HYDRODYNAMIC AND ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION MODEL TO VERIFY THE PERFORMANCE OF MARINE PROPULSION SHAFTING

Sa？etak Hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic lubrication models were applied to compare the performance of oil lubricated metallic journal bearings with that of sea water lubricated polymer journal bearings in ship propulsion systems. A numerical model based upon the finite difference method and an isoviscous model, together with a computer program with two modules have been used to evaluate the process parameters. The method and model calculations were tested using the data collected from two different types of actual vessels in service. Regarding the stern tube journal bearings, results indicate that the developed software applications attain high approximation accuracy regardless of the relatively simple numerical model