Summary Analysis Report

On
Primary Air Fan Bearing Clearances
For
ALCOA Generating Company
Warrick Generating Station
Hwy 66 & Hwy 61
Newburgh Ind. 47630
By
Kevin R. Guy
Senior Field Analyst
Delaware Analysis Services, Inc
P.O. Box 365
Francisco, Indiana 47649
(812) 782 - 3400

Delaware Analysis Services, Inc

ACertifiedWomanownedBusinessEnterprise(WBE)andACertifiedMinorityownedEnterprise(MBE)

Summary Analysis of Astoria Induced Draft Fans

Delaware Analysis Services, Inc was asked by Mr. Brent Welz to look into the relationship
between bearing clearance and the vibration issues the plant Primary Air Fan are experiencing.
The analysis started with two bode plots collected from fan coastdowns. One plot from the 2D
Primary Air Fan (Figure #1) supplied by Mr. Brent Welz and the second was from data collected
on the 2C Primary Air Fan (Figure #2) by Delaware Analysis Services, Inc.

Figure #1 2D Primary Air Fan Coastdown

Figure #2 2C Primary Air Fan Coastdown

All Unit #2 Primary Air fans are of the same design and model, yet, the critical speeds are
different. Delaware Analysis was told the unit #2 Primary Air Fan rotating elements weight
approximately 1250 pounds. The 2D Primary Air Fan shows a critical at 1532 rpm (25.53 Hz).
This means the equivalent (overall) system stiffness is 83,413 lbs./in.. The 2C Primary Air fan
shows a critical speed at 1211 rpm (20.18 Hz). This says the equivalent stiffness is 52066.18
lbs./in.. Similarly designed equipment should have critical speeds within a few percentage points
of each other because the stiffness of the system should all be the same.
Stiffness in the system comes from the shaft, bearings and foundation. In many cases the
foundations have the least stiffness in the system. The softest spring controls the equivalent
stiffness.
The foundation design for these fans is more than adequate. The rule is to have a foundation
that is a minimum of five (5) times heavier then the equipment it is supporting. The foundation
for these fans is at least ten (10) times heavier then the fan. The only way the foundation could
be an issue is if the sole plate becomes loose.
The stiffness of the shaft will not change unless there is some catastrophic issue such as a shaft
crack. Therefore; the shaft stiffness is rarely an issue unless the equipment is in the design
stage. Equipment, such as these fans, that have been in service for many years are over
designed for shaft stiffness and foundation stiffness.
The formula for shaft stiffness is:
48
E = 29.5 x 106 lbs./in.
I=
L = Shaft Length (in)
The shaft stiffness equates to 111,077 lbs./in.

The area that provides the most concern for stiffness is the bearings. The one area that
manufactures of equipment in the 1950s and 1960s did not pay much attention was bearings.
Many of the bearings were either undersized or oversized. The ideal bearing design has a
length to diameter (L/D) ratio of .75. This provides bearings with a load in the area of 150 psi to
300 psi loading. Many of the older designs used bearings with length to diameter ratios of 1.5 or
greater. This caused lightly loaded bearing in the range of 100 psi.
The bearings on these fans are extremely, lightly, loaded and use very heavy oil (ISO 100).
The load on the inboard fan bearings is 15 psi and the outboard fan bearing load is 38 psi.
The key to bearing stiffness is the clearances. The standard for bearing clearance is 1.50 mils
for every inch of journal diameter for bearings 5.00 inches or larger. The shaft diameter on the
unit #2 Primary Air Fans is 5.00 in. nominal. That means the design bearing diametral clearance
would be 7.50 mils. Once the bearing clearances increase due to wear or vibration the stiffness
of the bearings drops. The stiffness of the bearing is calculated by the following formula:

.
.
This stiffness then has to be multiplied by a factor that comes from bearing tables to get the
actual stiffness. In the case of bearings, such as these, that are long bearing the factor has to
be calculated via several methods.
The attached spreadsheets have a spreadsheet that will calculate this factor. The factor is
based on the bearing load and oil parameters.
The design stiffness for the inboard bearings is 220,114 lbs./in. and the outboard bearing design
stiffness is 1,022,896 lbs./in..
Figure #3 shows the change in stiffness for the inboard fan bearing as the clearances increase
from design to three (3X) times design clearance. Figure #4 shows the change in stiffness for
the outboard fan bearing as the clearances increase from design to three (3X) times design
clearance.
Damping is the ability of a bearing to control vibration when the shaft is running close to or at a
critical speed and it is also controlled by bearing clearance (Figure #5 & Figure #6). It should be
noted that the oil parameters change with temperature and this change also effects stiffness
and damping.

