Inspection of Propellers

• Cracks on blades
Point P, Point Q
• Failure of blades
• Bending of blades
• Cavitation erosion on blade tips
• Cracks on propeller boss

1
Highly Stressed Point
called “Point P”

Ｌｅａｄｉｎｇ E ｄｇｅ
Ｔｒａｉｌｌｉｎｇ E ｄｇｅ

2
Failure of Propeller Blade at Point P

3
Close-Up Examination around Point P

4
Highly Skewed Propeller ： Skew angle > 25
degrees

Skew angle

Tip
Failure at Point Q
Point Q

Tangent to the centerline

of the blade width

5
Bending of Blades
and Repair Work

6
Missing of
Blade Tip and
Welding Repair

7
Cavitation Erosion and
Welding Repair

8
Cracks on Propeller Boss

9
 Repair of Propellers
“Guidance Notes for Repairing Marine Propellers”, July 2002
(Library E230)

(2)
(1)

(1) Cracks in Zone A are to be removed by grinding.

(2) It would be recommended that cracks on propeller boss are removed by 10
grinding, instead.
Insert sketch of propeller

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 Clearance of Stern Tube Bearing
When the clearance or the wear down at the aft end of the
stern tube bearing exceed the value shown below, the
bearing is to be replaced or repaired.
(1) Clearance for water lubricated bearing:
Diameter of Shaft (d) Clearance
d ≦ 230 mm 　　　 6 mm
　　 230 mm < d ≦ 305 mm 8 mm
305 mm < d 　　　　 9.5 mm
(2) Wear down for oil lubricated bearings:
0.3 mm, in general, but to be decided taking into account
the characteristics of the lubricating oil, the records of
lubricating oil temperature and bearing temperature, etc
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Oil leakage from Stern Tube Sealing Device

Air

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7. Propeller Shaft Survey

・ Kind 1 --- Propeller shaft which is effectively protected

against corrosion by sea water, or which is
made of corrosion resistant material. Survey
interval ： 5 years, basically
Kind 1A ---Stern tube bearing lubricated by sea water
Kind 1B ---Stern tube bearing lubricated by oil
Kind 1C ---Stern tube bearing lubricated by oil +
LO forced circulation, Two LO pumps,
Bearing high temperature alarm, Distance
piece to shift the seal ring contact position, etc.

・ Kind 2 ---Propeller shaft other than those specified as

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Kind 1. Survey interval ： 3 years + at SS
Interval of Propeller Shaft Survey

Partial Survey for

Full Kind 1B, 1C Shaft Max.
Lubri-
Kind Kind Survey Interval
cation
(Year) Propeller Dock? year (Year)

Sea
1A 5 --- 5
Water
keyed Dock
1 Oil 1B 5 3 8
keyless Afloat
keyed Dock
Oil 1C 5 5 10
keyless Afloat
Sea 3 and
2 --- --- 3
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Water at SS
Details of Propeller Shaft Survey
Full Partial Survey
　　　　　　　　　　　 Survey keyed
keyless
・ Connecting part with propeller (NDT) ○ 　　 ○ 　　　　
・ Other part, coupling bolts ○
・ Stern tube bearing 　　　　　 　 ○
・ Bearing clearance / wear down ○ ○ ○
・ Stern tube sealing device (overhaul) 　 ○ ○
・ Inner bore of propeller boss ○ ○
・ Pitch control gear etc. of CPP ○
・ Water lubrication system ○
・ Oil lubrication system ○ ○ ○
・ Lubricating oil management ○ ○ ○
・ Parts exposed in E/R ○ 　　　 ○
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・ Avoidance of barred speed range 　　　 ○ ○
Propeller Shaft Condition Monitoring (PSCM)
Feature ： As long as the monitoring results are favorable,
the propeller shaft need not be drawn out for
survey.
1. Condition of stern tube bearing is monitored by
temperature sensor embedded in stern tube bearing and
the record of the temperature is maintained.
2. Stern tube lubricating oil is analyzed by the approved
method every 6 months.
3. Stern tube sealing device is capable of being repaired or
replaced without drawing out the propeller shaft.
As tapered part is not monitored by PSCM, it is required to
dismantle the propeller for inspection of the tapered part in
compliance with the relevant requirement for 1B/1C. 17
 Propeller Shaft Survey --- Damages on Propeller Shaft
(Instruction A30 1402)
packing gland
propeller boss

sleeve

Rubber packing to
propeller packing sleeve prevent water ingress
into tapered part was
key
not sufficient, and sea
water entered the part
crack causing cracks.
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end of propeller boss
 Cause of damage ：
O-ring was not of proper size,
Corrosion and thus sea water ingress took
and crack place. Further, grease was not
filled in the space at the taper-
end of shaft.
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 Damages on Propeller Shaft
Crack by torsion Crisscross mark During grinding off

If crack depth is less than 3mm, crack may be scraped off with
its vicinity faired smoothly.
If the shaft diameter becomes less than the required, output power of the
main engine is to be reduced. 20
Damages on Propeller Shaft

Crisscross mark at sleeve end

21
Torsional Fatigue Strength in Air / Sea Water

in air

in sea water

22
23
Propeller Shaft Sleeve
Damage on propeller shaft sleeve in way of gland packing

Sleeve thickness becomes less than 8 mm or 1/2 of the

required thickness --- Sleeve to be renewed.

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25
Example of Damage of White Metal

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27
Air

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 Cautions to be taken during PS
・ Magna-flux test for propeller shaft taper end. PT is not
acceptable except for stainless shaft.
・ When Kind 1 shaft is degraded to Kind 2 due to damage
on sleeve etc., shaft diameter may fall short against the
required. Instruction from SVD is to be sought for.
・ It is to be ascertained that the reading of wear down
gauge is consistent with the previous readings.
・ When keyless propeller is being refitted after PS, μ r
value (friction coefficient at dry fitting) is to confirmed.
・ At Partial Survey on Kind 1C shaft, the records entered
in “Record for Monitoring System of Stern tube Bearing
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and Oil Sealing Device” are to be referred to.
 Confirmation of Frictional Coefficient
　（ Guidance for Survey, D7.4.2-2 ）
Frictional coefficient μr calculated from following
formula is to be : 0.1≦ μr <0.2
KE
K  tan 
r  S
KE
1 K tan 
S
K ： Ratio of fitting force to pull-up length derived
from the result of dry fitting process （ N/mm ）
KE, S, α ： Same as those shown in Calculation Sheet
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