KEY Design

Failure by shear across area

ab will create a stress of
𝑇
𝐹 =
𝑟

Power =
l-length of the key
Take shear strength, by DE theory
Ssy = 0.577Sy

(1)

To resist crushing, one half of the face key is used

(2)
Compressive / Bearing / Crushing Stress

• Compressive stress is reaction of the material to

external load.
• Bearing stress / pressure is occurring when two
surfaces are in contact and rubbing against each other
or there is motion between the two.
• Bearing stress / pressure is equal to load divided by
projected area of the surfaces which are in contact.
Example : Screw and nut.
• It is a surface phenomenon, so called bearing
pressure
• Crushing stress is occurring when two surfaces are in
contact and there is no motion between them.
Example shaft and key.
Compressive / Bearing / Crushing Stress
Compressive stress

Bearing stress / pressure Crushing stress

  as

Bearing Stress
     

The average bearing stress is the force

pushing against a structure divided by the
area. Exact bearing stress is more
complicated but for most applications, the
following equation works well for the
average,
σb = P/Ab
This relationship can be further refined by
using the width and height of the bearing
area as
σb = P/dt
Experiments have shown that the bearing
stress distribution is more elliptical shaped
and not uniform
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