COVENTRY UNIVERSITY

Fea Analysis Of A Shaft And Muff Coupling

305MED Assignment 2
DADAR TARIQ MOHAMED ZAFFAR
11/8/2010

A detailed exploration of finite element analysis using Solidworks simulation and modeling package.
Content Page No.
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES 2

3D MODELS GENERATION 3

Modeling of the shaft 6

Modeling the shaft key 8

Assembly of parts 9

Assembly of the shaft with the muff and key assembly 10

Simulation of the shaft and coupling in Solidworks Simulation® 12

Simulating a cross section of the 15

Discussion 19

Conclusion 22

References 23

Appendix

2D drawings 24

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INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

My main task was to Design a cast iron solid muff coupling for a mild steel shaft to transmit
40KW at 350 rpm. The allowable shear stress in the key and shaft is not to exceed 45 MPa and
that in the cast iron sleeve is 15 MPa.

Upon completion of the design and assembly of the model, I was required to carry out finite
element analysis to determine the maximum stress, strain and displacement of the model. This
was to be carried out using Solidworks® 2010 CAD software.

A detailed report was to be formulated upon completion of the task that will outline:

1. The procedure for creation of the 3D models

2. The order in which the simulation was conducted
3. A complete report generated by the package
4. Detailed 2D and 3D drawings of the components
5. A detailed discussion complete with a conclusion.

A detailed 2d drawing was provided which was to be followed while designing the shaft and
muff coupling. Some changes were later made to the drawing in order to facilitate better design
features.

The solid model included the following components.

1. Muff coupling
2. Shaft 1
3. Shaft 2
4. Shaft key

Note:

The procedure provided for the 3D model generation is not a step by step solution and assumes
the reader has some basic understanding of the Solidworks package.

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3D MODELS GENERATION

As mentioned earlier, the models were created using Solidworks. The following is a vbreif
procedure on how to carry out this task. The parts will be modeled in the order shown in the
introduction above.

Modeling the muff coupling

Open Solidworks>new part

1. In the front plane, create a circle and assign a diameter of 63mm.

2. Go to features>extrude and select blind and enter the value 88mm as shown below.

fig 1

3. Select the front face of the extruded part and go to sketch>circle and draw a circle
concentric to the first. Assign a diameter of 25mm.
4. Go to cut extrude and assign a value of 88mm or select through all then select the green
correct symbol to accept.

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 fig 2

5. Next we create the key slot which is tapered. To do this, select the Right plane, select
normal to and draw the sketch with the dimensions shown in the figure below.

fig 3

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6. The go to features>cut extrude and select mid plane, assign a value of 8mm as shown
below.

fig 4

7. After completing the cut extrude operation, the final part will look as shown below.

fig 5 fig 6

8. That concludes the muff coupling modeling. Finally, go to file>Save as, select your
preferred location and click save.

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Modeling of the shaft

1. Go to file>new>part
2. In the front plane create a circle and assign a 25mm dimension.
3. Extrude the sketch to a length of 100 mm as shown below.

fig 7

4. Select any one of the two faces and sketch the slot as shown below.

fig 8

5. Cut extrude the sketch to reveal the slot. Assign a dimension of 60mm to the slot as
shown on the next page.

Page 6 of 27
 fig 9

6. Create a fillet in the slot, do this by selecting the edge inside the slot and select the fillet
function. Assign a dimension of 10mm and accept.

fig 10

7. Create a chamfer around the slotted edge. Apply same procedure as the fillet except this
time select chamfer. Assign a dimension of 2mm as shown below.

8. Finally, go to file>Save as
and save the file as shaft in a
location of your choice.

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Modeling the shaft key

1. Go to file>new>part
2. In the right plane, draw the sketch as shown below.

fig 11

3. Extrude the sketch and assign a dimension of 8mm as shown below and accept.

4. Finally save your part by clicking file>save as>tapper key.

Now that we have modeled all our parts, we have to assemble them into a single configuration.

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Assembly of parts

Assuming all the parts previously modeled are open in Solidworks, go to file>new>assembly.

