Foundation settling, particularly on new construction supporting heavy equipment, can lead to erratic machinery performance. Optical measurement methods have proven to be an excellent approach to quantify this phenomena due the setup flexibility. Measurements may be easily obtained around piping and corners with overlapping local benchmarks. Adjustments of line of sight measurements at each end of the measurement string are repeatSable and simple.

Three approaches may be pursued to quantify and analyze the severity of the issue. Each approach has its strengths.

1. Basement or ground level trending to a single off foundation benchmark and multiple local benchmarks.

This approach minimizes the impact of differences in trending data from energized to de-energized conditions over time. Comparisons for large yearly or seasonal deltas may be quickly compared to outage alignment data to explain patterns.

Optical setup for Axial,Radial, and Vertical Trending
Laser setup for Axial and Horizontal Monitoring

2. Machinery deck level trending of horizontal joints to local benchmarks.

While data must be data at acquired at the same state for each data set (energized/de-energized), trending is easily accomplished. Further, seasonal concrete growth has less impact on this data. This approach may also be used to gather information on bearing plane thermal growth for comparison to OEM alignment targets. This approach requires greater planning for data acquisition.

 

3. Trending common benchmarks at turbine deck level to a ground level benchmark using tooling tape.

This method allows one to take a turbine deck level elevation to a ground level off foundation benchmark.