Tribology International 95 (2016) 449–455

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Tribology International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Experimental research on water-lubricated marine stern tube bearings

in conditions of improper lubrication and cooling causing rapid
bush wear
Wojciech Litwin, Czesław Dymarski
Gdansk University of Technology, Faculty of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Water-lubricated polymer bushes are increasingly popular in sliding bearings of marine propellers, water
Received 10 May 2015 turbines, and pump shafts. This environmentally friendly solution is relatively simple and usually proves
Received in revised form to be durable.
4 November 2015
However, in practical experience one may also observe cases of rapid wear or even malfunctions of
Accepted 6 December 2015
Available online 12 December 2015
this type of bearing, some of which may be caused by insufficient flow of lubricant. The main purpose of
the conducted research was to identify how different bearing types operate under conditions of no
Keywords: lubricant flow.
Water lubricated bearings The conducted research determined that certain bearings continue to work properly despite a lack of
Propeller shaft bearings
lubricant flow and cooling. This is due to low frictional resistance levels, resulting in sufficiently low heat
Marine bearings
being generated in the friction zone of such bearings and dispersed into the surroundings once the
bearing's temperature has risen and stabilized at a safe level.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The third solution is the most advantageous but also the most
expensive. It consists of a system with enclosed water circulation.
Water-lubricated polymer bush bearings are finding increas- The bearing unit is closed on both sides by seals which effectively
ingly wide use in shafts of marine propellers, water turbines, and protect the friction couple from being polluted by outside impu-
pumps. This fact stems partially from their simple construction, rities. Clean, usually salt-free, filtered freshwater of appropriate
which also means that this type of solution has a relatively low temperature is supplied to the bearing unit by a pump. The che-
price [1,2]. Three main construction systems of this bearing type mically neutral water, free of impurities and with appropriately
have dominated in practical applications. selected flow parameters, with ongoing control of potential
The first, which is also the simplest, is an open system with the changes to these parameters on the outflow, provides highly
bearing lubricated by surrounding water and freely flowing advantageous working conditions for the bearing. Such systems
through it, for example ship stave bearings [3] and certain water are particularly sought after and therefore frequently used in
inland waterway ships, river water turbines, and dewatering pump
turbine [4] and water pump bearings [5,6,7].
systems (land reclamation, open-cast excavation, mines, etc.).
In the second, somewhat more complex system, the surrounding
Based on extensive practical experience, it may be stated that
water is pumped, filtered, and then forced through the bearing to
in most cases water-lubricated bearings have a durability of at
the outside. This solution offers significant advantages. First of all,
least a decade or so. After this period, the bushes are replaced with
the flow of the lubricating agent through the bearing may be con-
new ones and the shaft undergoes regeneration, which is usually
trolled by regulating the work of the pump. In the event of lack of
limited to regrinding its sliding surface. In the case of more
flow caused by pump malfunction or clogging of the filter, a flow extensive surface damage, it may be necessary to apply overlay
sensor should detect and indicate the system failure. Such indica- welding and grinding. Occasionally, other innovative regeneration
tion is very important as in most cases it makes it possible to avoid methods may be applied, such as remachining the shaft and pla-
more serious consequences of a potential breakdown. The filtered cing a thin-walled stainless steel or bronze sleeve on it [10].
water is usually free of large-sized impurities – hard particles – Thanks to research efforts carried out by R&D departments of
thanks to which the risk of rapid bearing damage is limited [8]. The major bearing manufacturers and scientific centres all over the
pump solution is readily used on ships in marine propeller shaft world, both the durability and the reliability of this bearing type
units [9]. have improved. The research included important theoretical works

