Within the marine industry, in-situ machining of stern tube bearing pockets or of bearings themselves belong to a group of line-boring assignments that we carry out very frequently. In this post we would like to introduce two recent cases, one performed in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, and the other in Singapore.
Case 1: Machining of stern tube forward and after bearing pockets in Singapore
Damage to the stern tube bearings is found during the routine dry docking of a vessel in a shipyard in Singapore. Upon this discovery, the ship owner turns to us for advice. As this is evidently an unplanned and serious case, our specialists mobilize very quickly and carry out an initial laser check of the pockets’ alignments and geometries. The check reveals that the bearing pockets are misaligned and that the ovality that is measured is excessive.
The customer concurs that line boring presents itself as the best remedy. Again, our machining specialists mobilize quickly and rectify the poor alingment and ovality. Both the forward and after bearing pockets are machined. Working around this clock, this is acomplished in just five days.
We arrange two new bearings to be made in Spain on an urgent basis. Once they are delivered, we supervise their installation at the shipyard in Singapore. A final laser alignment check confirms that the alignment is correct now. We also carry out a load test of the entire shaft line and attend the sea trial, which goes smoothly.
Case 2: Machining of stern tube after bearing pocket in Las Palmas, Canary Island
A Norwegian ship owner decides to upgrade the stern tube bearings and seal assembly on a 20-year old ship to a newer, improved design. The upgrade means that the after bearing pockets has to be machined to accomodate the new bearing bush and seals.
Our work scope is as follows:
- Measure stern tube diameter using a micrometer
- Find the existing center line through laser measurement
- Set up the CLB80 line boring machine inside the stern tube and align it with the help of lasers
- Machine the stern tube according to drawings
- Final measurement of the stern tube using a micrometer and laser measurement equipment
As is usually the case with stern tube bearing bushes, three different inner diameters (Ø525, Ø524 and Ø523 mm) have to be machined. The total lenght of the of the stepped area is 935 mm. Two QuantiServ specialists from Gothenburg, Sweden, complete the work in two weeks.
They use our new CLB80 line boring machine that we designed and built ourselves. This machine is capable to very accurately bore holes with Ø140 – 600 mm that are up to 10,000 mm long. Its flange facing capability ranges from Ø90 – 700 mm.
Here is a time-lapse video of the line boring work performed in Las Palmas. The laser alignment and measurement works taking place before and after the line boring are omitted from the video to keep it short.
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