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The Design of Formula SAE Half Shafts for
Optimum Vehicle Acceleration
James P. Parsons
California State Polytechnic Univ-Pomona
ABSTRACT
Many Formula SAE teams choose to design half shafts
instead of purchase them. Commercial half shafts are usually
over-designed, so teams make custom shafts to reduce the
mass and rotational inertia. Half shafts are commonly
designed by predicting the applied torsional loads and
selecting inner and outer diameters to not exceed the
material's yield strength. Various combinations of inner and
outer diameters will support the loads, and the final
dimensions may be chosen arbitrarily based on the designer's
attempt to minimize both mass and rotational inertia.
However, the mass and rotational inertia of a hollow shaft are
inversely related and both quantities cannot be minimized
simultaneously. Designers must therefore compromise
between mass and rotational inertia reductions to maximize
vehicle performance.
This paper will present the derivation of an equation which
calculates the optimum inner and outer half shaft diameter to
maximize vehicle acceleration. Graphical explanations and
predictions of vehicle acceleration improvements will be
provided. The design, manufacturing, and testing procedure
of Cal Poly Pomona's Formula SAE half shafts will be
explained as an example for other teams.
INTRODUCTION
Half shafts are critical components for any Formula SAE
vehicle and require detailed analysis to ensure a sufficient
factor of safety. Due to the complications involved with
design and manufacturing, many teams are rightfully hesitant
to create their own half shafts. However, vehicle performance
can be significantly improved by designing optimum half
shafts tailored to a specific vehicle. Strictly considering
vehicle performance, the benefits far outweigh the risks if a
proper design procedure is followed. Additionally, design
2013-01-1772
Published
04/08/2013
Copyright © 2013 SAE International
doi:10.4271/2013-01-1772
scores at SAE competitions can be improved with custom
designed half shafts.
Vehicle acceleration is greatly affected by half shaft
properties. Wheel torque is decreased by half shaft rotational
inertia and overall vehicle mass is increased by half shaft
mass. Both quantities (shaft rotational inertia and shaft mass)
reduce power limited vehicle acceleration. While these
negative impacts can never be removed, they can be
minimized by proper design.
This paper will begin by deriving
1. an equation relating vehicle acceleration to half shaft
dimensions, and
2. an equation relating inner and outer half shaft diameters
based on applied loads and fatigue failure criteria
Then, the paper will explain how to use these equations to
select optimum shaft diameters and verify the factor of safety.
A summary of how Cal Poly Pomona utilized the above
equations will be provided. Additionally, the testing
procedure used to validate the design will be explained.
RELATING VEHICLE
ACCELERATION TO HALF SHAFT
DIMENSIONS
Newton's Second law will be used to calculate power limited
acceleration. The section will demonstrate that the vehicle's
net force and total mass are functions of shaft diameters.
Substituting the force and mass functions into Newton's
Second law will give a relationship between vehicle
acceleration and shaft dimensions.
The following analysis is valid only when the vehicle's
wheels are not slipping (i.e. “power limited”). This may seem
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like a substantial limitation to the analysis, but further

thought indicates that no limitation exists at all. Half shaft
mass and rotational inertia should only be considered when
the wheels have traction, because neither quantity reduces
vehicle acceleration when the wheels are slipping. See
reference [4] for more details on this topic.

Beginning with Newton's Second law, longitudinal

acceleration is

The force output on the wheels can be calculated by

(A.1)

(A.5)

To relate net force to half shaft diameters, we define the net

longitudinal force as

Torque loss from the half shafts is given by

(A.2)

(A.6)

The vehicle weight can be neglected assuming the car is on

level ground, and air drag will be neglected to simplify the The rotational inertia is given by reference [3] as
final equation. (Gravity and air drag can be included if
desired.) This gives
(A.7)
(A.3)
The angular acceleration of the half shaft is
Before continuing, realize FWheelX is the net force acting in
the longitudinal direction by the tires. FWheelX ordinarily
would include both thrust and rolling resistance forces. (A.8)
Although rolling resistance is not negligible, it will be
where r is the wheel radius.
neglected in this analysis. Neglecting rolling resistance
implies that predictions of vehicle acceleration will have
Substituting Equations A.8 and A.7 into A.6, then
some error, but this error eventually cancels itself out during
substituting A.6 into A.5 gives
the optimization procedure.

The vehicle mass is given by

(A.9)

(A.4) Before continuing, it's important to understand what equation

A.9 represents. The force exerted by the tires on the vehicle
due to engine torque is equal to the wheel force that would be
exerted if all drivetrain losses except for half shaft rotational
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inertia were considered, subtracted by the force lost by half

shaft rotational inertia.
where FMax represents the maximum tire tractive force. It's
Substituting equation A.9 and A.4 into A.1 gives important to note that dynamic effects acting on the half shaft
most likely produce additional torsional forces which makes
TMax an under prediction. A large static factor of safety
should be used to account for additional dynamic loads.

