Random fatigue life analysis of carbon fiber‐reinforced plastic for automotive drive shaft with environment temperature data.

Automotive drive shaft is an indispensable key component of the transmission system, and the use of composite drive shafts has shown great promise. The epoxy matrix of the shaft is susceptible to the effects of temperature in comparison to carbon fiber. To investigate the influence of the environmental temperature on the fatigue life of a carbon fiber‐reinforced plastic drive shaft, a temperature‐based property curve and performance fraction model for the shaft are established. The temperature coefficient is calculated and introduced by combining the collected temperature data with the property fraction function. A generalized S‐N surface of the composite drive shaft is proposed based on experimental data. The fatigue life under collected and processed random loads of the carbon fiber‐reinforced plastic drive shaft is predicted by modified Miner's law. The effect of mean, amplitude of load and ambient temperature on fatigue life are taken into account. Highlights: Drive shaft load spectrum was acquired and preprocessed.Model of the carbon fiber‐reinforced plastic (CFRP) drive shaft was built for torsion strength with temperature.The temperature coefficient was calculated via temperature distribution and the model.Fatigue life of CFRP drive shaft was predicted by combining improved S‐N surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]