Waterlubricated thrust bearing is an important component that provides axial support in the ships propulsion system,and its tribological performance is one of the important factors affecting the ships working performance.An experimental study of spiral groove rubber thrust bearings was carried out,and the friction torque of two rubber hardness thrust bearings under different conditions and the surface morphology of the rubber layer before and after the experiments under highspeed and heavyduty conditions were measured.The influence of speed,load,direction of rotation and the hardness of rubber layer on the friction coefficient and the main wear forms of thrust bearing were analyzed.The results show that under the same load,with the increase of speed,the friction coefficient of two rubber hardness thrust bearings shows a significant downward trend,and the maximum reduction amplitude of the friction coefficient reaches 0.51.Under the condition of higher speed,the influence of load on the friction coefficient is not significant.High hardness rubber thrust bearings have better tribological performance under lowspeed conditions,while low hardness rubber thrust bearings are less prone to adhesive wear under highspeed and heavyload conditions.Therefore,it is recommended to use high hardness rubber thrust bearing in lowspeed and heavyload condition,and low hardness thrust bearing in highspeed and heavyload condition.