A

Seminar Report
on

REVIEW OF FINITE ELEMENT

ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSAL JOINT AND
PROPELLER SHAFT ASSEMBLY
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree
of

Master of Engineering
in

Machine Design
to

North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon

Submitted by

Mr.Akhilesh V.Rajput
Under the Guidance of

Er.N.K.Patil

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SSBTs COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY,

BAMBHORI, JALGAON - 425 001 (MS)
December 2014

SSBTs COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY,

BAMBHORI, JALGAON - 425 001 (MS)
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the seminar entitled Review of Finite Element Analysis of Universal Joint and Propeller Shaft Assembly , submitted by Mr.Akhilesh V.Rajput
in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Engineering in Machine Design has
been satisfactorily carried out under my guidance as per the requirement of North
Maharashtra University, Jalgaon.

Date: December 12, 2014

Place: Jalgaon

Er.N.K.Patil
Guide

Prof. Dr. Dheeraj. S. Deshmukh

Prof. Dr. K. S. Wani

Head

Principal

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the work presented in this seminar entitled Review of Finite
Element Analysis of Universal Joint and Propeller Shaft Assembly , submitted
to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, SSBTs College of Engineering and
Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon - 425 001 (MS), in partial fulfillment of the degree of
Master of Engineering in Machine Design of North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon,
is my original work.
Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate this
clearly, with due acknowledgement and reference to the literature.

Date: December 12, 2014

Place: Jalgaon

(Mr.Akhilesh V.Rajput)

In my capacity as guide of the candidates seminar, I certify that the above statements
are true to the best of my knowledge.

(Er.N.K.Patil)

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

ii

Acknowledgements
Those who walk the difficult path to success never rest at this destiny they walk ahead
towards greater success. I consider myself lucky to work under guidance of such talented and
experienced people during the preparation of my Seminar report who guided me all through
it. I am indebted to HOD Dr. D. S. Deshmukh for his support at various stages during the
formation of this piece of work. A special mention must go to my guide Er.N.K.Patil who
supported me with his vast knowledge, experience and suggestion. Only their inspiration has
made this seminar report easy and interesting. I would also like to thank our Principal Dr. K.
S. Wani For his warm support and providing all necessary facilities to us, the student. Last
but not list I am thankful to all the Teachers and Staff members of Mechanical Department
for their expert guidance and continuous encouragement throughout to see that the maximum
benefit is taken out of this experience. At last, I would like to thanks to my Parents for their
support love and encouragement during the tenure of this Seminar.

Mr.Akhilesh V.Rajput

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

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Contents
Acknowledgements

iii

Abstract

1 Introduction

2 Literature Survey

3 Methodology

4 Modifications

5 Universal Joint Yoke Analysis

10

6 Propeller Shaft Analysis

12

7 Conclusion

15

Bibliography

16

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

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List of Figures
1.1

Universal joint and drive shaft assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.1

Yoke without Chamfer at the base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.2

Yoke with chamfer at the base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.3

Sharp edge type base region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.4

Model with a 5.5 mm fillet at the base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.1

ANSYS analysis of yoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10

5.2

Maximum stressed zone reduces to a point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

6.1

Stress analysis of propeller shaft (Steel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

6.2

Stress analysis of propeller shaft (Aluminium) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

6.3

Displacement of propeller shaft (Steel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

6.4

Displacement of propeller shaft (Aluminium) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Abstract
The power transmission system is the system which causes movement of vehicles by transferring the torque produced by the engines to the wheels after some modifications. The
transfer and modification system of vehicles is called as power transmission system. The
power transmission system of vehicles consists of several components which encounter unfortunate failures. These failures may be attributed to material faults, material processing
faults, manufacturing and design faults, etc. Maintenance faults and user originated faults
may also responsible. Propeller shaft and the universal joints form the important links that
help in transmitting power from the engine to the wheels. In this study, analysis is being
performed on the universal joint yoke and the propeller shaft. In the universal joint yoke, certain modifications are made in the existing geometry and analyzed for the identical loading
and boundary conditions as in the reference paper from which the problem has been taken.
In case of propeller shaft a comparative study has been made between two shafts differing in
their material, keeping in view the possible weight reduction that can be obtained without
affecting the functionality of the shaft. Both the components are analyzed in ANSYS and
the results are compared.