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2015.12.005
0301-679X/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
450 W. Litwin, C. Dymarski / Tribology International 95 (2016) 449–455

aimed at pinpointing the conditions under which fluid film

lubrication takes place. It was determined that excessive radial
clearance and incorrect location of lubrication grooves may play a
particularly strong role in reducing the bearing's hydrodynamic
load-carrying capacity [11–14]. In their research, the manu-
facturers focused on producing a material of low frictional resis-
tance, high durability, and minimum water soaking, resulting in a
negligible swelling characteristic [15,6,16,17].
Unfortunately, as it stems from practical experience, break-
downs of this bearing type do occur. Some of them may be caused
by insufficient flow of the lubricating agent through the bearing,
resulting in its insufficient cooling. It should be kept in mind that a
polymer bush does not conduct heat well and under normal
conditions most of the heat generated in the friction zone is
absorbed by the flowing lubricating agent.
Friction is the decisive factor that determines whether over-
heating occurs in the friction zone. In the case of a cooling system
breakdown, the heat must be transferred directly to the sur-
roundings. With increasing friction, the amount of heat generated
in the bearing rises. In the event of a cooling system malfunction,
Fig. 1. Melted polymer – the result of an overheated stern tube bearing caused by a
the heat must be transferred directly to the surroundings. Since cooling system breakdown; shaft diameter 350 mm.
heat exchange with the surroundings is problematic, due mostly to
the bush's low thermal conductivity coefficient, the temperature of
the bush increases, as does the temperature of the shaft, to a
smaller degree. If the working conditions do not change, then after
some time these temperatures should stabilise. In designing a
bearing, the designer attempts to ensure that the temperature
which establishes itself in the friction zone is within an
acceptable range.
Overheating of the friction zone usually results in polymers
undergoing a very rapid adhesive wear process. In the case of
composites, delamination (separation of material layers) fre-
quently takes place. Therefore, ensuring adequate cooling is of
vital importance.
The ability to work under conditions of increased temperature
is very important for a polymer bush and may turn out to con-
stitute a significant advantage of a particular material. It is for this Fig. 2. Ring made of polymer hooking line which blocked water flow through
reason that certain sliding material manufacturers pay such close fishing vessel propeller shaft bearings. The arrow indicates one of the fish hooks.
attention to this issue in efforts aimed at improving their products.
require that flow and temperature sensors be placed in the cooling
system, which in many cases has made it possible to prevent
2. Origin and purpose serious breakdowns.
On occasion, breakdowns caused by an overheated bearing may
Existing specialist literature does not contain many descrip- result from completely unexpected blocking of flow. There is, for
tions of incidents of excessive wear or breakdowns in marine example, a known case of a fishing line with hooks which wound
propeller shafts or water turbine bearings [9]. This stems from, itself up on a propeller shaft of a fishing vessel. The high tem-
among other reasons, the fact that the authors of expert opinions perature brought about by the resulting friction melted the nylon
ordered by courts or ship classification societies are bound by line into a monolithic ring which effectively blocked the outflow of
confidentiality clauses. The manufacturers, if presenting the water from the bearing (Fig. 2).
results of their research at all, naturally tend to present their Experiment-based research into real-scale water-lubricated
products in the best possible light. However, it may be objectively bearings is currently conducted in scientific centres all over the
stated that in recent years most of the reputable manufacturers world and its results may be found in the scientific literature. One
have invested substantially in R&D, which has resulted in new, of the fundamental problems that are frequently brought up is the
modern products with improved tribological properties appearing
issue of hydrodynamic lubrication by low-viscosity lubricating
on the market [15,6,17].
agent such as water. It is for this reason that such aspects as the
Lack of information about bearing operation under limited
type of bush material, bush shape, location of lubrication grooves,
lubrication and cooling conditions was the main motive behind
and condition of the sliding surface are analysed [18,19,15,20–
the conducted research. How intensively can the bearings be loa-
24,16,25,17].
ded when no flow conditions appear? Will overheating appear in
all the bearing types? Finding the answers to these questions was
the purpose of the conducted research.
In real-life operations, breakdowns of stern tube bearings in 3. Scope of the tests and description of tested bearings
propeller shafts do take place and frequently lead to very serious
consequences, resulting in ships being taken out of service. Such A group of six typical marine-industry water-lubricated bear-
breakdowns may be caused by malfunction of the pumping system ings were chosen for the tests (Table 1). All of the bearings have
(Fig. 1). Classification societies which validate ships for service been accepted by classification societies for use as stern tubes of
 W. Litwin, C. Dymarski / Tribology International 95 (2016) 449–455 451

Table 1
Bearings subjected to experimental tests.

