Aerostar Aluminum Driveshaft

This paper summarizes the design features of the Aerostar aluminum driveshaft and the analytical techniques used in its development. The Aerostar aluminum driveshaft was designed for lightweight and smooth operation. The aluminum driveshaft uses magnetic impulse metal forming to attach the tube yokes to the tube. This process does not produce a significant amount of heat preserving tube's mechanical properties. Computer aided design techniques were used to optimize the design of driveshaft components and driveline geometry. Finite element analysis was used to refine the tube yoke design for minimum weight within the torque requirement. Finite element analysis was also used to determine resonant frequencies of the powertrain.