Practical application 8: press fit

A spur gear is mounted by press fit on a rotating shaft. The nominal power of the transmission is 25
kW, the service factor is equal to 1.2, the rotational speed 1000 rpm.

Data:

L=40 mm
Dc=60 mm Do = 400 mm

Dc Shaft and gear material:

Do Quenched and tempered steel (C40)
E= 210000 MPa =0.3
Y= 450 MPa

Other data:
Coefficient of friction 𝑓 = 0.2
Safety factor against slipping 𝜙 = 1.25
Safety factor against yielding 𝜙𝑌 = 1.5
L

It is requested to determine:
1) Minimum and maximum interference
2) Coupling tolerances
3) Safety margin on the maximum transmittable torque
4) Stress state

1
2
Solution

Problem description

In this exercise, we want to design the interference fit by identifying the proper coupling tolerance
able to introduce a minimum contact pressure for torque transmission and a maximum pressure that
maintain the coupling within the elastic regime.

Minimum interference

The interference should be calculated on the base of the maximum power that is obtained by
multiplying the nominal power by the service factor:

Pmax = Pnom  K s = 25  1.2  1000 = 30000 [W ]

æ 2 × p × n ö æ 2 × p ×1000 ö
w =ç = ÷ø = 104.72 [rad / s]
è 60 ÷ø çè 60

The torque transmitted by the coupling is:

𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 30000
𝑇= 1000 = × 1000 = 286,479 Nmm
𝜔 104.72

The minimum contact pressure pc,min is related to the tangential action produced by T at the interface
𝑇 286479
𝜏=𝑟 = 2𝜋 302 40 = 1.267 MPa
𝑐 (2𝜋 𝑟𝑐 𝐿)

Therefore the contact pressure is

t 1.267
p= = = 6.333 [ MPa]
fs 0.2

Considering the slipping safety factor, the minimum pressure that must be guaranteed in service is:

𝑝𝑐,𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑝 𝜙 = 6.333 × 1.25 = 7.916 MPa

The minimum interference required to produce pc,min: is equal to:

2 pc,min rc 1 2 × 7.916 × 30
imin = × = = 0.00231 [mm]
E æ rc 2 ö æ 30 2 ö
çè 1- R 2 ÷ø 210000 × çè 1- 200 2 ÷ø
o

3
Maximum interference

The maximum interference is dictated by the yielding condition on the inner surface of the hub
(maximum shear stress theory):

−1
𝑟2 𝜎
2 |𝑝𝑐,𝑚𝑎𝑥 | (1 − 𝑅𝑐2) ≤ 𝜙𝑌 𝜙𝑌 = Yielding safety factor
𝑜 𝑌

sY æ r 2 ö 450 æ 30 2 ö
pc,max = × ç 1- c2 ÷ = × ç 1- = 146.63 [MPa]
2fY è ro ø 3 è 200 2 ÷ø

Since the relation between interference and pressure is linear, we can scale the minimum interference
by the ratio between maximum and minimum pressure:
𝑝𝑐,𝑚𝑎𝑥 146.63
𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 0.00231 = 0.0429 mm
𝑝𝑐,𝑚𝑖𝑛 7.916

Coupling tolerances

Let us explore the feasibility of H6p5 hole-base coupling:

imin,tol =
(32 − 19)  10 −3 = 0.0065[mm]
2
45 − 0
imax,tol =  10 −3 = 0.0225 [mm]
2

The choice is correct since 0.00231< 0.0065 £ i £ 0.0225 < 0.0429

Stress state due to press fit

The stress state depends on the value of i assumed within the tolerance range. We can therefore
determine the maximum and minimum value that the shrink pressure takes at the extremes of the
tolerance range and define an interval of possible values.

4
Radial and hoop stresses are given by

BR
 r /  = AR  Hub  r /  = AA Shaft
r2

Boundary conditions:

Hub:
𝐵𝑅 𝑝 𝑟2
𝜎𝑟,(𝑟=𝑟𝑐) = −𝑝𝑐 = 𝐴𝑅 − 𝐴𝑅 = 𝑅2𝑐−𝑟𝑐 2
𝑟𝑐2 𝑜 𝑐
𝐵𝑅 𝑝𝑐 𝑅𝑜2 𝑟𝑐2
𝜎𝑟,(𝑟=𝑅𝑜 ) = 0 = 𝐴𝑅 − 𝑅2 𝐵𝑅 =
𝑜 𝑅𝑜2 −𝑟𝑐2

Shaft:
 r ,( r =rc ) = − pc = AA

In alternative you can use the general relation:

B p r − p r
2 2
 r /  = A  2 = i i 2 e2 e  2i
p − pe ri  re

2
(2
)
re − ri re − ri
2
r r2

Specifying for the hub: 𝑝𝑖 = 𝑝𝑐 , 𝑝𝑒 = 0 and 𝑟𝑖 = 𝑟𝑐 , 𝑟𝑒 = 𝑅𝑜

For the shaft: 𝑟𝑖 = 0 and 𝑝𝑒 = 𝑝𝑐

5
Safety margin on the transmittable torque

The safety margin on the maximum transmittable torque can be calculated on the base of the
minimum pressure produced by the selected coupling 𝑝𝑐,𝑚𝑖𝑛,𝑡𝑜𝑙 = 22.24 MPa.

𝑇𝑡𝑜𝑙
𝑓 𝑝𝑐,𝑚𝑖𝑛,𝑡𝑜𝑙 = 𝑟
𝑐 (2𝜋 𝑟𝑐 𝐿)

→ 𝑇𝑡𝑜𝑙 = 𝑓 𝑝𝑐,𝑚𝑖𝑛,𝑡𝑜𝑙 𝑟𝑐 (2𝜋 𝑟𝑐 𝐿) = 0.2 × 22.24 × 2𝜋 × 302 × 40 = 1.06 × 106 Nmm

Ttol 440627
h= = = 3.51
T 286479

Montage of the press fit coupling

The press fit can be achieved in two ways: (i) shop press, (ii) temperature difference
(i) In this case, the friction axial load 𝐹𝑎 developed by the maximum pressure produced by the
coupling tolerances must be overcome through a shop press:

E æ rc 2 ö
pc,max,tol = imax,tol 1- = 77.0 MPa
2rc çè Ro 2 ÷ø
Fa = fpc,max,tol 2p rc L = 116 kN

(ii) The temperature difference must produce a thermal strain able to compensate the
maximum tolerance interference. A small clearance must be also produced to overcome the
roughness of the surface. Let us assume the radial clearance 𝐶𝑙 to be 1/1000 of the contact
radius and the thermal expansion coefficient a to be 𝛼 = 10−6 1/°C.

𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑥,𝑡𝑜𝑙 +𝑟𝑐 /1000

Δ𝑇 = = 175°C
𝛼 𝑟𝑐