In assembly mode, select the assembly tab and select insert components. Select the muff
coupling and the tapper key.

Select the edge of the tapper key and the inner edge of the muff groove. Go to mates in the
assembly menu and select coincident as shown above, repeat the same step but this time select
the other edge of the tapper key and the muff coupling.

Do the same with the front edge of the key and the coupling. The final assembly will look as
shown below. The edges have been color indicated to highlight the tapered edges.

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Assembly of the shaft with the muff and key assembly

In the assembly menu, select add components and select the shaft, select the circular edge of the
shaft which has a slot and the circular edge of the muff, go to mates in the assembly menu and
select concentric as shown below.

This will align the shaft and the muff to be in a horizontal configuration. Next, select the inner
edge of the slot and the lower edge of the key to assemble the shaft into the muff as shown
below.

Select the parallel mate function. This

will align the slot with the key. Now
simply drag the shaft into the muff to
a desired depth. This completes the
assembly process for the first shaft.
Repeat the same procedure for
assembly of the second shaft. To add
the second shaft, go to insert
components and select the shaft you
selected earlier and repeat the
assembly procedure from the rear
side of the muff. Finally mate the two
faces of the shafts with each other
and position the shaft in a central
position.

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The final assembly will look as shown below.

The rendered image of the shaft and coupling looks like the image shown below.

Go to file, save as>assembly in a location of your choice.

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Simulation of the shaft and coupling in Solidworks Simulation®

1. Open the assembly and select the simulation option in the assembly menu.
2. In the study advisor, select new study.
3. In the options window select statics then accept.
4. In the fixtures advisor menu, select advanced fixtures.

In the first input box, select the two faces of the shafts, in the second input box, enter the
cylindrical faces of the shafts. In the translations sections, select the radial and
circumferential options as shown above and close.

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Defining the loads

In the loads advisor, select torque. In the first input box select the circular face of the muff and
for the second input box, select the same face. Assign a value of 136.418N-m for the torque
magnitude as shown below, accept and exit.

Create a mesh by right clicking the mesh feature on the left side properties window.
Move the slider to fine and accept. This will plot the meshed part as shown below.

Finally, select the run option in the simulation menu and wait for the simulation to complete in
order to reveal the plot for stress, strain and displacement.

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Plots

Stress distribution plot

Displacement plot

Page 14 of 27
Simulating a cross section of the shaft to get accurate results in relation to stress and
displacement distribution

In one of the faces of the shaft, create a sketch as shown below. Use relative geometry for
dimensions. Cut extrude the sketch to get a quadrant of the shaft as shown below.

Under the features tab. Select reference geometry and select axis. Select the two vertices of the
quadrant and accept as shown below.

The axis will act as a point of reference during the simulation stage.

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Select new study under the simulation tab. In the fixtures advisor, select advanced fixtures and
pick reference geometry. In the window that appears, add the parameters as shown below.

In the second input box, select the axis created earlier, this will be the point of refrence for the
torque distribution.

Page 16 of 27
Go to the loads advisor and select torque. In both the input boxes, select the face shown below.

Create a mesh using the same procedure outlined previously

Finally, select run from the menu and allow the software to solve the model.

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Plots for stress and displacement distribution

Stress distribution plot

Displacement plot

Page 18 of 27
Discussion

Solidworks, a very advanced software with exceptionally simplified method of application. Its
friendly graphic user interface coupled with its low level simulation capabilities are ideal for
carrying out simple analysis using the finite element method. It has various features that are
highly adaptable to the current CAD needs. In this task, we were required to design and analyze
a muff coupling complete with two shafts and a tapper key. This was successfully completed and
is illustrated in great detail above.

The following are the criteria developed as a result of the analysis processes. These data were
derived from the software’s report generator.

