Affiliation:
1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Abstract
Despite their wide usage little is known about the practical velocity transmission characteristics of needle bearing type Hooke's joints and it is usually assumed that they obey elementary theory even though such theory is purely geometrical in character and consequently ignores speed effects, load effects, friction effects and so on. This paper gives details of equipment used to investigate the static and dynamic behaviour of a typical automobile type Hooke's joint and reports on the results obtained. The static behaviour was found to be in excellent agreement with simple theory, whilst the dynamic tests showed that the joint performance was virtually unaffected by the torque transmitted. Resonant effects were observed at certain speeds, however, and in these circumstances the joint behaviour is largely determined by the amount of damping present in the driving system.