A steam turbine has a fixed end and moving end.

Both the ends are supported on

independent pedestals.
When turbine is in service, superheated steam (temperature above 540 degree celsius) is
admitted into the turbine. Due to heating up of parts of turbine, thermal expansion will
take place.
What we need to consider is that one surface of turbine casing is exposed to
atmospheric temperature of 30 degree celsius while internal surface is exposed to
superheated steam. Due to this temperature differences, the expansion of turbine shaft
will not be equal to that of turbine casing.
Absolute values of turbine-shaft expansion and turbine-casing expansion are measured
using LVDT(Linear Variable Differential Transformer) at the movable end of the
turbine.
The difference between these two expansions is called Differential Expansion of a
turbine.
Numerically :
Differential expansion = change in shaft's length - change in length of turbine casing.
This value is required to be as low as possible. But it will never be equal to zero due to
practical limitations.
Now coming to the importance of this parameter.
The internal features of turbine casing are made in such a way that the gap between
turbine stage blades(moving blades) and the internal feature(fixed blades) lie in the
range of 1mm - 20mm.
Consider a case where the turbine is loaded(that is superheated steam is admitted)
without prior heating of the casing. In this case, the thermal expansion in shaft will be
faster than compared to that of turbine casing. In such a situation the turbine will start to
touch the casing's internal features in no time and the whole machinery will fail.
This situation is avoided by allowing steam to soak all parts of turbine shaft as well as
inner parts of casing for sufficient time before turbine is loaded. The soaking period
depends on the initial temperature and differential expansion of the turbine. An
optimum value of differential expansion will be such that the turbine-stage blades are
almost at equidistant from closest internal features of casing.
The value of differential expansion also governs how fast a turbine can be
loaded/unloaded to achieve certain power output at generator end.
Thanks for reading. I hope it helps.