Under special operating conditions, such as the starting, stopping, and turning of marine engines, it is challenging to establish a stable water-lubricating film for water-lubricated bearings. Lubrication failure leads to severe friction-induced vibration behaviors, which threaten the reliability of bearings and the stealth capability of ships. In this study, a novel vibration dissipation mode via the mechanical–electrical–thermal energy conversion pathway was applied for the design of water-lubricated bearing materials. The piezoelectric damping composites (PDCs) with different deformation responses were fabricated. Under water-lubricated conditions, M3055 exhibited excellent tribological properties, including a low average coefficient of friction (COF) of approximately 0.22 and a low wear rate of 0.0066 mm³/(N·h). Furthermore, M3055 demonstrated excellent vibration–noise attenuation, with maximum vibration and noise amplitudes of 4.2 m/s² and 0.88 Pa, respectively. These results are attributed to the fact that M3055 provided suitable deformation resistance and optimal piezoelectric damping effect, enabling the successful conversion of mechanical energy (vibration) into Joule heat. The knowledge gained not only contributes to a better understanding of PDCs but also provides a theoretical reference for the development of novel anti-wear and vibration-attenuated water-lubricated bearing polymers.

Natural materials tend to exhibit excellent performance in the engineering field because of their structure and special functions. A natural red willow, called natural porous wood material (NPWM), was found, and wear tests were conducted to determine its potential as an oil-impregnated material by utilizing its special porous structure. Fluorination treatment was adopted to improve the NPWM properties for absorbing and storing lubricating oil. The different contributions of soaking and fluorination-soaking treatments on the tribological properties of NPWMs and their respective mechanism of effect were revealed. The results showed that the fluorination-soaking treatment helped absorb and store sufficient lubricating oil in the NPWM porous structure; therefore, more lubricating oil would be squeezed out and function as a tribol-film between contacting surfaces during the friction process, thus ultimately contributing to stable and smooth wear responses even under prolong friction. However, the formation of an oil-in-water emulsion, caused by the buoyancy effect, destroyed the oil films on the worn NPWM surface in a water environment, resulting in higher coefficients of friction (COFs) under water conditions than under dry friction, even after the fluorination-soaking treatment. The knowledge gained herein could not only verify the potential of NPWM as an excellent oil-impregnated material in the engineering field but also provide a new methodology for the design of artificial porous materials with stable and smooth friction processes.