Design to Replace Steel Drive Shaft in Automobiles with Hybrid Aluminium Metal Matrix Composite

Many research works have been carried out in automobile industry to optimize the weight of the vehicle, as weight has a significant influence on fuel consumption. It is vital that weight optimization process should be carried out without compromising the dynamic behaviours of the components and its functions. In this paper an attempt has been made to check the suitability of hollow drive shaft (propeller drive shaft) by varying the internal diameter of the shaft. Models were created by varying the internal diameter of drive shaft as 70mm, 60mm, 50mm, 40mm, and 30mm using solid works 2012. Static, model and buckling analysis were carried out in ANSYS 15.0 WORK BENCH. Material chosen for comparison was forged steel SM45C and hybrid aluminum metal matrix composite reinforced with zirconium di boride(ZrB2) and alumina (Al2O3). These Finite element analysis results were compared with analytical values. The best design was identified to optimize the weight in order to enhance fuel efficiency.