Most of the observed failures were found to happen very early in the lifetime of the vessels, and during operating conditions known to inflict significant shaft deflections in way of the aft bearing. Operations such as extreme turning in the upper speed range are known to inflict very high localized loads on the aft end of the aft stern tube bearing. The first phase of the JDP thus focused on studying the core lubricant properties affecting the load-carrying capacity.
From a design perspective, the lubricant viscosity is a key property that must be chosen correctly to ensure that hydrodynamic lubrication is given in all continuous operating conditions. The DNV GL study has, however, discovered two specific viscosity-related characteristics where EALs differ from mineral oils. These properties will affect the safety margin of the aft stern tube bearing in certain critical operating conditions.
Firstly, the pressure-viscosity coefficient of typical stern tube EALs is different than that of the same-grade mineral oil. The practical consequence of this difference is that under the high-load operating conditions typical for the observed aft stern tube bearing failures, an EAL will operate with a lower true viscosity in the minimum oil film thickness region. Knowing that the viscosity is proportional to the oil film thickness and load-carrying capacity of a journal bearing, it is understood that the safety margin is reduced for an EAL installation in the high-load running modes (see figure 1).
Secondly, the viscosity index is significantly higher for EALs compared to mineral oils. This means that the EALs will operate with a much lower viscosity in the lower temperature region (see figure 2) typical for stern tubes in certain conditions such as mooring trials and cold start-up. Again, the safety margin will be reduced in those types of operation.