A cotter is a flat wedge-shaped piece of steel as shown in figure.

This is used to connect rigidly two rods which transmit motion in the axial direction, without rotation. These joints may be subjected to tensile or compressive forces along the axes of the rods. Examples of cotter joint connections are: connection of piston rod to the crosshead of a steam engine, valve rod and its stem etc.

Design of a cotter joint 1. Tension failure of rod at diameter d 2. Tension failure of rod across slot

3. Tensile failure of socket across slot

4. Shear failure of rod end

5. Shear failure of cotter

6. Shear failure of socket end

7. Crushing failure of rod and cotter

8. Crushing failure of socket and rod

9. Crushing failure of collar

Clearances between the cotter and slots in the rod end and socket allows the driven cotter to draw together the two parts of the joint until the socket end comes in contact with the cotter on the rod end.

Bending of the cotter

Empirical proportions to design the joint.

Types of keys : Sunk keys, flat keys, saddle keys and pins or round keys

Rectangular sunk keys are the simplest form of machine keys

While transmitting torque a rectangular sunk key is subjected to both shear and crushing or bearing stresses.

Design of Keys : Steel keys are widely used in securing machine parts such as gears and pulleys. Consider a rectangular key of width w, thickness t and length L as shown in figure. The key may fail (a) in shear or (b) in crushing.

Shear failure: Crushing failure:

Design of Shaft
Shaft is a rotating member, used to transmit power. The shaft is supported on bearings and it contains gears or pulleys for power transmission. The shaft is generally acted upon by bending moment, torsion and axial force. Material for Shafts

Standard sizes of Shafts

Design of Shaft

Principal stresses :

PROB: A propeller shaft transmits 75 KW at 150 rpm and is subjected to a maximum bending moment of 1KN-m and an axial thrust of 70 KN. Find the shaft diameter if the shear strength of the shaft material is 100 MPa.

Solving we get the value of shaft diameter d = 63.4 mm.

Design procedure
(1) Shaft diameter d based on torque transmission (2) Hub diameter d1 = 1.75 d + 6.5 mm (3) Hub length L = 1.5 d (4) Key dimensions: length L must be checked while finding the key dimension based on shear and crushing failure modes. (5) Bolt dimensions: The bolts are subjected to shear and bearing stresses while transmitting torque. Considering the shear failure mode we have The number of bolts Considering crushing failure where t2 is the flange width of contact. This gives t2. where d is the shaft diameter in mm.

(6) A protecting flange is provided as a guard for bolt heads and nuts. (7) The spigot depth is usually taken between 2-3 mm. (8) Another check for the shear failure of the hub is to be carried out. (9) The corners of the flanges should be rounded. (10) Finally, we may decide the overall diameter.

Flexible rubber bushed couplings

Rubber bushings are available for different inside and out side diameters: thickness between 6 mm to 7.5 mm for bores upto 25 mm and 9 mm thickness for larger bores. A suitable bearing pressure (1) Considering Bearing stress for rubber is 0.035 N/mm2. Brass sleeves are made to suit requirements.

dc here is different from rigid flange bearings. This must be judged considering the hub diameters, out side diameter of the bush and a suitable clearance. A rough drawing is often useful in this regard. the number of pin is given by where d is in mm.

(2) Shear stress: The pins in the coupling are subjected to shear

(3) Bending Stress on the pin

Considering an equivalent concentrated load F

Knowing the shear and bending stresses - check the pin diameter for principal stresses

Design of Belt drives

Belt drives are called flexible machine elements. Some other flexible drives are rope drive, roller chain drive, etc.

Uses and advantages of belt drives

1. Used in conveying systems - Transportation of coal, mineral ores etc. over a long distance 2. Used for transmission of power - Mainly used for running of various industrial appliances using prime movers like electric motors, I.C. Engine etc. 3. Replacement of rigid type power transmission system - A gear drive may be replaced by a belt transmission system

Advantages 1) it can absorb a good amount of shock and vibration. 2) It can take care of some degree of misalignment between the driven and the driver machines. 3) Long distance power transmission is possible. Types of belt drives and their nomenclature Two types - open belt drive and crossed belt drive.
In open belt drive the rotation of both the pulleys is in the same direction, whereas, for crossed belt drive, opposite direction of rotation is observed.