No. Code Bush type and geometry/bush thickness [mm]/modulus of elasticity (E) if available Approximate diameter clearance [mm] (V: vertical, H: horizontal)

Left side of bush Right side of bush

1 A Rubber – NBR – six grooves around entire circumference/12 mm H¼ 900, V ¼800 H¼ 800, V ¼1000
2 B Rubber – NBR – partial arc, grooves in upper part/12 mm H¼ 500, V ¼600 H¼ 600, V ¼600
3 C Three layers – six grooves along entire circumference/PTFE 5 mm, NBR 5 mm, brass H¼ 450, V ¼ 500 H¼ 500, V ¼500
3 mm
4 D Three layers – partial arc, grooves in upper part/PTFE 5 mm, NBR 5 mm, brass 3 mm H¼ 480, V ¼ 600 H¼ 500, V ¼480
5 E Elastic polymer – partial arc, grooves in upper part/12 mm/E¼ 600 MPa H¼ 300, V ¼400 H¼ 180, V ¼200
6 F Stiff composite – partial arc, grooves in upper part/12 mm/E¼ 4000 MPa H¼ 300, V ¼350 H¼ 250, V ¼ 300

propeller shafts. The bearings were of differing bush materials and

geometries according the manufacturers' suggestions.
The bushes made of rubber (NBR) were purchased as elements
ready for assembly without requiring any finishing work (A and B).
The two 3-layer bushes and the polymer bush (C, D, E) were
provided, ready for assembly, by reputable manufacturers. The
composite bush (F) was machined according to the manufacturer's
guidelines.
All the bearings went through a run-in process which lasted
dozens of hours. The running-in procedure was suggested by one
of the manufacturers and was the same for all the tested bearings.
The first stage of the process – loading of 0.25 MPa at a speed of Fig. 3. Tested bearing assembly – test rig. 1. stainless steel main shaft, 2. steel
3 rev/s (1 m/s) – lasted for six hours. In the second stage, the load sleeve – bearing casing, 3. covers with sealing rings, 4. radial force application unit,
was increased to 0.5 MPa and the sliding speed remained the 5. sensors measuring pressure between journal and bush, 6. sensors measuring
distance between journal and bush, 7. arm and sensor for measuring moment of
same. In case of the three-layer bearing which has lower frictional
friction, 8a. sensors of water temperature flowing through the bearing, 8b. sensor
resistance, the final load was 1 MPa. It was impossible to conduct measuring steel bush temperature.
the same running-in process for different bushes because of cer-
tain limitations. Deformation of NBR bushes was too large to be The main shaft, with a diameter of 100 mm, was made of
sealed and caused a leak. Test rig propulsion was not strong marine-grade stainless steel X10CrNi18-8, which is frequently
enough to provide constant fluent motion because of very high used in this type of solution, especially those working in salty sea
frictional resistance in the polymer and composite bearings. water. The drive was provided by an electric motor equipped with
All of the tested bearings had a certain fault in the shape (non- a reduction gear. Such a solution allowed a maximum starting
cylindrical bush shape). Its magnitude may be estimated based on torque of over 160 N m to be reached. A static radial load was
the bearing clearance value presented in Table 1. Such faults are applied by suspending a weight on a special lever. The measure-
typical and stem from difficulties during the process of machine- ments were made for three load values of 4, 8, and 12 kN, which
cutting of elastic bush material. corresponded with calculated pressure values of 0.2, 0.4, and
Bearings of two types of bush shapes were investigated. The 0.6 MPa. Pressure values of 0.2 MPa may be considered as low,
bearings with grooves around the entire circumference (A, C) 0.4 MPa as normal, and 0.6 MPa as high. Past research indicated
represent a classic solution which is frequently encountered when that certain materials are capable of working properly even at
radial loads are not high or when the lubricating agent carries pressures as high as 0.8 MPa [23].
with it hard, solid particles. Due to its geometry, this type of Using the test rig offers wide research possibilities. It allows the
bearing has very limited hydrodynamic capacity [12]. The bearings friction moment of the tested bearing, its clearance circle (set as
with bushes in which the grooves were machined only in the the outmost limiting position of the journal in the bush), and
upper, load-free half (B, D, E, F) have substantially better hydro- pressure distributions at selected points in the space between
dynamic properties. This has an impact on both their durability journal and bush to be recorded. However, there are also certain
and the resistance of motion levels. As a result, it also influences limitations which result from the way in which radial force is
the amount of heat generated in the friction zone, which may be of applied on the tested sliding bearing. The load is applied through
crucial importance when the bearing is working under near- two rollers with ball bearings. It is for this reason that the recorded
value of the friction coefficient is decreased by the motion resis-
breakdown conditions of severely limiting or even stopping the
tance of the load-applying rollers as well as increased by the
flow of lubricant.
resistance of two sealing rings which allow water to be forced
through the enclosed area of the bearing unit. This is why mea-
suring the moment of friction, especially in the range of lower
4. Research methodology values, is marked by certain error. The measurement accuracy
increases when recording higher motion-resistance levels, for
A special test rig for investigating water-lubricated sliding instance during start-up. The majority of test rigs of this type used
bearings of the authors' own design and construction was in scientific research centres all over the world have similar lim-
employed in the research work. The key fragment of the rig is itations [20,24,13,25,17].
presented below (Fig. 3). The rig allows work to be conducted on The tested bearing assembly was equipped with three tem-
sliding bearings at life-sized scale and under conditions approx- perature sensors, which allowed measurements to be conducted
imating those which are found in ship propeller shafts and water during the experiment. Two of the sensors recorded the water
turbine bearings. temperature in the proximity of the bearing's edge (Fig. 3,
452 W. Litwin, C. Dymarski / Tribology International 95 (2016) 449–455

