Stress Concentration Factors in Shouldered Shafts Subjected to Combinations of Flexure and Torsion

Geometric stress concentration factors were determined experimentally for shouldered aluminum shafts subjected to combinations of flexural and torsional loads. Diameter ratios were varied from 0.42 to 0.83, and fillet radius to small diameter ratios were varied from 0.1 to 0.7 with bending moment to torque ratios varying over a range from 1:4 to 4:1. Experimental values for the stress concentration factors were obtained by using birefringent coatings and a reflection polariscope. Strain gage measurements and torsional relaxation solutions were used to verify some of the polariscope data. For the cases considered, the static geometric stress concentration factor was between 1.11 and 1:50 for pure torsion, between 1.08 and 1.46 for pure bending, and between 1.09 and 1.50 for combined torsion and bending. The directions of the principal stresses on the surface of the shouldered shafts do not change due to the presence of the discontinuity for a particular specimen and type of loading. Also, the location of the maximum stress in the fillet of a particular specimen under a certain type of loading does not change as the magnitude of the load is varied, but it does vary with the type of loading.