Axle

ASMIT M B ARMIET
Q.1 Explain with the help of a neat sketch the construction of a
propeller shaft . Explain types of Propeller Shaft.
Or
What is the function of universal joints in power transmission. Explain
with the help of a neat sketch the construction of a propeller shaft.
Or
What is the function of slip joints in power transmission. Explain with
the help of a neat sketch the construction of a propeller shaft.
Ans.

The propeller shaft transmits power from the gear box to the rear axle. It consist of
three main parts.
1. Shaft. It is a steel tube shaft of a diameter and length suitable for the vehicle.
Varying types of chassis construction call for either one, two or three sets of
shafts.
2. Universal Joints. The universal joints are necessary in the propeller shaft to take
care of constant variation in alignment due to springs deflection between the
transmission and the rear axle of the vehicle.
3. Slip Joints. One slip joint in each shaft is necessary to allow for the constantly
changing distance between the transmission and the rear axle due to the flexing
of the springs on rough or irregular roads.
A set of propeller shaft consists of two universal joints and one slip joint. At the one end
of the shaft a universal joint is attached and on the other end external splines are made
to slide into the internal splines of the sliding sleeve having attached the second
universal joint.

Types of Propeller Shaft

A) Single-Piece-Type Propeller Shaft:

ASMIT M B ARMIET
1. Used in vehicles with a short distance between the engine and axles, and MR
based four-wheel-drive vehicles.
2. The friction welding adopted at the junction contributes to an improvement in
the strength, quality, and durability of the junction.

B) Two-Piece Propeller Shaft:

1. Since one Piece long propeller shaft experiences sag and whirl at a certain speed.
The critical whirling induces vibrations and resonant condition in the vehicle,
which is very harmful for the vehicle.
2. This problem can be minimized by increasing the diameter of the propeller shaft,
but it increases the weight of the shaft thereby inducing the inertial, acceleration
and retardation problem in the vehicle.
3. Therefore to achieve the critical whirling speed of the shaft without any risk, we
use the propeller shaft in two pieces instead of a long single piece unit.
4. As per wheel base of the vehicle, the length of a longer propeller shaft can be
divided in two pieces and supporting at an intermediate bearing.
5. By doing so the sag and the whirling are minimized in the shaft, and floor height
of the vehicle is also lowered, which is an advantageous condition in commercial
vehicles. A two-piece or divided propeller shaft is being used on Tata and Ashok
Leyland trucks etc.

Q.2 What is the function of universal joints in power transmission.

Explain with neat Sketches types of Universal joints.

Ans. Universal Joints. The universal joints are necessary in the propeller shaft to take
care of constant variation in alignment due to springs deflection between the
transmission and the rear axle of the vehicle.

Types of universal joints are :-

A.Hooke’s type universal joint.

B.Pot-type universal joint.

C.Flexible ring universal joint.

D.Layrub Flexible Joint.

ASMIT M B ARMIET
A.Hooke’s type universal joint.

1. The axes of the driving shaft and the driven shaft P and Q respectively are
intersecting. At the end of each of these shaft a yoke is made. The cross R which is
called trunnion has four arms.
2. The two opposite arms of the trunnion R are fitted in bushes or bearings in the
yoke of shaft P, while the other two opposite arms of the trunnion are fitted in the
yoke of shaft Q.
3. Here the driven shaft P can have angular rotation about axis XX and the driven
shaft Q about the axis YY.
4. Therefore, it is quite possible with this joints for the driving shaft P and driven
shaft Q to have positive drive while allowing angular movement between the two.
5. To increase the efficiency of the joint in the improved form of the hookes joint,
the needle roller bearings are used to support the trunnion in the yokes, instead
of the uses of the bushes.
ASMIT M B ARMIET
B.Pot-type universal joint.

1. In the pot type joint one shaft carries a cross-pin.

2. There are drilled balls or semi spherical shaped blocks fitted on both the ends of
cross-pin.
3. The other shaft carries a pot having grooves in side.
4. The two balls or blokes slide in the grooves and thus the joint provides both axial
and angular movements.

