Shaft Twist Inspection Tool

The United States Army regularly uses armored vehicles for a variety of demanding tasks. Some of these vehicles have been outfitted with additional armor and weapons, dramatically increasing the overall weight of the vehicle. This additional weight can overload the vehicle and cause tub shafts in the axles to become over torqued. These over torqued shafts deform and, if not replaced, break. So, during routine maintenance, these shafts are removed and visually inspected for signs of twist, which indicates a deformed shaft needing to be replaced. Unfortunately, visual inspections are unreliable and can lead either to vehicle malfunctions in the field or to good shafts being replaced and wasting money. Our senior design project will result in a tool to measure the amount of twist in a shaft and determine whether or not it has undergone deformation. This tool will be able to accurately measure amounts of twist as little as one tenth of a degree. In addition, the tool will also be used by technicians in a harsh industrial setting. So, it will be very durable, resistant to dirt and moisture, and able to withstand a very wide range of temperatures.