Fig. 4. Temperature increase diagram for bearing A, shaft revolution speed ¼11 Fig. 5. Temperature increase diagram for bearing B, shaft revolution speed ¼11 rev/
rev./s, (a) pressure¼ 0.2 MPa, (b) pressure¼ 0.4 MPa. s, (a) pressure¼ 0.2 MPa, (b) pressure¼ 0.4 MPa.

elements 8), while the third measured the temperature of the steel particularly in the case of heat exchange with the surrounding
sleeve, that is, the bearing casing. environment. On an actual ship, the heat generated in the friction
The investigation of the impact of a lack of flow of lubricating zone is transferred through the bush to the steel protecting tube of
agent through the bearing was carried out in the following way. the propeller shaft and then further on through the hull into the
During work in stable conditions at a shaft revolution speed of 11 water, which is frequently below 10 °C. In the case of the test-rig,
rev/s, the flow of water through the bearing was stopped using the heat from the sleeve was transferred to the surrounding air,
valves on the inlet and outlet sides. The bearing assembly pre- and therefore the temperature during tests reached levels in
sented in Fig. 3 was filled with water but the entire heat generated excess of 50 °C. In order to cope with this problem, Yamjo and
in the friction zone was transferred through the casing walls and Kikkawa [17] kept the entire bearing assembly submerged in water
drive shaft to the external surroundings. The room temperature during tests. However, this solution makes it difficult to conduct
was 20 °C. certain measurements as some of the apparatus has to work
The measurements were conducted when there was no flow of under water.
lubricant and were continued until:

 The surrounding water temperature recorded on one side of the

bearing reached approximately 80 °C. Once this value was 5. Results
reached, the valves were opened and water circulation was
restored in order to cool the bearing. Thanks to this, bush The experimental results presented below are the product of
damage was avoided. nearly two years of working effort. During that time, a number of
 The surrounding water temperature stabilized: there was no bearings were investigated and other measurements were taken,
temperature change for a certain, assumed time period. mostly aimed at defining their hydrodynamic load capacity and
resistance of motion levels [23,26].
The working conditions simulated on the test-rig were worse The graphs present increases of average water temperature in
than those which are usually present in real-life situations, the proximity of the bush as well as the temperature of the steel
 W. Litwin, C. Dymarski / Tribology International 95 (2016) 449–455 453