For fatigue considerations, the variation of applied torsional

(A.10)
loads must be determined. In worst case conditions, the half
shafts would be transitioned from engine braking to traction
The longitudinal vehicle acceleration can now be expressed
limited acceleration. Therefore the largest possible variation
by rearranging equation A. 10
in torque is

(A.11)
Equation A.11 will be referred to as the acceleration equation
and it provides one of relationships necessary to find
optimum shaft dimensions. A.11 shows how power limited
vehicle acceleration depends on the outer diameter and inner
diameter of the half shafts. The next step is to determine what
ID and OD combinations are capable of withstanding applied
loads. Then, the ID and OD that yields the highest vehicle
acceleration can be selected.
(AP.1)
where TEngine Brake is the engine braking torque. A negative
value for engine braking torque should be substituted into
equation AP.1 because it acts opposite in direction to
maximum torque.
Also, the mean torque under cyclic loading is the average of
maximum and minimum applied torque.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INNER (AP.2)

AND OUTER DIAMETERS A negative value for engine braking torque should be used for
We will now use stress analysis techniques to derive a equation AP.2.
relationship between ID and OD that will ensure the shaft can
avoid a fatigue failure under the applied loads. The following Determine Internal Stresses
procedure will be utilized: Because we're neglecting axial loads, and no bending loads
1. Determine the applied loads acting on the half shafts are present, the shaft is in pure torsion. The internal shear
stress is highest at the outer fibers and is given by
2. Relate the applied loads to internal stresses
3. Substitute the internal stress relations into the ASME
Elliptic failure criterion. This will relate ID to OD and ensure
an infinite fatigue life.

The shafts will be analyzed for static failure later.

Determine Applied Loads

Substituting and into the
Ideally, half shafts for a Formula SAE vehicle should only be above equation gives
subjected to torsional loads. Assuming the shaft joints are
functioning properly, bending loads should be zero, and axial
loads are negligible in comparison to torsion. Finite element
analysis techniques can be used to validate the assumption of
negligible axial loads. At the traction limit, maximum shear stress is

The maximum torsional load applied to the half shaft can be

calculated using tire data. The half shaft is under maximum
torsional stress when the tire has reached the traction limit. (S.1)
Maximum torque is given by
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The maximum variation in shear stress is

(S.2)

Finally, the mean shear stress is

Substituting zero values for all bending stresses, and inserting
equation S.2 into S.5 gives
(S.3)

Fatigue Failure Criterion (S.7)

To ensure an infinite fatigue life, the ASME Elliptic failure
criterion will be used. ASME Elliptic has been chosen Substituting equation S.3 into S.6 gives
because it is less conservative than other fatigue criteria and
will result in a lighter half shaft. More conservative failure
criteria can be used, such as the Modified Goodman, at the
discretion of the designer. However, the following derivation (S.8)
would have to be changed. In case the reader is unfamiliar
with fatigue failure criteria, a comprehensive review can be Substituting Equations S.7 and S.8 into S.4 gives
found in reference [1].

To clarify, Formula SAE half shafts probably do not require

an infinite fatigue life. However, specifying an infinite
fatigue life provides higher reliability and allows designers to
avoid a crack propagation analysis which may require non-
destructive testing to verify internal flaw size.

The ASME Elliptic equation is

(S.9)

Solving equation S.9 for ID and neglecting imaginary and

negative solutions gives
(S.4)

(S.10)

Equation S.10 now can be used to calculate the required shaft

The equations for σAmp’ and σMean’ are given by reference ID (based on a given OD) to withstand the applied loading
[1] to be cycles without fatigue failure.

SELECTING THE OPTIMUM HALF

SHAFT DIAMETERS
Using the vehicle acceleration equation A.11 and the stress
analysis equation S.10, optimum shaft diameters can be
selected. A graphical approach will be used to help
(S.5) conceptualize the procedure. Vehicle acceleration will be
compared to various combinations of ID and OD dimensions.
The combinations of inner and outer diameters that can
withstand the applied loads will be graphed. The combination
of ID and OD resulting in the largest vehicle acceleration that
(S.6) still supports torsional loads will be chosen. At the end of the
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Figure 1. Graph of vehicle acceleration versus shaft OD and ID. (The numerical values on this graph apply to Cal Poly
Pomona's FSAE vehicle only. Every vehicle will have slightly different constants substituted into Equations A.11 and S.9 which
will result in different vehicle accelerations.)

section, an algebraic approach will be explained to obtain shaft dimensions have been selected, the final task that
more accurate results. remains is to verify the static factor of safety.

