Propeller shafts are one of the most vital parts of a car. It can serve as the backbone of your car or even prevent severe accidents. It is therefore imperative that you know how to design a propeller shaft for bending.
With so many designs of shaft available on the market today, you must be wondering what is the basic part of this part. Well, the basic shaft is made up of a ball bearing with some shaft material in between. The shaft is attached to the ball bearing using a nut.
This type of shaft is used for straightening as it is flexible and does not break easily. However, it is also suitable for curved portions. If you want to use curved parts, you need to know the different types of bending that you can use.
As it was said earlier, almost all boats today's boats use this type of shaft. It has the capability to be used for straightening almost all the shafts found in boats. So if you are planning to use it for the construction of the boat, you must find out how to design a propeller shaft for bending. This will give you an idea on how to choose the right material for this purpose.
You will need a drill press to get this part manufactured. You will need a shaft size of about 7 inches or a bit bigger than your driving rod. Do not choose the one that is too small or too big; as they will only affect the overall performance of your boat. Be careful not to go for the small ones because they can't support the weight of the boat.
There are two basic curves that you can consider: the quarter turn and the half-turn. Quarter turn is good for straightening but a bit dangerous as it causes the blade to bite into the shaft. And lastly, half-turn is good for curved portions.
The half-turn curves can be employed in the following ways: to hold the tail, to avoid the pinching effect of the cable, to improve the performance of the car, and to increase the radius of the blades. If you want to have an easier design, you can consider the half-turn because it is still straight. But of course, you must make sure that the wheelbase is very large. If you want to design a propeller shaft for bending, you can use half-turn and quarter-turn curves to make it a bit curved.
The next thing that you should do is to choose the basic curve. If you want to use a quarter-turn curve, you need to choose a forward curve. This will give you a fair advantage over the flat sections. As a result, you will be able to use it for the boats that have curved portions.
The next thing that you need to consider is the wheelbase. If the wheelbase is small, the diameter of the propeller is going to be smaller than the size of the wheelbase. This is why you should choose a propeller that is a bit smaller than the wheelbase of the boat. It will make the propeller and the boat fit perfectly together.
If you decide to use the asymmetrical wheelbase, you can choose the elliptical curve to ensure that the size of the blades is proportional to the size of the wheelbase. If you prefer the shape of the half-turn curves, you can use the third power of the arc and the third power of the second power. You can also use the quarter-power curves if you want to use the maximum amount of power.
Another option is to use the freeform curve, which is almost similar to thehalf-turn curve but with a rounded area on either side. There are other designs for the propeller shaft that you can try, but these are the three main ones that you can consider.
After you have chosen the design of the propeller shaft for bending, it is time to design a propeller for the boat. If you have decided to make it a full part of the car, you will need to take into account the weight of the boat, the deck, and the cargo capacity.