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Chapter 1
Introduction
A universal joint or Hookes joint is a joint or coupling in a rigid rod that allows the rod
to bend in any direction, [3] and is commonly used in shafts that transmit rotary motion.
It generally consists of two hinges located close together, oriented at 900 to each other,
connected by a cross shaft. It is widely used in industrial applications and vehicle drive
lines to connect misaligned shafts. [4]. A major problem with the use of a Hookes joint is
that it transforms a constant input speed to a periodically fluctuating one. The kinematical
consequences of this property of this joint can be remedied, as long as rigid body rotations are
concerned, by using two converse Hookes joint. But if torsional vibrations of the propeller
shaft are concerned, there is no way of removing the dynamical consequences of an introduced
Hookes joint in a rear wheel drive vehicle. In a widely used single piece drive shaft, two
universal joints are used [2].

Figure 1.1: Universal joint and drive shaft assembly

Two universal joints are preferred in order to avoid the transformation of constant input
SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

speed into a fluctuating speed which is encountered when a single universal joint is used.
Now a days more emphasis is being given on reducing the weight of the drive shaft. It is
being tried to replace the existing Steel shafts with Aluminium alloy shafts as it has a higher
strength to weight ratio. Attempts are also being made to replace conventional steel shafts
with hybrid aluminium/composite drive shaft.

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Chapter 2
Literature Survey
Srimanthula Srikanth, Jithendra Bodapalli, Avinash Gudimetla1 Design, Static
and Modal Analysis of A Propeller Shaft for Reducing Vibrations Using Composite Damping. In this paper The main theme of the project is to analyze a shaft
with and without damping material and also for various isotropic and orthotropic materials.
Along with alloys of various materials, composite materials are also considered to analyze
the case to increase its robustness. The materials used for shaft are steel, carbon Epoxy and
E - Glass Epoxy. The model of a particular shaft is taken and analyzed using ANSYS. The
structural analysis is done to verify the strength of the shaft and to compare the results for
the three materials. Modal analysis is also done on the shaft to determine mode shapes and
to find their frequencies.
Raffi Mohammed, K.N.D.Malleswara Rao, Mohammed Khadeeruddin.2. In
this paper titled Modeling and Analysis of Drive Shaft Assembly Using FEA. The
weight reduction of the drive shaft can have a certain role in the general weight reduction of
the vehicle and is a highly desirable goal. Substituting composite structures for conventional
metallic structures has many advantages because of higher specific stiffness and strength of
composite materials. The advanced composite materials such as graphite, carbon, Kevlar
and Glass with suitable resins are widely used because of their high specific strength and high
specific modulus. Advanced composite materials seem ideally suited for long, power driver
shaft applications. The automotive industry is exploiting composite material technology for
structural components construction in order to obtain the reduction of the weight without
decrease in vehicle quality and reliability.
Siraj MohammadAli Sheikh 3 In this paper titled Analysis of universal coupling under different torque condition Drive shafts are one of the most important

