IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 10, Issue 1 (Nov. - Dec. 2013), PP 39-46 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 39 | Page Material Optimization and Weight Reduction of Drive Shaft Using Composite Material Harshal Bankar 1 , Viraj Shinde 2 , P. Baskar 3 1,2 (Automotive Engineering, VIT University, vellore, India) 3 (Assistant professor, VIT University, Vellore, India) Abstract : The objective of the drive shaft is to connect with the transmission shaft with the help of universal joint whose axis intersects and the rotation of one shaft about its own axis results in rotation of other shaft about its axis. Shafts must be exceptionally tough and light to improve the overall performance of the vehicle. Automobile industries are exploring composite materials in order to obtain reduction of weight without significant decrease in vehicle quality and reliability. This is due to the fact that the reduction of weight of a vehicle directly impacts its fuel consumption. Particularly in city driving, the reduction of weight is almost directly proportional to fuel consumption of the vehicle. Also at the start of vehicle the most of the power get consumed in driving transmission system, if we able to reduce the weight of the propeller shaft that surplus available power can be used to propel the vehicle. Thus, in this paper, the aim is to replace a two-piece metallic drive shaft by a composite drive shaft. The following materials can be chosen Steel, Boron/Epoxy Composite, Kevlar/Epoxy Composite, Aluminum – Glass/Epoxy Hybrid, Carbon – Glass/Epoxy Hybrid. The analysis was carried out for three different ply orientations of the composites in order to suggest the most suitable ply orientation of the material that would give the maximum weight reduction while conforming to the stringent design parameters of passenger cars and light commercial vehicle . Keywords : Composite, propeller shaft, propel, ply orientation, transmission, universal joint. I. INTRODUCTION The advanced composite materials such as Graphite, Carbon, Kevlar and Glass with suitable resins are widely used because of their high specific strength (strength/density) and high specific modulus (modulus/density). Advanced composite materials seem ideally suited for long, power driver shaft (propeller shaft) applications. Their elastic properties can be tailored to increase the torque they can carry as well as the rotational speed at which they operate. The drive shafts are used in automotive, aircraft and aerospace applications. The automotive industry is exploiting composite material technology for structural components construction in order to obtain the reduction of the weight without decrease in vehicle quality and reliability. It is known that energy conservation is one of the most important objectives in vehicle design and reduction of weight is one of the most effective measures to obtain this result. Actually, there is almost a direct proportionality between the weight of a vehicle and its fuel consumption, particularly in city driving. II. Literature Survey Composites have high specific modulus, strength and less weight. The fundamental natural frequency of carbon fiber drive shaft can be twice as that of the steel or aluminium, because the carbon fiber composite material has more than 4 times the specific stiffness, which makes it possible to manufacture the drive shaft of passenger cars in one piece. A one piece composite shaft can be manufactured so as to satisfy the vibration requirements. This eliminates all the assembly, connecting the two piece steel shaft and thus minimizes the overall weight, vibrations and cost. Due to weight reduction fuel consumption will be reduced. They have high damping capacity and hence they produce less vibrations and noise. They have good corrosion resistance, greater torque capacity, longer fatigue life than steel and aluminium [1]. III. Specification Of The Problem The fundamental natural bending frequency for passenger cars, small trucks, and vans of the propeller shaft should be higher than 6,500 rpm to avoid whirling vibration and the torque transmission capability of the drive shaft should be larger than 3,500 Nm. The drive shaft outer diameter should not exceed 100 mm due to space limitations. Because in case of front engine rear wheel drive vehicles size of drive shaft increases chasis height and reduces floor space in passenger compartment. So here outer diameter of the shaft is taken as 90 mm with little compromise between strength of drive shaft and decrease chasis height. Presently many SUVs and light commercial vehicle using front engine rear wheel drive system. The constraints for selecting propeller shaft dimensions are wheel base of vehicle, maximum torque transmission capacity and angular velocity of propeller shaft. The drive shaft of transmission system is to be designed optimally for following specified design