Water lubricated polymer bushes find increasingly popular use in the sliding bearings of marine propellers, water turbines and pump shafts. Such popularity is partly due to their simple construction which also means relatively affordable price. In addition, properly designed and installed water lubricated bearings may well last for over a decade. However, in practical experience one may also observe cases of rapid wear or malfunction of this bearing type, some of which may be caused by insufficient flow of lubricant leading to overheating, especially in the bush material. The conducted research determined that certain bearings continue to work properly despite the absence of lubricant flow resulting in lack of constant cooling. This is due to low motion resistance levels resulting from low friction. The co-heat generated in the friction zone of such bearings is sufficiently low to be dispersed into surroundings once bearing's temperature rises and stabilizes at a safe level. The paper presents results of recent tests. The new test rig was built and first tests were conducted. The test rig makes it possible to investigate real scale bearings with shaft diameter of 100 mm and at high power propulsion (120kW). Thanks to this, the simulated conditions resemble those present on a small ship or hydropower unit where the transmitted power is high enough to destroy the bearing completely with melted polymer bush flowing out from the housing.
Authors
Additional information
- Category
- Aktywność konferencyjna
- Type
- publikacja w wydawnictwie zbiorowym recenzowanym (także w materiałach konferencyjnych)
- Language
- angielski
- Publication year
- 2017
