pic: Broken Output Shaft

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Funny, that's how tons of teams have held on their wheels, gears, sprockets, and everything for years. I'd probably argue that a keyway increases stress in a shaft more than a snap ring groove.

The grooves are very large stress risers in the shafts. That being said, it doesn't mean that putting grooves in a shaft is a bad thing, its just something you should consider when properly designing a shaft.

A keyway may be more of a stress riser in a certain load application. However, for most of the applications we look at in a shaft, like handling the torque of a drive train or cantilevering a wheel, the keyway probably does not create nearly as much stress. It's all about the orientation of the problem.

-Brando