BearingStiffness"K" (lbs./in.)

Unit#2PrimaryAirFans
InboardFanBearingClearancevs.Stiffness
600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000

BearingDiametralClearance(mils)
Kxx(lbs./in)

Kyy(lbs./in.)

Figure #3 Inboard Bearing Stiffness vs. Bearing Clearance

BearingStiffness"K" (lbs./in.)

Unit#2PrimaryAirFans
OutboardFanBearingClearancevs.Stiffness
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000

BearingDiametralClearance(mils)
Kxx(lbs./in)

Kyy(lbs./in.)

Figure #4 Outboard Bearing Stiffness vs. Bearing Clearance

Unit#2PrimaryAirFans
InboardFanBearingClearancevs.Damping
Damping(lbs. sec/in.)

30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000

BearingDiametralClearance(mils)
Bxx(lbs.sec/in)

Byy(lbs.sec/in)

Figure #5 Inboard Bearing Damping vs. Bearing Clearance

Damping(lbs. sec/in.)

Unit#2PrimaryAirFans
OutboardFanBearingClearancevs.Damping
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000

BearingDiametralClearance(mils)
Bxx(lbs.sec/in)

Byy(lbs.sec/in)

Figure #6 Outboard Bearing Damping vs. Bearing Clearance

The bottom line is the effect on the bearing parameters. With the change in bearing clearance,
comes the change in critical speed due to the decrease in stiffness (Figure #7).

ShaftCriticalSpeed(rpm)

Unit#2PrimaryAirFans
ShaftCriticalSpeedvs.BearingClearance
1750
1700
1650
1600
1550
1500
1450
7.50

9.00

10.50

12.00

13.50

15.00

16.50

18.00

19.50

21.00

22.50

BearingDiametralClearance (mils)
CriticalSpeedHorizontal(rpm)

CriticalSpeedVertical(rpm)

Figure #7 Bearing Clearance vs. Shaft Critical Speed

Good engineering design states that one should design a piece of equipment so it does not
operate within plus (+) or minus (-) fifteen (15%) percent of a critical speed. These primary air

fans operate at 1790 rpm (29.83 Hz). To follow the 15% rule the critical speed must be above
2060 rpm (34.33 Hz) or below 1520 rpm (25.33 Hz).
The change in bearing clearance can take a fan that is operating outside of 15% rule and cause
the equipment to run on critical speed and have the vibration amplified.
Delaware Analysis also looked at the onset of Oil Whirl or Oil Whip instabilities versus bearing
clearance (Figure #8).

Unit#2PrimaryAirFans
BearingClearancevs.InstabilityThreshold
7000

ShaftSpeed(rpm)

6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

BearingDiametralClearance(mils)
InboardBearingInstabilityThreshold(rpm)
OutboardBearingInstabilityThreshold(rpm)
Figure #8 Bearing Clearance vs. Shaft Instability

It is possible to develop an oil whirl or whip issue of the bearing clearances increase. Where this
would start to develop would require some field testing to determine actual equipment
component stiffness (i.e. foundation, bearings, and shaft). Another factor that was not
investigated; but affects the oil instability is bearing loading (these are very light bearings) and
oil viscosity (ISO 100). If the bearings become unloaded due to vibration issues it could set off
instability.
One other issue is shaft whirling. This is the gyroscopic effect of an overhung shaft. One of the
models that were utilized for the analysis indicates there could be a shaft whirling issue (Figure
#9). This is not an oil whirl, but, rather a whirling about the shaft centerline.
If the unbalance increases and the bearing clearances open up enough, the loss of stiffness and
damping will set off this whirl and will cause a catastrophic failure of the bearing.

The results of the analysis clearly points to controlling clearance issues and balance. The
beating clearance is essential. Presently, only the unit #4 Primary Air Fans has prox probes
installed. These need to be utilized to monitor shaft vibration versus bearing clearance. When
the shaft vibration exceeds fifty (50%) percent of the bearing clearance bearing damage is
experienced.
RIMAP(Campbell Diagram )
2.0E+4

1.8E+4

1.6E+4

1.4E+4

Whirl Speed

1.2E+4

1.0E+4

8000

6000

4000

Insidedottedlinesareareasofwhirlinstabilities

2000

2000

4000

6000

8000

1.0E+4

1.2E+4

1.4E+4

1.6E+4

1.8E+4

2.0E+4

Rotating Speed (RPM)

Figure #8 Campbell Diagram

Delaware Analysis strongly recommends installing prox probes on all the plant primary air fans
to monitor shaft vibration versus bearing clearance.