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How can we model a universal joint in a driveshaft mechanism to show that they are out of phase with

Dylan_HuanRose

Hello everyone.
I'm having trouble simulating a 3-joint driveshaft mechanism. The output is the angular velocity of the model. I'm using Universal Joint modeling for the cross joint of the driveshaft as shown in Figure 1.

To evaluate driveshaft vibration, I'm simulating a case where the shaft is out of phase as shown in Figure 2, but I don't know how to model it.

Could you please help me find a solution?

Thank you very much.
HuanRose

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Accepted answers

GTT Adam

Hi @Dylan_HuanRose,

In essence, the universal joint is similar to two revolute joints aligned perpendicular to each other with an intermediate body. With that in mind, I have created a model which emulates a universal joint.

uni_joint.mdl

In this example, there is an intermediate body located between the shafts which allows for two revolute joints to be 'stacked' together. As you can see in the below clip, the top model uses a standard universal joint and the lower model uses this 'manual' universal joint:

On the left end of the shafts is an input Motion, and on the right end of the shafts is a combination of constraints that allow for the shafts to be lowered via another Motion. Thus, we achieve the following output:

Since the 'manual' universal joint is defined with revolute joints, you can position them however you need to create your misalignment.

Hope this helps!

Adam Reid

GTT Adam

Hi @Dylan_HuanRose,

Please find the MDL as a ZIP below:

uni_joint.zip

Hope this helps!

Adam Reid

All comments

GTT Adam

Hi @Dylan_HuanRose,

Unfortunately, you are unable to control the orientation of the universal joint.

This is due to the joint auto-positioning based on the location of the alignment points.

For example, when the points are aligned along the X axis:

Or when the end points are not aligned:

However, you can essentially create a manual universal joint with a few extra bodies and revolute joints instead. Then you can then control the orientation of joints and create a misaligned scenario. I'll work on an example model for you.