Comparative Studies of the Seatings of Propulsion Plants and Auxiliary Machinery on Chocks Made of Metal and Cast of Resin Part I. Mounting on Steel Chocks

This paper presents a description and the results of experimental studies of the deformation, friction and structural damping occurring in foundation bolted joints of propulsion plant components and auxiliary machinery that is rigidly mounted on sea-going ships. The rigid mounting of these devices to the ships’ structural foundations can be implemented in a traditional way, i.e. on chocks made of metal (usually of steel), or in a modern way, i.e. on chocks cast of resin, specially designed for this purpose. The main goal of this study is to perform a comparative analysis of these two solutions and to give a scientific explanation for why chocks cast of resin perform better in machinery seatings than the steel chocks traditionally used for this purpose. The paper consists of two parts. Part I presents the details of the rigid mountings of machinery to the foundations, and contains the results of experimental studies performed on a model of a foundation bolted joint with a traditional steel chock. Part II contains the results of similar studies carried out for a model of a bolted joint with a modern chock cast of resin. Next, a comparative analysis and evaluation of the results obtained for both investigated bolted joints was carried out, and conclusions were formulated to highlight important aspects of the problem from the point of view of science and engineering practice.