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

components in vehicles. It generally subjected to torsional Stress and bending stress due
to weights of components. Thus, these rotating components are susceptible to fatigue by
the nature of their operation. Common sign of drives haft failure is vibration or shudder
during operation. Drives haft mainly involves in steering operation of vehicle. Drivers will
lose control of their vehicle if the drive shafts broke during high speed cornering. Because
of this human life can be in great danger if we dont know when, where and how the drive
shaft will failed. It is very important to know the accurate prediction for the drive shaft to
fail.
Iqbal, J. and Qatu, M 4. In this paper titled Vibration Analysis of a ThreePiece Automotive Shaft Drive shafts are major automotive components in rear wheel
and four wheel drive vehicles. They can be made of single or multi-piece segments. The
segments of a multi-piece drive shaft in automotive applications are joined using constant
velocity or universal joints or a combination of frequency. This paper uses an exact solution for the vibration of a three-piece drive shaft with multiple intermediate joints. The
joint is modeled as a frictionless internal hinge. Thin beam theory is used.elements). The solution should be of value to engineers interested in the design and optimization of the system.

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Chapter 3
Methodology
(YOKE) The problem for this analysis was taken from the paper [1]. As can be seen from the
paper the model (Universal joint yoke) was analyzed in ANSYS considering the component
to be made up of AISI5046H, which is a material in the low alloy steel group. The typical
mechanical properties are 1750 Mpa as ultimate tensile strength and 1400Mpa as the yield
strength. A force applied at the spider mounting location is a torsional moment of 200
Nm.In addition the given torsional moment, a 500rmp speed was also considered. When
AISI5046H material is considered, standard fatigue limit estimation process from the tensile
stress (Half of tensile strength with size correction factor, loading correction factor) gives
a value between 400 and 450 Mpa. As per the ANSYS analysis, the highest stress that
occurred in the yoke was found to be 356 Mpa. For this study the model was replicated
from the above mentioned paper. The material as well as the loading conditions of torsional
moment and the rotational speed is kept the same. The model was analyzed in ANSYS14.
However there were some changes made in the geometry of the existing model.

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Chapter 4
Modifications
The model of yoke that is analyzed in the reference paper has its mounting base a plain
surface with a central hole. A chamfer was provided on the inner hole at the base of the yoke
where it is mounted to the power transmitting end of the gearbox. The original model has
the region joining the main body of the yoke with the base as a sharp edge structure as shown
in the Figure 4.3. In the modified model, a fillet of radius 5.5 mm is also provided in addition
to the chamfer. The model with added fillet is shown in the figure below. The component
was modeled in Solid Works. Rest of the geometry is kept unaltered. The purpose of this
analysis is to study the effects due to changed geometry on the behaviour of the component
under identical loading and boundary conditions as mentioned in the above reference paper.
The results obtained are discussed below.

Figure 4.1: Yoke without Chamfer at the base

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Figure 4.2: Yoke with chamfer at the base

Figure 4.3: Sharp edge type base region

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Figure 4.4: Model with a 5.5 mm fillet at the base

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

Chapter 5
Universal Joint Yoke Analysis
Due to the introduction of the chamfer in the geometry, the weight of the component reduces,
but we have also introduced a fillet, resulting in material addition. But, the resultant effect
is reduction in the overall material content of the component. The ANSYS analysis shows
that the maximum stress value obtained is 242.94 Mpa, which is within the safety limits as
prescribed in the paper. Moreover, this value is also less than the maximum stress value
in the original component. Thus we can conclude that the new modeled component is well
within the safe limit.

Figure 5.1: ANSYS analysis of yoke

Figure below shows the analysis of the universal joint yoke in ANSYS. Analysis was
carried out for identical loading conditions as in the reference paper. In design there are two
main factors considered, the first being the maximum stress encountered in the component
and the other being the area affected by this maximum stress. Due to introduction of the
fillet the maximum stress encountered is reduced. The point of maximum stress also shifts
SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

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and the region affected by the maximum stress is significantly reduced. The maximum stress
affected zone reduces to a point as shown in the figure 5.2.The stresses in the component even
out leading to reasonably uniform stress distribution. Thus the modified geometry results
in a component having lesser weight and at the same time is able to respond to the applied
loading conditions.

