Fall 2014

Mechanical Engineering Design

Case Study:

Shaft Application in Automobiles

Instructed By: Dr. Hiba Sheheitli

Alaa Alhadi: 201203457

Hussein Basma: 201203464

December 19, 2014

Table of Contents:
Abstract....................................................................................................... 3
Why we Need Shafts................................................................................. 4
Problem Statement ................................................................................... 5
Design Requirements ................................................................................ 5
Static Loading Analysis ............................................................................. 7
Dynamic Loading Analysis....................................................................... 8
Critical Speed Consideration ................................................................ 11
Recommendations ................................................................................. 13
References................................................................................................ 14

Table of Figures:
Figure 1: Drive Shaft in Cars ..................................................................... 4
Figure 2: Drive Shaft Dimensions ............................................................. 6
Figure 3: Dimensions of Shaft ................................................................... 7
Figure 4: Safety Factors ............................................................................ 8
Figure 5: Fillet positions .............................................................................. 9
Figure 6: Stress Raisers at Different Positions........................................ 10

Abstract
In most of the engineering applications, transmitting motion and torque is a
fundamental purpose of any design. This goal is achieved by using shafts. Shafts are
then an essential part in the buildup of any dynamic system that involves motion and
torque transmission. It is well known that cars rely extensively on shafts to transmit
the motor rotational motion to the wheels in order for the car to move. In this context,
shaft design must be considered thoroughly and carefully since these shafts have to
endure multiple kinds of stresses. The purpose is to come up with some design
specification to ensure that the shaft system doesnt fail under the escalating stresses
that will develop in the internal shaft body. The shaft will have to endure static
loading as well as dynamic loading. Bending, axial and torsional stresses will all be
present on the shafts. For this purpose, we must study the shaft first as a static member
exposed to static failure, and second as a dynamic system under fluctuating loading
exposed to fatigue failure. Moreover, mechanical resonance plays a critical role in
shaft design. The dimensions of the shaft must be chosen with care to avoid buckling
and failure of the shaft due to the unstable vibratory motion that arises at certain
critical speeds.
In this paper we will analyze the design of certain car shaft with general
dimensions and assess its performance for both the static and dynamic loading.
Stresses, deflections and safety factors of the shafts are checked to validate the design.
Some recommendations are made regarding possible solutions for potential design
problems.

Why We Need Shafts

The basic concept behind automobiles is to transmit the motor rotational
motion to the wheels in order obtain a translational motion for the vehicle. Shafts
ensure this objective. They allow the transmission of the motors torque and motion to
the different parts in the car. One of the basic shafts in any automobile is the drive
shaft. It's used on front engine rear wheel drive and most 4 wheel drive vehicles. It
couples the transmission with the rear differential. It is clear then that shafts are basic
components in automobiles hence; their design should be considered carefully in order
to make sure they maintain a steady acceptable performance.

Figure 1: Drive Shaft in Cars

Problem Statement
As we mentioned earlier, the role of the shaft is to transmit torque and motion.
This application will expose the shaft to intense torsional stresses due to torque
transmission. Besides, due to the rotational motion of the shaft, it endures cyclic
loading and vibratory motion that may result in its failure due to fatigue. The design
should ensure that the shaft doesnt fail due to the loading by accounting a certain
safety factor. Another design problem is related to the critical speed of the shaft.
Whirling of shafts occurs when a rotating shaft attains a certain speed and starts
experiencing some violent instability. The shaft suffers excessive deflection, and
bows. If this critical speed of whirling is maintained, then the resulting amplitude
becomes sufficient to cause buckling and failure. However, if the speed is rapidly
increased before such deleterious effects occur, then the shaft is seen to re-stabilizes
and run true again until, at another specific speed, a double bow is produced. Our
problem is to design the dimensions of the shaft so we avoid attaining these critical
speeds so that our maximum operation frequency will be far away from the natural
frequency of the shaft.

