Alignment and Balancing in a Reliability Programme
Why these two skills give such a high return, who uses them, and how the course is organised.
11 min
Activities: 0 of 2
Two causes behind many failures
When a pump, fan or compressor keeps losing bearings or seals, two causes are found again and again: shafts that are not in line, and rotors that are not in balance. Both create forces that turn with the shaft and load the bearings and seals on every revolution. Both are invisible from outside, and both can be corrected with the right tools and method.
Correcting them costs little compared with the failures they cause. An alignment takes a few hours. A bearing or seal failure can mean a day of lost production, spare parts, and sometimes a leak of hazardous fluid. This is why reliability engineers often call alignment and balancing the highest-return tasks in rotating equipment maintenance.
Who does what
Carries out pre-alignment checks, alignment and simple field balancing, and records results.
How the course is built
- 1
Module 1
Foundations
Couplings, measuring tools and vibration basics.
- 2
Module 2
Why alignment matters
Misalignment, its cost, and the pre-alignment checks in depth.
- 3
Module 3
Doing the alignment
Methods, reverse dial calculation, laser practice and thermal growth.
- 4
Module 4
Special cases
Vertical machines, spacer shafts, machine trains and bolt-bound machines.
- 5
Module 5
Balancing
Unbalance, field balancing, balance grades and two-plane work.
- 6
Modules 6 and 7
Diagnosis, cases and consolidation
Telling faults apart, real cases, and the complete job.
Why are alignment and balancing called high-return tasks?