power was determined by amperage alone and output power was not measured at all, but rather assumed to be constant. Reliable results, accurate and precise enough to support previously mentioned claims, are not possible in such situations where the measurement of all variables affecting power consumption and efficiency affecting disturbances were not performed. In addition to experimental results, mathematical models describing angularly misaligned systems have been offered to validate claims of improved efficiency [Xu 93]. If precision alignment could save 3% of the electrical demands, the monetary savings for a large motor, such as a fossil station's boiler feed pump, is on the order of $50,000 per year. For a plant like Duke Power's Plant Allen, which has 10 such pumps, the yearly saving reaches a half million dollars. Theoretical calculations report the smallest savings. The theoretical calculated savings of increasing the alignment tolerance for the feed pump mentioned above from 0.5 mils/inch to 0.25 mils/inch would be $600 per year [Xu 93]. Because of the reported immense savings possible with precision alignment, several Maintenance and Reliability Center (MRC) member companies including Duke Power, Eastman Chemical, and Computational Systems, Incorporated have funded a research project to determine the relationship between motor alignment and power consumption. The purpose of this project was to perform alignment tests in an environment where disturbances can be tightly controlled in order to clarify what relationship truly exists between motor shaft alignment and motor efficiency. In such a setting, variables affecting motor performance can all be controlled, or if not controlled, then measured. The final goal being that data from these tests will assist industry in determining maintenance procedures best suited to their needs in a way that will benefit them economically. 2.0 Experimental Set-up Testing was performed at two facilities using separate measuring systems so that results from either site could be validated. One round of testing took place at the Oak Ridge Center for Electric Machinery System Testing at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and another at the University of Tennessee Mechanical Engineering Engine Laboratory. There were a few small differences in

experimental set-ups between to two locations. Testing at the University of Tennessee was performed using a 60 Hp motor while testing at ORNL was performed with a 50 Hp high efficiency motor donated by Reliance Motors. The dynamometer used at the University of Tennessee operated with journal bearings and the dynamometer at Oak Ridge operated with roller bearings. The power supply at UTK was not regulated and resulted in daily voltage and current fluctuations as high as 1.5% in voltage and 6.5% in amperage. The power supply at the Oak Ridge facility allowed input power to be closely regulated and allowed only 0.2 % changes in voltage and 0.4 % changes in current throughout a given day. All tests in this experiment were run using 3 phase, 480 volt, 3600 rpm, A/C, electric motors. All measurements of motor performance were taken while the motor was fully loaded, with running speeds held constant, and with stator temperatures stabilized. At the University of Tennessee, input power to the motor was calculated by measuring the three phases of voltage and current supplied to the motor. Output power from the motor was calculated by measuring running speed and torque in the dynamometer coupled to the motor. Figure 1 in the Appendix shows the basic assembly of the motor support. In this set-up the electric motor was bolted to an 18" X 18" X 1.5" steel plate, the midplate. The four corners of the bottom side of the midplate had 1/4" thick ground and polished steel pads attached to them. The motor/midplate assembly rested on a large 42" X 26" X 4" steel plate. The top surface of the base plate was ground polished. The smooth and flat contact surfaces between the midplate and the base plate facilitated accuracy in movement of the motor during changes of alignment and also eliminated the likelihood of soft foot. The base plate was supported by four jack stands at the corners of the base plate. These were used not only for support but also served to assist in the initial alignment of the vertical position of the motor with respect to the dynamometer. The vertical alignment of the motor was held constant at less that 1 mil offset and 0.1 mil/inch angular misalignment, and all changes in alignment during testing took place in the horizontal plane. Figure 2 shows an upper view of the motor support assembly. Changes in alignment were made by first loosening the bolts attaching the midplate to the base plate and pushing the midplate over the surface of the base plate using 1/4-20 threaded rods. Two dial indicators attached to the base plate measured changes in position of the midplate (and motor) with respect to the base plate in 0.001" increments. Two other systems, in addition to the side mounted dial indicators, were used to measure the misalignments between the motor shaft and the dynamometer shaft. At the University of Tennessee facility, off-line measurements (made while the motor was not running) were performed using Ludeca's Rotalign system, and on-line measurements were performed using Ludeca's Permalign system. Both systems used lasers to track changes in shaft position and are accurate to within at least 1 mil of offset misalignment and 0.1 mils/inch of angular misalignment. Rotalign attaches directly to the shafts while Permalign is permanently attached to the motor casing in close proximity to the bearing supports. Thermal growth measurements using the Permalign system were verified using Essinger bars. At the Oak Ridge facility, CSI's UltraSpec laser system was used for off-line measurement, and Essinger bars were used to measure thermal growth during motor operation. In addition to efficiency and motor position measurements, various other data was taken. Vibration data was taken at ten locations in the system using vibration measurement instrumentation donated by PCB Piezotronics. Two accelerometers were placed at the outboard side of both the motor and the dynamometer to measure vertical and horizontal vibration. Three accelerometers were placed at the inboards of the motor and dynamometer to measure vibration

