Home > Published Issues > 2024 > Volume 13, No. 1, 2024 >
IJMERR 2024 Vol.13(1): 35-43
DOI: 10.18178/ijmerr.13.1.35-43

Fracture Analysis of S45C Medium Carbon Steel for the Van Front Drive Shaft

Yodnapha Ketmuang 1*, Visanu Boonmag 2, and Aphinan Phukaoluan 3
1. Automotive Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Bangkok 11120, Thailand
2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Thonburi University, Bangkok 10160, Thailand
3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Email: Yodnaphaket@pim.ac.th (Y.K.); boonmagvisa@gmail.com (V.B.); aphinan.p@mail.rmutk.ac.th (A.P.) *Corresponding author

Manuscript received May 30, 2023; revised June 25, 2023; accepted August 11, 2023; published January 24, 2024.

Abstract—In this study, the drive shaft failure mode in a van is investigated by evaluation of the macroscopic and microscopic morphologies of the fracture surface, chemical composition, metallographic analysis, mechanical characteristics of the material, drive shaft fatigue test and finite element analysis. JIS-S45C hardened medium-alloyed steel was used to make the drive shaft. The failure mechanism for this drive shaft was mixed, which means that it was a combination of both brittle and ductile fractures. This is evident in the central interior region of the drive shaft. The summary result of this drive shaft fracture surface was that fatigue was the cause, and fatigue was the dominant mechanism of drive shaft failure due to obvious beach marks at the fracture surface and dimples at the central region. The shaft surface has a maximum hardness of 300 HV, while its centre axis has a minimum hardness of 214 HV. Additionally, the results of the R.R. Moore fatigue life assessment were compared with the outcomes of the numerical simulations performed using the ANSYS program. It was found from the fatigue experiment that the S-N Curve shows that fatigue life increases when the stress level acting on the test piece is reduced. It was discovered that the ANSYS assessment rate was a respectable 5% higher than the trial rate. The results of recommending materials used to make shafts for all 4 types found that the total deformation for AISI 5140 Steel is less when compared to the other three materials.

Keywords—drive shaft, fatigue, numerical simulations

Cite: Yodnapha Ketmuang, Visanu Boonmag, and Aphinan Phukaoluan, "Fracture Analysis of S45C Medium Carbon Steel for the Van Front Drive Shaft," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 35-43, 2024. 

Copyright © 2024 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the article is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.