Bachelor/Master Thesis: Wear simulation of sliding bearings in maritime propulsion systems

The Institute of Machine Elements and System Engineering researches the fundamental structural and tribological behavior of machine elements and represents them in experimentally validated model descriptions. These model descriptions are used to analyse and design the functional, loss and noise behavior of entire technical systems with a focus on drive technology. The developed models are also used to research and develop methods of Model Based Systems Engineering as a central element of future inductive product development processes.

Due to the progressive climate change new shipping routes occur in the polar regions. This leads to an increasing number of collisions between ship propellers and sea ice which results in high impulse loads on the propeller and thus on the sliding bearings of the shaft. The influence of these loads on the bearing life is widely unknown.

In the HealthProp project, the influences of ice loads on the propulsion bearings of the research vessel SA Agulhas II are measured, quantified and analyzed with regard to the reduction in service life caused by the failure mechanisms, in particular wear and fatigue. This work therefore focuses on the influence of ice collision loads on the wear development of the stern tube bearings of the research vessel SA Agulhas II.

Tasks:

• Literature review on wear behavior as well as wear calculation of sliding bearings.
• Development of a calculation method for the prediction of the expected wear with the help of EXCITE /MATLAB.
• Automating routine tasks, e.g. with Matlab scripts
• Investigation of the influence of operating conditions (load, speed, temperature) on the wear behavior using EXCITE /MATLAB.
• Evaluation of the results in terms of bearing life.

Requirements:

• Motivation to work independently and responsibly, ability to
• communicate and work in a team
• Interest in powertrain and simulation technology
• Prior knowledge in the field of mechanical systems as well as machine element design.
• Previous knowledge in the field of simulation as well as programming (e.g. MATLAB) is desirable, but not mandatory.

What we offer:

• Participation in an international research project
• Intensive support in a highly motivated and interdisciplinary team
• Learning of practice-relevant simulation methods
• Option to participate in a scientific publication
• Immediate start possible
• Flexible working hours

Auf deine aussagekräftige Bewerbung per E-Mail freut sich:

Ahmed Saleh, M. Sc.
Institut für Maschinenelemente und Systementwicklung

Schinkelstraße 10, 52062 Aachen
ahmed.saleh@imse.rwth-aachen.de