Transmission Error between Drive and Driven Shafts Connected by a Flexible Coupling

Abstract

Flexible couplings are used to connect the ends of drive and driven shafts subject to one or more kinds of misalignment and reduce the effect of lateral load and bending moment that could transferred between the shafts. Flexible couplings are generally classified into two basic types of couplings: power couplings and servo couplings. Power couplings are designed to transmit torque while often behaving as a shock absorber to smooth fluctuations in load and vibrations. Servo couplings, on the other hand, are designed to respond instantly to rotation of the drive shaft and maintain uniformity of angular velocity and displacement between the drive and driven shafts. The present paper is concerned with transmission errors occurred between drive and driven shafts connected by a flexible coupling in servo system. Conclusions drawn from the present research are summarized in the following. (1) Transmission error of helical beam couplings decreases as its torsional rigidity increases. (2) Transmission errors occurred in helical beam, diaphragm and bellows couplings are approximately proportional to the magnitude of the lateral and angular misalignments. (3) Diaphragm couplings have the most excellent transmission accuracy against the lateral misalignment.