Numerical study on the applicability to manufacturing of contact-stress-optimised shaft-hub connections joined by lateral extrusion

Abstract

Shaft-hub connections, which are joined by plastic deformation of at least one component (e.g. joining by lateral extrusion), can meet today's contradictory requirements for high power densities with low manufacturing costs. As opposed to classical manufacturing methods, the tight manufacturing tolerances of shafts and hubs are not required here since the shaft is formed in the hub during the process to generate a combined frictional and positive-locking connection. However, plastic deformation generally results in an uneven distribution of contact stress, which causes negative effects such as increased hub stress and deformation, as well as the reduced transmission capacity of the connection. To overcome this effect, an iterative design approach for plastically stressed shaft-hub connections was developed in Ulrich et al. (2019)[1], in which the contact-stress distribution is influenced by contouring of the hub contact surface. Nonetheless, one major challenge in this process is the high sensitivity of the stress distribution to contour changes, particularly in the edge area of the connection, meaning that a dependency on tight manufacturing tolerances is present here, too. Therefore, an investigation is conducted to determine the extent to which deviations in the manufacturing process of the components, in the tool quality and during joining by lateral extrusion influence the resulting contact stress. In order to achieve this goal, numerical investigations are carried out, and the effects on the resulting contact-stress distribution are analysed. Finally, recommendations for manufacturing accuracy and process limits are derived in order to ensure manufacturability and enable the transfer of technology to industrial applications involving shaft-hub connections joined by lateral extrusion.