Using Superposition to Calculate Critical Location Stress, Strain and Life in Vehicular Transmission Shafts of Complex Geometry Subjected to Bending and Torsion

A procedure for the computation of fatigue life of shafts subjected to variable amplitude independent bending and torsion loading is described. The elastic superposition technique, followed by a Neuber plasticity correction, also allows for the initial and possibly cyclic plasticity dependent residual stress states caused by induction hardening or other surface altering processing effects. The present study documents the formation and alteration of residual stresses caused by initial induction hardening and followed by a straightening process. Sample calculations are presented for two critical finite elements of a prototype shaft, and lives are predicted using a traditional equivalent axial stress and by a new procedure that searches for and computes lives at critical angles.