White Metal Bearing

The Sterntube is a watertight tube enclosing and supporting the propeller shaft. It consists of a cast-iron or casted steel cylinder fitted with bearings within which the propeller shaft, rotates. The Sterntube bearings are typically oil-lubricated and usually consisting of two bushes pressed into the stern-tube. The bearing is a cast iron bush lined with a white metal having excellent load handling and lubricating property.

The Sterntube bearing serves an important purpose – to withstand load. The propeller which hangs at the aft end exerts load on the shaft, as do the rotational loads of the propellor shaft. All these loads are imparted on the Sterntube bearings.

White metal bearings as the name suggests are light in colour owing to the running surface of the bearing being made from lead historically and now tin based alloys. The backing element of the bearing is a harder shell made from steel which has the softer tin-based lining material deposited on it using a rotational moulding process with molten metal known as babbiting. The stiffer backing material provides structural support for the bearing while the softer lining gives optimum friction and wear properties.

Designed, installed and maintained correctly – white metal bearings can last the lifetime of a vessel While the wear surfaces of the bearings are relatively thin compared to their thickness, when operating correctly the shaft is supported on a full fluid film which prevents any contact between the surfaces other than when they are at rest.

Supersoar marine bearings are available in all sizes to accommodate any vessel type or application and come with class inspection certification, on request, like BV,RINA, CCS and NDT test of white metal.

Outer material: gray cast iron

Inner material: Babbitt alloy

AFT bearing length: 330mm-900mm

FWD bearing length: 210mm-550mm

Max AFT bearing inner diameter: 370mm

Max FWD bearing inner diameter: 365mm

Aries

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