Analysis data table

Mesh Type: Solid Mesh

Mesher Used: Standard mesh

Automatic Transition: Off

Smooth Surface: On

Jacobian Check: 4 Points

Element Size: 3.4504 mm

Tolerance: 0.17252 mm

Quality: High

Number of elements: 56507

Number of nodes: 81399

Time to complete mesh(hh;mm;ss): 00:00:08

Computer name: 47-PC

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Reaction Forces

Selection set Units Sum X Sum Y Sum Z Resultant

Entire Body N -0.025177 -0.0304642 0.00586468 0.0399542

Free-Body Forces

Selection set Units Sum X Sum Y Sum Z Resultant

Entire Body N 0.000932084 0.000517081 -0.000510386 0.0011818

Free-body Moments

Selection set Units Sum X Sum Y Sum Z Resultant

Entire Body N-m 0 0 0 1e-033

Nodal solution

Name Type Min Location Max Location

Stress1 VON: von 10737.9 (51.3144 mm, 1.82868e+008 (59.3258 mm,

Mises Stress N/m^2 N/m^2
28.3426 mm, 16.9722 mm,
Node: 65148 Node: 58086
1.89541 mm) -96.4534
mm)

Displacement1 URES: 0.129518 mm (54.5002 mm, 0.139021 mm (47.9343 mm,

Resultant
Displacement Node: 68969 37.6492 mm, Node: 48861 57.2075 mm,

-51.8971 1.3852 mm)

mm)

Strain1 ESTRN: 2.61896e-008 (50.5858 mm, 0.0003922 (52.5061 mm,

Equivalent
Strain Element: 27.5386 mm, Element: 14.2558 mm,
47271 43915
2.16318 mm) -95.6386
mm)

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Nodal solution for shaft section simulation

Name Type Min Location Max Location

Stress1 VON: von 0.0165402 (0 mm, 22.5132 (-12.4685

Mises Stress N/mm^2 N/mm^2 mm,
(MPa) 0 mm, (MPa)
0 mm,
Node: 7809 50.1362 mm) Node: 10640
3.63607 mm)

Displacement1 URES: 0.13599 mm (-12.4685 0.136354 mm (-3.59726e-

Resultant mm, 015 mm,
Displacement Node: 52 Node: 61
1.30104e-015 -13.3873 mm,
mm,
0.136354
0.13599 mm) mm)

Strain1 ESTRN: 1.57878e-007 (-1.48821 7.63433e-005 (-12.0695

Equivalent mm, mm,
Strain Element: 513 Element: 561
-2.52351 mm, -1.02769 mm,

27.5767 mm) 90.8191 mm)

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Conclusion

Two individual analyses were carried out to find the difference in result. The main objective of
this task was to find the stress and displacement in the shaft. Both analysis had different results,
but both within the limits of the given range of 15Mpa and 45MPA for the shaft and muff
respectively.

The main idea behind carrying out the analysis of a section of the shaft instead of the whole part
is to get a detailed view of the stress distribution and to be able to assign restraints in areas that
would otherwise be inaccessible in whole part.

From the results obtained, it is noticeable that the stress in the shaft originates from the surface
where the highest value is noted and reduces towards the core of the shaft.

This is because torque is a surface load and is applied in an angular manner rather than a point
load. It was also noted that the stress was maximum around the pin and the groove. This is due to
the fact that the existence of sharp edges or small isolated surfaces experiences the most pressure
in any situation. These points may end up being the points of failure if not addressed during the
design phase of the shaft.

In summary, Simulation helps you reduce your time-to-market by reducing but not eliminating
field tests. It is important to verify simulation results with some other form of testing as it is an
approximation mechanism.

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References

1. "SolidWorks." SolidWorks 3D CAD Design Software. Web. 07 Nov. 2010.

<http://www.solidworks.com/sw/education/9863_ENU_HTML.htm>.

2. Solidworks 2010 help feature – static analysis

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Appendix

Shaft-Study 2-Stress-Stress1

Page 24 of 27
Shaft-Study 2-Displacement-Displacement1

Shaft-Study 2-Strain-Strain1

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 Assembly-Study 1-Stress-Stress1

Assembly-Study 1-Displacement-Displacement1

Assembly-Study 1-Strain-Strain1

Page 26 of 27
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