Power Transmission Shafting

Polvertransmissionshafting
Continuous mechanicalpower is usually fransmitted along and

betweenrotating shafts.Thetransferbetlveenshafu is accomplishedby
gears,belts, chains or other similar means for matching the
torque/speed characteristicsof the interconnectedshafts- eg. a cN
needsgearsbetween the enginecrankshaft and drive wheel hal"f-shafts.
shafu rotafing only at constantspeed n (rev/s) are consid.eredhere,
and as shafts are usually statically determinate they may be examined
by the techniques of elementarystatics.AIso, since
-power =
force ( i.l) .linear velocity(m/s)in translationalapplicatioruand

*
?ower = torque ( Nm) angular velocity (= 2nn rad/s) in rotational
appiications,
. . . . then it follows that torque is a major load.component in power bansmitting
rotating shafbs.
Torque maybe transferr.ato or from the end of

oneshaftby u secondcoaxialshaft- this is a pure
torque,a twist aboutthe shaftaxis.Thetransfer
is accomplishedby a shaftcouoling,
{T
\- t
wh_ich
consistsof two often identical half-couplirgr which are dath mounted.
on one of the shafu before being connectedtogether non-perrnanently.
The mounting of a half-coupting on a shaft must prevent relafive
rotation when torque is applied - this is achievedby a positively
inierlocking element exempiifiedby a key (or a derivative of this such
as a spline) or by friction. Shownhere is the free body of a shaft keyed
to a coupling half - the torque key
FBDofEhalt
on the shaft is equilibrated by sh#r
an equalartd oppositetorque
halF.z\
coupling
on the half-coupling.Free
bodiesof the individual eiementsclarify how the key,sfacesg,verise to
.qoitibrating coupleon boththe shaftand the hjf-couplt"g,
T
The typical friction-basedmountingbelow comprisesa split tapered
bush which is forcedby screwsinto a mating tapermachinedin the
FBDofshalt
bore of the halfcoupling.The
bushconfracts
onto the shaft ,
FBDofhalf+oupling
causinghigh
r,ffi
piessllresand coffespondinghigh surfacefriction i,vhjchequilibrates

the torque - provided dghterirg is sufficient.
Torquemay be transferredalsoat any point along a shaft by u gear.,belt
forceonpulley
:,?:iflil, pulley,or chainsprocketfor example,mounted
shait+F on the shaft as described above, These common

.
. &. f '
elementsapplyforcesoffsetfr-omthe shaft axis,

and thereforeusefuitorqueT mustbe
accompanied
by a conesponding
radial load with
consequential
bending- this is why the generalised
shaftdesignmodel
-!,ffi.incorporate both torqueandbendingmomentload components.
g
r=F'
A spur gearand a belt pulley aresketched,eachsubjectedto loading

tangentialto its effectiaeor pitch cylinderof diameter D. The load
on the spur geat arises from inter-tooth contact
..;..ipursearptch
',,.i;i4l^ds"
with its matingger andcomprises

two
components
- theusefultangentialcomponent ffilffi
F,andtheunwanted
but unavoidable
radial
"\ry
cofnponent { (commonly 0.36F, ). Gegrforms

otherthan spur
-SVe rise also to a load
componentparallel to the shaft axis - but for all gears,shifting the offset
.- :
f orc eas a b o v eT
, =F.D/2.
A beIt, being flexible, cannot withstand compression- the puIley is
therefore subjectedto two sfand tensions F",* and F"* both of which
must exceedzero.The net torque T = (F-u*- F""") D/2is clockwise
here. The tensionratio F*",,1F,*must iie betweena lower iimit of unity
(correspondingto no torque transfer) and an upper limit dictated by
incipient belt slip around the pulley. (rhis may be demonstratedby
equally pulling the ends of a bit of rope vwappedaround a posf then
progressively increasingthe puil on one end.) A chain sprocket is
similar though the minimum tension rl:raydtop to zero due to the
positive drive not relying on friction.
The mounting of a half-coupling and the like on a shaft is, localIp
intrinsically indeterminate.This is exemplified by the pulley boss
illustrated which extendsfrom A to C along the stepped shaft. The
actual distributions of bending and torque in the shaft
4 -\ q
rt,*tff',
are shown. To the left of A and to the right of C there
transverseloads,
loads, sothe
the bending
bending
are no immed,iate
are
immed,iatetransverse
^"T\4':^"T\fi'l-
momentis linear.But within AC the bosscontributes

to the shaft'sstiffnessand alsodistributesthe pulley
load graduailyinto the shaft,so thebendingmoment
variationis non-linear.Similarlythetorqueis some
constantvalue(zerohere)in the shaftto theieft of A
and anotherconstantvalue T to the right of C -
rtvvrc
i r,,,,,t
i
F
Dl
Al
T
.
,0.
l,.trpr1s f.a -If.< 1s(au*

