Occasionally an end user wants to take a motor designed for horizontal mounting and use it in a vertical position. This article addresses some of the key mechanical factors that should be considered when applying a horizontal ball-bearing motor in a vertical mounting position.
These key factors include:
- Axial thrust load capacity of bearing supporting rotor weight
- Rotor weight
- Weight of output shaft attachments
- Axial thrust from direct-connected driven equipment
- Bearing lubrication paths
- Bearing lubricant retention
- Shaft up or shaft down orientation
- Ingress protection
- Locking axial thrust bearing
- Axial thrust load capacity
The first four factors above are inter-related because the weight of the rotor and any shaft attachments result in axial load on the fixed (thrust) bearing. Direct-connected driven equipment such as impellers or fan/blower blades can also impart axial thrust load on the fixed bearing.
Read the entire article from our sister publication Plant Services.