Fig. 6. Temperature increase diagram for bearing C, shaft revolution speed ¼ 11 rev/ Fig. 7. Temperature increase diagram for bearing D, shaft revolution speed ¼11
s, (a) pressure ¼0.2 MPa, (b) pressure¼0.4 MPa. rev/s, (a) pressure¼ 0.2 MPa, (b) pressure¼ 0.4 MPa.

sleeve as a function of time, with measurements starting at the work in a mixed lubrication regime. The bearing also exhibits high
moment of blocking of lubricant flow (Figs. 4–10). hydrodynamic capacity as far as water-lubricated bearings are
concerned. The undoubtedly excellent result is not, however, due
only to material properties. It is also the result of work in the
6. Discussion hydrodynamic lubrication regime, which is supported by the
optimum geometry of the bush. This is attested by the fact that a
In analysing the measurement results of the temperature bearing with a bush made of the same material (C) reached a
increase over time, one may observe that the best working beha- temperature of approximately 80 °C (Fig. 6.) in the zone around
viour in a simulated breakdown was displayed by the three-layer the bearing after about 20 min of work under a pressure of
bush bearing with a PTFE sliding surface and lubrication grooves 0.4 MPa and approximately an hour of work under a pressure of
placed in the upper part of the bush (D). Following approximately 0.2 MPa.
two hours of work, the bearing's surrounding water temperature Earlier comparison-based research into bearing groups of
became stable. The water temperature inside the bearing unit was classical geometry with grooves around the entire circumference
below 50 °C and the temperature of the steel bush was about (A, C) had demonstrated that their hydrodynamic capacity is low
40 °C. Such positive results indicated the low level of friction loss [26]. The load-carrying capacity may be further limited by sliding
and provided encouragement for conducting tests with greater surface roughness and there are significant faults in cylindricity
loads of 1.2 kN (pressure ¼0.6 MPa, Fig. 10). These tests also proved (A). As a result of the conducted tests, it was determined that the
that the bearing temperature stabilises itself, as was the case in bearings with classical geometry (A, C) overheated most rapidly.
earlier trials. However, due to the greater loads and therefore also This is because they are working in mixed lubrication conditions,
the increased friction, the recorded temperatures were a few when the power of friction is substantial. In such a scenario, the
degrees higher. Earlier research in which frictional characteristics, temperature increases rapidly (Figs. 4 and 6).
shaft orbits, and pressure distribution were acquired [23,26] had The executed tests demonstrated that a rubber bearing of
demonstrated that this bearing (D) has very good tribological classical geometry overheats very rapidly. However, it should be
properties: low resistance of motion levels during start-up and kept in mind that the investigated bearings were characterized by
454 W. Litwin, C. Dymarski / Tribology International 95 (2016) 449–455

Fig. 8. Temperature increase diagram for bearing E, shaft revolution speed ¼ 11 rev/
s, (a) pressure¼ 0.2 MPa, (b) pressure ¼0.4 MPa. Fig. 9. Temperature increase diagram for bearing F, shaft revolution speed ¼11 rev/
s, (a) pressure¼ 0.2 MPa, (b) pressure¼ 0.4 MPa.

