Investigation on glass-epoxy composite drive shaft for light motor vehicle

Abstract

The composite material is excellent material where a high strength to weight ratio is desirable. It has a wide variety of applications in the aeronautical and automotive field. One of the great features of the composite material is that it can be designed as per the strength requirement of applications. A drive shaft is a rotating shaft that transmits power from the engine to the differential gear of a rear wheel drive vehicles. Generally, an alloy steel drive shaft is used in automotive applications. To improve the fuel economy by reducing inertia loads, steel needs to be replaced by strong and lightweight material. In this research, a glass epoxy composite drive shaft is successfully designed for a light motor vehicle. The replacement of conventional steel by composite material resulted in 73% of weight reduction of the drive shaft. The designed glass epoxy composite drive shaft is investigated experimentally for the torsional strength, natural frequency, and critical speed. Results obtained are compared with the steel drive shaft. The developed composite shaft has proved to be the best alternative to the conventional steel shaft.