Influence of both friction and wear on the vibration of marine water lubricated rubber bearing

Abstract

Marine water-lubricated bearing is the key part of the thrust shafting of underwater vehicles and some surface vessels, that is currently made with rubber, Thordon, Feroform, nylon, lignumvitae materials etc. Because the performance of vibration and noise reduction of the rubber material is better than some materials so that it is usually applied in water-lubricated propeller shaft bearing of submarines and underwater vehicles to improve their stealth, security, performance and reliability. Although the rubber is of better damping effect, it is always easy to cause friction vibration and noise under low speed, heavy load and wear situation, especially at starting or stopping phases. Therefore, it is of important theoretical significance and engineering value to enhance the mute level of the vehicles and alleviate friction vibration and noise.The tribological properties of water-lubricated rubber bearing such as friction and wear can affect the bearing vibration directly. So the research objective is to explore the influence of both friction and wear of water-lubricated rubber bearing on the bearing vibration under the different rubber materials of the bearing lining and working conditions. In the research, both theoretical analysis and test methods are applied. In theoretical analysis, the finite element model of the bearing is established and the deformation of the bearing lining is analyzed, and in test research, kinds of water-lubricated bearings with different rubber material were tested on the bearing test-bed under different shaft rotary speed, load and cooling water temperature. The research results show that both friction coefficient and wear of water-lubricated rubber bearings are affected with the different rotary speed, load and cooling water temperature, which result in the bearing vibration status changed significantly. With the increase of the load in some range, the deformation of the bearing lining is intensified and the specific pressure of the bearing is decreased due to the augment of contact area of between test shaft and bearing lining so that the friction coefficient and vibration are declined. As cooling water temperature is enhanced, both wear and vibration are aggravated.The higher shaft rotary speed is, smaller friction coefficient is in certain speed range so friction vibration is reduced.