Abstract
An unusual and often severe type of journal and thrust bearing failure has been encountered in both marine and land-based turbine installations. These failures have occurred with steel rotors running against high-tin babbitt metal. From the outward appearance of damage, these failures have been called ‘machining’ or ‘wire-wool’ failures.
The potential magnitude and known consequences of this type of failure on large machinery units has led to the undertaking of an extensive research programme. The objective of the programme is to determine the causes, mechanisms, and means of eliminating or reducing the risk of such failures. This paper discusses the results obtained from a bench-scale apparatus, run under defined conditions, in which service-type failures can be reproduced. Main emphasis in this paper is on the influence of steel rotor metals on failure susceptibility. Also treated is the influence on failure susceptibility of chlorine-containing, load-carrying additives in the oil environment. The failure mechanism strongly implies that rotor steels can be developed which are less susceptible to this type of failure.
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