When a propeller shaft fails, or one fails to be installed correctly, the damage may be much greater than a simple bearing failure. The bearing failure may lead to a bearing or spindle jam, and the same can be true of a spindle that has jammed during operation.
Bearings may be made from ceramic, steel, or a combination of the two materials. Bearing or spindle design is very important. A slip joint is an important design element to the design of a bearing or spindle assembly.
The failure of a bearing or a spindle assembly on a propeller shaft may cause the shaft to break and a large portion of the shaft to be thrown off. Failure of the propeller shaft will also cause an early complete shutdown of the engine.
The design of the shaft in the engine plays a key role in the design of the shaft in the propeller assembly. For example, a shaft that is installed in a high-performance airplane engine will always be installed with smaller diameter shafts. A propeller shaft that is installed in a light aircraft will usually have larger diameter propeller shafts.
Because of this, many propeller shaft manufacturers will have them sized to fit one another. The best manufacturers of propeller shafts for light aircraft will have them sized to the proper size to be able to accommodate the inherent differences in the different applications that the propeller shaft is being used in.
The sizes of the different spindles, bearings, and other components will also be different from one application to the next. If the manufacturer cannot provide the shafts that are specifically sized for one aircraft application, the shafts will not fit correctly and will require the replacement of a portion of the original shaft or a large amount of material that may be wasted in the process. The shaft itself, or a portion of the shaft, will need to be replaced.
Overall shaft size will vary from aircraft to aircraft, since the shaft will be of different diameter in different applications. The overall shaft size will also vary from one customer to the next. If you know the overall shaft size of the propeller shaft you want to purchase, it will make the replacement of a broken shaft much easier to accomplish, since you know how much material will be required to replace the broken shaft.
The entire assembly should have been sized properly to accommodate the particular application. If the entire shaft or a portion of the shaft was to break, it will be more difficult to replace than it would be to repair one individual component. Overall shaft size is also a part of the overall performance rating of the propeller.
A propeller with a higher thrust rating will typically require a shaft with a lower overall shaft size. Smaller overall shaft size will allow the propeller to be of a greater weight, therefore allowing the propeller to have a greater thrust rating.
It is very important to select a shaft that is suitable for the application. There are several factors that will play a role in determining the appropriate shaft for the application. Of these factors, the material that is used in the construction of the shaft is the most important.
This will determine the weight of the shaft, which will directly affect the speed of the propeller. The shaft will also provide the surface area of the propeller that will be thrust through a high pressure air flow. Since speed and thrust will be related to each other, choosing a shaft that provides both of those characteristics will lead to the maximum speed of the propeller.
The amount of surface area of the propeller will also dictate the amount of speed that will be generated by the propeller, even though only one component of the speed is affected. Ingeneral, larger is better when it comes to shaft design. A shaft that has a lower overall diameter will allow more speed to be generated by the propeller, but will also have less total surface area.