C.Flexible ring universal joint.

1. This type of joint is very simple in construction. It consist of a disc of reinforced

rubberized fabric and having six holes.
2. Each shaft carries a three arm spider or splines. The spiders are fixed to each side
of the disc or ring by means of nuts and bolts.
3. This type of joint has the advantage of working without lubrication, cheapness
and permitting some axial movement .
4. But the disadvantage is that it cannot operate at large angular deflections and
needs a large diameter to transmit great torque.
ASMIT M B ARMIET
D.Layrub Flexible Joint.

1. This type is similar to flexible ring type but it has two armed spiders instead of
three armed.
2. The spiders are bolted into rubber bushes carried in a split coupling ring.
3. The rubber bushes are compressed with nuts and bolts during assembly and also
remain in compression during operation.
4. The joints permits angular misalignment up to 150 , angular deflection, uneven
torque and vibration in the drive.
ASMIT M B ARMIET
Q.3 Explain the types of constant velocity joints.

Ans. Cv joints are joints which do not suffer from the disadvantage of
fluctuation in speed. It means that in which the speeds of the shafts
connected by the joints are absolutely equal at every instant throughout
each revolution.
Types of CV joints are
1.Tracta joint.
2.Rzeppa joint.
3.Weiss joint.

1.Tracta Joint.

1. The Tracta joint works on the principle of the double tongue and groove joint, it
comprises only four individual parts: the two forks (a.k.a. yokes, one driving and
one driven) and the two semi-spherical sliding pieces (one called male or spigot
swivel and another called female or slotted swivel) which interlock in a floating
(movable) connection.
ASMIT M B ARMIET
2. Each yoke jaw engages a circular groove formed on the intermediate members.
Both intermediate members are coupled together in turn by a swivel tongue and
grooved joint; when the input and output shafts are inclined at some working
angle to each other, the driving intermediate member accelerates and decelerates
during each revolution.
3. Since the central tongue and groove joint are a quarter of a revolution out of
phase with the yoke jaws, the corresponding speed fluctuation of the driven
intermediate and output jaw members exactly counteracts and neutralizes the
speed variation of the input half member, thus the output speed change is
identical to that of the input drive, providing constant velocity rotation

2.Rzeppa Joint

1. A Ford engineer, Alfred Hans Rzeppa (pronounced sheppa) invented one of the
first practical constant velocity joints in 1926. This joint was able to transmit
torque over a wide range of angles. An improved version of the joint was
patented by Rzeppa in 1935.
This version uses six balls as intermediate members, which are kept at all times
in a plane bisecting the angle between the input and output shafts .
2. A controlled guide ball cage is incorporated, which maintains the balls in the
bisecting plane (or the median plane) by means of a pivoting control strut, which
swivels the cage at the correct angle.
This control strut is located in the centre of the enclosed end of the outer cup
ASMIT M B ARMIET
member. Both ball ends of the strut are positioned in a recess and socket formed
in the adjacent ends of the driving and driven members of the joint respectively.
3. A large spherical waist approximately midway along the strut aligns with a hole
made in the centre of the cage.
4. Any angular inclination of the two shafts at any instant deflects the strut, which in
turn proportionally swivels the control ball cage at half the relative angular
movement of both shafts. This method of cage control has a tendency to jam and,
therefore, suffers from mechanical wear.

3.Weiss joint

It consists of two identical ball yokes which are positively located (usually) by four
balls; the two joints are centered by means of a ball with a hole in the middle. Two balls
in circular tracks transmit the torque while the other two preload the joint and ensure
there is no backlash when the direction of loading changes.