bush length equal to two journal diameters. In shipbuilding, such

The measurements recorded for the polymer and composite
materials (A and B) are allowed to be used as propeller shaft
bearing (E, F) were quite interesting. Both bearings have optimum
bearings under the condition that their length is equal to as many
geometry for facilitating hydrodynamic lubrication, despite having
as four journal diameters. As a result, the loads are decreased by
substantial faults in shape (Table 1). In the case of the polymer
half. Therefore, one may suppose that, especially in the case of the
bearing (E) at low pressure (0.2 MPa), the working conditions
rubber bush bearing with grooves in the upper half (B), the
stabilized and no overheating took place (Fig. 8a). After increasing
bearing will work without failing in the conditions of no lubri-
the pressure to 0.4 MPa, the measured temperatures increased
cating agent flow.
significantly more rapidly. However, most worrying was the fact
In analysing the working conditions of the investigated bear-
that after approximately 35 min of work the level of motion
ings, one may put forward the thesis that if hydrodynamic lubri-
resistance suddenly began to increase. The inverter which con-
cation takes place in the bearing (so the power of friction is low) trolled the engine was not able to maintain the set revolution
then it may be reasonably assumed that the bearing is going to speed and would turn the engine off, signalling torque overload.
work reliably despite a lack of cooling by flowing lubricating agent. The experiment was repeated a number of times and the differ-
However, it turns out that in fact this is not always the case. The ences in the time period after which the shaft stopped were
rubber bearing (B) worked without overheating only at low loads minimal (33 to 38 min). It was concluded that the material with a
(Fig. 5a). At greater load values, the bearing overheated and the significant thermal expansion coefficient increases its volume and
measurements had to be stopped. This demonstrates the fact that locks the shaft (clamps itself on the shaft, since the bearing
bearings with highly elastic bushes undergo significant deforma- clearance on one of the sides is too small; Table 1). It is with this
tion as a result of pressure in the lubricating film. The effect is such reason in mind that measurements of the outmost locations of the
that the bearing may work in rather specific conditions. The journal in the bush were taken when the shaft locked following
middle of the bush, which is highly deformed by lubricating film, one of the experiments. It turned out that the bush did increase in
has no contact with the shaft, whereas mixed lubrication, which is size, causing a decrease in the clearance, but the shaft was not in
a source of heat, takes place at the edges [27]. fact locked.
 W. Litwin, C. Dymarski / Tribology International 95 (2016) 449–455 455

Bearing overheating can appear in a simple open, as well as in a

complicated closed system. Installing of flow sensors is necessary
in all the previously described solutions.
In carrying out the experimental research, attempts were made
to destroy the bearing through overheating. It was hoped that this
might lead to the melting of bush material similarly to the situa-
tion illustrated in Fig. 1. However, it turned out that along with the
increase in temperature there are also increases in friction levels,
for which the torque provided by the drive unit of the test-rig was
too low.

