SUBJECT CODE

TYPE THE SUBJECT NAME HERE

UNIT NO 2

DETACHABLE AND PERMANENT JOINTS

● Keys -Types, Selection of Square and Flat

Keys
III V

PR8551
DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND
TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS
 PR8551
DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

KEY??!!
★ A key is a piece of mild steel inserted between the shaft and hub or
boss of the pulley to connect these together in order to prevent
relative motion between them.
★ It is always inserted parallel to the axis of the shaft.
★ Keys aroused as temporary fastenings and are subjected to
consider-able crushing and shearing stresses
 PR8551
DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

TYPES OF KEYS

▣ 1. Sunk keys,
▣ 2. Saddle keys,
▣ 3. Tangent keys,
▣ 4.Round keys, and
▣ 5. Spines.
 PR8551
DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

TYPES OF SUNK KEYS

The sunk keys are provided half in the keyway of the shaft and
half in the keyway of the hub or boss of the pulley.
▣ The sunk keys are of the following type
▣ 1 Rectangular sunk key
▣ 2. Square sunk key
▣ 3. Parallel sunk key
▣ 4.Gib-head key
▣ 5. Feather key
▣ 6. Woodruff key
 PR8551
DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ A rectangular sunk key is shown in above Fig.

The usual proportions of this key are :

▣ width of key, w = d / 4 ;
▣ thickness of key, t = 2 w / 3 =d / 6
▣ Whered =Diameter of the shaft or diameter of the
hole in the hub.
▣ The key has taper 1 in 100 on the top side only
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RECTANGULAR SUNK KEY AND A

SQUARE SUNK KEY IS THAT ITS WIDTH AND THICKNESS ARE EQUAL,

▣ i.e. w = t=d/ 4
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

The parallel sunk keys may be of rectangular or square section uniform in

width and thickness throughout. It may be noted that a parallel key is a
taper less
▣ and is used where the pulley, gear or other mating piece is required to
slide along the shaft
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ It is a rectangular sunk key with a head at one end

known as gib head .
▣ It is usually provided to facilitate the removal of key.

▣ The usual proportions of the gib head key are :

▣ Width, w = d / 4 ;
▣ thickness at large end, t = 2 w / 3 = d /6
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ When a key is used in transmitting torque from a shaft to a rotor or hub, the
following two types of forces act on the key :

▣ 1. Forces (F1) due to fit of the key in its keyway, as in a tight fitting straight key or
in a tapered key driven in place. These forces produce compressive stresses in
the key which are difficult to determine in magnitude.

▣ 2. Forces (F) due to the torque transmitted by the shaft. These forces produce
shearing and compressive (or crushing) stresses in the key.

▣ The distribution of the forces along the length of the key is not uniform because
the forces are concentrated near the torque-input end.
▣ The non-uniformity of distribution is caused by the twisting of the shaft within
the hub.
▣ In designing a key, forces due to fit of the key are neglected and it is assumed that
the distribution of forces along the length of key is uniform.
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

The forces acting on a key for a clockwise torque being transmitted from
a shaft to a hub are shown in Fig
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ Let
▣ T =Torque transmitted by the shaft,
▣ F =Tangential force acting at the circumference
of the shaft,
▣ d =Diameter of shaft,
▣ l=Length of key,
▣ w=Width of key.
▣ t =Thickness of key, and
▣ τ =Shear stresses for the material of key
▣ σc=crushing stresses for the material of key
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ A little consideration will show that due to

the power transmitted by the shaft, the key
may fail due to shearing or crushing.
▣ Considering shearing of the key, the
tangential shearing force acting at the
circumference of the shaft,
▣ F =Area resisting shearing × Shear stress
▣ F= l ×w×τ
▣ ∴Torque transmitted by the shaft
▣ T = F × d/2 = l ×w×τ × d/2……………(i)
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ Considering crushing of the key, the tangential

crushing force acting at the circumference of
the shaft,
▣ F =Area resisting crushing × Crushing stress
▣ F=l × t/2× σc
▣ ∴Torque transmitted by the shaft,
▣ T =F × d/2 = l × t/2 × σc× d/2……………(ii)
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ The key is equally strong in shearing and

crushing
▣ EQUATION (i) = (ii)

