As a vessel travels at sea, it generates an electromotive force due to the use of materials with different electrochemical properties (such as zinc, bronze and steel), creating an electric current that flows through the bearings between the propeller, shaft and hull.
Over time, this electric current damages ships’ and submarines’ bearings. The active shaft grounding system protects these bearings by reducing corrosion.
It reduces the voltage difference between the shaft and the hull to the minimum possible level (a few mV) to minimise the flow of current through the bearings and to regulate the current regardless of the circuit’s instantaneous impedance.
By effectively regulating and reducing electrical currents, HENSOLDT’s grounding systems also significantly improve ships’ electromagnetic discretion.
Our active grounding systems deliver far superior performance compared to a simple passive grounding system, and are the perfect solutions for protecting the propulsion system and contributing to ship degaussing.
They can be adapted to all types of ships and submarines, can be installed on new vessels, and can also be retrofitted or used to replace entire existing systems (passive or active).
