Machine Design ME 314

Shaft Design
‫ ناجي الصحابي عيسي‬.‫د‬
 Shaft Design
1. Introduction
A shaft is a rotating machine element which is used to transmit power from one place to
another. The power is delivered to the shaft by some tangential force and the resultant torque
(or twisting moment) set up within the shaft permits the power to be transferred to various
machines linked up to the shaft. In order to transfer the power from one shaft to another, the
various members such as pulleys, gears etc., are mounted on it. These members along with
the forces exerted upon them causes the shaft to bending. In other words, we may say that a
shaft is used for the transmission of torque and bending moment. The various members are
mounted on the shaft by means of keys or splines.

2. Material Used for Shafts

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3. Types of Shafts
The following two types of shafts are important from the subject point of view :
1. Transmission shafts. These shafts transmit power between the source and the machines
absorbing power. The counter shafts, line shafts, over head shafts and all factory shafts are
transmission shafts. Since these shafts carry machine parts such as pulleys, gears etc.,
therefore they are subjected to bending in addition to twisting.
2. Machine shafts. These shafts form an integral part of the machine itself. The crank shaft
is an example of machine shaft.
4. Standard Sizes of Transmission Shafts
The standard sizes of transmission shafts are : 25 mm to 60 mm with 5 mm steps; 60 mm
to 110 mm with 10 mm steps ; 110 mm to 140 mm with 15 mm steps ; and 140 mm to 500
mm with 20 mm steps.
The standard length of the shafts are 5 m, 6 m and 7 m.

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5. Stresses in Shafts
The following stresses are induced in the shafts :
1. Shear stresses due to the transmission of torque (i.e. due to torsional load).
2. Bending stresses (tensile or compressive) due to the forces acting upon machine elements
like gears, pulleys etc. as well as due to the weight of the shaft itself.
3. Stresses due to combined torsional and bending loads.
14.8 Design of Shafts
The shafts may be designed on the basis of
1. Strength, and 2. Rigidity and stiffness.
In designing shafts on the basis of strength, the following cases may be considered :
(a) Shafts subjected to twisting moment or torque only,
(b) Shafts subjected to bending moment only,
(c) Shafts subjected to combined twisting and bending moments, and
(d) Shafts subjected to axial loads in addition to combined torsional and bending loads.

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Example 1. A line shaft rotating at 200 r.p.m. is to transmit 20 kW. The shaft may be assumed
to be made of mild steel with an allowable shear stress of 42 MPa. Determine the diameter of
the shaft, neglecting the bending moment on the shaft.

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Example 2. A solid shaft is transmitting 1 MW at 240 r.p.m. Determine the diameter of the
shaft if the maximum torque transmitted exceeds the mean torque by 20%. Take the maximum
allowable shear stress as 60 MPa.

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Example 3. A pair of wheels of a railway wagon carries a load of 50 kN on each axle box,
acting at a distance of 100 mm outside the wheel base. The gauge of the rails is 1.4 m. Find
the diameter of the axle between the wheels, if the stress is not to exceed 100 MPa.

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Shafts Subjected to Combined Twisting Moment and Bending Moment
When the shaft is subjected to combined twisting moment and bending moment, then the
shaft must be designed on the basis of the two moments all together. Various theories have
been suggested to account for the elastic failure of the materials when they are subjected
to various types of combined stresses. The following two theories are important from the
subject point of view :
1. Maximum shear stress theory . It is used for ductile materials such as mild steel.
2. Maximum normal stress theory . It is used for brittle materials such as cast iron.

Let τ = Shear stress induced due to twisting moment, and σb = Bending stress (tensile or
compressive) induced due to bending moment.
According to maximum shear stress theory, the maximum shear stress in the shaft,

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Example 4. A solid circular shaft is subjected to a bending moment of 3000 N-m and a
torque of 10 000 N-m. The shaft is made of 45 C 8 steel having ultimate tensile stress of 700
MPa and a ultimate shear stress of 500 MPa. Assuming a factor of safety as 6, determine the
diameter of the shaft.

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 Exercise
A section of commercial shafting 5 ft long between bearings carries a 200 lb pulley at its
midpoint, as shown in Fig. below. The pulley is keyed to the shaft and receives 20 hp at
150 rpm which is transmitted to a flexible coupling just outside the right bearing. The belt
drive is horizontal and the sum of the belt tensions is 1500 lb. Assume KT = KB = 1.5.
Calculate the necessary shaft diameter and determine the angle of twist between bearings.
G = 12 x 10 8 psi.

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Solution :
It is first necessary to determine the maximum
bending and torsional moments acting on the shaft.

𝑀𝑏= 300 2 + 22.5002 =22.700in-Ib

M t (max) = 20(63.000)/150 = 8400 in-lb

𝑆𝑠 (allowable) = 6000 psi per ASME Code for

shaft with keyway. Then

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 Exercise
Fig. shows the forces acting on a steel shaft
carrying two gears. The gears are keyed at B and
D. A and C are journal bearing centres. Nine hp
is transmitted at 650 rpm of the shaft. The
allowable stress for an unkeyed section is 12,000
psi according to the ASME Code. Kb = Kt = 1.5.
(а) Sketch horizontal, vertical and resultant
bending moment diagrams. Show values at
change points.
(б) Determine the necessary shaft diameter.

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 Home Work

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