Design of Shaft

• A shaft is a rotating member usually of circular cross-section (solid

or hollow), which transmits power and rotational motion.
• Machine elements such as gears, pulleys (sheaves), flywheels,
clutches, and sprockets are mounted on the shaft and are used to
transmit power from the driving device (motor or engine) through
a machine.
• Press fit, keys, dowel, pins and splines are used to attach these
machine elements on the shaft.
• The shaft rotates on rolling contact bearings or bush bearings.
• Various types of retaining rings, thrust bearings, grooves and steps
in the shaft are used to take up axial loads and locate the rotating
elements.
• Couplings are used to transmit power from drive shaft (e.g., motor)
to the driven shaft (e.g. gearbox, wheels).
The connecting shaft is loaded
primarily in torsion.
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.
1.The shafts are usually cylindrical, but may be square or cross-shaped in section.
They are solid in cross-section but sometimes hollow shafts are also used.
2.An axle, though similar in shape to the shaft, is a stationary machine element and is
used for the transmission of bending moment only. It simply acts as a support for some
rotating body such as hoisting drum, a car wheel or a rope sheave.
3.A spindle is a short shaft that imparts motion either to a cutting tool (e.g. drill press
spindles) or to a work piece (e.g. lathe spindles).
Material Used for Shafts
The material used for shafts should have the following properties :
1. It should have high strength.
2. It should have good machinability.
3. It should have low notch sensitivity factor.
4. It should have good heat treatment properties.
5. It should have high wear resistant properties.
The material used for ordinary shafts is carbon steel of grades C40, C45 and C50
When a shaft of high strength is required, then an alloy steel such as nickel, nickel-
chromium or chrome-vanadium steel is used.
 Manufacturing of Shafts
Shafts are generally manufactured by hot rolling and finished to size by cold drawing or
turning and grinding. The cold rolled shafts are stronger than hot rolled shafts but with
higher residual stresses.
The residual stresses may cause distortion of the shaft when it is machined, especially
when slots or keyways are cut. Shafts of larger diameter are usually forged and turned
to size in a lathe.
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.
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.
 Maximum Permissible Working
Stresses for Transmission Shafts
According to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code for the design of
transmission shafts, the maximum permissible working stresses in tension or compression
may be taken as
(a) 112 MPa for shafts without allowance for keyways.
(b) 84 MPa for shafts with allowance for keyways.
For shafts purchased under definite physical specifications, the permissible tensile stress
(σt) may be taken as 60 percent of the elastic limit in tension (σel), but not more than 36 per
cent of the ultimate tensile strength (σu). In other words, the permissible tensile stress,
σt = 0.6 σel or 0.36 σu, whichever is less.
The maximum permissible shear stress may be taken as
(c) 56 MPa for shafts without allowance for key ways.
(d) 42 MPa for shafts with allowance for keyways.
For shafts purchased under definite physical specifications, the permissible shear stress (τ)
may be taken as 30 per cent of the elastic limit in tension (σel) but not more than 18 percent
of the ultimate tensile strength (σu). In other words, the permissible shear stress,
τ = 0.3 σel or 0.18 σu, whichever is less.
 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.

We shall now discuss the above cases, in detail, in the following pages.
Shafts Subjected to Twisting
Moment Only
 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.

Solution.
Given : N = 200 r.p.m. ; P = 20 kW = 20 × 103 W; τ = 42 MPa = 42 N/mm2
Let d = Diameter of the shaft.
We know that torque transmitted by the shaft,
𝑃
𝑇 =9.55 ×10 6 𝑁 − 𝑚𝑚 .........3.3(𝑎 )
𝑛 )
6 20
=9.55 × 10 𝑁 − 𝑚𝑚= 955000 𝑁 − 𝑚𝑚
200
Diameter of the shaft
16T 16T 3 16  955000
 d 3   48.74mm
d3    42
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a

d  50mm
 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.

Solution.
Given : P = 1 MW = 1000 kW ; N = 240 r.p.m. ; Tmax = 1.2 Tmean ;
τ = 60 MPa = 60 N/mm2
Let d = Diameter of the shaft.
We know that mean torque transmitted by the shaft,
𝑃 6 6 1 0 00 6
𝑇 =9.55 × 10 𝑇 =9.55
𝑁 −𝑚 𝑚 × 10 𝑁 −𝑚𝑚= 39.79× 10 𝑁 −𝑚𝑚
𝑛 24 0
Maximum torque transmitted,
Tmax = 1.2 Tmean = 1.2*39.79*106 = 47.75*106 N-mm
Diameter of the shaft
6
16T 16T 16  47.75  10
 d3 max
3  159.44mm
d3    60
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a
d  160mm
Example 3.
Find the diameter of a solid steel shaft to transmit 20 kW at 200 r.p.m. The
ultimate shear stress for the steel may be taken as 360 MPa and a factor of safety as 8.
If a hollow shaft is to be used in place of the solid shaft, find the inside and outside
diameter when the ratio of inside to outside diameters is 0.5.

Solution. Given : P = 20 kW ; N = 200 r.p.m. ; τu = 360 MPa = 360 N/mm2 ; F.S.

