Energy Analysis of the Propulsion Shaft Fatigue Process in a Rotating Mechanical System Part III Dimensional Analysis

This article presents the third and last part of the problem of diagnosing the fatigue of marine propulsion shafts in terms of energy with the use of the action function, undertaken by the authors. Even the most perfect physical models of real objects, observed under laboratory conditions and developed based on the results of their research, cannot be useful in diagnostics without properly transferring the obtained results to the scale of the real object. This paper presents the method of using dimensional analyses and the Buckingham theorem (the so-called π theorem) to determine the dimensionless numbers of the dynamic similarity of the physical model of the propulsion shaft and its real ship counterpart, which enable the transfer of the results of the research on the energy processes accompanying the ship propulsion shaft fatigue from the physical model to the real object.