Maintenance Minders
Bearing Failures
By Julia Postill, PE; Malcolm Leader, PE; and Ray Kelm, PE
New bearing system keeps circulating water pumps running in a
nuclear power plant.
A
fter 8 years of problem-free operation, a bearing fail-
ure forced an outage at a nuclear power plant. When
two more bearing failures followed in the next three
months, the plant launched an analysis.
he plant assembled a failure analysis team that included
plant engineers, turbomachinery consultants, repair shops
and bearing manufacturers. Following a thorough investi-
gation that included computational modeling and rotordy-
namics analysis, the team found that temperature uctua-
tions created clearance issues in the bearings, causing them
to fail. In response, the team designed a new proled bear-
ing that was more tolerant of temperature-related clearance
changes and provided excellent support to the system.
Pump Configuration
he plants generation station had eight vertical pumps that
circulated condenser water. A 28-pole, 2,500-horsepower
synchronous motor above each pump operated at 271 rpm.
Each generating unit included four pumps. he units could
run at full capacity with three pumps, but capacity dropped
by 10 percent when two pumps were out of service.
In each failure scenario, a lower motor guide journal
bearing, located opposite the thrust end, failed after a sudden
drop in the ambient temperature. his bearing was 16 inches
in diameter and 3.4 inches long. Each bearing had a circular
bore divided by six axial slots connecting two circumferential
grooves at each end. he bearing was designed to run with
tight clearances to minimize vibration. he lower bearing
Dynamic performance Hydrodynamic bearings
The right bearing can be the difference between success and failure when it comes to your
rotating equipment. John Crane analyzes your systems requirements and customizes your
bearing designs, ensuring outstanding operational performance.
ENDtoEND Solutions for rotating equipment
journal was umbrella-shaped and attached to the motors
shaft, with the lower half submerged in an oil bath sump.
Two diametrical opposite holes at the bearing journals lower
half were aligned with the bearings bottom circumferential
groove as pumping tubes for oil supply.
Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis
Using computational uid dynamics (CFD) software, the
analysis team developed numerical models of the passages in
the oil sump and bearing liner. he analysis examined several
conditions that could prohibit proper oil delivery, including
the pumping holes alignment with the distribution groove
(the bottom circumferential groove), the sumps oil level and
the oil viscosity and temperature.
One computational modela free-surface model of the
sump, rotating umbrella assembly and inlet to the pumping
tubeshelped shed light on the issue. he team developed
the model to determine the quality of the oil inlet condi-
tions at the pumping tubes and to evaluate how the sumps
oil height and sump oil temperatures aected oil ow.
he free-surface model showed that the pumping tubes
had to be aligned with the lower circumferential bearing
groove to make the pumps action ecient. Misalignment
could reduce the volume of oil owing through the tubes by
10 to 15 percent, which could starve the bearings upper half
of oil, particularly if the viscosity was high. he team also
found that variations in the oil sump level had not caused
the failures. However, the model showed that the eects
circle 122 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com

Bearing configuration
of temperature on the oils viscosity could aect the system.
While the sump temperature never dropped below 50 F while
in operation, if an equipment operator started the motor after
it sat idle in below-freezing temperatures, it would not have
adequate lubrication.
he team then made a three-dimensional ow model of
the sump to examine its ow velocities and look for areas that
had entrained air or were oil-starved. he model included the
pumping tubes, bearing area and drain tubes, but excluded the
sumps free-surface model to make the numerical solution prac-
tical. he model showed that entrained air made up less than
3 percent of the sumps volume, that the bearing journals rota-
tion caused the oil velocities in the grooves and that the sump
had good ow through the axial grooves and out the drains.
Plain Bearing Analysis
When the team performed its rotordynamics analysis, the
Couplings
Bearings Mechanical Seals
1.800.SEALING | www.johncrane.com
bearing failures cause was still unclear.
It appeared that the upper half of each
bearing, situated above the sump level,
was rubbing, which is why the team
had closely scrutinized the lubrication
method. he bearings clearance was
about half a mil per inch shaft, a tight
clearance used only in a vertical orien-
tation. In this orientation, the bearing
must produce enough support for the
rotor to withstand imbalance forces and
transient loads.
he bearings featured a plain, circu-
lar design that provided sucient direct
damping for the system. he team found
that the tighter the clearance, the more
direct damping the oil lm would pro-
duce. he tight clearance also produced
some direct stiness to help support the
system. Because the clearance was so
tight, however, any clearance reduction
caused by temperature changes could
cause the bearings to rub and ultimately
fail.
Profiled Bearing Analysis
When creating a new bearing design, the teams goal was to
increase the bearings clearance and provide good lateral rotor
support. he team considered an oset taper pad arrangement,
which provides a high level of support. hese motors must
transition from minus 250 rpm to plus 275 rpm at every start,
though, so they needed a symmetric bearing prole design.
he team proposed a new proled bearing design with
preloaded pads. Proled bearings have pads with a radius of
curvature that is not concentric with the rotor journals geo-
metric center. he design creates preload from a converging and
diverging oil lm on the bearings surface to provide positive,
hydrodynamic loading. As oil is forced into the converging sec-
tion, it creates a pressure buildup that provides the necessary
stiness and damping. When the lm diverges toward the trail-
ing edge, the reduction in pressure draws out the hot oil so that
fresh cool oil can enter and reduce the bearing temperature.
Packing Gas Seals
Support Systems Filtration Systems
 Maintenance Minders

