When things go wrong.

[Knobhead]

I found this picture on my PC. Apparently they were trying to synchronise this 5MW generator when things went a bit wonky. I’ve seen bent motor shafts but a right angle?

View attachment 5924

And no it’s not a doctored picture.

 

[baldsparkies]

Wow!! They usually snap before they get to that angle.
The shaft must have been heated to a point where it was soft enough to do that.

 

[Marvo]

That's quite some failure, it must have gone with a bang. I'm guessing the black splatter marks up the wall are the remains of the bearings.

 

[Guest123]

looks like someone needs a new stopwatch......

 

[Dunc]

I went to a boiler fault where the house owner worked in that sort of industry. After a good chat over a cup of coffee he was telling me about a generator that had gone bang under similar circumstance and had wrecked a good chunk of the building. Can't remember which country it was but the pictures were impressive. I'll try dig them out as I think I still have the copy of the disk be gave me with the whole gallery on.

 

[johnboy6083]

You would of thought that when this was vibrating, that they would of shut it down before it got to this stage! There's no way that you wouldn't notice that there was something wrong!

 

[Engineer54]

I just can't see, or imagine how this could happen naturally, all be it in a fault condition or otherwise!!

 

[Knobhead]

I’ve no idea how it happened. All I know it happened when the set was paralleled to the bus. It was sent to me by a friend in India. He was called in to sort the aftermath out.

I’ve had shafts snapped off clean at the bearing, bent by about 10 degree, but 90 degree? Something must have gone in to orbit from it!

 

[Engineer54]

Your dead right there, whatever that shaft was physically connected too, must be in a million bits.
Physically, i just cannot see how it could ever happen to be honest!! Doesn't seem to be any visible damage to the windings either?? I would imagine that such a catastrophic failure to that shaft, would have ripped that alternator from it's skid/frame fixings. There would surely be a lot more damage to the surrounding area around this failure, but can't see much damage in the picture....

 

[Knobhead]

The guy who sent it me isn’t one for exaggerating things. I’ll try and get back in contact with him, but it’s over a year since we last spoke
I see what you mean about winding damage, it should be wrecked. As for surrounding damage, it looks like it’s been moved (shackle on lifting lug & wire rope around it).