How do I evaluate shaft misalignment?

To gain some insight on evaluating and understanding shaft misalignment, we talked to Bobby Watkins of Ruland manufacturing company to learn more. Here is what he had to say.

Here is just a quick tip for evaluating shaft misalignment. On some couplings, a good scale or straight edge is good enough to run it across to see if you’re in alignment but in general, dial indicators are a better way and, on some of the higher accuracy couplings like the bellows type and disc type, at minimal, you need a dial indicator system for check for misalignment and ultimately, a laser alignment system, of course, is the best.

Addressing misalignment. That’s addressed during system design and testing. Be sure that the mounts are secure in design from sturdy material. Often times even the frames of the machines themselves,  are flexing and that’s causing all kinds of misalignment issues. Again, with the frame and mounts, please try to make them stiff enough so that under operation, you don’t have misalignment issues with the components bolted down inside the system.

Ruland
www.ruland.com