Development and Performance Analysis of Commercial Vehicle Axle Shaft

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 2, 232 - 241, 30.06.2024

Ozan Seren Gürbüz Güzey Emel Kuram

https://doi.org/10.30939/ijastech..1433048

Öz

Axle shafts, which are an important part of the vehicle's powertrain system, transfer the torque to the wheels and enable the vehicle to move. In this respect, the design of the axle shaft to be used in a new vehicle is of great importance for vehicle manufacturers. When a cylindrical shaft is torsionally loaded, the shear stress is highest at the surface of component and zero at the center. Therefore, these axle shafts are exposed to an induction hardening process that enables only this superficial case to have its properties changed, remaining the core zone with its material original characteristics. Current study presents the results of a project aimed at developing and evaluating the fatigue life of axle shaft that belongs to a commercial vehicle. Developments were made on the existing axle and the results were examined using experimental tests and finite element analysis method. In line with the improvements made, the developed axle shaft has 331.7% more fatigue life than the existing axle, while the cost is 24% lower. According to these results, more attention must be paid to material selection, induction hardening process, stress concentration and surface condition of axle shaft in the design.
This study involves many disciplines such as design, manufacturing, analysis, testing, etc. It is very important to ensure communication between all these disciplines in the production of the product. The output obtained from one discipline becomes the input of another discipline. In the cumulative sum of all these inputs, the optimum level of parts is obtained. For this reason, this study, which processes all these disciplines together, is very valuable.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Axle shaft, Cyclic, Fatigue, Induction hardening, Stress concentration, Surface condition

Kaynakça

• [1] Yavuz I. Failure Analysis of Distributor Gear. International Journal of Automotive Science and Technology. 2021; 5(1): 63-66. https://doi.org/10.30939/ijastech..823415
• [2] Bayrakceken H, Tasgetiren S, Yavuz I. Two Cases of Failure in the Power Transmission System on Vehicles: A Universal Joint Yoke and a Drive Shaft. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2007, 14(4): 716-724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2006.03.003
• [3] Chaudhary SK, Rajak AK, Ashish K. Failure Analysis OF Rear Axle Shaft OF a Heavy Vehicle. Materials Today Pro-ceedings. 2021; 38(5): 2235-2240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.312
• [4] Tawancy HM, Al-Hadhrami LM. Failure of a Rear Axle Shaft of an Automobile due to Improper Heat Treatment. Journal of Failure Analysis and Preventation. 2013; 13: 353-358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-013-9682-5
• [5] Asi O. Fatigue Failure of a Rear Axle Shaft of an Automobile. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2006; 13: 1293-1302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2005.10.006
• [6] Verma RP, Singh M, Lila MK. Failure Prediction of Rear Axle of a Three Wheeler Vehicle by Dynamic Analysis: Computa-tional approach. Materials Today Proceedings. 2021; 46: 10896-10903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.02.002
• [7] Hou N, Ding N, Qu S, Guo W, Liu L, Xu N, Tian L, Xu H, Chen X, Zaïri F, Wu C.M.L. Failure modes, mechanisms and causes of shafts in mechanical equipment. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2022; 136: 106216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2022.106216
• [8] Nanaware G.K, Pable M.J. Failures of rear axle shafts of 575 DI tractors. Engineering Failure Analysis, 2003; 10; 719-724. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1350-6307(03)00057-8
• [9] Clarke C.K, Halimunanda D. Failure analysis of induction hardened automotive axles. Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention, 2008; 8: 386-396. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-008-9148-3
• [10] Yavuz I. Failure Analysis of a Tractor Front Axle. Materials and Technology, 2023; 57(2): 163-167. https://doi.org/10.17222/mit.2022.711
• [11] Zhang H, Wu S, Ao N, Zhang J, Li H, Zhou L, Su, Y. Fatigue Crack Non-Propagation Behaviour of a Gradient Steel Struc-ture from Induction Hardened Railway Axles. International Journal of Fatigue, 2023; 166: 107296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2022.107296
• [12] Abd El-Latif AK. Fatigue Life of Wearing Components. 4th Cairo Univ. Conf. on Mechanical Design & Products; 1998; Cairo.
• [13] Stephens R.I, Fatemi A, Stephens R.R, Fuchs O.H. Metal Fa-tigue in Engineering. Wiley Interscience. 2001.
• [14] Santos A. Determination of Stress Concentration Factors on Flat Plates of Structural Steel. Journal of Physics; 2013; 466: 012035. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/466/1/012035
• [15] Wright DH. Testing Automotive Materials and Components. Society of Automotive Engineers SAE; 1993.
• [16] Torabi A.R, Khavas M.H. Fatigue Crack Growth in a Solid Circular Shaft Under Fully Reversed Rotating Bending. Jour-nal of Failure Analysis and Prevention, 2012; 12: 419-426.
• [17] Sachs NW. Understanding the Surface Features of Fatigue Fractures: How They Describe the Failure Cause and the Fail-ure History. Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention. 2005; 5(2): 11-15. https://doi.org/10.1361/15477020522924
• [18] Shang DG, Yao WX. A Nonlinear Damage Cumulative Model for Uniaxial Fatigue. International Journal of Fatigue. 1999; 21(2): 187–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-1123(98)00069-3
• [19] Campell, F. Elements of Metallurgy and Engineering Alloys, ASM International. 2008
• [20] Abdullah L, Singh K, Abdullah S, Azman H, Ariffin K. Fa-tigue Reliability and Hazard Assessment of Road Load Strain Data for Determining the Fatigue Life Characteristics. Engi-neering Failure Analysis. 2021; 123(3): 105314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2021.105314
• [21] Dasgupta P, Stiglitz J. Industrial Structure and the Nature of Innovative Activity. Economic Journal. 1980; 80: 266-293. https://doi.org/10.2307/2231788