CHAPTER 5

Design of Couplings, Clutches and Brakes

5.1 Design of Shaft Coupling

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Con…………….
Shaft Coupling
A coupling is a device used to make permanent or semi-permanent
connection where as a clutch permits rapid connection or
disconnection at the will of the operator.
Purposes of Shaft couplings:
1. To provide for the connection of shafts of units that are
manufactured separately such as a motor and generator and
to provide for disconnection for repairs or alternations.
2. To provide for misalignment of the shafts or to
introduce mechanical flexibility.
3. To reduce the transmission of shock loads from one
shaft to another.
4. To introduce protection against overloads.

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Con…………….
Types of Shafts Couplings
Shaft couplings are divided into two main groups as follows:
1. Rigid coupling: It is used to connect two shafts which are
perfectly aligned. Following types of rigid coupling are important
from the subject point of view :
(a) Sleeve or muff coupling.
(b) Clamp or split-muff or compression coupling, and
(c) Flange coupling.
2. Flexible coupling: It is used to connect two shafts having
both lateral and angular misalignment. Following types of
flexible coupling are important from the subject point of view :
(a) Bushed pin type coupling
(b) Universal coupling, and
(c) Oldham coupling
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Con…………….
Sleeve or Muff-coupling
The usual proportions of a cast iron sleeve coupling are as
follows :
Outer diameter of the sleeve, D = 2d + 13 mm
length of the sleeve, L = 3.5 d
where d is the diameter of the shaft

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Con…………….
1. Design for sleeve
The sleeve is designed by considering it as a hollow shaft.
Let T = Torque to be transmitted by the coupling, and
τc = Permissible shear stress for the material of the sleeve which is cast iron.
The safe value of shear stress (τc) for cast iron may be taken as 14 MPa.

2. Design for key

The length of the coupling key is at least equal to the length of the sleeve (i.e. 3.5 d).

Induced shearing and crushing stresses are calculated from torque transmitted as :

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 Flange Coupling
 A flange coupling applies to a coupling having two separate cast iron flanges.
 Each flange is mounted on the shaft end and keyed to it.
 The faces are turned up at right angle to the axis of the shaft.
The flange couplings are :
1. Unprotected type flange coupling
2. Protected type flange coupling
3. Marine type flange coupling
 In an unprotected type flange coupling,
each shaft is keyed to the boss of a
flange with a counter sunk key and
the flanges are coupled together by
means of bolts.
 Generally, three, four or six bolts are
used. 7
Con…………….
The usual proportions for an unprotected type cast iron flange couplings, :
d = the diameter of the shaft or inner diameter of the hub
Outside diameter of hub, D = 2 d
Length of hub, L = 1.5 d
Pitch circle diameter of bolts, D1 = 3d
Outside diameter of flange,
D2 = D1 + (D1 – D) = 2 D1 – D = 4 d
Thickness of flange, tf = 0.5 d
Number of bolts = 3, for d up to 40 mm
= 4, for d up to 100 mm
= 6, for d up to 180 mm

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Con…………….
2. Design for key
•The key is designed with usual proportions and then checked for shearing and crushing
stresses.
•The material of key is usually the same as that of shaft. The length of key is taken
equal to the length of hub.

3. Design for flange

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Con……………. 4. Design for bolts

From this equation, the diameter of bolt (d1) may be obtained.

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From this equation, the induced crushing stress in the bolts may be
Bushed-pin Flexible Coupling

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Con…………….
•a modification of the rigid type of flange coupling.
•The coupling bolts are known as pins. The rubber or leather bushes are used over
the pins.
• The two halves of the coupling are dissimilar in construction.
•A clearance of 5 mm is left between the face of the two halves of the coupling.
•There is no rigid connection between them and the drive takes place through the
medium of the compressible rubber or leather bushes.
Pin and Bush Design
Let l = Length of bush in the flange,
d2 = Diameter of bush, bearing load acting on each pin,
W = p b × d2 × l
pb = Bearing pressure on the bush or
∴ Total bearing load on the bush or pins
pin,
= W × n = p b × d2 × l × n
n = Number of pins, and
D1 = Diameter of pitch circle of the
pins. 12
Con…………….
the torque transmitted by the coupling,

Direct shear stress due to pure torsion in the

coupling halves

Assuming a uniform distribution of the load W

along the bush, the maximum bending moment
on the pin,

bending stress

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Con…………….

