AKARSHAN SOOD

GRADUATE MARINE ENGINEER

akarshansood@gmail.com
MAIN ENGINE BEARING

Bearings are used in the marine engines along with lubrication to reduce frictional forces
between components have relative motion. Learn about main engine bearings in this
article

Introduction
Bearings are an important part of any engine and the marine diesel engines used on ships
are no exception to this rule. Bearings help to reduce friction mainly by converting
sliding friction into rolling friction as the value of the latter is much less than the former.

MAIN BEARINGS
These are inserting type removable shell bearing. The main bearing shells are made of
steel and lined with white metal at the working surface. The back of shell is machined
such that when fitted in housing it is pressed with an interference fit. The bearing surface
is lubricated from the forced feed system. Lubricated oil is supplied at the centre and then
to bearing side pockets. The rotating shaft draws the oil in the clearance space and then to
the bottom of the bearing. The thrust bolts are tensioned simultaneously by hydraulic
pressure.

Forces on Bearings
The bearings in diesel engines are subject to various kinds of forces which include forces
due to gas pressure plus inertial and centrifugal forces due to different reciprocating and
rotating motion of the engine parts. Hence the bearings should be designed keeping these
forces in mind. Moreover the bearing material should be tolerant towards minor surface
irregularities.

In case of marine diesel engines the lubricating oil is used along with bearings at several
places and there is a possibility that the oil has small abrasive particles which can lodge
themselves within these bearings, hence they should also be capable to withstand such
particles without getting seized. The important physical properties are crushing strength
i.e. yield point under compression, tensile strength, endurance to fatigue, thermal
expansion , conductivity and melting point etc.

Materials Used for Construction

The above forces and circumstances are taken care of by using special white metal alloys
which are normally tin or lead based alloys. The only disadvantage of these alloys is their
weak mechanical strength which is also necessary apart from the good anti-friction
properties; hence steel is used to provide the required backup of strength. The bonding
between the alloy and the back up material is either through mechanical anchorage or
chemical bonding. Steel is preferred over cast iron since it provides better bonding
between the two materials.

White metal alloys or sliding bearing antifriction metals usually known as Babbitt.
Babbits are divided into tin based or led based alloys. Tin based tin, antimony-copper
white metals are widely used in modern diesel engine bearings.

Typical composition is mentioned below:

SN ------- 87.65%

Sb -------- 7.5 %

Cu --------4.5%

Pb ---------.35 %

Main Engine Bearing Arrangement

It is time to take a look at the main engine bearings and their arrangement in a typical
main propulsion engine now. I would suggest you take a close look at the diagram below
to understand how the arrangement is made. The sketch is fairly self descriptive and all
the parts are labeled clearly on the picture.
The left h and side shows the front view while the sketch on the right hand side shows the
side view of the arrangement, along with various parts such as the thrust bolts, tie rod,
crankshaft and so forth. As you must have noticed the bearings used here are of shell type
in which the white metal is bonded by combination of mechanical anchorage and
chemical bond. The mechanical bonding of white metal lining prevents free escape of
fragments in event of cracking. It is constructed in two parts for ease in fitting and
operational convenience and the bearing is force lubricated.

DEFECTS

Bearings are very important to reduce friction, yet the same bearings can even lead to
engine seizure if allowed to run in the damaged state so you should know how to check
them for defects. Bearings tend to undergo wear and tear during their normal operation
and can develop several types of defects during their lifetime. It is important for a marine
engineer to know and identify these defects so that faulty bearings can be isolated and
changed.

Types of Defects
Wear (Adhesive wear) – Galling, scuffing and scoring are the phenomenon
which comes under adhesive wear. The relatively softer surface of the bearings rubs
against the harder surface to which they are providing the bearing surface. Hence when
two metals of different hardness rub together, the one with the lesser hardness with wear
more and this wear is accelerated by the fact that impurities and abrasive particles can
enter between these surfaces thus speeding up the wear by plough it. The loss of metal
thus caused is sometimes termed as wiping off.

Corrosion – bearings are lubricated with lubricating oil from the engine systems and
this lubricating oil can turn acidic in due course of time with effect of combustion
products, temperature and so on. Oil additives may be decomposed to form acids. This
acidic lubricating oil can cause corrosion of the bearings especially the white metal parts
of the bearings. White metal containing copper-lead is more susceptible to oil acid
corrosion.

Overloading/Overheating – a bearing can get damaged due to local concentration

of stress or temperature and certain regions which in turn can be due to several factors.
This can lead to various types of defects like –

 If load distribution is unequal.

 The alignment of engine is upset.
 The bearing runs with too high or too low oil clearances.
 Oil is contaminated or supply of oil is inadequate.
 The rubbing surfaces are uneven.
 A bearing may be run at a temperature higher than the normal but below its melting
point. Yielding may results locally at hard spots. Such bearing leaves a black hard
incrustation of tin oxide at the surface. This hard surface may be removed as it is
likely to cause local wear of the journal.

Surface cracks- cracks may appear as small hair line cracks, as cracked areas or
network of cracks. Cracks results as a result of failure of the metal to fatigue. Such
condition as a defective bond, excessive peak load, concentration of loads on small
areas etc. exceeds the endurance strength of the material to fatigue failure. Small
areas of white metal may be dislodged from the surface.

PICTURES

Pictures which show different types of defects which have occurred due to wear, loss of
lubrication etc. This should give you an idea about the manner in which a defective
bearing appears from outside without using any measuring tool for checking for Defects.

INSPECTION AND PRECAUTIONS

To prevent the bearing failures following features are worthy to note:-

 Presence of ovality, trilobity, taper and roughness at the surface are undesirable.
 Continued check on alignment, clearances etc. are to be maintained. Since larger
clearance may result in cracking, seizure or lubricating oil pressure drop, periodic
overhaul is required. Otherwise, bearing metal wear causes increased crank
deflection, bringing about a dangerous crankshaft condition due to the application
of repetitious stress by internal moment.
 If the bearing is found to be too much worn or having other defects and needs
replacement, the same should be done by removing the bottom shell, and fitting a
new shell of similar dimensions after scraping it with a mandrel cutter or such tool
to ensure proper alignment of the crankshaft journal.
 Carefully check back side of bearing metal and mating surface for fretting, traces
of seizure of buildup of foreign matter; measure degree of wear.
  Steel back is favored as against cast iron or alloy steel. Presence of free graphite
in cast iron machined face and chromium or nickel in alloy steel will interfere
with continuity of the bond.
 A thinner layer enhances the property of white metal against fatigue failure.
 Generous feed of uncontaminated lubricating oil will increase the life of bearing.
 Uniform loading should be aimed for power and peak pressure.

MEASURING CLEARANCES
1. Metal thickness measurement
Extract bearing metal and measure thickness.

2. Measurement by means of lead wire

Extract main bearing cap and put a soft lead wire (0.5mm) on upper part of
crankshaft. Then replace cap and tighten to prescribed torque. Remove cap and
measure with a micrometer the thickness of the lead wire thus pressed.

3. Measurement with bridge gauge

Apply bridge gauge across crank journal and measure clearance between gauge and
circumference of journal. An optional bridge gauge is available. A bridge gauge is also
used to take the reading while the bottom shell is in its genuine position plus taking
another reading after removing the shell and seeing the difference between them.

4. Measurement of outside diameter of crankshaft and inside diameter of metal

Remove crankshaft from sole plate and measure outside and inside diameters. This is
the most reliable method for obtaining correct values.

5) When replacing main bearing metal, replace upper and lower shells as a pair.