Design Requirements
So the key points in any shaft design problem can be simplified two major
points, one related to stress and one related to the speed. The analysis of the given
driver shaft will be carried on different basis. First, we will failure due consider static
loading. In this context, we will account for the different loads handled by the driver
shaft and calculate the corresponding stresses due to these loads. We will consider our
analysis assuming the shaft operates at steady speed yielding a steady torsional stress.
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We can then compare our stress values to those obtained for our shaft material and
check for yielding. The purpose is to ensure the shafts dimensions are safe and the
shaft wont fail under static loading. If the shaft passes the test successfully, it will be
tested for fatigue due to the fluctuating torsional load. At this stage we will care about
the values of both, the maximum and minimum torque delivered to the shaft. Again
our design requirement is that the dimensions are good enough to ensure safe
operation. At the third level, the dimensions of the shaft will be tested for resonance.
Our requirement is that the length and the diameter of the shaft will be safe for
operation. We want to ensure that for these dimensions the natural frequency of the
shaft will be far away from the operating frequency. The dimensions should be
modified if the shaft fails any of the mentioned tests.

Testing the Design

Figure 2: Drive Shaft Dimensions

The basic dimensions of the driver shaft are tabulated below:

P.S: The Design we are analyzing is a project that was done by students from the
University of Alberta, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Canada. Please Refer to
reference [4] in the Reference list

Length(m) D1(mm)

D2(mm)

Fillet F1(mm)

Fillet F2(mm)

1.4

90

100

Figure 3: Dimensions of Shaft

The shaft material is steel with a modulus of elasticity of 207 GPa.

The yielding strength of our steel is Sy = 350 MPa and an ultimate strength Su =
720 MPa.
The value of the maximum torque transmitted to the shaft is given to be 25000
N.m. The minimum torque however is 5500 N.m.

Case 1: Static Loading Analysis

In this part we will consider the case where the torque is steady with a
magnitude equal to the maximum value of 25000 N.m.

The driver shaft is exposed to one king of loading, which is the torsional
loading. There are no external loads to exert any axial forces or bending
moments. So the stress that develops in the shaft is shear stress due the torsion.
In order to calculate the shearing stress caused by this steady torque, we will
use the equation that governs shearing stress due to torsion for circular cross
sectional areas:

16
3
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Where T is the delivered torque and d is the diameter. Substituting the value of
T=25000 N.m and d=0.1m will yield a value of the shear stress

127.44

MPa.
As we can see, = 139.44 MPa

< Sy = 350 MPa.

This means that the shaft wont fail under static loading.
If we want to calculate the designs factor of safety for static loading we can
use the ultimate strength criterion and the yielding strength criterion.
The designs general factor of safety is equal to

however will be equal to

. The yielding safety factor

N (fracture)

Ny (yielding)

4.65

2.51

Figure 4: Safety Factors

The system is way safe from static fracture as well as from yielding, so we will
move our analysis to the next part where we consider the effect of cyclic
loading and the fluctuation stresses on the performance of the shaft.

Case 2: Dynamic loading Analysis:

We move now to the dynamic fatigue analysis. We want to calculate the safety factor
and compare it to the one given which is n = 2.0
The shaft undergoes a fluctuating torque 5500 N.m and 25000 N.m, it has a diameter
of 0.1 m.
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The moment of Inertia I =

64

4 =

64

0.14 = 4.9 106 4

We start by calculating the maximum and minimum shear stresses

= 127
= 28
Now we have to find the mean and the amplitude value of the shear
=

+
= 77.5
2

= 49.5
2

Figure 5: Fillet positions

Now we need to calculate the stress raisers factors due to fillets. We have 3
stress raisers at 3 different positions. We tabulate our ratios next page