he proposed bearings diametrical center-of-pad

clearance ranges from 10 to 16 mils, while the dia-
metrical edge-of-pad clearance is 3 to 4 mils greater
than that.
Compared to the old design, the new bear-
ing has 158 times more direct stiness and pro-
duces more direct damping at speeds above 138
rpm, helping it control rotor motion more eec-
tively. he plain bearings damping was greater at
low speeds, which was a concern, since the motor
rose from minus 250 rpm to plus 257 rpm at each
start. To address the issue, the team recorded the
pump starting and used a special, high-speed sam-
pling routine to track the shafts centerline position
during the transition. he data showed that the new
bearing could control the transition adequately.
he team also conducted an unbalance
response analysis and found no resonances, regard-
less of the bearings design. he analysis showed
that the new design reduced the rotors amplitude
by 24 percent at operating speed.
CFD-calculated oil velocities
Finite Element Analysis
Even though the bearing design eliminated the explained the failures root cause fully. Why the bearings had
plants failure problems, the teams lubrication analysis had not only failed in the top half was still a mystery.

68 MAY 2012 www.pump-zone.com PUMPS & SYSTEMS

 Many team members suspected that a drop in ambi- After the team concluded its analysis, the plant replaced
ent temperature had caused the motor frame to contract and its plain bearings with the new proled bearings in all eight
squeeze the bearing. pumps. Despite many plant exposures to low ambient tempera-
Since the top of the bearing is attached to the motor frame, tures, all the pumps continue to operate smoothly.
the frame would only pinch the top as it contracted. Using P&S
thermal data for one motor, the team found that the ambient
Julia Postill is a mechanical engineer at
temperature inuenced the bearings temperature. Specically,
Turbo Components and Engineering, a
for every 4 F change in the ambient temperature, the bearings
John Crane company and a registered pro-
temperature changed by 3 Fa change in line with other elec-
fessional engineer in the state of Texas.
tric motor bearings cooled by ambient air.
Postill can be reached at julia@tce1.com or
Once the ambient temperature reached 30 F, however, the
713-943-9100.
bearings temperature rose as the ambient temperature con-
tinued to drop. At a certain point, the bearings temperature
Malcolm Leader is a turbomachinery con-
would continue to rise as the ambient temperature stayed the
sultant and the owner of Applied Machinery
same. Once the ambient temperature reached 27 degrees, the
Dynamics in Durango, Colo., and a regis-
bearings failed. he data suggested that some mechanism in the
tered professional engineer in Texas.
bearing produced more heat in lower ambient temperatures.
While the thermal analysis was complex, the team gener-
Ray Kelm is the owner of Kelm Engineering,
ally found that as the ambient temperature decreased, the bear-
LLC, in Friendswood, Texas and a registered
ing needed a higher heat ux, causing the bearings temperature
professional engineer.
to rise.
he thermal distortion then caused the top of the bearing
John Crane is a provider of engineered products and services
to tilt inward. As the ambient temperature continued to drop,
for major process industries. For more information, visit
the clearance continued to decrease as well until the bearing
www.johncrane.com.
failed.

Reduce your Total Cost of Ownership.

Ask about the Pfannenberg Advantage.
THOUSANDS OF PUMPS
HAVE NEVER SEIZED.
Pumps fitted with GRAPHALLOY
wear parts survive upsets.
GRAPHALLOY bushings
and case rings:
Run dry, keep on running
Run hot, cold, wet or dry
Reduce maintenance
New pumps or retrofits
Non-galling
Self-lubricating GRAPHITE METALLIZING
-400F to 1,000F CORPORATION
-240C to 535C+ Yonkers, NY 10703 U.S.A.
Corrosion resistant ISO 9001:2008 PS09a
PfAdvantage.com ELECTRO-TECHNOLOGY FOR INDUSTRY
TEL. 914.968.8400 WWW.GRAPHALLOY.COM/PS

circle 151 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com circle 148 on card or go to psfreeinfo.com

PUMPS & SYSTEMS www.pump-zone.com MAY 2012 69