Installation, Alignment and Commissioning
Foundations and baseplates
A machine is only as good as what it sits on. Check foundation condition, grout contact, baseplate flatness and bolt torque. Soft foot is checked with a dial indicator on each foot while the others are tight; a foot that springs more than about 0.05 mm needs shimming or correction before alignment means anything.
Shaft alignment
Rough alignment first, then precision alignment using rim-and-face indicators, reverse dial indicators or a laser system. Vertical corrections are made with shims under the feet; horizontal corrections with jacking bolts. Indicator sag must be measured and compensated, and thermal growth offsets must be set so the machine is correct at operating temperature, not at ambient. Barring or rotating the shafts through the full 360° keeps readings honest.
Piping and driven equipment
Pipe strain pulls a casing out of alignment; flanges should draw together without force. Check runout on coupling hubs, coupling gap and axial float against specification.
Commissioning
Verify rotation direction, lubrication, guard installation, instrument settings and relief valve settings. Run unloaded, then loaded, recording baseline vibration, temperature and pressure so future condition monitoring has a reference.
Rule of thumb
Correct soft foot first; no alignment effort survives a sprung foot, and no amount of shimming compensates for a distorted baseplate.
Traps
Aligning a cold machine to cold targets when thermal growth is significant; ignoring indicator sag; forcing flanges together; skipping the baseline record.