Analysis of the Tribological and Dynamic Performance of the Self-Adapting Water-Lubricated Stern Bearing

Abstract

According to the design requirements of load equalization and vibration reduction for the stern bearing, a water-lubricated stern bearing with self-adaptation capacity is proposed. The bearing is mainly composed of three parts: the bearing bush, the elastic element, and the damping alloy. The elastic element is used to realize static and dynamic load sharing of the stern bearing, reduce the edge effect of the stern bearing, and make the contact pressure evenly distributed in the axial direction, thereby improving the service life of the bearing and reducing the frictional excitation of the bearing. Damping alloy is used to attenuate the shaft vibration transmission from the bearing to the foundation to optimize the vibration transmission characteristics. The revised lubrication models for such bearings are put forward. By analyzing the vibration characteristics of the stern bearing, the results show that the vibration transmission characteristics of the thruster excited to the bearing node are optimized, and the vibration response at the first-order fixed frequency is significantly reduced. A moderate increase in the support stiffness of the foundation can significantly reduce the vibration response of the bearing.