indeterminate fashion.
lsrcgen Se E
l.r.r
Qgx^.eeex
r\u
No arternPt
attempt 15
is maqe
made to resolvethls
this bending/torsional
bendlng/ torsional indeterminacy the actual distributions are insteadreplacedby approximate
distributions basedon externalloads concentratedat the mid-point B.
This leads to a bending moment diagram characterised.
by sh.aight
segmentsand a torque diagram which increasesstepwiseat B. The
approximation is justified in view of unknown stiffness details and.
stressconcentrationdue to shoulders(usedfor positive longifudinal
location) and mountings (squarekeys, shrink fits etc.) In thii example a
cross-sectionbetween B and C is critical since the d.iameteris the
smaller Do (neglectingthe blending radii which reducestress
concentrationat the shoulder),the torque is the fully developed T, and
the bending moment is to all intents and purposes the peak MB.
Shafts are suPported in two bearings (sliding or rolling) which allow the
shafts to turn freely - there is no appreciable torque exlrted by the
bearings.A sliding bearing needsa lubricant film in the clearince space
between shaft and bearing bush; in the fully hydrodynamic bearing
illustrated the oil is dragged into
pressoitrirm,thickness
ctearance
thewedge-shaped
gupJu,rri.g
Jursi.gu
'tk
u'
,,,ffin'*'o
tr^,H:,Tll;;iJffiffi*?i
@"ffi
n'nlo,*ul3"
the shaft without metal-to-metal SLIDING
llifi"BEA*N.
BEAFING
contact and little friction.
tr lslling bearing (of which the ball bearingillustrated.is but one

example)comprisestwo hardened.
racesbetweenwhich a number of
identicalhardenederements
ro[. Not shownarevariousnecessary
detailssuch asmeansfor preventingaxial movement
of races,for dust
sealingand for 1ubricantretention.
Thereare many differentembodimentsof thesetwo
bearingclasses.A
bearingt.tpport, a shaftover
axial length and so is Int insically
indeterminateno matterwhat1ftrytu
its form - howeier it is approximatedlike
the bossABC aboveby a concentratedreactionat its
*jai_point.
The transverseforceson a shaftareserdomcoplanar,
so it is usuany
necessary
to resolveforcesinto two convenientorthogonallongifudinal
planesand to separatery
considerbendingin each.roi examprethe
horizontal shaft ABCD,figure (a) is simpiy supported
in bearingsat A,
D and carriesgearsor pulleysat B, C.
The offset gear/belt forces are shifted to the shaft axis as above, giving
rise to the shaft bending loads, figure (a).The coffesponding torque
diagram figure @) shows that torque is transmitted between B and C
(thereis no torque sink outside BC as the bearingscan offer tuIr4';1hI
no appreciabletorsional resistance).The bending loads are ;. $+q
resolvedinto vertical and horizontal planes,figure (c).
[:;.',1iii1#.,,Mt
/
Treating eachplane separately,the bearing reactions are
\
computed and the bending moment diagram completed,
resulting in two component BMDs figure (d). Sincemoments are
vectors, the resultant bendiog moment at any cross-sectionalong the
shaft can be found easily from the two componentsby Pythagoras as
M = {( M*' +Mu2), recalling that it is the moment magnitude only which
is relevant,
Finallp somepractical tips for shaft analysis :. Equilibrium in the axial view is usually examined fust, to figure
out the magnitude of the torque(s)and the locationsbetween
w$ch torque is transmitted. Thus the shaft, figure (e) similar to
ABCD above,is freely supported in bearings and equipped with
o a 150mm diameter belt pulley
rtr'zpyFr
with strand tensions given as
2rooJ4,qqLE
2100and 500 N
soor,rfffiosr,
o d spur gear of 100mm pitch
rtt+uit11.ttt1t1ttvl
diameter with unknown
ttt*t:iiwsntf sltttst
tangential and radial forces.
Eachforceis shifted if necessary

to passthrough the shaftaxis
whilst infroducingthe correspondingtorquefigure (f). Thus
startingurith the two known belt forces,the net clockwisetorque
dueto theirshiftis (2100- 500) x 0.075=120Nm.
This is the torque T transmittedbetweenbelt and gear.The
anticlockwisetorque introducedwhen the gear'stangentialforceis
shiftedto the axisis F,x 0.05Nm, assuming F units are N. For
rotationalequilibriumtherefore 0.05F,= \20, ie. F,= 2400N.
Finally F,may be takenas 0.36F,= 864N (thoughnotethat three
sigfigs are unwarranted).Al1 externalloads are now known, so

they may be resolved into orthogonalplanes,figure (c) prior to
calculating bending moments.
Note that figure (0 is not a compretefree body, however the
bearing reactionswhich are not shown do noi contribute to
rotational equilibrium.
. As shaft loading is concentrated,

it is usually
easierto calculatebendingmomentsfrom
standardresultsratherthanto preparea
completebending momentdiagramfrom
first principles. Thus a body of length L
betweensimple supportsis loadedby u
transverseforce F locatedat p from one
{r
Hn=r'fd
-Lr
L
support. The bending moment at a point e distant q from the

other support is derived in the sketch as
Ma = F pq/L
a result which can be applied to superposethe bending
effects of multiple loads, though care is needed when load senses
differ or loads overhang the supports - it is suggestedthat the steps
shown in the sketch be retracedfor thesecases-.

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Polvertransmissionshafting

Continuous mechanicalpower is usually fransmitted along and

force ( i.l) .linear velocity(m/s)in translationalapplicatioruand

Torque maybe transferr.ato or from the end of

piessllresand coffespondinghigh surfacefriction i,vhjchequilibrates

:,?:iflil, pulley,or chainsprocketfor example,mounted

shait+F on the shaft as described above, These common

elementsapplyforcesoffsetfr-omthe shaft axis,

A spur gearand a belt pulley aresketched,eachsubjectedto loading

with its matingger andcomprises

cofnponent { (commonly 0.36F, ). Gegrforms

momentis linear.But within AC the bosscontributes

l,.trpr1s f.a -If.< 1s(au*

contact and little friction.

tr lslling bearing (of which the ball bearingillustrated.is but one

Eachforceis shifted if necessary

sigfigs are unwarranted).Al1 externalloads are now known, so

. As shaft loading is concentrated,

support. The bending moment at a point e distant q from the

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