COTTER JOINTS

Introduction:

Cotter joints rigidly connect two rods which transmit motion in the axial direction, without rotation,
iLe., joints are under tensile or compressive forces along the axes of the rods. It is not used for
connecting shafts that rotate and transmit torque. The rods connected by cotter joint may be of
different cross sections, for example, circular or square. Examples of cotter joints are:
1) Connection of piston rodto the crosshead of asteam engine
2) Valve rod and its stem
3) Joint between piston rod and the tail or pump rod
4) Foundation bolt

Cotter joints are temporary joints, which mean they can be easily and quickly disassembled as well
as assembled.

A cotter is a flat wedge-shaped piece of material of rectangular cross-section having uniform

thickness but tapering in width, generally on one of its longer side only.The taper usually varies from
1:48to 1:24(Usual value being 1:32). The taper on one of thesides of cotter facilitates holding of the
two rods. However, excessive taper must be avoided. The ends of the cotter are made narrow to
facilitate the hammering for fixing and removing. It is inserted through the members at right angles
to their axes. Clearance of 1.5 to 3 mm must always be provided between the cotter and the slot for
adjustment. Cotter is generally made of steel, aluminium, wood, etc.
The taper is provided for the following two reasons:
When the cotter is inserted in the slot through the members and pressed by hammering it
becomes tight due to wedge action. This ensures tightness of joint and prevents loosening
during operation.
ii. Due tothe taper shape it is easier to remove
The taper of the cotter as wellas slots is provided on one side only. Machining a taper on two sides
of a machine part is not only more difficult, but also costlier. There is no specific advantage of
providing taper on two sides.
When the cotter is driven in the slots, the two rods are drawn together and the amount by which the
two rods are drawn together is called the draw of the cotter.

Advantages of cotter joint:

i Assembly and dismantling of parts of acotter joint is quick and simple.
ii The wedge action develops avery high tightening force, which prevents loosening of parts in
service.
i.The joint is simple to design and manufacture.
Types of cotter joints:
1) Cotter Joint with Spigot and Socket ends
2) Cotter Joint with Sleeve
3) Cotter Joint with a Gib

Cotter Joint with Socket and Spigot Ends:

ooCket and spigot cotter joint is used to fasten two circular rods. One of the rods is formed ínto a
SoCket by enlarging its end so as to form a hollow cylindrical cavity. while the other rod is formed
 into aspigot end having enlarged diameter with acollar. Slots are cut into both the socket and spigot
end of the rods. The spigot is put inside the socket and after aligning the two ends, the cotter is driven
in through the slots,forming the joint. Pictorial, sectional and exploded views of socket and spigot
cotter joint are shown in Fig 1.

Spigot Socket end

Cotter

Socket

Spigot end

Spigot, Cotter Spigot,

Cotter.

Socket
Socket,

Fig 1: Pictorial, Sectional and exploded isometric views of Socket and Spigot Cotter joint
Components of socket and spigot cotter joint are shown below.

Fig 2: Components of socket and spigot cotter joint - Socket. Spigot and Cotter
 1. The spigot end is inserted into the
hollow cylindrical cavity of the socket
end. Both socket and spigot are provided
with a narrow rectangular slot, which are
properly aligned.
2. The cotter is driven-in through the
slots and ited tightly passing through
both socket and spigot. thus forning the
joint.

Fig3: How socket and spigot cotter joint is assembled

 Cotter Spigot Spigot
Clearance collar

Rod-A
Socket Rod-8

Socket collar
HClearance
d

--

Fig 4: Socket and spigot cotter joint with design dimensions

P Axial tensile force acting on the rods
d diameter of rod
d1 outside diameter of socket
d2 inside diameter of socket = diameter of spigot
ds diameter of spigot collar
d4 diameter of socket collar
distance from end of slot to end of spigot
mean width of cotter
axial distance of end of socket collar from slot
thickness of cotter
thickness of spigot collar
length of cotter

Rod-A
PI2 Rod-B

Spigot
Socket PI2
P2

Cotter

Fig 5: Free body diagram of forces

 Spigot
collar Spigot Rod Component Design

of
Cotter
Shear
ilure
Crushing
failure failure
Shear
Crushing
failure Tensile
failure
(across
section) Tension Failure
Mode
Joint:

weakest

-Area
shear
under Area Failure
under Area
tension

under
Area -
SectionXX
at tension

[o] =
(Assume:
P= Equation
Design
[t]P= 2ad,[r] =
P td,lo]P= 4P

d- t
=0.31d
d,t|
[o;) ]

CheckOc Dimension

ds a dz
d

=1.50dd3
0.45d tË = 0.75d a= 1.21dd,= Empirical
relation