Recently, under the increasing ecological awareness and stringent regulations for marine environmental protection, we often meet vessels in which stern tube water-lubricated plastic bearings are applied to the propulsion shafting.
It is because plastic bearings offer simplicity, low initial and operating costs, and no risk of oil pollution, compared with oil-lubricated white metal bearings or water-lubricated rubber bearings.
A research team led by Kim Chun Il, a researcher at the Faculty of Shipbuilding and Ocean Engineering, has developed a water-lubricated stern bearing with plastic material.
First, they conducted a test on the suitable composition of plastic sliding bearings and their characteristics. Then, they determined the lubrication characteristics of stern tube plastic bearings such as the allowable load capacity of bearings, the stiffness and damping coefficients of water lubricating films, and the maximum allowable radial clearance of bearings.
The friction coefficient (against brass) is 0.003 and the dilatation (radial direction) is 0.005.
Compared with a stern tube rubber bearing, the load capacity is raised by 1.2 times and the lifetime is prolonged by 1.5 times thanks to the smaller value of frictional coefficient and higher breaking-in capacity. In addition, it results in the reduction in initial cost by one fifth and in labour and time by one third as it needs no non-ferrous metal and natural rubber.
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