Note: After designing the pins and rubber bush, the hub,
key and flange may be designed in the similar way as
discussed for flange coupling.

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 Universal joints
▲These joints are capable of handling relatively large angular misalignment and they
are widely used in agricultural machinery, machine tools and automobiles.

▲ consist of two forks keyed or screwed to the shaft.

▲There is a center piece through which pass two pins with mutually perpendicular axes
and they connect the two fork ends such that a large angular misalignment can be
accommodated.

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5.2 Design of Clutches

 A clutch is a machine member used to connect a driving shaft to a driven shaft so that
the driven shaft may be started or stopped at will, without stopping the driving shaft.
 The use of a clutch is mostly found in automobiles.
 A little consideration will show that in order to change gears or to stop the vehicle, it
is required that the driven shaft should stop, but the engine should continue to run.
 It is, therefore, necessary that the driven shaft should be disengaged from the driving
shaft. The engagement and disengagement of the shafts is obtained by means of a
clutch which is operated by a lever.

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 Types of clutches

Following are the two main types of clutches commonly used in

engineering practice :
1. Positive clutches, and
2. Friction clutches.

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 Positive Clutches
 The positive clutches are used when a positive drive is required.
 The simplest type of a positive clutch is a jaw or claw clutch.
 The jaw clutch permits one shaft to drive another through a direct contact of
interlocking jaws.
 It consists of two halves, one of which is permanently fastened to the driving shaft
by a sunk key. The other half of the clutch is movable and it is free to slide axially
on the driven shaft

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Friction Clutches

 A friction clutch has its principal application in the transmission of

power of shafts and machines which must be started and stopped
frequently.
 Its application is also found in cases in which power is to be delivered
to machines partially or fully loaded.
 In automobiles, friction clutch is used to connect the engine to the drive
shaft.

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Material for Friction Surfaces
The material used for lining of friction surfaces of a clutch should have the
following characteristics :
1. It should have a high and uniform coefficient of friction.
2. It should not be affected by moisture and oil.
3. It should have the ability to withstand high temperatures caused by slippage.
4. It should have high heat conductivity.
5. It should have high resistance to wear and scoring.

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Types of Friction Clutches

 Though there are many types of friction clutches, yet the following are
important:
1. Disc or plate clutches (single disc or multiple disc clutch
2. Cone clutches, and
3. Centrifugal clutches.

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 Design of a Disc or Plate Clutch
Consider two friction surfaces maintained in contact by an axial thrust (W ) as shown in Fig.

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Con…………….

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 Example

1. Determine the maximum, minimum and average pressure in a plate clutch when the
axial force is 4 kN. The inside radius of the contact surface is 50 mm and the outside
radius is 100 mm. Assume uniform wear.

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2. A plate clutch having a single driving plate with contact surfaces on each side is
required to transmit 110 kW at 1250 r.p.m. The outer diameter of the contact
surfaces is to be 300 mm. The coefficient of friction is 0.4.
a. Assuming a uniform pressure of 0.17 N/mm²; determine the inner diameter of
the friction surfaces.
b. Assuming the same dimensions and the same total axial thrust, determine the
maximum torque that can be transmitted and the maximum intensity of pressure
when uniform wear conditions have been reached.

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5.2 Design of Brakes
 A brake is a device by means of which artificial frictional resistance is applied to a
moving machine member, in order to retard or stop the motion of a machine.
 In the process of performing this function, the brake absorbs either kinetic energy of
the moving member or potential energy given up by objects being lowered by hoists,
elevators etc.
The design or capacity of a brake depends upon the following factors :
1. The unit pressure between the braking surfaces,
2. The coefficient of friction between the braking surfaces,
3. The peripheral velocity of the brake drum,
4. The projected area of the friction surfaces, and
5. The ability of the brake to dissipate heat equivalent to the energy being absorbed. 35
Materials for Brake Lining:

The material used for the brake lining should have the following characteristics :
1. It should have high coefficient of friction with minimum fading. In other words, the
coefficient of friction should remain constant over the entire surface with change in
temperature.
2. It should have low wear rate.
3. It should have high heat resistance.
4. It should have high heat dissipation capacity.
5. It should have low coefficient of thermal expansion.
6. It should have adequate mechanical strength.
7. It should not be affected by moisture and oil.
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Types of Brakes

The brakes, according to the means used for transforming the energy by the braking element, are
classified as :
1. Hydraulic brakes e.g. pumps or hydrodynamic brake and fluid agitator,
2. Electric brakes e.g. generators and eddy current brakes, and
3. Mechanical brakes.