D/d

r/d

Kts

Kfs

Position 1

130/100 = 1.3

4/100 = 0.04

1.6

0.85

1.51

Position 2

100/90 = 1.11

1/90 = 0.01

0.75

1.78

Position 3

130/90 = 1.44

4/90 = 0.044

1.9

0.85

1.765

Figure 6: Stress Raisers at Different Positions

The highest stress concentration factor is at position 2, so our critical point is at

position 2.
We apply the marine equation to find Se
We start by calculating the different modifying factors:
Ka = 4.51*550-0.265 = 0.84 (Machined shaft)
Kb = 1.51*100-0.157 = 0.89
Kc = 0.59 (Torsion)
Kd = 1
Ke =

1
1.9

= 0.56

Se = 0.5*Sut = 0.5*720 = 360Mpa

Se = Ka* Kb* Kc* Kd* Ke*Se = 169.25 MPa
Using the Modified Goodman Criterion

We have to change Sut into Sus since the system is in pure shear. Sus = 0.67*Sut
= 368.5Mpa
Plugging in the values, n = 1.89
The given safety factor is 2, we notice that we almost obtained similar results
and the error is 5.5%.
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 Using the Soderberg approach which accounts for yielding

n = 1.7
Using the Gerber criterion:

0.292n +0.012n2 -1 = 0
n = 3.04
We notice that this is the highest safety factor as expected since this criterion is
the least conservative.

Critical Speed Consideration

In order to analyze our system stability in terms of vibration avoidance and
critical speed reduction, we have to calculate the critical frequency in order to avoid
any instability. The system we are dealing with mentions that the design has a natural
frequency of 90 HZ which means its critical speed is:
= 2
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So we say; = 2 90 = 565.47 /
We will implement a case study in order to validate this design according to its critical
frequency. Note that we are dealing with the first natural frequency only.
The given data are as follow:
The diameter of the shaft is the main diameter which is 100 mm
The material of the shaft is Steel with modulus of elasticity of 207 Gpa
The length of the shaft if 1.4 m
This type of shafts is unloaded; we have to determine its natural frequency using this
formula (equation-7-22)

We calculate I =

64

4 =

64

0.14 = 4.9 106 4

The mass per unit length of the shaft is the density multiplied by the cross sectional
area m = *A = 7480*0.12**0.25 = 58 Kg/m
For this sake, we calculate the natural frequency

1 = (

1.85

)2

207109 4.9106
58

= 490 /

The given natural frequency is 565 rad / sec, so the error in our case is

E=

565490
565

= 13.2%

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Since the application must run at a speed less than half the natural frequency of the
shaft, we can tolerate this error.

Recommendations
In order to improve this design, we can reduce the unit mass of the shaft which is
large 58 Kg /m and thus we increase our critical frequency and we operate on the safe
side or we can operate at higher frequencies. To achieve this goal, we can use alloyed
metals instead of steel such that they have higher lower density just like carbon steel
and other alloys. The diameter of the shaft can be reduced and thus but this is unlikely
to happen because this parameter has an important role in the fatigue analysis being
discussed before.

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Reference List
[1] Anna University, (2014). Design and Analysis of Composite Drive Shaft for RearWheel-Drive Engine, Retrieved Dec 17, from
http://www.ijser.org/researchpaper%5CDesign-and-analysis-of-CompositeDrive- Shaft-for-Rear-Wheel-Drive-Engine.pdf
[2] Arun Ravi, (2014). Design, Comparison and Analysis of a Composite Drive Shaft
for an Automobile Retrieved Dec 17, from http://www.ripublication.com/iraers pl/iraerv4n1spl_04.pdf
[3] Jayanidu.P, Hibbatullah.M, Baskar.P,(2013). Ana;ysis of a Drive Shaft for
Automobile Application Retrieved Dec 16, From
http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr- jmce/papers/vol10issue2/H01024346.pdf?id=7622
[4] University of Alberta, (2010). Design Analysis of an Automotive Composite Drive
Shaft, Retrieved Dec 17, from http://www.enggjournals.com/ijet/docs/IJET100202-04.pdf

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