Introduction

Shafts and Shaft Components

Shaft rotating member used to transmit power or motion

Axle non rotating member that carries no torque

Shaft Design Interdependencies

Shaft elements (gears, pulleys, bearings, etc) have been partially
analysed, and size and spacing tentatively determined from the
overall design of the machine.

Introduction
Shaft details that need to be examined:
Material
Layout
Stress and Strength
Deflection and Rigidity
Vibration due to natural frequency (will not be discussed in this
class)

Shaft Materials
We focus on designing steel shafts, as such:
Deflection:
Modulus of elasticity (E) of steels are constant
Deflection mainly controlled by geometric decisions, not by
material selection

Stress and Strength:

Controlled by material and treatment
Low/High Carbon
CD or HR

Shaft Materials

Shaft Materials
Considerations
Strengthening from heat treatment
Often not warranted
Trade off between increase in strength vs reduction in endurance limit
and increase in notch sensitivity

Design Roadmap
Start with low or medium carbon steels (low cost)
If strength is an issue, then select a higher strength material
Then reduce size until deflection becomes an issue

Shaft Materials
Typical Materials
Low Carbon

Shaft Layout

ANSI 1020-1050

Heat Treatable
ANSI 1340-50, 3140-50, 4140, 4340, 5140, 8650

Surface Hardening
ANSI 1020, 4320, 4820, 8620
If shaft is the journal for a bearing surface

Shaft Layout
Dependent on the overall design of the machine
Must be specified to perform a free body force analysis and
to obtain shear-moment diagrams, stress and deflection
analyses
Common features:
Shoulders
Grooves
Keyseat
Holes

Shaft Layout
Supporting Axial Load
Shoulders
Retaining Rings
Pins
Collars

Torque Transmission
Designed to fail first
Keys
Splines
Setscrews
Pins
Press or Shrink Fits
Tapered fits

Shaft Layout
Considerations
Best to support load carrying components between bearings
Pulleys and sprockets often need to be mounted outboard for ease of
installation of belt or chain (length of cantilever should be kept short)

Two bearings in most cases.

More bearings for long shafts with more load bearing components

Shorter shafts = less bending moment and deflection

Load bearing components should be placed near bearings
Decreased bending moment at locations where stress concentrations are
present
Minimize deflection

Shaft Layout

Shaft Design for Stress

Shaft Design For Stress

Shaft Design for Stresses

Torque
Typically enter the shaft at one gear and leaves at another
Often relatively constant at steady state operation
Shear stress due to torsion is greatest on outer surfaces

Critical Locations
Outer surfaces
Locations with large bending moments
Where torques are present
Where stress concentrations exist

Shaft Design for Stresses

Shaft Stresses

Bending
Determined by bending moment diagrams
Gears and pulleys introduce forces in two planes
Resultant moments obtained by summing moments as vectors at
points of interest
Steady bending moment will produce a completely reversed moment
on a rotating shaft

Shafts being solid and round

Axial
Stresses from helical gears or tapered roller bearings will almost
always be negligible compared to bending moment stresses
If deliberately applied, do not neglect without checking magnitudes

Shaft Design for Stresses

Shaft Design for Stresses

von Mises (remember in Fatigue)

Assessing based on failure criterion (Modified Goodman):

Axial loads neglected

For design purposes where d is unknown:

Other failure criteria are expressed similarly in p. 369 of Shigley

Shaft Design for Stresses

Common case
Bending stress is completely reversed (Mm=0)
Torsion is steady (Ta=0)

Necessary to check for yielding at first loading cycle:

Shaft Design for Stresses:

Stress Concentrations
For Shoulders against Bearings (based on common bearing
dimensions)
1.2<D/d<1.5
0.02<r/d<0.06
Try to select a bearing with a large fillet radius
Create features to reduce stress concentrations

Quick check can be done :

as

Shaft Design for Stresses:

Stress Concentrations
Same analyses can be done on keyseats and retaining ring groves
Table below shows Stress Concentration Factors using the worst
end of typical values for use on first iterations.
Note that once actual dimensions are available, repeat analysis for
a more accurate design.

Shaft Design for Deflection

Deflection analysis can only be done when geometry of the
entire shaft is known.
Roadmap:
Design according to stresses and reasonable estimates
Perform deflection analysis
Check linear and angular deflections and slopes at components
and supports
Balance strength and deflection

Shaft Design for Deflection

Shaft Design for Deflection

Note
For steels: E=207GPa (fairly constant)
Fillets, grooves, keyways and other local factors can be
neglected
Methods for deflection analysis:
Singularity functions
Numerical integration
Finite Element Analysis

Shaft Design for Deflection

Typical Maximum Ranges for Slopes and Transverse
Deflections

Shaft Design for Deflection

For unsatisfactory deflection or slope,

select the limiting condition (larger dnew/dold ratio)

Multiply all diameters by dnew/dold

Shaft Design for Deflection

Angular Deflection due to Torsion

Shaft Components

For constant torque on homogeneous material

Torsional Stiffness

Miscellaneous Shaft Components

Setscrews
Keys
Pins
Retaining Rings

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Setcrews
Depend on compression for clamping force
Holding Power:
Resistance to motion of the collar or hub relative to the shaft
Due to frictional resistance and slight penetration

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Setcrews
Applies to axial and tangential
holding power
Setscrew length = 0.5(shaft
diameter)

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Keys and Pins
Used to secure rotating elements
Enable transmission of torque

Applies to radial thickness of

hubs or collars

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Keys and Pins
Design Considerations
Failure can be due to bearing
or direct shear
Standard sizes are available
Key length should not exceed
1.5 x shaft diameter
Multiple keys can be used
Should be the first to fail
End of keyseat should be
d/10 away from shoulder
fillet to prevent combined
stress concentrations.

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Keys and Pins
Stress Concentrations

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Keys and Pins
Gib-head key
Tapered
Prevents relative axial motion
Allows adjustment of axial location

Woodruff key
Key slot can be positioned away
from shaft shoulder
Good for smaller shafts because of
deeper penetration

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Retaining Rings
Used instead of a shoulder or sleeve to axially position a
component
Sizes, grooves, load ratings available on catalogs.
Sharp radii on grooves create high stress concentration
factors, so care should be taken when using at high bending
stress locations

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Fits
Standards for limits and fits are available depending on
purpose.
Clearance running to locational clearance
Transition between clearance and interference
Interference locational interference to force fit

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Fits
Interference fits
Axial and rotational support
Causes uniform external pressure on shafts and uniform
internal pressure on hubs

Serves as guidance for nominal sizes and tolerances

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Fits

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Fits
Tangential Stresses

Radial Stresses
Radial and tangential stresses are orthogonal and should be
combined using failure theories
If yielding occurs, full pressure will not be achieved, diminishing the
torque that can be transmitted

Compressive stresses improves fatigue strength and can be ignored

in analysis
Stress concentration in bending at ends of the hub

= interference
d = shaft nominal diameter
di = shaft inside diameter
do = hub outside diameter

Can be approximated to be 2

Miscellaneous Shaft Components:

Fits
Torque transfer by interference fits
Estimated using frictional force at the interface
p = pressure
a = Area of interface
l = length of hub

Torque= frictional force with a moment arm of d/2

Minimum interference should be used to determine the

maximum amount of torque that the joint can handle