Shaft Deflections

The importance of deflection in shaft design:

Bearing selection
Proper functioning of gears, pulleys, cams,
seals
Proper functioning of shaft
Shaft design
9 Amount of power required has been determined
9 Size gears, pulleys, etc.--> hubs, keys and keyways
a. Determines loads
9 Specify bearings
a. Distance between bearings is determined
Determine diameter based on constraints listed above.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Begin with a uniform diameter shaft

Determine expressions for slope at
bearing locations
Determine expressions for deflection
at bearing locations
solve for shaft diameter at each
location

From strength of materials:

d2y
M
=
2
EI
dx
dy
M
=
=
dx
dx
EI
d
M
dxdx
=
y =
EI
dx

Torsional deflection can be found from:

TL
JG

(T = torque, L = length of shaft, J = polar moment of inertia, G = shear

modulus of elasticity)

b
M

Using superposition, and maximum allowable slope as a design

constraint, we can find an expression for shaft diameter that will
enable the designer to meet slope constraints.
Left Bearing
Fbx 2
Mx 2
y=
x + b 2 L2 +
x + 3a 2 6aL + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL
Fb 2
M
=
b L2 +
3a 2 6aL + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL

For a solid circular shaft:

Fb 2
M
b L2 +
3a 2 6aL + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL
64 Fb
64 M
allowable =
3a 2 6aL + 2 L2
b 2 L2 +
4
4
6 Ed L
6 Ed L
32 Fb
32 M
allowable =
b 2 L2 +
3a 2 6aL + 2 L2
4
4
3Ed L
3Ed L

Solving for d:

32 Fb
32 M
d =
b 2 L2 +
3a 2 6aL + 2 L2
3EL allowable
3EL allowable

What if there is more than one load or moment on the shaft?

Left Bearing

Fibi x 2
Mx
2
2
x + bi L2 + i x 2 + 3ai 6ai L + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL
Fb
M
= i i bi 2 L2 + i 3ai 2 6ai L + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL
y=

What if loading is in two planes (say x-y and x-z)?

Left Bearing

2
2
F b x
M x
M x

Fb x
2
2
2
2
y = i i x 2 + bi L2 + i x 2 + 3a i 6ai L + 2 L2 + i i x 2 + bi L2 + i x 2 + 3a i 6ai L + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL
6 EIL
x z
x y 6 EIL

Fb

= i i bi 2 L2 + i 3ai 2 6ai L + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL

x y

2
Fb
Mi

2
2
+ i i bi L2 +
3ai 6ai L + 2 L2
6 EIL
6 EIL
x z

Team Assignment:

Shaft Deflection Lecture 1

Derive an expression for deflection and slope at the right bearing

for:
A single load, a single moment
Multiple loads, multiple moments
Loads in two planes
Superposition gives the following expression for deflection at the
right end of the shaft:
y=

Fa(L x ) 2
x + a 2 2 Lx
6 EIL