Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering

Sciences and Technology, Topi, Pakistan

ME – 261

Design of Machine
Elements – I

Instructor
Muhammad Ilyas, PhD

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

 Keys, Pins and Couplings

Speed Reducer
Key: machinery component placed at the interface between a shaft and
the hub of a power-transmitting element for the purpose of
transmitting torque

2
 Keys

⮚ Demountable to facilitate assembly and disassembly

⮚ “Keyseat”: an axial groove machined into the shaft
⮚ “Keyway”: a groove in the hub of the power-
transmitting element
⮚ Sometimes, these terms can be reversed
⮚ The key is installed first in the shaft keyseat and then
the hub keyseat is aligned with the key and hub is slid
into the position

3
 Parallel Keys

⮚ Square – commonly used for diameters ≤ 17mm

⮚ Rectangular – larger shafts or smaller shafts where smaller height
can be tolerated

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 Parallel Keys

⮚ Width of key is one quarter of the

diameter of the shaft
⮚ Keyseats: designed in a way that each
half of the key height is bearing in the
shaft and hub

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 Parallel Keys
⮚ Keyseats are machined
■ End mill -- Profile keyway
■ Circular mill -- Sled runner keyseat

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 Taper Keys and Gib Head Keys

• Taper keys: inserted from end of shaft after aligning the hub
• Pin/round keys: cylindrical groove in shaft and hub, results in lower
stress concentration

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 Taper Keys and Gib Head Keys

• Gib head keys: easy extraction where the other end is not accessible
• Woodruff keys: Light loading, easy assembly and disassembly

8
 Materials for keys

⮚ It may be desirable to “size” a key so that it will shear off by ductile

rupture in the event an overload occurs in or on the machine.
⮚ An inexpensive shaft key acts as a “mechanical safety fuse”, this way it
protects the shaft and other more expensive machine elements from
damage.
⮚ Typically, the selected key material is soft, ductile, low carbon steel,
cold-rolled to standard keystock sizes, and custom cut to an appropriate
length.
⮚ Design of the key for an application must assure:
⮚ operational torques will be transmitted without failure,
⮚ torques produced by overload conditions, such as jamming or seizure of a
system component, cause the key to shear off across the shaft-hub interface

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 Materials for keys

⮚ Plain carbon steel

⮚ Alloy steels
⮚ Stainless steels
⮚ Nonferrous metals
⮚ Plastics

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 Materials for keys

⮚ This course: steels for general industrial applications, (by default: low
carbon steel AISI 1018)
⮚ If reasonable (smaller) length is desired: medium carbon steels AISI
1035, 1045 or alloy steels SAE 4140 or 8630 may be next choices
⮚ If ductility is not a concern: high carbon steel AISI 1095 may be used
⮚ Corrosion resistance is necessary: stainless steels may be used

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 Determination of Key Length
⮚ Two potential failure for modes
⮚ Shear across the shaft/hub interface
⮚ Compression failure due to bearing action

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 Determination of Key Length
⮚ Magnitude of shearing force
𝑇
𝐹=
𝐷/2
⮚ Shearing stress
𝐹 2𝑇
𝜏= = (Eq–1)
𝐴𝑠 𝐷𝑊𝐿
⮚ We set the shearing stress equal to the design stress in shear
(maximum shear stress theory)
𝜏𝑑 = 0.5𝑆𝑦 /𝑛
⮚ 𝑛 is the design factor

⮚ Minimum required key length for Shear

2𝑇 (Eq–2)
𝐿𝑚𝑖𝑛 =
𝜏𝑑 𝐷𝑊
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 Determination of Key Length
⮚ Failure in bearing is related to the compressive stress
⮚ Area in compression is
𝐴𝑐 = 𝐿 × 𝐻/2
⮚ Failure occurs on the surface with the lowest compressive yield strength
⮚ Define design stress for compression as
𝜎𝑑 = 𝑆𝑦 /𝑛
⮚ Compressive stress
𝐹 4𝑇
𝜎= = (Eq–3)
𝐴𝑐 𝐷𝐿𝐻
⮚ Minimum required key length for Compression
4𝑇 (Eq–4)
𝐿𝑚𝑖𝑛 =
𝜎𝑑 𝐷𝐻
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 Determination of Key Length
⮚ A square key with strength of key material lower than that of shaft or
hub
⮚ Minimum required key length if key material is weakest
4𝑇𝑛
𝐿𝑚𝑖𝑛 =
𝐷𝑊𝑆𝑦 (Eq–5)

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 Design Procedure Parallel keys

⮚ Complete the design of the shaft into which the key will be installed, and
specify the actual diameter at the location of the keyseat.

⮚ Select the size of the key from Table.

