Composite Long Shaft Coupling Design for Cooling Towers

摘要

In this study, a structural analysis was carried out to optimize a composite material long shaft coupling by varying the disc thickness and number of stacked plies. Then, performance testing was conducted to verify reliability. The structural analysis of GRIP disc thicknesses from 2.5T-3T and 3-5 plies revealed that the stacking sequence of 4 plies with a thickness of 2.75 was the safest. A prototype of the selected disc pack was manufactured for torsional performance testing under conditions of 2 mm axial displacement, an angular displacement of 1°, and torque of 6,200Nm. The performance testing verified the analysis results. The final prototype of the long shaft coupling was fabricated to verify the safety and design of the major components. The prepared final prototype was verified for lifespan reliability with a 1,000,000 cycle durability test.