Objective  In view of the insufficient safety and reliability of the traditional deterministic vibration analysis of ship propulsion shafting system, the vibration response analysis of the shafting system under uncertain excitation conditions is carried out.

  Methods  Using non-random vibration analysis based on non-probabilistic convex model process, the uncertain excitation and vibration response are described in the form of the upper and lower bounds of the interval to reduce dependence on a large amount of excitation sample data. Compared with the calculation results in the relevant literature, the validity of the program for solving the response bound of the two-degrees-of-freedom (2-DOFs) system is verified, and the uncertain vibration problem of the shafting system is then explored on this basis.

  Results  The results show that when the shafting system is excited by −30 N, 30 N propeller laterally, a displacement response of the magnitude of about 10⁻⁶ m is generated at the bearing. It is also indicate that the shafting system is excited in a certain interval, so a certain interval response must be produced.

  Conclusions  Applying the non-probabilistic convex model process and non-random vibration analysis to the field of the uncertain vibration analysis of ship propulsion shafting system, the vibration displacement response bound of the shafting under uncertain excitation conditions can be obtained with fewer excitation samples, thereby providing useful references for improving the robustness of the dynamic response prediction of ship propulsion shafting systems.