A crack was discovered in the No. 4 cylinder liner of the main engine on a bulk carrier vessel. The crack originated from the stern side coolant outlet and extended to the combustion chamber side. Investigation found no abnormalities in engine operating conditions or performance that would explain the cracking. The cause was unclear but was thought to be repeated localized stress from thermal imbalance that damaged the softer metallic structure and propagated a crack. The liner was replaced, taking 10 hours, and the vessel continued its voyage.
A crack was discovered in the No. 4 cylinder liner of the main engine on a bulk carrier vessel. The crack originated from the stern side coolant outlet and extended to the combustion chamber side. Investigation found no abnormalities in engine operating conditions or performance that would explain the cracking. The cause was unclear but was thought to be repeated localized stress from thermal imbalance that damaged the softer metallic structure and propagated a crack. The liner was replaced, taking 10 hours, and the vessel continued its voyage.
A crack was discovered in the No. 4 cylinder liner of the main engine on a bulk carrier vessel. The crack originated from the stern side coolant outlet and extended to the combustion chamber side. Investigation found no abnormalities in engine operating conditions or performance that would explain the cracking. The cause was unclear but was thought to be repeated localized stress from thermal imbalance that damaged the softer metallic structure and propagated a crack. The liner was replaced, taking 10 hours, and the vessel continued its voyage.
A crack was discovered in the No. 4 cylinder liner of the main engine on a bulk carrier vessel. The crack originated from the stern side coolant outlet and extended to the combustion chamber side. Investigation found no abnormalities in engine operating conditions or performance that would explain the cracking. The cause was unclear but was thought to be repeated localized stress from thermal imbalance that damaged the softer metallic structure and propagated a crack. The liner was replaced, taking 10 hours, and the vessel continued its voyage.
ME244 Main Cylinder Liner Crack Technical committee
Ship type Bulker
Date of build March 25, 1993, Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation Navigation route Tramper (Japan ~ Australia ~ Europe) Trouble machinery Category Main engine Name Cylinder liner Type SULZER 6RTA62 Date of trouble December 8, 1993 at 16:00 (during voyage)
1. Breakdown outline
4,325 hours of usage after delivery for service, cooling fresh water leakage was confirmed between the No. 4 cylinder cover of the main 6RTA62 type diesel engine and the cylinder liner. Initially it was presumed to be O-ring damage between the cover and liner so the O-ring in question was replaced. Afterwards, operation was recommenced but fresh water leakage continued to occur. An overhaul in- spection was carried out on the cover and as the attached Fig. 1 indicates, a crack was discovered on the liner. Replacement with a spare liner was immediately carried out which took approximately 10 hours to complete. After repairs, voyage was recommenced toward Japan.
2. Investigation of cause
1) Condition of liner damage (close examination on shore)
The crack was occurring from the stern side coolant outlet across to the combustion chamber side. It was a single crack and although collar check of other cooling water part was carried out, ab- normalities were not confirmed. There were also no machining scratches etc. or other abnormal defects in the part of the cooling water hole. Although a magnifier was used to examine the condition of the sleeve surface, indications of scuffing was not confirmed. 2) Comparison of engine operating condition and performance curve (table 1) Although the data after delivery for service was plotted onto an on-land trial running curve, the vessel was operating in the range of the performance curve and no abnormalities were found. Cracking due to vessel operation is difficult to imagine. From visual examinations and other various inspections, if we discount that the material strength is slightly low, there are no points which should become a problem. Although the cause is unclear, it is surmised that due to the existence of parts of thermal imbalance, some kind of focused stress repeat- edly impinged and locally damaged parts where the metallic structure of the graphite was soft, formed into cracks and propagated.
1 Fig. 1 Locations of sample extraction and photograph
2 Table 1: Engine performance curve and running condition plot