Figure 1 is a graph of equation A.11 and equation S.10 VERIFY THE STATIC FACTOR OF
created by Mathematica 8.0. Vehicle acceleration is plotted
on the vertical axis, ID on the horizontal x-axis, and OD on SAFETY
the horizontal y-axis. The curved surface represents the To check the static factor of safety, simply divide the
vehicle acceleration equation, and demonstrates variations in material's yield strength by the maximum Von Mises stress
acceleration with half shaft dimensions.1 Notice when OD is
held constant, acceleration increases with increasing ID.
When ID is held constant, acceleration decreases with
increasing OD. The curved line is the stress analysis (FS.1)
equation, which indicates all combinations of OD and ID that
are strong enough to withstand applied loads. The maximum Von Mises stress, after neglecting bending, is
given by
At this point, the designer simply selects the combination of
ID and OD that yields maximum vehicle acceleration.
(FS.2)
It's possible to select optimum diameters directly off the where τMax is given by equation S.1. However, we now must
graph. Also, a designer can substitute equation S.10 into A.11 include a stress concentration factor KT to account for any
and use calculus to find the ID and OD corresponding to
stress risers. This gives equation FS.2 in simplified form as
maximum acceleration. However, both of those approaches
would be difficult to do by hand accurately.

A more accurate, simpler approach utilizing an equation

solver should be conducted. Using an equation solver, and equation FS.1 in simplified form as
equation S.10 can be substituted into equation A.11. Then,
the OD that gives maximum acceleration can be determined
from a numerical approach. Back substituting this optimum
OD into equation S.10 gives the optimum ID. Now that half (FS.3)

