ME 452: Machine Design II

Solution to Homework Set 1

Problem 5-63, page 260
Problem Statement:
The figure shows a shaft mounted in bearings at A and D and having pulleys at B and C. The forces
shown acting on the pulley surfaces represent the belt tensions. The shaft is to be made of AISI 1035
CD steel. Using a conservative failure theory with a design factor of 2, determine the minimum shaft
diameter to avoid yielding.

Solution:
The solution to this homework problem follows the stress analysis procedure presented in lecture
and in the course text book. The six steps are: (1) draw free-body diagrams to determine the external
loads acting on the shaft; (2) draw shear force, bending moment, and torque diagrams; (3) determine the
locations of the critical section(s) or plane(s); (4) superimpose the stress patterns on the critical sections;
(5) determine the critical elements (or points) of the shaft; and (6) apply the appropriate theories of
failure to determine the factor(s) of safety at the critical element(s).
Step (1): The free body diagrams of the shaft in the x-y and the x-z planes are shown in figure 1 below.
y
222.7 lb
A
8

1000 in-lb
B
8
350 lb

127.3 lb

451 lb

D
6
1000 in-lb

B
123 lb
z

x-y plane
z-axis pointing out of the paper

6
D
C
1000 in-lb

x-z plane
y-axis pointing out of the paper

Figure 1. Free body diagrams for the shaft.

1000 in-lb
8

328 lb

Step (2): The shear-force and bending-moment diagrams for the shaft in the x-y and x-z planes and the
torque diagram are shown in Figure 2 below. Note that the sign conventions are presented on page 75 in
the book.
127.3 lb

123 lb

A
C

-222.7 lb

D
-328 lb

Shear Force

1968 in-lb

984 in-lb
C

D
A
-763.8 in-lb

-1781.6 in-lb

Bending Moment
x-z plane

x-y plane

1000 in-lb
Torque
A

Figure 2. Shear force, bending moment and torque diagrams for the shaft

Step (3): The bending moments in the x-y plane on sections B and C are

M B = 222.7 8 = 1781.6 in-lb

M C = 127.3 6 = 763.8 in-lb
and the bending moments in the x-z plane on sections B and C are

M B = 123 8 = +984 in-lb

M C = 328 6 = +1968 in-lb
Therefore, the resultant bending moments on these two sections are
M B = [( 1781.6) 2 + ( +984) 2 ]1/ 2 = 2035.3 in-lb
M C = [(+1968) 2 + ( 763.8) 2 ]1/ 2 = 2111.0 in-lb

The torques at sections B and C are

TB = (300 50)(4) = 1000 in-lb (clockwise, positive x-axis)

2

TC = (392 59)(3) 1000 in-lb (counterclockwise, negative x-axis)

In general, the location of the critical section of the shaft is determined by: (1) the magnitude of the
internal loads; (2) the change in the shaft diameter along the length of the shaft; (3) the effects of stress
concentration; and (4) the strengths of the shaft material.
In this problem we assume the shaft diameter and the material properties do not change along the
length of the shaft, and there are no significant stress concentration effects (more on these issues in later
homework problems). Therefore, the critical plane is determined by internal load variations only. For
long slender shafts (that is, the length of the shaft is greater than 5 times the diameter), transverse shear
stresses are usually negligible, so bending and torsion determine the critical plane. In this problem, we
can eliminate most of the planes in the shaft by inspection, except for the plane just to the right of
section B and the plane just to the left of section C. These are potential critical planes because they
contain the maximum bending moments and the largest torsion. Since the bending moment M C > M B ,
(though only slightly) then the critical plane is just to the left of section C.
Step (4): There are three stress patterns to consider on the critical plane: (i) the normal stress due to
bending which peaks furthest from the neutral axis, and drops to zero on the neutral axis; (ii) the
transverse shear stress (due to the bending) which peaks on the neutral axis, and drops to zero at points
furthest from the neutral axis; and (iii) the torsional shear stress (due to the torque) which peaks on the
circumference of the shaft, and drops to zero at the center of the shaft.
The maximum stress values for the three stress patterns (in terms of the diameter d of the shaft) are:

x =

32M C 32 2111.0 21502

=
=
psi
d3
d3
d3

trans =

4VC 4 127.32 + 1232 300.5

=
=
psi
d2
3A
3 ( d 2 / 4)

torsion =

16TC 16 1000 5093

=
= 3 psi
d
d3
d3

In this problem it is sufficient to know that the maximum normal stress due to bending (referred to
simply as the bending stress) and the maximum shear stress due to torsion (referred to simply as the
torsional stress) will occur somewhere on the surface of the shaft in the critical plane at C. The exact
location on the surface of the shaft does not matter when the material is homogeneous and isotropic
(page 60). However, in other problems when the stresses vary with time (fatigue) and the shaft also
rotates, the exact locations of the maximum stresses will become very important because the time
history determines the damage and likelihood of failure. So we will use this problem to illustrate how
one would identify which element (point) on plane C is the critical element (point).
The normal stresses on sections B and C in the x-direction due to the bending moments will add.
This means that the maximum bending stress on these two sections can be obtained from the resultants
of the bending moments on these sections.
Consider the critical plane (that is, the plane to the left of section C) as shown in Figure 3 below
where the x axis points out of the paper.

