Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
A shaft that yielded is just as useless as a shaft that broke.
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Not necessarily true. A bent dead-axle could still function and drive. A bent live cantilevered axle might throw a chain, but will still rotate. One might also get penalized if a part of the robot broke off and was left on the field.
Some yielding, especially localized yielding, does not render a part as failed. It was a hard mindset to get into after I got out of college. I now always think through "what if this part yields a little bit right here?" and evaluate if it will still function afterwards.
On the subject of failure, a steel shaft will deflect much less at yield than a similarly sized aluminum shaft despite having a lower yield strength. And either material will recover its shape after bending. In my experience forming both materials, I found that alloy steel will recover it's shape (spring back) more than aluminum will.
Sure you can argue it either way, I'm just offering my point of view and my experience.