Figure 5.2: Maximum stressed zone reduces to a point

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

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Chapter 6
Propeller Shaft Analysis
The propeller shaft was designed taking into consideration the torque to be transmitted by
it. The material utilized for the shaft as per the reference paper is AISI 94B30H (Material2) which is a alloy steel (oil quenched and tempered) with Boron as an alloying element.
The tensile strength and the yield strength values are 1700 Mpa and 1550 Mpa respectively.
Considering the given loading conditions, the max stress value in the component when calculated analytically was found to be 24.14 Mpa using Von mises stress theory.

Figure 6.1: Stress analysis of propeller shaft (Steel)

The propeller shaft model when analyzed in ANSYS using identical loading conditions
as in case of the yoke, the maximum stress encountered (at the surface) using AISI 94B30H
is 24.68 Mpa which is approximately equal to the value calculated analytically. As far as the
SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

12

material strength is concerned, the maximum allowable stress in the component is found to
be 428 Mpa. This allowable stress value is obtained as per the standard fatigue limit estimation process from the tensile stress (half of tensile strength with size correction factor).
Thus we can conclude that the shaft of material-2 can perform satisfactorily under the given
loading conditions.

Figure 6.2: Stress analysis of propeller shaft (Aluminium)

However, the above mentioned class of steel has a density of 7820 Kg/m3 . For the design
dimensions utilized in the analysis, the mass of the shaft obtained is about 3.45 Kg. Hence,
emphasis is given on reducing the weight of the propeller shaft, without affecting the dimensions of the component.

Figure 6.3: Displacement of propeller shaft (Steel)

In order to reduce weight, another material Al-6061-T6 alloy (Material-3) is suggested in
SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

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place of material-2. The tensile strength and the yield strength values are 310 Mpa and 276
Mpa respectively. The above Aluminium alloy has a density of 2700 Kg/m3 .

Figure 6.4: Displacement of propeller shaft (Aluminium)

When the propeller shaft made up of material-3 was analyzed in ANSYS, It yielded a
maximum utilizing material-2 (maximum allowable stress in the Al-6061-T6 alloy is 39.5 Mpa
as per the analytical calculations). However the weight of the new shaft is only 1.2 Kg i.e.
significantly less when compared to material-2. Hence, we are able to significantly reduce
the weight of the propeller shaft without making any changes in the original dimensions.
stress value of 24.69 Mpa. This stress value is approximately same as that in the previous
case utilizing material-2 (maximum allowable stress in the Al-6061-T6 alloy is 39.5 Mpa as
per the analytical calculations).

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

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Chapter 7
Conclusion
Analysis of the Yoke clearly shows that by a small modification in the existing design
the strength of the part can be increased significantly.
Also with the same changes we obtain a small amount of weight reduction in the design.
The maximum stress values generated are significantly reduced and the stress is evenly
distributed over the entire part.
Propeller shaft can be made either from steel or from the aluminium. The stress
generated are approximately the same but the deformation in aluminium shafts is
higher than that of the steel shaft.

SSBTs College of Engineering and Technology, Bambhori, Jalgaon (MS)

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Bibliography
[1] H. Bayrakceken *, S. Tasgetiren, I. Yavuz, Two cases of failure in the power transmission system on vehicles: A universal joint yoke and a drive shaft.
[2] Bhushan K. Suryawanshi, Prajitsen G.Damle, Review of Design of Hybrid Aluminum/
Composite Drive Shaft for Automobile.
[3] Farzad Vesali, Mohammad Ali Rezvani* and Mohammad Kashfi, Dynamics of universal
joints, its failures and some propositions for practically improving its performance and
life expectancy.
[4] Gkhan Bulut, Zeynep Parlar, Dynamic stability of a shaft system connected through
a Hookes joint.
[5] Automotive Engineering- Powertrain, vehicle chassis and vehicle body by David A.
Crolla.
[6] Automotive Transmissions-Fundamental, Selection, Design and Application by Gisbert
Lechner, Harald Naunheimer.

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