vertically, horizontally, and axially. A CSI donated flux coil was placed on the outboard side of the motor to monitor changes in magnetic flux in that region. The vibration information, the flux data, one phase of current data, and a tachometer pulse all were recorded digitally to be analyzed for use in the development of an alignment prediction system. Several temperature measurements were also taken. Two thermocouples were positioned inside the stator windings of the motor, with one near the outboard end and one closer to the inboard end. The readings from these thermocouples were used to determine when the steady state operation of the system was reached. Temperature measurements were also taken using an infrared temperature gun. This was used to measure surface temperatures at or near the coupling and at the inboard roller bearing. Figure 3 shows the five positions where temperature measurements were taken. Four different coupling types were used in the alignment testing. These are listed below. Table 1: Coupling types and alignment ranges used in alignment tests.
Type Grid Elastomer (tire) Link Pack Gear Manufacturer Dodge Rexnord Zurn Zurn Model 1060T ES10R el, 10SHRB hub 3011/2GP Max. Offset (mil) 12 70 26 50 Max. Ang. (mil/in) 11 40 8 15

Test misalignments varied for each of the couplings with the values of misalignment ranging from perfect 0 offset and 0 angularity to somewhere between 50% to 100% of the limits. The range of misalignments are specified in Table 1. The maximum misalignments stayed within the manufacturer's recommended limits. Several cases were tested for pure offset misalignment and pure angular misalignment. There were also several cases tested where offset and angular misalignments were combined. Each test run was concluded with an additional efficiency measurement taken with the motor perfectly aligned. This validated the results by assuring there was no drift in the power measurement instrumentation. To ensure the only changes in the equipment performance were due to changes in alignment, the motors were brought to steady state and alignment changes were made while the motors were operating under full load. Approximately 15 to 20 different alignment conditions were used for each coupling. 3.0 Results The results of this research show no measurable change in motor efficiency related to motor shaft misalignment when the tested couplings were operated within the manufacturer's recommended range. Power consumption and power output remained steady regardless of motor position. If motor power consumption did fluctuate, as sometimes was the case at the UTK facility, this occurred independently of alignment conditions. These fluctuations were generally the result of other factors such as unsteady electrical supply voltage to the motor. Motor output sometimes seemed to drift throughout the day, but it was determined that this anomaly was due to load cell drifts of approximately 0.5%. Recalibration of the load cell during the day verified the source of the anomaly. Refer to the Appendix for a listing of alignment test conditions and their related efficiency measurements for the Rexnord flexible coupling.

It is possible that changes in motor efficiency do occur due to shaft misalignment, but any changes that might be evident were smaller than the resolution of the measurement equipment. The overall accuracy of the motor efficiency measurement at ORNL's motor test lab is determined by taking the square root of the sum of the squares of accuracies of individual measurements, i.e. speed, torque, current, voltage and phase angle. This overall accuracy is plus or minus 0.5%. In the tests of the Zurn gear type coupling, efficiency changes of 0.2% were noted as the motor was moved from perfect alignment to the maximum misalignment condition, but these were considered to be insignificant because they were within the accuracy of the efficiency measurement. It should also be mentioned that the couplings were not taken beyond their maximum recommended misalignment operating condition, as may sometime occur in actual industrial situations where alignment is not carefully checked. In these extreme misalignment cases, losses may be higher. In addition, none of the tested couplings had significant friction planes, such as a coupling with a key type of elastomer insert. These may also have higher losses. We feel it is necessary to explain possible reasons for discrepancies between the results found in this study and previously published results. As stated earlier, previous experimentation took place in situations where disturbances could not be measured or controlled well. Generally, the test results were derived based on assumptions of constant load on the motor and constant input voltage to the motor with input current being the only measurement of efficiency. Testing at UTK showed these most likely could be invalid assumptions. Supply power in Knoxville showed input current variation between 69.2 amps and 63.0 amps (a 9.8 % difference) over a typical day due to voltage fluctuations between 462.1 volts and 455.7 volts (a 1.4 % difference). If output power were not measured, it is clear that reliable efficiency measurements could not be made. A theoretical model describe by M. Xu [Xu 93] describes in mathematical terms how poor alignment can reduce efficiency. For simplicity and generality, the theoretical study only analyzed cases of pure angular misalignment. In the derivation, torque generated in the motor was treated as a vector causing rotation in a loaded shaft. Angular misalignment of the motor shaft in any given plane resulted in a non-parallel torque vector relative to the loaded shaft. This torque could then be divided into two components, a torque along the loaded shaft and a torque perpendicular to the loaded shaft. Next, an assumption was made that the torque component perpendicular to the loaded shaft is lost and is in no way transmitted to the loaded shaft. This may be an invalid assumption and could vary from coupling to coupling. Consider for instance a gear coupling, it is very likely that the perpendicular torque component could act to drive the loaded shaft. In fact, one of the intended purposes of flexible couplings is to conserve torque between misaligned shafts. But, if this assumption is maintained, torque loss can be computed as power loss and subsequently a dollar value is related to this power loss. A table of projected expenses due to misalignment is also given, but missing from this are values of existing operating costs. If power consumption is normalized as an efficiency and power loss as a percent loss in efficiency, the performance of the theoretical model actually falls into closer accord with the results of this research than with previously published experiments. That is to say that power loss computed in this manner is almost too small to be measured experimentally. An example given in the paper discusses a situation in which alignment was improved from 4.0 mils/inch to 0.5 mils/inch. In this, a 0.23% increase in efficiency was realized. That is a 0.066% increase in efficiency per mil/inch of improved alignment. To summarize, the theoretical model is based on a possibly invalid assumption, but even if this assumption were true, drops in efficiency are almost too small to be detected. Despite no significant measurable changes in efficiency resulting from poor alignment, there were other significant changes in other aspects of motor performance. Motor vibration and noise

