Determination of Design Criteria for Composite Drive Shaft in Automobiles

Abstract

Thanks to their superior properties such as light weight, higher strength and stiffness, corrosion resistance, the use of plastic matrix composites become attractive in many applications. The weight reduction in the automotive sector is one of these applications. By use of plastic matrix composites, weight and CO2 emission reduction in automobiles could be achieved easily. In this study, carbon fiber and epoxy matrix were processed via filament winding method to produce composite drive shaft. Prior to production, finite element modeling were performed to determine the safest design parameters. Various winding angles were analyzed under torsional loading and number of layer was determined according to the failure index and strength ratio criteria. As a result of the numerical analysis, it was seen that the design with the minimum cost in terms of strength was the 10-layer model with a winding angle of +/- 45 degrees. To validate the design, the composite shaft was produced with the determined configurations and tested. The fiber volume fraction and the void content of the produced composite were found as ~46% was ~0.28%, respectively. No plastic deformation was observed in the torsion test. In the flattening and drift-expansion tests, plastic deformation occurred at 39 kN and 106.5 kN, respectively. Compared with a steel shaft, the obtained composite shaft has an 80% reduction in weight, and this could lead to a 1% fuel saving in passenger vehicles.

Karbon nanotüp içeren kompozit kardan milinin burulma burkulmasına ilişkin sayısal ve teorik bir araştırma

“…Since weight has a significant impact on automobile performance, it is practical to improve it by replacing traditional heavy drive shafts with composite ones. Weight savings ranging from 24% to 80% have been recorded by researchers [7], [11]- [13] when employing FRP composite driveshafts in place of steel driveshafts.…”

“…The findings also showed that the torsional characteristics of the composite shafts are significantly influenced by the fiber orientation angle. Modelling and analysis of composite drive shafts for several ply angles and layer counts were performed and so the safest design criterion was determined by Altin et al [7]. The numerical results showed that the 10-layer model with a winding angle of +/-45 degrees has the lowest cost regarding strength.…”

Meyve Kabuğu tozları Takviyeli Ahşap Plastik Kompozit (APK) Malzemelerin Mekanik Özelliklerinin Belirlenmesi ve I-Tipi Snap-Fit Modeli için Örnek Çalışma

“…These components are assembled with snap-fits. Plastic composite materials have become popular recently, thanks to weight reduction efforts in the automotive industry [40]. In order to evaluate the use of wood plastic composite material instead of the components obtained by using ABS in the automotive sector, an I-type snapfits model was analyzed in the ANSYS environment and the results were examined.…”