Larger ships, propelled by the

latest generation of high-powered

diesel engines, can be susceptible
to shaft alignment problems and
tail shaft bearing failure if careful
attention is not paid to the
propulsion shafting alignment
during the design and
construction of the vessel.
Proper shaft alignment is of particular importance in the design of the ultra-large
crude oil carriers, bulk carriers and containerships propelled by the new generation
of very high-powered engines driving a single screw.

CAUSES
Inadequate propulsion shaft alignment design could manifest itself in the form of stern
bearing failure, intermediate bearing failure or main engine bearing failure, which could
totally incapacitate the ships propulsion capability. The economic consequence of such
failures is so great that this issue is of particular interest to shipowners and other stakeholders in the industry.
Such failures may be attributable to:
Inadequate alignment design tools
Lack of hull deflection data
Lack of sufficient experience-based knowledge
Production errors
Any one of these can have serious consequences.
Shaft alignment is still largely experience-based
engineering, due to the fact that in many
cases hull deflection data are not readily available. It makes alignment
conditions unpredictable for
certain cargo loading conditions (ballast voyage, full
laden voyage, etc.).

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS
In an effort to address these issues, ABS has made
technological advancements that may be used by
industry stakeholders.
These include:
Development of ABS SHAFT computational
tools for shaft alignment design and analysis
Publication of ABS Guidance Notes on
Propulsion Shafting Alignment
Collection of hull deflection data by field
measurements
Development of alignment optimization
computational tools, that make use of
measured hull deflection data
When hull deflection data are available, ABS SHAFT can predict alignment behavior for
given cargo loading conditions. When the ship leaves the yard, bearing load distribution
may be satisfactory. However, when the ship is fully laden, the distribution of bearing
loads may be significantly altered to the extent some bearings are unloaded due to the
effects of hull deflection creating the possibility of bearing damage at some point in
service. Without hull deflection data for all cargo-loading conditions, it is hard to
predict any potential problems of this kind.

H u l l D e f l e c t i o n M e a s u re m e n t
For this reason, ABS undertook a multi-year effort of collecting hull deflection
data by measurement with the cooperation of major Asian and European shipyards.
ABS developed an in-house measurement methodology by means of multiple strain
gauges fitted along the shaft lines. Reverse engineering software was specifically
developed for this purpose. The software takes strain gauge inputs together with
shafting system geometry and works out a unique curvature of the shaft, which
is thought to most closely represent the hull deflection shape.
O p t i m i z a t i o n S o f t w a re
The optimization module is incorporated in the ABS SHAFT software. It is intended to
be used by shipyard designers. Optimized alignment means an initial alignment design
that should work for all cargo-loading conditions. The optimization algorithm searches
for satisfactory solutions within given constraints, i.e., predicted hull deflection values.
Data collected by ABS are being used as a default. An analytical method for interoperation or extrapolation was specifically developed by ABS in order to effectively utilize
the collected data. With this software, shipyard designers will be able to make initial
alignment design more predictable.

TX 02/06 4000 6009