increased, the temperature of the coupling increased, the temperature of the bearing increased, and wear on at least one of the couplings increased. These are all common traits of misaligned machinery, and are all most likely due to increased loads experienced by the bearing and couplings. Theoretical analysis shows that the power required to increase vibration and temperature to those recorded during the testing is insignificant when compared to the 50 Hp driving the motor. In both cases the calculated power is less than 0.01%. 4.0 Conclusions Careful measurements of motor position, motor power input, and motor power output have shown there to be no significant measurable correlation between motor shaft alignment and motor efficiency when the tested couplings were operated within their recommended ranges. However, these results in no way reduce the importance of precise motor alignment. Other motor performance characteristics such as vibration and coupling and bearing temperature were measured and showed notable increases with increased misalignment. These traits are all related to increased bearing loads and all suggest that misalignment reduces the life span and reliability of motors and their associated components. Future research will seek to complete the description of how motor performance and motor alignment are related by quantifying the relationship between motor shaft alignment and bearing loading. 5.0 Acknowledgments The results presented in this paper are part of a research project being conducted for the Maintenance and Reliability Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This research has been funded by Computational Systems, Inc., Duke Power Corporation, and the Eastman Chemical Corporation. Part of the research was performed at the Oak Ridge Center for Electric Machinery System Testing at the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology. We would like to thank Don Casada for his support and involvement in the data acquisition and analysis. The equipment and facilities proved to be truly state-of-the-art and the Center's input and day to day involvement was superb. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the employees of several MRC member companies for their participation: from Duke Power, Kyle Russell for his alignment training assistance, Bobby Roberts and Brian McDermit for their expertise in setting up the electrical measurement equipment; from Eastman Chemical: Mark Lambert and Ken Singleton for their assistance in determining the structure resonance frequencies; from Computational Systems, Incorporated: Joel Ferrari for his overall assistance and support throughout the project, from PCB Piezotronics: Eric Saller for his assistance in PCB's donation of vibration instrumentation. We would also like to thank Pedro Casanova, from Ludeca, for his assistance in providing Ludeca measurement equipment and for his technical assistance in its setup and operation and Reliance Motors for their donation of two 50 HP motors. 6.0 References Daintith, E., Glatt, P., "Reduce Costs with Laser Shaft Alignment." Hydrocarbon Processing, August 1996. Ludeca Inc. Maintenance Study, "Evaluating Energy Consumption on Misaligned Machines". 1994. Ludeca Inc., 1527 N.W. 89th Court, Miami, FL 33172, (305) 591-8935 Nower, D., "Misalignment: Challenging the Rules." Reliability Magazine, May/June 1994,
6

p 38-43 Piotrowski, J., Monson H., Sweet G., Stomierosky B., Sullivan R., "Predictive Maintenance Technology National Conference, Panel Discussion." P/PM Technology , Feb. 1993. Weiss, W., "Laser Alignment Saves Amps, dollars." Plant Services, April 1991. Xu, M., Zatezalo, J.M., Marangoni R.D., " Reducing Power Loss Through Shaft Alignment." P/PM Technology, October 1993.

7.0 Appendix Table of results:

Rexnord Coupling Tested at ORNL

Angular mils/10in

Offset mils

Eff. %

0 0 0 0 15 15 30 45 60 70 70 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 -45

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 20 40 25 25

89.2 89.3 89.2 89.3 89.3 89.3 89.4 89.3 89.4 89.3 89.4 89.1 89.1 89.2 89.2 89.2 89.1 89.3 89.3

Experimental Setup:

Figure 1: Motor and dynamometer assembly

Figure 2: Top view of motor assembly

Figure 3: Surface temperature measurement locations