MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

SHAFT, KEY AND COUPLING

Keys
A key can be defined as a machine element that is used to connect the transmission shaft to
rotating machine elements like pulley, gear, sprocket or flywheel. A keyed joint consisting of
shaft, hub and key is illustrated in Fig. There are two basic functions of the key. They are as
follows:
(i) The primary function of the key is to transmit the torque from the shaft to the hub of mating
element and vice versa.
(ii) The second function of the key is to prevent relative rotational motion between the shaft
and the joined machine element like gear or pulley. In most of the cases, key also prevents axial
motion between two elements, except in case of feather key of splined connection.

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

A recess or slot machined either on the shaft or in the hub to accommodate the key is called
keyway. The keyway is usually cut by vertical or horizontal milling cutter. The keyway results in
stress concentration in the shaft and the part becomes weak. This is the main drawback of keyed
joint.
Keys are made of plain carbon steels like 45C8 or 50C8 in order to withstand shear and
compressive stresses resulting from transmission of torque. According to Indian standards, steel
of tensile strength not less than 600 N/mm2 shall be used as the material for the key.

TYPES OF KEYS
Many types of key are available and there are number of standers that specify the dimensions
of the key. There are different ways to classify the keys. Some of them are as follows:

(i) Saddle key and sunk key;

(ii) Square key and flat key;
(iii) Taper key and parallel key; and
(iv) Key with and without Gib-head.

In addition, there are special types of keys such as

Woodruff key, Kennedy key or feather key. The
selection of the type of key for a given application
depends upon following factors:
(i) power to be transmitted
(ii) tightness of fit
(iii) stability of connection
(iv) Cost.

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

SADDLE KEYS
A saddle key is a key that fits in the keyway of the hub only. In this case there is no keyway on
the shaft. There are two types of saddle key: -
 Hollow saddle key
 Flat saddle key
 A hollow saddle key has concave surface at the bottom to match the circular surface of the
shaft. A flat saddle key has flat surface at the bottom and it sits on the flat surface machined
on the shaft. In both types of saddle key, friction between shaft, key and hub prevents relative
motion between the shaft and the hub.
 The power is transmitted by means of friction. Therefore, saddle keys are suitable for light duty
or low power transmission as compared with sunk keys.
 The resistance to slip in case of flat key is slightly more than that of hollow key with concave
surface. Therefore, flat saddle key is slightly superior to hollow saddle key as far as power
transmitting capacity is concerned.

Saddle key requires keyway only on the hub. Therefore, cost of saddle key joint is less than that
of sunk key joint. This is the main advantage of the saddle key.
The disadvantage of saddle key is its low power transmitting capacity. Saddle key is liable to slip
around the shaft when subjected to heavy torque. Therefore, it cannot be used in medium and
heavy-duty application.

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

SUNK KEYS
A sunk key is a key, in which half the thickness of the key fits into the keyway on the shaft and the
remaining half in the keyway on the hub. Therefore, keyways are required both on the shaft as
well as the hub of the mating element. This is a standard form of key and may be either of
rectangular or square cross-section, as shown in Fig.
In sunk key, power is transmitted due to shear resistance of the key. The relative motion between
the shaft and the hub is also prevented by the shear resistance of key. Therefore, sunk key is
suitable for heavy duty application, since there is no possibility of the key to slip around the
shaft. It is a positive drive. This is the main advantage of the sunk key over the saddle key.
However, it is necessary to cut keyways both on the shaft and the hub. Therefore, the cost of
sunk key joint is more than that of saddle key joint.
Sunk keys with square or rectangular cross-section are widely used in practice. Sunk key with
rectangular cross-section is called flat key.
Square keys are used in general industrial machinery. Flat keys are more suitable for machine
tool applications, where additional stability of the connection is desirable. While selecting the
square key without stress analysis, following rule of thumb may be used. "The industrial practice
is to use a square key with sides equal to one-quarter of the shaft diameter and length at least
1.5 times the shaft diameter.

d
b=h=
4
and l = 1.5 d
b = width of key(mm)
h = height or thickness of key (mm)
l = length of key (mm)
d = diameter of shaft (mm)
For flat key, the thumb-rule dimensions are as follows.

d
b=
4
2 d
h= b=
3 6
l = 1.5

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

Sunk keys with square or rectangular cross-section are classified into two groups –
 Parallel Key
 Taper key
A parallel key is a sunk key which is uniform in width as well as height throughout the length of
the key.
A taper key is uniform in width but tapered in height. The standard taper is 1 in 100. The bottom
surface of the key is straight and the top surface is given a taper.

The taper is provided for following two reasons.

(i) When the key is inserted in the keyways of shaft and the hub and pressed by means of
hammer, it becomes tight due to wedge action. this ensures tightness of joint in operating
conditions and prevents loosening of the parts.
(ii) Due to taper, it is easy to remove the key and dismantle the joint.

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

The taper of key is on one side. Machining taper on two

sides of key is more difficult than making taper on one
side. Also, there is no specific advantage of taper on two
sides. Tapered keys are often provided with Gib-head to
facilitate removal. The Gib-head taper key is shown in
Fig. The projection of Gib-head is hazardous in rotating
parts.

