Design of a real-sized composite drive shaft and critical points from beginning to end

Abstract

In this study, the replacement of a metal drive shaft by a composite counterapart was investigated. The drive shaft considered here is a thin walled tube with an internal diameter of 60 mm and a length of 1200 mm. These dimensions correspond to the dimension of a regular metal drive shaft. Filament winding method was used to manufacture the composite shafts. The number of plies and the orientation angle are selected as variables to minimize the mass of the composite shaft under constraints of torsional stiffness, strength, vibration and buckling. Torsional behavior of composite drive shaft was simulated using Finite element method (FEM). The shafts manufactured were tested by using torsion test set-up. The torsional stiffness of the composite shafts was higher as compared to the metal shaft. In the composite shafts, adhesive failure occurred at the interface between the composite tubes and the steel inserts before the failure of the composite shaft itself. Thus, connector geometries between the shaft and the inserts was also investigated to prevent premature failure. © CCM 2020 - 18th European Conference on Composite Materials. All rights reserved.