Evaluation of tribological properties of bearing materials for marine diesel engines utilizing acoustic emission technique

Acoustic Emission (AE) technique, which has detection capability for minute failures, has been tried to monitor the condition of a plain bearing under the laboratory conditions. In this paper, the bearing materials for marine diesel engines – tin alloy as known as “white metal”, aluminum alloy of 40% tin mass and aluminum alloy 40% tin mass with resin overlay – were tested using a sleeve-to-plate tribo-tester. The frictional force and back temperature were measured as well as the AE signals. The possibility of AE technique to monitor the bearing condition was also assessed by evaluating tribological properties under different operating conditions such as start–stop simulating the crankshaft turning during engine assembly and seizure tests. These results indicate that AE is useful for monitoring the lubricated condition of the sliding surfaces and evaluating tribological properties of the bearing.