⮚ Specify a suitable design factor, 𝑛. In typical industrial applications, 𝑛 = 3 is
adequate to accommodate accidental overloads and shock.

⮚ Specify the material for the key, usually SAE 1018 CD steel. A higher-strength
material can be used.

⮚ Determine the yield strength of the materials for the key, the shaft, and the hub.
⮚ If a square key is used and the key material has the lowest strength, use (Eq–5)
to compute the minimum required length of the key. This length will be
satisfactory for both shear and bearing stress.

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 Design Procedure Parallel keys
⮚ If a rectangular key is used, or if either the shaft or the hub has a lower strength
than the key, use (Eq–4) to compute the minimum required length of the key
based on bearing stress. Also, use (Eq–2 or 5) to compute the minimum required
length based on shear of the key. The larger of the two computed lengths
governs the design. Check to be sure that the computed length is shorter than
the hub length. If not, a higher-strength material must be selected and the
design process repeated. Alternatively, two keys or a spline can be used instead
of a single key.

⮚ Specify the actual length of the key to be equal to or longer than the computed
minimum length. A convenient standard size should be specified using the
preferred basic sizes shown in Appendix A–17. The key should extend over all or
a substantial part of the length of the hub. But the keyseat should not run into
other stress raisers such as shoulders or grooves.

⮚ Complete the design of the keyseat in the shaft and the keyway in the hub using
the equations in Figure below

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 Design Procedure Parallel keys

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 Example Problem

⮚ A portion of a shaft where a gear is to be mounted has a diameter of 50 mm.

The gear transmits 335 N-m of torque. The shaft is to be made of SAE 1040
cold-drawn steel. The gear is made from SAE 1095 steel. The width of the hub of
the gear mounted at this location is 45 mm. Design the key.

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 Woodruff keys

Mott RL, Vaverk EM, Wang J - 2009, Machine Elements in Mechanical Design

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 Woodruff keys
⮚ The geometry of Woodruff keys makes it more difficult to determine the shear
area and the bearing area for use in stress analyses.

⮚ The bearing area on the side of the key in the keyseat is a segment of a circle as
shown in the figure below

⮚ The shear area is the product of the chord of that segment times the thickness
of the key.

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 Woodruff keys

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 Splines
⮚ A spline can be described as a series of axial keys machined into a shaft, with
corresponding grooves machined into the bore of the mating part (gear, sheave,
sprocket, and so on)

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 Splines
⮚ The splines vs keys
⮚ Usually four or more splines are used, as compared with one or two keys,

⮚ A more uniform transfer of the torque results in splines

⮚ A lower loading on a given part of the shaft/hub interface results

⮚ The splines are integral with the shaft

⮚ No relative motion can occur as between a key and the shaft.

⮚ Splines are accurately machined to provide a controlled fit

⮚ If axial motion of the mating element is desired splines are used

⮚ The surface of the spline is often hardened to resist wear

⮚ Two types of splines

⮚ Parallel sided
⮚ Involute
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 Straight Splines

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 Straight Splines

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 Involute Splines

⮚ Involute splines are typically made

with pressure angles of 30°, 37.5°,
or 45°
⮚ Side fit: contact occurs only on the
sides of the teeth, but the involute
form tends to centre the shaft in
the mating splined hub.
⮚ Major diameter fit: accurate
concentricity between the shaft
and the mating element.

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 Involute Splines

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 Pins

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 Pins

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 Polygon Hub to Shaft Connection

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 Polygon Hub to Shaft Connection

⮚ Shaft to hub connection that employs special mating polygon shapes to

transmit torque without keys or splines
⮚ German standards DIN 32711 and 32712 describe the forms
⮚ They can be produced on shaft sizes from 4.76 mm to 203 mm
⮚ Three-sided configuration is called the P3 profile, and the four-sided
design is called the PC4 profile

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 Setscrews

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 Setscrews

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 Retaining rings

⮚ Retaining rings are placed on a shaft, in grooves cut into the shaft, or in
internal recesses to prevent the axial movement of a machine element
or to hold internal components in place.

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 Retaining rings

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 Couplings

⮚ Coupling: device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for
the purpose of transmitting power.
⮚ Rigid

⮚ Flexible

⮚ Rigid couplings: the alignment of the two shafts can be maintained very
accurately
⮚ not only at the time of installation

⮚ but also during operation of the machines.

⮚ Flexible couplings: significant angular, radial, or axial misalignment

occurs

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 Rigid Couplings

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 Flexible Couplings

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 Miscellaneous Clutches and Couplings

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 Miscellaneous Clutches and Couplings

These clutches have the following characteristics:

a) They do not slip.

b) No heat is generated.

c) They cannot be engaged at high speeds.

d) Sometimes they cannot be engaged when both shafts are at rest.

e) Engagement at any speed is accompanied by shock.

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