Drive arrangement and Nomenclature of Open Belt Drive

A belt is wrapped around the pulleys. The drive pulley transmit motion to the belt and the motion of the belt in turn gives rotation to the driven pulley.

Basic Formulae - may be verified by simple geometry

Belt tensions

The friction between the belt and the pulley is responsible for transmitting power from one pulley to the other. Due to the presence of friction between the pulley and the belt surfaces, tensions on both the sides of the belt are not equal. It is important to identify the higher tension side and the lower tension side,

 Relationship between belt tensions

Velocity ratio of belt drive

Disadvantages of belt drives :

The tight side tension F1 and the loose side tension F2 have the following additive components:

The difference between F1 and F2 is related to the pulley torque Adding Eqs. for F1 and F2

If Fi equals zero, then T equals zero: The torque is in proportion to the initial tension. This means that the initial tension must be (1) provided, (2) sustained in the proper amount, and (3) maintained by routine inspection.

Initial Tension - The belt always has an

initial tension when installed over the pulleys. This initial tension is same throughout the belt length when there is no motion. During rotation of the drive, tight side tension is higher than the initial tension and slack side tension is lower than the initial tension.

Power transmission of belt drive

P = ( T1 T2 ) v

Flat belts are made of rubber-impregnated fabric reinforced with steel wire or nylon cords to take the tension load. One or both surfaces may have a friction surface coating. Flat belts are quiet, they are efficient at high speeds, and they can transmit large amounts of power over long center distances. Usually, flat belting is purchased by the roll and cut and the ends are joined by using special kits furnished by the manufacturer. Two or more flat belts running side by side, instead of a single wide belt, are often used to form a conveying system. Manufacturers provide specifications for their belts that include allowable tension Fa (or stress all), the tension being expressed in units of force per unit width. Belt life is usually several years. The severity of flexing at the pulley and its effect on life is reflected in a pulley correction factor Cp. Speed in excess of 600 ft/min and its effect on life is reflected in a velocity correction factor Cv. A service factor Ks is applied to the nominal power

These effects are incorporated as

Velocity correction factor Cv for leather belts for various thicknesses.

Pulley Correction Factor CP for Flat Belts

Properties of Some Common Belt Materials :

A polyamide A-3 flat belt 6 in wide is used to transmit 15 hp under light shock conditions where Ks = 1.25, and a factor of safety equal to or greater than 1.1 is appropriate. The pulley rotational axes are parallel and in the horizontal plane. The shafts are 8 ft apart. The 6-in driving pulley rotates at 1750 rev/min in such a way that the loose side is on top. The driven pulley is 18 in in diameter. (a) Estimate the centrifugal tension Fc and the torque T. (b) Estimate the allowable F1, F2, Fi and allowable power. (c) Estimate the factor of safety. Is it satisfactory?

from table, f = 0.8. Since f < f , i.e., 0.328 < 0.80, there is no danger of slipping.

The belt is satisfactory and the maximum allowable belt tension exists. If the initial tension is maintained, the capacity is the design power of 20.6 hp.
EXAMPLE2 Design a flat-belt drive to connect horizontal shafts on 16-ft centers. The velocity ratio is to be 2.25:1. The angular speed of the small driving pulley is 860 rev/min, and the nominal power transmission is to be 60 hp under very light shock.

Characteristics of Some Common Belt Types.

Belt Type Figure Joint Size Range Center Distance

Characteristics of Some Common Belt Types.

Q1. What are the advantages of a belt drive? Q2. Why the slack side of the belt of a horizontal belt drive is preferable to place on the top side? Q3. Which one should be the governing pulley to calculate tension ratio? The pulley, driven or driver, for which the product, of equation for belt tension is the least, should be considered to determine the tension ratio.