1. Its construction differs from that of the Rzeppa in that the balls are a tight fit
between two halves of the coupling and that no cage is used; the center ball
rotates on a pin inserted in the outer race and serves as a locking medium for the
four other balls.
2. When both shafts are in line, that is, at an angle of 180 degrees, the balls lie in a
plane that is 90 degrees to the shafts. If the driving shaft remains in the original
position, any movement of the driven shaft will cause the balls to move one half
of the angular distance.
3. For example, when the driven shaft moves through an angle of 20 degrees, the
angle between the two shafts is reduced to 160 degrees; the balls will move 10
degrees in the same direction, and the angle between the driving shaft and the
plane in which the balls lie will be reduced to 80 degrees.
4. This action fulfills the requirement that the balls lie in the plane that bisects the
angle of drive; this type of Weiss joint is known as the Bendix-Weiss joint.
ASMIT M B ARMIET
Q.4 Explain With the help of neat sketchs the working of the semi floating rear
axle.

Ans.

Semi floating axle.

1. In this case the inner end of the half shaft is supported only by the differential
side gear and differential case carrying the inner bearing to support the axle.
2. Therefore, the outer end of the axle has to support the weight of the vehicle and
takes end thrust.
3. The hub of the wheel is keyed to the outer end of the axle shaft, while the inner
end of the shaft is splined to the differential side gear.
4. The axle casing supports the wheel bearing at its outer end. Therefore in this
arrangement the axle shaft helping to support the weight of the vehicle in
addition to transmit rotation to the wheel.
5. Due to the load of the vehicle, the axle shaft tends to shear and bend from the
point in between the hub and the outer bearing.
ASMIT M B ARMIET

Q.5 Explain With the help of neat sketchs the working of the three quarter
floating rear axle.

Ans.

Three quarter floating axle.

1. In three quarter floating axle, the wheel hub is supported by single bearing
located in the center of the wheel hub which runs on the axle casing.
2. The axle shaft is keyed rigidly to the hub to provide driving to the wheel.
3. The inner end of the axle shaft is splined to the differential and shaft is not
supported by bearings at either end.
4. In this system, the axle has only one bearing at the outer end, therefore, it still
takes some bending stresses.
ASMIT M B ARMIET
Q.6 Explain With the help of neat sketchs the working of the full floating rear
axle.

Ans.

Full Floating axle.

1. The wheel hub is supported by two bearings running upon the axle casing.
2. The axle shaft is fastened to the wheel hub by means of bolts and thus the rotary
motion of the hub is transmitted to the wheel.
3. The axle shaft is not supported at either end by bearings but it is positioned at
both ends.
4. Therefore in this way the axle is relieved of all strains caused by the load of the
vehicle or end thrust.
5. The function of the axle shaft is only to transmit the rotary motion to the wheel
through hub.
6. This construction holds the wheel in position, if the axle breaks. The axle shaft
may be removed from the casing without effecting the hub and wheel.
ASMIT M B ARMIET
Q.7 What are the types of front Stub Axles.

The front wheel hub rotates on antifriction bearings on the stub axle which is attached
to the steering knuckle. To permit the wheel to be turned by the steering gears the stub
axle with steering knuckle assembly is hinged on the end of the axle beam. The pin
which that forms the pivot of this hinge is called king pin. The front axle is generally
dead axle because it does not rotate in contrast to the live axle that is used in the rear
axle to transmit power to the rear wheel.

Types of stub axles are given below.

1. Elliot Stub Axle. The construction of this axle simple in which the king pin is
usually fixed in the stub axle forging and its ends therefore turn in the forked end
of the axle beam.
2. Reversed Elliot stub axle. This type of arrangement is most commonly used on
automotive vehicle. The king pin is usually fixed in the axle beam and it turn the
forks of the steering knuckle so that the bearing surfaces may be repaired or
replaced easily without damaging the axle beam.
3. Lemoine Stub axle. The Construction of this type of axle in which arrangement
makes use of an L shaped spindle and steering knuckle.
4. Inverted lemoine stub axle. The construction is similar to the lemoine type only
the difference is that the upsideof the axle has been used at downside. That is the
wheel axis below the axle beam instead of above it.