A drive shaft is used to transmit torque and rotation through the connection of components of a drive train. Recently, a monobloc drive shaft without welding regions is developed to improve the safety of the drive shaft. The drive shaft bears the shear stress induced by torque. The objective of this paper is to investigate into the structural safety of a monobloc tubular drive shaft subjected to torque. Elasto-plastic finite element (FE) analysis is performed to estimate the deformation behavior of the drive shaft and stress-strain distribution in the drive shaft. Several techniques are used to create finite element (FE) model of the monobloc tubular drive shaft subjected to torque. Through the comparison of the results of FE analyses with those of experiments from the viewpoint of rotational angle, appropriate correction coefficients for different load conditions are estimated. The safety of the tubular drive shaft is examined using the results of FE analyses for different load conditions. Finally, it is noted that the designed tubular drive shaft has a sufficient structural safety.