1Numerical values required in Equations A.11 and S.9 were obtained from Cal Poly Pomona's FSAE vehicle.
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The stress concentration factor can be determined using any
design handbook. For half shafts, there should not be any
stress risers on the cylindrical portion between the splines,
and the stress concentration factor should be one. Accounting
for stress risers at the connection between the shaft and
splines should be done using another stress analysis.
CAL POLY POMONA DESIGN
PROCESS
After deriving equations A.11, S.10, and FS.3, the half shaft
design process was started.
Initial Design Decisions
The shaft material was selected first. 4340 steel was chosen
because a large yield strength can be obtained after heat
treatment. Titanium was considered, but seemed unrealistic
due to the cost. Additionally, titanium would require larger
diameters to withstand the applied loads.
The length of each half shaft was determined using
dimensions between the drivetrain and rear hubs. Cal Poly
Pomona's half shafts are connected to tripod bearings inside
the hub and differential housing. It was important to verify
that the shafts were long enough to reach both CV joints, but
short enough to allow relative motion between the wheel and
differential when the wheel bumps.
Estimating Vehicle Parameters
To approximate the wheel torque outputted to each wheel,
data from an engine dynamometer test was used. The
maximum engine torque output multiplied by the vehicle's
gear ratio provided an estimation of the wheel torque
delivered to the wheels. Wheel radius was calculated from the
nominal tire diameter. The “shaftless” mass of the vehicle
was approximated by subtracting both half shaft masses from
total vehicle mass. Even though wheel torque, wheel radius,
and “shaftless” mass were only approximated, their accuracy
was still sufficient to provide a close estimation of the
optimum shaft dimensions.
In hindsight, more testing should have been conducted to find
accurate values of wheel torque, “shaftless” mass, and
effective wheel radius. Wheel torque can be measured by
testing a vehicle on a dynamometer and subtracting estimated
half shaft losses. Additionally, the vehicle should have been
weighed without half shafts to obtain “shaftless” mass.
Finally, the effective wheel radius should be used instead of
the nominal. This introduces new problems though because
the effective wheel radius varies in different driving
conditions, and no better technique to approximate the actual
tire's radius for this application has been thought of.
After the material, length, wheel torque, “shaftless” mass, and
wheel radius was determined, numerical values were
substituted into the acceleration equation A.11.
(A.11)
Estimating Stress Analysis Parameters
To begin the stress analysis, it was necessary to determine
numerical values for each constant in equation S.10.
The factor of safety against fatigue was initially set at 1.5, but
after design iterations, it reduced to 1.06. This may seem a
little aggressive considering the risks involved. However,
caution was taken throughout the entire design process to
ensure the shafts wouldn't fail during operation.
The endurance strength of the material was determined using
a procedure presented by reference [1]. A specimen under
fully reversed loading has an endurance strength of
To adjust the endurance strength for actual loading
conditions, SE was multiplied by a series of correction
factors. However, many of the correction factors required the
shaft ID and OD to be known, so the shaft endurance strength
was approximated as thirty percent of the ultimate strength.
Design iterations were then used to adjust the endurance
strength of the material by appropriate factors after selecting
initial ID and OD values.
The fatigue stress concentration factor was set to a value of
one because no stress risers were present on the hollow shaft.
However, the connection between the splines and shaft did
introduce a stress riser which was analyzed by hand
calculations and FEA later.
The amplitude and mean torque was calculated using
equations AP.1 and AP.2. Determining both of these values
requires knowledge of engine braking torque. It's was
difficult to determine this value accurately, but it can be
approximated using data recorded by the vehicle's data
acquisition system. The vehicle's deceleration under engine
braking provides an estimate of engine braking torque. A
better approach should be used in the future to more
accurately determine the engine braking torque. Due to the
inaccuracies involved, the engine braking torque was
intentionally overestimated to be thirty percent of maximum
engine torque. With a more accurate test, the half shafts could
be lightened because less conservative figures would be used.
After determining the fatigue factor of safety, endurance
strength, ultimate strength, amplitude torque, mean torque,
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and stress concentration factor, the numerical values were
substituted into equation S.10.
(S.10)
Selecting Half Shaft Diameters
Once equations A.11 and S.10 were completely defined with
numerical values, they were inputted into Mathematica 8.0.
The equations were graphed together and the result is shown
in Figure 1.
Based on Figure 1, it was obvious that acceleration improved
when the wall of the shaft became thinner. This is because
shaft mass reduces as the wall becomes thinner. However,
there were also improvements in vehicle acceleration when
the rotational inertia decreased.
The optimum OD was found using the procedure described
previously. Equation S.10 was substituted into A.11 using
Mathematica 8.0, and then the OD that corresponded to
maximum vehicle acceleration was outputted. The result was
outstanding. Apparently, maximum vehicle acceleration
occurs when the OD is approximately twenty inches.
Obviously the optimum OD is not practical, so one inch was
selected instead. While it may seem that the optimum OD is
not being used, there are not excessively large differences in
vehicle acceleration between an OD that is one inch or twenty
inches.
Next, the ID of the shaft was selected using equation S.10
with the OD equal to 1 inch. The result was 0.872in. The
static load factor of safety was then checked using equation
FS.3 shown below.
(FS.3)
The static stress concentration factor was set to one because
no stress risers existed in the hollow portion of the shaft.
Final Remaining Tasks
The half shafts have not yet been manufactured or tested, but
the following plans are in place.
To manufacture the half shafts, one of two options exist: 1.)
tubes of the proper inner and outer diameters will be
purchased and proper splines will be welded onto the tubes,
or 2.) half shafts will be machined from round stock and
splines will be cut onto the ends. Option one is the most risky
because welds are difficult to analyze and can behave
unpredictably. However, option one allows the tubes to be
sized to optimum dimensions. Also, detailed welding analysis
can be done as explained by reference [1] and reference [2].
If option two is used, the inner diameter of the shaft will be
determined by the spline stresses. Option two therefore does
not allow the inner diameter of the half shafts to be optimum.
The goal is to use option one, but testing will ultimately be
decide which option is more realistic.
To complete testing, the half shafts need to be statically
loaded and fatigue loaded. Static testing will be used to verify
design calculations and check the stiffness. Currently,
calculations predict that the half shafts will deflect about six
degrees under maximum load. Fatigue testing will be
conducted on the Cal Poly Pomona Formula SAE vehicle
during practices.
CONCLUSION
While the half shaft design process is lengthy, following the
illustrated procedure will result in maximum power limited
vehicle acceleration. Cal Poly Pomona will be using
optimized half shafts in their upcoming competition for 2013,
and they will be designed according to the procedure
specified in this technical paper.
As a final note, the theory behind this process does not have
to be limited to shaft design. In fact, any rotating component
on a vehicle can be optimized to balance rotational inertia and
mass. Possible examples include hubs, differential housings,
and wheel centers. Because components like these are more
complicated geometrically, it would be difficult to derive
closed form equations that would result in optimum designs.
However, design software, FEA, and an iterative approach
can be used to balance rotational inertia and mass to
maximize acceleration.
REFERENCES
1. Budynas, Richard, and Nisbett Keith. Shigley's
Mechanical Engineering Design. New York: McGraw-Hill,
2011.
2. WEAVER, M. “Determination of Weld Loads and
Throat.” Welding Journal. (1999): 1-11. http://
www.aws.org/wj/supplement/Weaver/ARTICLE2.pdf
(accessed October 24, 2012).
3. Meriam, J., and Kraige L.. Engineering Mechanics
Dynamics. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010.
4. Rajamani, Rajesh. Vehicle Dynamics and Control. New
York: Springer, 2006.
CONTACT INFORMATION
James Parsons
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
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me.jamesparsons@gmail.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Cal Poly Pomona's Formula SAE team
for the opportunities they have provided me to conduct this
research. The ideas for this design approach were formed by
discussions held with various team members. Professor
Clifford Stover deserves to be thanked as well for the time he
dedicates as the team's advisor. Go CPP FSAE!

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