What are common types of Misalignment?

30-second summary
Common misalignments are usual and can
happen to machines in a variety of ways.
Left alone misalignment can reduce the
longevity of bearings, shafts, seals, and even
couplings.
Misalignment is the root cause of most
machine breakdowns: bearing failures, and
damaged seals, shafts, and couplings.
It is widely believed that 50% of machine
failures are due to misalignment.
Treating the misalignment early on, whether
by a soft-foot correction, dial indicator
alterations or a full-fledged laser alignment,
will help to prevent total machine failure.
The basic rule of thumb is, machines that are
precision aligned will function for a longer
period and costs less to run.
How does misalignment occur?
Common misalignments are the result of two
rotating shafts not parallel to one another,
either by a slightly offset or angled gap at the
coupling. However, sometimes in most real-life
situations it is both, which is called a
compound misalignment. There are several
causes for misalignment:
Pipe strain
Thermal expansion
Human error
Wear causing sheave to deform
Baseplate settles irregular to form a ‘soft-
footing’
Inaccurate assembly of components, such as
motors and pumps.
The primary point to remember is that any
unsteady motion or movement to shaft
centrelines that goes against the intended
motion of the machine can cause bearing or
couplings to be stressed, and the seals to
undergo damage in need of immediate repair.
Common Causes of Misalignment
Shaft and belt misalignment can be a result of several factors such as:
Soft foot is a condition in which one of the feet of a pump does not sit flat on the
baseplate. Soft foot is among the most common causes of misalignment. To check,
operators should first assess the equipment’s foundation and employ a suitable
shaft alignment tool to identify and correct potential soft foot conditions. Some
laser-guided alignment tools have a soft foot operation capability that guides the
operators through corrective procedures. 
Bearings out of square with their housings are another common cause of
misalignment. Often a condition of wear, the out-of-square bearing and/or its
housing will need to be corrected or replaced to bring pumps back into alignment.
Other possible causes include:
Poor pump and motor alignment during instalment
Worn out components
Excessive forces generated by attachments
Foot locator has moved or warped
Thermal expansion
Excessive forces and moments 
Five types of common misalignment
1. Parallel misalignment
This occurs when two shafts (or sheaves) do
not exist on a parallel plane—while their
centrelines may be parallel to one another, the
actual centreline is offset.
2. Horizontal angle misalignment
This occurs when the angle of one shaft is
different to the angle of the other on a
horizontal plane.
3. Vertical angle misalignment
This occurs when the angle of one shaft is
different to the angle of the other on a vertical
plane.
4. Horizontal angled and offset misalignment
This is a compound misalignment that occurs
when one shaft is both offset and angled
differently than the other shaft along a
horizontal plane.
5. Vertical angled and offset misalignment
This is a compound misalignment that occurs
when one shaft is both offset and angled
differently than the other shaft along a vertical
plane.
How best to recognise and detect common
misalignment?
While it is important to understand the root
causes of misalignment and the most basic
forms in which it occurs, the most important
thing to know is how to recognize
misalignment before it reduces the life of
bearings, seals, shafts and couplings. As
mentioned, a properly precision aligned
machine will run more effectively and last
longer, therefore the detection of
misalignment is often best ascribed as a form
of preventative maintenance, rather than a
reactive resolution.
With that in mind, there are five primary
methods used to detect common
misalignment:
1. Misalignment detection
technique: Thermography
Becoming increasingly popular for its ability to
recognise misalignment easily in machines,
especially in belt drive applications. A clear
indication of misalignment is an increase in
friction as the offset or angular shafts are likely
pulling against one another ever so slightly
more. This, in turn, increases the temperature
of the machine at the problem area.
The job of thermal-imagery, then, is to
measure these hot-spots and determine
exactly where the problem is occurring or
beginning to occur. Thermography is a
secondary indicator as when there is an
increase in temperature damage is being
caused mechanically.
2. Misalignment detection
technique: Vibration analysis
Vibration analysis is effective at assessing the 
micro-vibrations of a machine and noting when
it approaches or exceeds acceptable
parameters. These minute observations can be
used proactively, just as thermography, to
recognise an 
issue with misalignment and stop it before the
bearings
 or belts wear down to catastrophic levels. As
the variables of those micro-vibration
increases can vary by degree and complexity,
often a result of some things more than only
misalignment, imbalance or looseness
overtime, the analysis is conducted using
Accelerometers and correct sampling for the
expected failure mode predictor. An 
important aspect of vibration analysis is phase
analysis used to diagnose and pinpoint the
type of misalignment early on. All these tools
of measure help the analyst to determine
exactly what is causing the disruption or how
3. Misalignment detection technique: Oil
analysis
One of the more complicated measures to
determine common misalignment, oil analysis
is a process by which an analyst can measure
misalignment through the general wear-and-
tear on contaminants in oil of the machine.
While specialists are often required to conduct
a proper oil analysis, its results often are not as
effective for preventative maintenance with
misalignment.
4. Misalignment detection technique: Laser
shaft analysis
Likely the most common of all forms of
misalignment checks, laser shaft alignment
systems can accurately calculate the degree to
which a coupling may be offset and allows for
an accurate measure of remedy to get it along
an even plane. Precision Laser alignment
results can be greatly affected by operator
experience and training.
5. Misalignment detection technique: Motion
Amplification
This is the easiest of user’s interfaces to
visually diagnose misalignment and also to
visually see the rout cause of the
misalignment. You do not need to be
experienced or an engineer to view a 
motion amplification video so see there is
misalignment.
How to correct common misalignments?
The good news is that the hardest part of 
misalignment is determining where it exists for
how long it has existed. The solutions to
misalignment vary from simple to complex.
Often it can be replacing bearings, belts, or
couplings and other times those pieces are in
good enough shape that all that is needed is a
‘soft-footed’ correction or slight alignment
correction. If a misalignment has gone on for
too long unnoticed, it might be the reason that
the machine is beyond repair. On the other
hand, preventative maintenance and
scheduled misalignment analysis can help to
ensure machine’s longevity, improve energy
efficiency, maximize output, and overall save
money by mitigating problems before they
move beyond repair.