Stress Analysis of the Hybrid ‘Steel-Composite’ Disc in a Carousel Body of an Indexing Gearbox Turret Follower

The indexing gearbox is used in dynamic applications. A mass reduction of its components leads to a reduction of a moment of inertia and thus the better performance of the entire mechanism. The analyzed indexing gearbox turret follower assembly contains a shaft, four steel discs, eight pins and a roller. A shaft and discs form a carousel body. Simulation results showed that replacing steel with a carbon fiber laminate could reduce the mass of a disc about 60% and the moment of inertia about 65% without compromising stiffness and strength of the disc. Four composite discs in total have significant impact on mechanism mass and performance. The stress distribution and the maximum values of loaded composite disc are the same to steel disc without exceeding the strain and strength limits of laminate. UD, woven and CSM laminates are used in simulation to compare, which composite material is more suitable for the indexing gearbox application as well as which technology related to the laminate type is better to use for manufacturing.