MCDM APPROACH IN CHOOSING THE OPTIMAL COMPOSITE SHAFT MATERIAL - APPLICATION OF SAW METHOD

Abstract

In this paper, the selection of materials for production of shafts is considered from the aspect of the influence of a large number of parameters (mechanical characteristics of the material, density or mass of the shaft, fiber orientation angle in composite materials, shaft bending displacement values, free frequencies, etc.). In order to include all the above criteria in the selection of materials, the approach of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) using the Simple Additive Weighting Method (SAW) was applied. The analysis was performed for four different shaft materials (steel, aluminum, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers CFRP and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers GFRP). The results of the analysis showed that the best characteristics, in addition to steel shafts, have composite shafts made of CFRP and GFRP with fiber orientation 0° and that they can be their adequate replacement, especially in systems where the weight of the structure is to be as small as possible.