Your first project in 10 minutes
Build a shaft on two supports, load it, set limits, add two bearings and save the project with its report.
This walk-through builds a small shaft from a blank project: Ø30 × 200 mm, two deep groove ball bearings, one radial load in the middle. Each step names the labels you see on screen and the results you should get. The numbers are those of this version of Axomek.
1. Start a blank project
- On the start screen, choose Blank project. If a project is open, choose File › Home first. (New project…, or Ctrl+N, does the same and lets you name the project and choose where it is kept first.)
- The shaft module opens and says "This project has no shaft yet". Choose Add a first shaft section.
The drawing shows section S1, Ø30 mm and 200 mm long. Its left end is at x = 0.
To change it, select S1 in the Sections tab and edit Outer diameter and Length. Leave it as it is for now.
2. Add two supports
- Open the Supports tab and choose + Support. Support B1 appears at x = 20 mm. The first support is Locating: it holds the shaft axially.
- Choose + Support again. B2 appears at x = 180 mm as Floating: it moves freely along the axis.
New supports are placed at 10 % and 90 % of the shaft's length. To move one, type its Position, or drag it on the drawing. With the support selected, the ← and → keys move it by 1 mm (with Shift by 10 mm).
The shaft must be held in place radially and axially: here by two supports, one of them locating. If it is not held, the results column says Can't solve yet and why.
3. Add a load
- Open the Loads tab and choose + Load. Load L1 appears in the middle of the shaft, at x = 100 mm, with Force y −1000 N. The minus sign means it pushes in −y, downwards in the xy plane view.
- Look at the results column:
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Max deflection | 11.0 µm at x = 100 mm |
| Max stress (von Mises) | 15.1 MPa at x = 100 mm |
| Bearing tilt | 0.659′ |
| Support loads B1, B2 | 500 N radial each |
- Change Force y to
-2000and press Enter. The deflection doubles to 22.0 µm and the stress to 30.2 MPa. Each support now carries 1000 N, and the tilt at the supports is 1.32′.
Try Deflection and Stress colours above the drawing, and hover the charts under it to read values along the shaft.
4. Set limits
So far the checks banner says "No checks yet". A check needs a limit.
- Open the Material tab. Under Limits for the checks, enter:
- Max deflection:
0.05mm - Max tilt at bearings:
5′ (arc minutes) - Max von Mises stress:
150MPa
- Max deflection:
- The banner now reads All 3 checks pass:
| Check | Value / limit |
|---|---|
| Shaft deflection | 0.022 mm against 0.05 mm (44 %) |
| Tilt at bearings | 1.32′ against 5′ (26 %) |
| Shaft stress | 30.2 MPa against 150 MPa (20 %) |
Lower Max deflection to 0.02 and the first check fails. The banner turns to "1 of 3 checks fails". Set it back to 0.05.
5. Put bearings on the supports
- In the Supports tab, select B1. In Bearing, open the list and choose 6206 deep groove ball bearing under "New bearing: fits the Ø30 mm seat", the presets that sit on the shaft's diameter there over their whole width. Its bore is 30 mm, like the shaft.
- Do the same for B2.
The project now has two bearings, BR1 and BR2, loaded by the reactions of B1 and B2. The navigation shows a count of 2 next to Bearings.
- Select B1 again and choose Open BR1 in the bearing module → under the Bearing field.
The bearing module shows each bearing at its preset speed of 1500 rpm:
| Result (each bearing) | Value |
|---|---|
| Radial load | 1000 N |
| Dynamic rating C | 19 094 N |
| Basic rating life | 61 471 h |
| Modified rating life (L10, with aISO) | 3 073 537 h |
| Static safety s0 | 12.9 |
| Largest contact stress | 1792 MPa |
The modified life is far above the basic life because the load is light: P is about 5 % of C, and aISO rewards light loads strongly. See Rating life (ISO 281).
- In BR1's inputs, under Requirements, set Minimum life to
20000h. A life check joins the bearing's checks, and it passes.
The app also checks each bearing's minimum load (below it the balls skid) and its speed against the thermally permissible speed of DIN 732. Both pass here. The two bearings together have a system life of 1 647 068 h: the life that 90 % of such pairs reach without either bearing failing.
6. Save and report
- Choose Save (Ctrl+S) and give the file a name, for example
first.axm.json. In the desktop app every later change is saved to this file as you work. - Choose File › Report (Ctrl+Shift+P). The report screen shows the calculation report page by page: the checks, the shaft model and its charts, both bearings with their inputs and results, the warnings and the methods. In the desktop app Export PDF saves it as a PDF; Print… opens the print dialog. See Reports and export.
What to try next
- Move B2 to x = 150 mm and watch the support loads and the tilt change.
- In the Loads tab, give L1 a Torque, then add a second load that takes the opposite torque, or tick Takes the torque that balances the shaft on it. A shaft's torques must balance.
- Switch on Couple linked bearings under Options in the Material tab. The shaft then follows the bearings' stiffness.
- Open the Overview to see every check of the project in one table.
The simple shaft tutorial rebuilds the Simple shaft example step by step and goes on to the bearings' lives and the shaft's strength.