Abstract
A micro/hairline crack was noticed on a low speed, hollow shaft of a single stage helical gearbox during service. Though this had not resulted in a catastrophic failure, the shaft was withdrawn from service because of leakage of oil. Subsequent investigation revealed that the crack had initiated by fatigue at one of the keyway edges and progressed about 3/4 of the shaft periphery in a helical manner but had not given rise to final fracture of the shaft. The fatigue crack initiation was due to stress concentration arising from a depression mark at the keyway end surface. The problem was further aggravated due to inadequate radius at the keyway edges and rough machining marks. An analysis of the failure, together with recommendations for failure prevention, is presented in this paper.
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