FEATHER KEY
A feather key is a parallel key that is fixed either to the shaft or to the hub and that permits
relative axial movement between them. The feather key is a particular type of sunk key with
uniform width and height. There are number of methods to fix the key to the shaft or hub. Figure
shows a feather key, which is fixed to the shaft by means of two cap screws, having countersunk-
heads. There is a clearance fit between the key and the keyway in the hub. Therefore, the hub
is free to slide over the key. At the same time, there is no relative rotational movement between
the shaft and the hub. Therefore, the feather key transmits the torque and at the same time
permits some axial movements of the hub. Feather keys are used where the parts mounted on
the shaft are required to slide along the shaft such as clutches or gear shifting devices. It is an
alternative to splined connection.

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

WOODRUFF KEY
A Woodruff key is a sunk key, in the form of an almost semi-circular disk of uniform thickness as
Shown. in fig. The keyway in the shaft is in the form of semi-circular recess with the same
curvature as that of the key. The bottom portion of the Woodruff key fits into circular keyway in
the shaft. The projecting part of Woodruff key fits in the keyway in the hub. Once placed in
position, the Woodruff key tilts and aligns itself on the shaft.
The advantages of Woodruff key are as follows:
(i) The Woodruff key can be used on tapered shaft because it can be aligned by slight rotating in
the seat.
(ii) The extra depth of key in the shaft prevents its tendency to slip over the shaft.

The disadvantages of Woodruff key are as follows

(i) The extra depth of keyway in the shaft increase stress concentration and reduces its strength
(ii) The key does not permit axial movement between the shaft and the hub

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

DESIGN OF SQUARE AND FLAT KEYS

A square key is a particular type of flat key, in which the height is equal to the width of the cross-
section. Therefore, for the purpose of analysis, a flat key is considered.
The forces acting on a flat key, with width as (b) and height as (h), are shown in
Fig. The transmission of torque from the shaft of the hub results in two equal and
opposite forces denoted by P. The torque Mt is transmitted by means of a force
P acting on the left surface AC of the key. The equal and opposite force P, acting
on the right surface DB of the key is reaction of the hub on the key. It is observed
that force P on left surface AC and its equal and opposite reaction P on right
surface DB are not in the same plane. Therefore, forces P' (P' = P) act as resisting
couple preventing the key to roll in the keyway.
The exact location of force P on surface AC is unknown. In order to simplify the analysis, it is
assumed that the force P is tangential to the shaft diameter.
Therefore,

M t 2M t
P= =
(d/2) d
Where,
Mt = transmitted torque (N-mm)
d = Shaft diameter (mm)
P = force on key (N)
The design of square or flat key is based on two criteria failure due to
Shear stresses
Compressive stresses.
The shear failure will occur in plane AB. It is illustrated in fig. The shear stress  in the plane AB
is given by,

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

P P
τ= =
area of plane AB b
Where,
b = width of key (mm)
l = length of key (mm)
rom (a) and (b),

2M t
τ=
db
The failure due to compressive stresses will occur on surfaces AC or DB. The crushing area
between shaft and key is shown in fig.
It is assumed that,

h
AC  BD 
2
Where,
h = height of key (mm)
The compressive stress c in the key is given by,

P P 2P
σc = = =
area of surface AC  h/2  h

4M t
σc =
dh
For square key
h=b

2M t
=
db
4M t
σc =
db
Therefore, the compressive stress induced in a square key due to the transmitted torque is twice
of shear stress.

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

Pin Joints
These are primarily used to prevent sliding of one part on the other, such as, to secure wheels, gears,
pulleys, levers etc. on shafts. Pins and keys are primarily used to transmit torque and to prevent axial
motion. In engineering practice, the following types of pins are generally used.
(a) Round pins
(b) Taper pins
(c) Dowel pins
(d) Split pins Round

Pins are simple cylindrical pins with or without a taper and they offer effective means of fastening
pulleys, gears or levers to a shaft. It may be fitted such that half the pin lies in the hub and the other
half in the shaft ROUND PIN (a). The pin may be driven through the hub and the shaft. These joints give
positive grip and the pins are subjected to a shear load.
For example, for the shaft in the assembly, the pin is under double shear and we have where d is the
diameter of the pin at hub-shaft interface, τ is the yield strength in shear of the pin material and T is the
torque transmitted.

(NOTE: -A taper pin is preferred over the straight cylindrical pins because they can be driven easily and
it is easy to ream a taper hole).

Dowel pins
These are used to keep two machine parts in
proper alignment. Figure demonstrates the use of
dowel pins. Small cylindrical pins are normally
used for this purpose.

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 MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

Lewis keys
Lewis keys, shown in figure are expensive but offer excellent service. They
may be used as a single or double key. When they are used as a single key
the positioning depends on the direction of rotation of the shaft. For heavy
load two keys can be used as shown in figure

BARTH KEY
Barth key is under compression rather than shear when under
load.

Kennedy key
The Kennedy key consists of two square keys as shown in Fig. In this
case, the hub is bored off the centre and the two keys force the hub
and the shaft to a concentric position. Kennedy key is used for
heavy duty applications. The analysis of the Kennedy key is similar
to that of the flat key. It is based on two criteria, failure due to
Shear stress
Compressive stress

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MACHINE DESIGN RRB JE CBT-2 AND SSC JE CLASS NOTES

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