Mixed-lubrication analysis of marine stern tube bearing considering bending deformation of stern shaft and cavitation

A mixed-lubrication model has been developed to study tribological characteristics of a marine stern tube bearing. The finite difference method is employed to obtain numerical solutions of the Reynolds equation using combined Newton–Raphson and iterative relaxation methods. The differential equation of deflection curve of the propeller shaft is used to describe the bending deformation of propeller shaft. The displacement superposition method is used to solve the differential equation of deflection. The influences of cavitation and different boundary conditions, the Reynolds boundary condition and Jacobsson–Floberg and Olsson (JFO) boundary condition, as well as the bending deformation of shaft, on the Stribeck Curves are discussed in this paper.