The mechanical brakes, according to the direction of acting force, may be divided into the
following two groups :
a) Radial brakes: In these brakes, the force acting on the brake drum is in radial direction. The
radial brakes may be sub-divided into external brakes and internal brakes. According to the
shape of the friction element, these brakes may be block or shoe brakes and band brakes.
b) Axial brakes: In these brakes, the force acting on the brake drum is in axial direction.
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Design of Internal Expanding Brake

The internal-shoe brake system shown in Fig. 1 consists essentially of three

elements:
 the mating frictional surface,
 the means of transmitting the torque to and from the surfaces, and
 the actuating mechanism.
The internal-shoe or drum brake is used mostly for automotive applications.
To analyze an internal-shoe device, refer to Fig. 2, which shows a shoe pivoted at
point A, with the actuating force acting at the other end of the shoe (B).

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 Finding Pressure Distribution

• Let us consider the pressure p acting upon

an element of area of the frictional material
located at an angle θ from the hinge pin
(Fig. 4).

• We designate the maximum pressure pa

located at an angle θa from the hinge pin.

• To find the pressure distribution on the

periphery of the internal shoe, consider Figure The geometry associated with an
point B on the shoe (Fig. 4). arbitrary point on the shoe.
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• If the shoe deforms by an infinitesimal rotation ∆φ
about the pivot point A, deformation perpendicular to AB
is h ∆φ. From the isosceles triangle AOB,

h = 2 r sin(θ/2)

So
ℎ∆𝜙 = 2𝑟Δ𝜙 sin(𝜃 /2)

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• The deformation perpendicular to the rim
is h ∆φ cos(θ/2), which is
ℎΔ𝜙 cos � = 2𝑟Δ𝜙 sin � cos �
� = 𝑟Δ𝑠𝑖𝑛
𝜙 𝜃 � �
• Thus, the deformation,
2 2
and2 consequently
the pressure, is proportional to 𝑠𝑖𝑛.
• In terms of the pressure at B and where the pressure
is a maximum, this means
𝑝 𝑝𝑎
𝑠𝑖𝑛

𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑝𝑎
𝑝= 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ………..Eq 1
Rearranging gives 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑎
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• Figure shows that the frictional
material begins at an angle θ1,
measured from the hinge pin A,
and ends at an angle θ2.

• Any arrangement such as this

will give a good distribution
of the frictional material.
Figure: Forces on the shoe.
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• Proceeding now from figure, the
hinge- pin reactions are Rx and Ry
• The actuating force F has
components Fx and Fy and
operates at distance c from the
hinge pin.
• At any angle θ from the hinge pin
there acts a differential normal force
dN whose magnitude is
𝑑𝑁 = 𝑝𝑏𝑟 𝑑𝜃
where b is the face width (perpendicular to
the screen) of the friction material.
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• Substituting the value of the pressure from
Eq. 4 , the normal force is
𝑝𝑎𝑏𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝜃
𝑑𝑁 = Eq. 2
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑎
• The normal force dN has horizontal
and vertical components dN cos θ
and dN sin θ , as shown in the figure.
• The frictional force f dN has
horizontal and vertical components
whose magnitudes are f dN sin θ and
f dN cos θ , respectively.
• By applying the conditions of static
equilibrium, we may find the
actuating force F, the torque T, and the
pin reactions Rx and Ry .
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 The moment of frictional forces (Mμ )

• The frictional forces have a moment arm about the pin of r − a cos θ .

• The moment Mμ of these frictional forces is

The moment of Normal forces (MN)

• The moment arm of the normal force dN about the pin is a sin θ.
• Designating the moment of the normal forces by MN and summing these about the
hinge pin gives

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The actuating force F must balance these moments. Thus

We see here that a condition for zero actuating force exists. In other words, if we make
MN=Mμ , self-locking is obtained, and no actuating force is required.
Torque (T)

The torque T applied to the drum by the brake shoe is the sum of the frictional forces μ dN
times the radius of the drum i.e.,

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 Example
1. The brake shown in Fig. 1 is 300 mm in diameter and is actuated by a mechanism
that exerts the same force F on each shoe. The shoes are identical and have a face
width of 32 mm. The lining is a molded asbestos having a coefficient of friction of
0.32 and a pressure limitation of 1000 kPa. Estimate the maximum
(a) Actuating force F. (b) Braking capacity.

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Thank you!