= 8 ; k = di / do = 0.5
We know that the allowable shear stress,

Diameter of the solid shaft

Let d = Diameter of the solid shaft.
We know that torque transmitted by the shaft,
6 𝑃 6 20
𝑇 =9.55 × 10 𝑁𝑇
−𝑚 𝑚
=9.55 × 10 𝑁 − 𝑚𝑚= 955000 𝑁 − 𝑚𝑚
𝑛 200
Diameter of the solid shaft (d)
16T 16T 3 16  955000
 d 3   47.63mm
d3    45
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a d  50mm
Diameter of hollow shaft
Let di = Inside diameter, and
do = Outside diameter.
16T  1 
 3  4 
..........3.2
 do  1  K 
16T  1  3 16  955000  1 
do  3
 4 
  4 
 48.67mm
  1 K    45  1  0.5 
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a
d o  50mm

di = Inside diameter
K=di/do=0.5
di=0.5*do=0.5*50
Di=25mm
Shafts Subjected to Bending Moment Only
Example 4.
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.

Solution.
Given : W = 50 kN = 50 × 103 N ; L = 100 mm ; x = 1.4 m ; σb = 100 MPa = 100 N/mm2

The axle with wheels is shown in Fig. 1.

A little consideration will show that the maximum bending moment acts on the wheels at C and D.
Therefore maximum bending moment,
*M = W.L = 50 × 103 × 100 = 5 × 106 N-mm
The maximum B.M. may be obtained as follows :
RC = RD = 50 kN = 50 × 103 N
B.M. at A, MA = 0
B.M. at C, MC = 50 × 103 × 100 = 5 × 106 N-mm
B.M. at D, MD = 50 × 103 × 1500 – 50 × 103 × 1400 = 5 × 106 N-mm
B.M. at B, MB = 0
 Diameter of the shaft
32M
 3
.................3.4b
d
6
32 M 32  5  10
d3 3  79.85mm
  100
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a
d  90mm
Shafts Subjected to Combined Twisting
Moment and Bending Moment
Example 5.
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.

According to Max normal stress theory

1
 16  3
d  (M  (M 2  T 2 ) 
  max 
1
 16  3
d (3  106  (3  106 ) 2  (10  106 ) 2 )  d  83.7 mm
   116.7 
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a
d  90mm
According to Max shear stress theory
1
 16 2 2
3
d  (M  T ) 
  max 
1
 16  3
d  (3  106 ) 2  (10  10 6 ) 2  d  86.1mm
   83.3 
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a
d  90mm
Example 6. A line shaft is driven by means of a motor placed vertically below it. The pulley
on the line shaft is 1.5 metre in diameter and has belt tensions 5.4 kN and 1.8 kN on the tight
side and slack side of the belt respectively. Both these tensions may be assumed to be vertical.
If the pulley be overhang from the shaft, the distance of the centre line of the pulley from the
centre line of the bearing being 400 mm, find the diameter of the shaft. Assuming maximum
allowable shear stress of 42 MPa.
Solution .
Given : D = 1.5 m or R = 0.75 m; T1 = 5.4 kN = 5400 N ; T2 = 1.8 kN = 1800 N ;
L = 400 mm ; τ = 42 MPa = 42 N/mm2
A line shaft with a pulley is shown in Fig .
We know that torque transmitted by the shaft,
T = (T1 – T2) R = (5400 – 1800)
0.75 = 2700 N-m
= 2700 × 103 N-mm
According to Max shear stress theory
1
 16 2 
2
3
d  (M  T ) 
  max 
1
 16  3
d  (2.88 106 ) 2  (2.7 10 6 ) 2  d  78.22mm
   42 
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a
d  80mm
According to Max normal stress theory
1
 16  3
d  (M  (M 2  T 2 ) 
  max 
1
 16  3
d  (819.2  103  (819.2 103 ) 2  (357.6 103 ) 2 ) 
   63 

d  51.7 mm
Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a
d  56mm
According to Max shear stress theory
1
 16 2 2 
3
d  (M  T ) 
  max 
1
 16  3
d  47.68mm
d  (819.2  103 ) 2  (357.6  103 ) 2 
   42 

Standard Diameter of the shaft from table 3.5 a

d  50mm

Taking larger of two values

Hence diameter of the shaft is
d  56mm
Shafts Subjected to Fluctuating Loads

In the previous articles we have assumed that the shaft is subjected to constant torque
and bending moment. But in actual practice, the shafts are subjected to fluctuating
torque and bending moments. In order to design such shafts like line shafts and counter
shafts, the combined shock and fatigue factors must be taken into account for the
computed twisting moment (T ) and bending moment (M ). Thus for a shaftsubjected to
combined bending and torsion, the equivalent twisting moment,

and equivalent bending moment,

where Km = Combined shock and fatigue factor for bending, and

Kt = Combined shock and fatigue factor for torsion.
The following table shows the recommended values for Km and Kt.
Shafts Subjected to Axial Load in addition to
Combined Torsion and Bending Loads
Design of Shafts on the basis of Rigidity