References

[1] Zero oils means zero environmental impact. The Naval Architect, May; 2012. p.
32–6.
[2] Lagersmit R. Closed oil-lubrication stern tube system replaces merchant ship’s
water-lubricated bearings. Seal Technol 2010;2010:1.
[3] Daugherty TL, Sidesa NT. Frictional characteristics of water-lubricated com-
pliant-surface stave bearings. Tribol Trans 1981;24(3):293–301.
[4] Nisaka H, Harano Maizawa K. Development on ceramics application to water
Fig. 10. Temperature increase diagram for bearing D, shaft revolution speed ¼ 11 turbine bearings. Turbomachinery 2004;32:681–6.
rev/s, pressure¼ 0.6 MPa. [5] Bearings designed for abrasive liquids. World Pumps, October; 2010. p. 14–5.
[6] Laskey K. The non-metallic bearing – what you need to know. World Pumps
2006;2006(479):36–8.
The most surprising results were achieved for the bearing with
[7] Laskey K. Nonmetallic pump bearings. Pumps Syst 2008;2008:32–4, http://
the composite bush. For both simulated working conditions, the www.pumpsandsystems.com/topics/bearings/nonmetallic-pump-bearings.
measured temperatures increased rapidly and finally the shaft was [8] Wang YQ, Shi XJ, Zhang LJ. Experimental and numerical study on water-
lubricated rubber bearings. Ind Lubr Tribol 2014;66(2):282–8.
blocked.
[9] Harish H, Manish V. Tribological study of elastomeric bearings for marine
In the authors opinion, on passing a certain temperature value, propeller shaft system. Tribol Int 2009;42:378–90.
an intensive slick-slip phenomenon occurs, causing increasing [10] Grudziński K, Grudzinski P, Jaroszewicz W, Ratajczak J. Assembling of bearing
sleeve on ship propulsion shaft by using EPY resin compound. Pol Marit Res
friction. 2012;19(2):49–55.
[11] Litwin W. Water-lubricated bearings of ship propeller shafts problems,
experimental tests and theoretical investigations. Pol Marit Res 2009;16:42–
50.
7. Conclusions [12] Litwin W. Influence of main design parameters of ship propeller shaft water
lubricated bearings on their properties. Pol Marit Res 2010;17:39–45.
[13] Wang N, Meng Q, Pengpeng W, Geng T, Youan X. Experimental research on
The completed experiment-based research confirmed that a film pressure distribution of water-lubricated rubber bearing with multiaxial
three-layer bearing with grooves only in the upper bush part is a grooves. J Fluids Eng 2013;135:1–6.
safe solution in the event of a lubrication-system failure under the [14] Xijin H, Jiaxu W, Juanjuan Z, Wen JL. Study on tribological behavior of water
lubricated bearings. J Adv Manuf Syst 2008;7(1):115–21.
condition where it is filled with water. [15] Ford A. New composite seal and bearing technology for better performance.
Due to the fact that heat being generated in the friction zone Marine/In Detail Wartsila Tech J, January; 2012. p. 34–9.
was transferred through the bush and steel sleeve and then into [16] Orndorff RL. New UHMWPE/rubber bearing alloy. ASME J Tribol
2000;122:367–73.
surrounding air but not into the water around the casing, as is [17] Yamjo S, Kikkawa F. Development and application of PTFE compound bearings.
usually the case for real units, one may predict that under actual In: The annual conference of the dynamic positioning. Houston, September
conditions there will be no dangerous temperature increase in 28–30; 2004.
[18] Cui G, Bi Q, Zhu S, Yang J, Liu W. Tribological properties of bronze–graphite
some of the researched bearings (especially B and C). composites under sea water condition. Tribol Int 2012;53:76–86.
The point of modifying polymer bearing materials in order to [19] Dong C, Yuan C, Liu Z, Yan X. Study on fatigue life evaluation of water lubri-
increase their thermal resistance is highly justified. On the other cated rubber stern tube bearing. Prognostics & system health management
conference. Shenzhen; 2011.
hand, it should be kept in mind that a key role is played by the [20] Gao G, Yin D, Zhang X. Numerical analysis of plain journal bearing under
bearing's low level of friction, and therefore special emphasis hydrodynamic lubrication by water. Tribol Int 2014;75:31–8.
[21] Hryniewicz P, Wodtke M, Olszewski A, Rzadkowski R. Structural properties of
should be placed on the design process, as well as on precise
foil bearings: a closed-form solution validated with finite element analysis.
manufacturing and proper assembly of bearings, so that they are Tribol Trans 2009;52:435–46.
capable of working under the conditions of fluid film lubrication. [22] Litwin W, Olszewski A. Assessment of possible application of water-lubricated
sintered brass slide bearing for marine propeller shaft. Pol Marit Res
The opinion that in a water-lubricated bearing the majority of
2012;4:54–61.
heat generated in the friction zone is carried away by the lubri- [23] Litwin W. Experimental research on water lubricated three layer sliding
cating agent and that the heat exchange through the bush is bearing with lubrication grooves in the upper part of the bush and its com-
parison with a rubber bearing. Tribol Int 2015;82:153–61.
minimal is in fact correct. However, the situation changes com- [24] Łubiński J, Druet K, Olszewski A, Neyman A, Sikora J. Multi rig screening test
pletely in the case of a cooling system breakdown. Therefore, in for thin ceramic coatings in bio-tribological applications. J Biomech
designing a bearing assembly it is worthwhile to do so in a way 2010;1:67–76.
[25] Wang Y, Shi X, Zhang L. Experimental and numerical study on water-
which creates the best possible conditions for heat exchange lubricated rubber bearings. Ind Lubr Tribol 2014;66(2):282–8.
between the friction zone and surroundings. [26] Litwin W. Properties comparison of rubber and three layer PTFE-NBR-bronze
During work under conditions of no lubricant flowing through water lubricated bearings with lubricating grooves along full bush cir-
cumference based on experimental tests. Tribol Int 2015;90:404–11.
the bearing, an important role is played by the thermal conduction [27] Litwin W. nfluence of local bush wear on properties of water lubricated
coefficient of the bush material. Differences in value of more than marine stern tube bearings. Pol Marit Res 2011;18(1):32–6.
20% may have a significant impact on temperature increase.