In order to avoid the damage of a stern tube bearing, it is necessary to elucidate the oil film characteristics.
In this paper, the theoretical and experimental investigation on oil film characteristics of the stern tube bearing are described.
The theory is based on the finite width hydrodynamics in a steady state. The three dimensional deflection of the propeller shaft in the stern tube bearing is taken into consideration. The characteristics of oil film are determined by taking account of the calculated results of the propeller shaft deflection, as the shaft position in the stern tube bearing depends on the bearing force and the reaction force of oil film loading on the propeller shaft.
The caluculated results show the very good agreements with the measured ones.
The calculating method proposed here is also very useful in judging whether a stern tube bearing is injured or not.

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