▣ l ×w×τ × d/2= l × t/2 × σ × d/2

c
W/t = σc / 2τ…………………………(iii)
▣ The permissible crushing stress for the usual key
material is at least twice the permissible shearing
stress.
▣ Therefore from above equation we have w = t

▣ In other words, a square key is equally strong in

shearing and crushing
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ In order to find the length of the key to transmit full

power of the shaft, the shearing strength of the key
is equal to the torsional shear strength of the shaft.
▣ We know that the shearing strength of key,
T =l × w × τ × d/2…………………(iv)
▣ torsional shear strength of the shaft
T = (π/16) × d³× τ1………..(v)
Taking τ1= Shear stress for the shaft material
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

▣ From equations ( iv ) and (v), we have

W × l × τ × d/2= (Π/16) ×d³ × τ1

for sunk key width= (w)= d/4

=1.571d x τ1 / τ
▣ When the key material is same as that of the shaft, then τ = τ1
l=1.571d
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

Problem 1: Design the rectangular key for a shaft of 50 mm diameter. The shearing
and crushing stresses for the key material are 42 MPa and 70 MPa.
Solution.
Given :
d = 50 mm ; τ = 42 MPa = 42 N/mm2 ; σc = 70 MPa = 70 N/mm2
The rectangular key is designed as discussed below:
we find that for a shaft of 50 mm diameter,
Width of key, w = 16 mm Ans.
and thickness of key, t = 10 mm Ans.
The length of key is obtained by considering the key in shearing and crushing.
Let l = Length of key.
Considering shearing of the key. We know that shearing strength (or torque transmitted)
of the key,
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

T =16 800 l N-mm

and torsional shearing strength (or torque transmitted) of the shaft,

T =1.03 × 106 N-mm

l = 1.03 × 106 / 16 800 = 61.31 mm

Now considering crushing of the key. We know that shearing strength (or torque
transmitted) of the key,
T =8750 l N-mm
l = 1.03 × 106 / 8750 = 117.7 mm
Taking larger of the two values, we have length of key,
l = 117.7 say 120 mm Ans.
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

Problem 2:
It is required to design a square key for fixing a gear on a shaft of 25 mm
diameter. The shaft is transmitting 15 kW power at 720 rpm to the gear. The key is
made of steel 50C4 (𝛔yt =460 N/mm2) and the factor of safety is 3. For key
material, the yield strength in compression can be assumed to be equal to the
yield strength in tension. Determine the dimensions of the key.
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

Solution
Given
kW = 15; N = 720 rpm ; Syt = 460 N/mm2 ; (fs) = 3 ; d = 25 mm
Step I Permissible compressive and shear stresses
𝛔yc = 𝛔yt = 460 N/mm2
𝛔c =𝛔yc / fs = 460 /3 = 153. 33 N/mm2
According to maximum shear stress theory of failure,
𝛔sy = 0.5 𝛔yt = 0.5 (460) = 230 N/mm2
τ = 𝛔sy / fs = 230/3 = 76.67 N/mm2
Step II Torque transmitted by the shaft
T=60*106 (kW) / 2𝛑N = 60*106 x 15 / 2𝛑 x 720 = 198 943.68 N-mm
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

Step III Key dimensions

The industrial practice is to use a square key with sides equal to one-quarter
of the shaft diameter.
Therefore,
w = t = d / 4 = 25 / 4 = 6.25 mm ≅ 6 mm
We know that the shearing strength of key,
T = l × w × τ × (d / 2)
198 943.68 = l x 6 x 76.67 x (25 / 2) = 34.60 mm
We know that the crushing strength of key,
T = l × t / 2 × σc× d / 2
198 943.68 = l x (6 / 2) x 153. 33 x (25 / 2) = 34.60 mm
The length of the key should be (l) 35 mm
The dimensions of the key are (w x t x l) 6 x 6 x 35 mm
 PR8551

DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM