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Concept
Spline (mechanical)
Summary
A spline is a ridge or tooth
on a drive shaft that matches with groove in a mating piece and transfer torque to it, maintaining the angular correspondence between them.
For instance, a gear mounted on a shaft might use a male spline on the shaft that matches the female spline on the gear. Adjacent images in the section below show a transmission input shaft with male splines and a clutch plate with mating female splines in the center hub, where the smooth tip of the axle would be supported in a pilot bearing in the flywheel (not pictured). An alternative to splines is a keyway and key, though splines provide a longer fatigue life, and can carry significantly greater torques for the size.
There are several types of splines:
Parallel key spline where the sides of the equally spaced grooves are parallel in both directions, radial and axial.
Involute spline where the sides of the equally spaced grooves are involute, as with an involute gear, but not as tall. The curves increase strength by decreasing stress concentrations.
Crowned splines where the sides of the equally spaced grooves are usually involute, but the male teeth are modified to allow for misalignment.
Serrations where the sides of the equally spaced grooves form a "V". These are used on small-diameter shafts.
Helical splines where the equally spaced grooves form a helix about the shaft. The sides may be parallel or involute. This can either minimize stress concentrations for a stationary joint under high load, or allow for rotary and linear motion between the parts.
Ball splineswhere the grooves of the inner and outer parts are formed as linear races filled with ball bearings to allow for free linear motion even under high torque. To allow longer travel the outer spline can incorporate channels to re-circulate the balls, in this way torque can be transferred from a long shaft while travelling up or down the length.
File:Spline-shaft.png|Detail of a spline joint
File:Splinedshaft.jpg|A spline on the end of a manual transmission input shaft
Image:Clutchdisc.
Official source
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