MC
My
f
Mz
P1
P2

TC
x

Neutral axis
Figure 3. The critical plane to the left of point C.
The neutral axis of the cross-section of the shaft at C is obtained as follows. Recall that the bending
moments at section C, about the y-axis and the z-axis, respectively, are
M y = +1968 in-lb

and

M z = 763.8 in-lb

and the resultant bending moment is

M C = [(+1968) 2 + ( 763.8) 2 ]1/ 2 = 2111.0 in-lb

Since the resultant moment acts about the neutral axis then the orientation of the neutral axis, with
respect to the y-axis, is

= tan 1 (M z / M y ) = tan 1 (763.8 / +1968) = 21.21o

According to the above discussion, the critical points are at the circumference of the shaft on the line
perpendicular to the neutral axis. The elements are denoted on the figure as P1 and P2 . The question is:
Is it possible to state which of these two points is the more critical?
Note that the critical point P1 is in tension and the critical point P2 is in compression. Since
materials are usually weaker in tension than compression then the logical choice is that the critical point
is P1. Therefore, the following discussion will assume that P1 is the critical point.
Note, also, that the location of the critical point P1 in the positive y-z quadrant agrees with our
intuition, that is, the net loads on the shaft from the pulleys at B and C are in the positive y and z
directions, therefore the top-right fibers of the shaft must be in tension.
4

The bending moment M C produces a tensile normal stress x at P1 and a compressive normal
stress x at P2. The clockwise torque TC (into the paper) produces a torsional shear stress tors at P1
and at P2 . These stress patterns are shown in the following Figure 4.
y

tors

x is out of the page at P1

(the point is in tension)

tors
P1

trans

P2

tors

tors

x is into the page at P2

(the point is in compression)

Neutral axis
Figure 4. The critical plane to the left of point C.
(The x axis points out of the paper)
The transverse shear stress (due to bending) is also shown slightly shaded on the figure. Note that the
maximum transverse shear stresses for this problem do not necessarily occur at points P1 and P2. Since
the length/diameter ratio for this shaft is probably much greater than 5, we will initially neglect the
effects of the transverse shear stresses at points P1 and P2 assuming they are negligibly small. After we
have estimated the appropriate diameter for the shaft based on this assumption, we will calculate the
magnitude of the peak transverse shear stress on the section to confirm the validity of this assumption.
The above discussion leads to the state-of-stress element for the critical point P1 as shown in the
following Figure 5. Since the torsional shear stress is not in the y-direction or in the z-direction then we
will omit the direction subscripts.

tors

tors

x
Figure 5. The biaxial state of stress of element P1.
The x-axis points out of the paper. (The face on the top of the element is the free surface).
Step (5): The material specification calls for AISI 1035 CD. The 10 indicates that this is a plain
carbon steel without other alloying elements (see page 45), and the CD indicates it is cold drawn. The
drawing process work hardens the material and increases its strength. From Table A-20, see page 1040,
the yield strength for this material is S y = 67 kpsi and the elongation is listed as 12%. Recall that
5

materials with elongations greater than 5% are considered ductile (see page 238), so the best failure
theory here is the distortion energy (von Mises) theory. This theory is more accurate than the maximum
shear stress failure theory (and, therefore, generally preferred), however, it is slightly less conservative.
Calculations based on both theories will be included here.
According to Von-Mises theory, see Equation (5-19), page 224, the design equation is

Sy

(1)

ny

The von-Mises stress for a biaxial state of stress, see Equation (5-15), page 223, can be written as

= x2 x y + y2 + 3 xy2

(2a)

For the problem here, the normal stress y = 0, therefore Eq, (2a) reduces to
2
= x2 + 3 tors

Substituting x =

(2b)

21502
5093
psi and torsion = 3 psi into Eq. (2b), the von-Mises stress is
3
d
d
21502

5093

=
+ 3 3
3
d
d

(3)

Note that here we have neglected the transverse shear stress at point P1 . Simplifying Eq. (3) gives

23, 241
d3

(4)

Then substituting the yield strength and Eq. (4) into Eq. (1) gives

23, 241 67, 000

=
d3
2.0

(5)

Rearranging this equation, the diameter of the shaft is

d = 0.8852 inches
Based on this diameter, the normal stress, torsional shear stress, and transverse shear stress are

x =

21,502 21,502
=
= 30,999 psi
d3
0.88523

torsion =
trans =

5093
5093
=
= 7342 psi
3
d
0.88523

300.5
300.5
=
=383.5 psi
2
d
0.88522
6

(6)

Note that the transverse shear stress is small, only about 5.2% of the torsional shear stress. Note also
that the material fails at 67,000 psi normal stress, and with our factor of safety of 2.0, the safe limit
(often called an allowable stress) is 67,000/2 or 33,500 psi. So the normal stress, at about 31,000 psi, is
doing most of the damage here.
The slightly less accurate (but more conservative) maximum shear stress theory. The design equation
for maximum shear stress theory is given by Equation (5.3), see page 220, that is

max =

Sy

(7)

2n y

The maximum shear stress is given by Equation (3.14), see page 82, that is

2
= x + tors
2

2

max
Substituting x =

(8)

21502
5093
psi and torsion = 3 psi into this equation gives:
3
d
d
2

max

21, 502 5093

=
+ 3
3
2d d

(9)

Then simplifying this equation gives

max =

11,896
d3

(10)

Substituting Eq. (10) into Eq. (7) gives

11,896 67, 000

=
d3
2(2)

(11)

Rearranging this equation, the diameter of the shaft gives

d = 0.8922 inches

Note that this solution is less than 1% greater than (more conservative) the distortion energy solution.
Because the distortion energy theory is more accurate than the maximum shear stress theory, and about
as easy to calculate, it is the generally preferred theory.
Step (6): For a yield factor of safety, ny = 1, the distortion-energy failure-theory design equation reduces
to

= Sy
which gives

23, 241
= 67, 000 psi
d3
Rearranging this equation, the diameter is
7

d = 0.7026 inches
Note the power of the d3 terms. A 26% change in the diameter (from 0.7026 to 0.8852) doubles the
factor of safety from 1 to 2.