Misalignment or misalignment

Misalignment of shafts, causes and consequences What is shaft misalignment? When two devices (driver and driven) need to be paired together, they must be properly aligned to pair together. It is not possible to install two parts with 100% alignments. These inconsistencies can be solved by a special member called coupling. There are two different types of couplings. Flexible couplings and rigid couplings. These couplings can accommodate these mismatches. So let's see what the misalignment of different shafts is. Misalignment of shafts As we said, misalignment of shafts happens when we need to couple two devices together. The main misalignments are axial, radial (parallel) and angular misalignment. Axial deviation Shaft axial deviation When there is a difference in the axial distance between the driving and driven machine shafts, it is called as axial misalignment. Radial deviation or parallel misalignment or offset misalignment Radial deviation or parallel misalignment or offset misalignment When there is a difference between the axes of two shafts, which is called radial deviation or parallel misalignment or offset misalignment. Angular misalignment Angular misalignment When two axes are not parallel and do not intersect at a point, they are called angular misalignment. What is the cause of misalignment of shafts? Even if we install equipment with perfect alignment, misalignment can occur due to strain from continuous operation of the equipment. Below are some of the reasons for misalignment of shafts. Over time, foundations or base plates can settle in lower positions and gradually cause misalignment. Thermal expansion can cause one piece of equipment to move out of proportion to another, causing relative motion misalignment. [Different materials expand at different rates when exposed to different temperatures] Thermal growth must be considered when equipment is typically operated above ambient temperature. Manufacturing effects in the coupling (off-center holes in the equipment) also cause misalignment. The initial high torque generated when starting a prime mover can misalign the shafts and cause misalignment of the torsional motion. Human installation errors during the installation process These are some of the causes of shaft misalignment. What is the effect of the inconsistency of these axes? The first thing we can say is the vibration. More than 50 to 70 percent of all vibration problems in machines are caused by misalignment. As we talk about vibration, noise is also caused by misalignments. Due to misalignment, vibration shortens the life of the equipment. Unscheduled maintenance due to equipment failure. These are the definite reason that we need to use some flexible couplings to accommodate the mismatches to secure the equipment from damage.