ContiTech Schwingmetall - Press Releases

Hanover, April 2009Improved vibration comfort for large yachts • Innovative mount sets new standards in vibration control technology for medium-sized boat engines • More marine mounts are planned

ContiTech Vibration Control, the specialist in elastomer bearings, is extending its MEGI® range of marine mounts to include the new BD-20k-MLA engine mounting. The innovative product has excellent vibration isolation and a high load-bearing capacity. “The mount is designed for boat engines with a rating of up to 1,800 horsepower. It is ideally suited for main and auxiliary engines on large motor yachts,” explains Peter Eckwerth, head of industrial research and development at ContiTech Vibration Control. The BD-20k-MLA and all other elastic marine mountings from ContiTech help to ensure that the vibrations from large diesel engines cannot be spread through the engine base to the hull of the boat. This significantly reduces severe vibrations and excessive noise and considerably improves the comfort for passengers on board motor boats.

The new marine mount for MAN also represents a successful continuation of the development partnership between ContiTech and J. Meinert GmbH. In 2003, ContiTech and Meinert jointly started series production of the ML 777144 engine mounting for MAN boat engines up to 1,500 horsepower. The innovative BD-20k-MLA mount is even more compact than its predecessor, saving even more space. “Because of the improved load-bearing capacity, in future only four bearing blocks will be required instead of six to safely mount a boat engine in the 1,800 horsepower class,” Eckwerth explains. With the BD-20k-MLA, ContiTech is setting new standards in marine mounting technology. Because of its low transverse rigidity, the patented mount has excellent anti-vibration properties and an impressively low natural frequency. It is equipped with height adjustment and an integrated swell limiter in all degrees of freedom. The buffer that is also fitted as standard provides detachment protection of up to 3g in all directions. A metal cover also protects the BD-20k-MLA against dripping machine oil and other aggressive substances. The cover meant that the choice of optimum materials widened to include highly dynamic, high-strength natural rubber compounds.

During prototype development for the BD-20k-MLA, the expected component loads were simulated on the computer and the potential improvements identified were consistently transferred to the series product. “Before the start of series production, the marine mount had to undergo stringent product testing at our testing and measuring facilities and at MAN, the customer’s premises,” Eckwerth reports. ContiTech is consistently extending its MEGI® range for small and medium-sized boat engines. In addition to the existing ML777144 and BD-20k-MLA marine mounts and machine supports for auxiliary engines, further customer-specific developments are in progress. Engine mountings for engines with more than 2,000 horsepower are being planned.