Spline (mechanical)

A spline is a ridge or tooth^[1]^[2]^[3] on a drive shaft that matches with a groove in a mating piece and transfers torque to it, maintaining the angular correspondence between them.

For instance, a gear mounted on a shaft might use a male spline on the shaft that matches the female spline on the gear. Adjacent images in the section below show a transmission input shaft with male splines and a clutch plate with mating female splines in the center hub, where the smooth tip of the axle would be supported in a pilot bearing in the flywheel (not pictured). An alternative to splines is a keyway and key, though splines provide a longer fatigue life, and can carry significantly greater torques for the size.^[2]

^ "Theory". West Michigan Spline, Inc. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
^ ^a ^b Dan Seger (January 2005). "Inside Splines". Gear Solutions Magazine. Retrieved 2010-07-06. The externally splined shaft mates with an internal spline that has slots, or spaces, formed in the reverse of the shaft's teeth.
^ Oxford English Dictionary (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989. 1966 G. W. MICHALEC Precision Gearing vii. 324 Generally, involute internal and external teeth are mated, but non~involute splines are also suitable. 1979 Industrial Fasteners Handbk. I. 318 There are two basic forms of spline--straight-sided splines which may number 4, 6, 10 or up to 16 splines equally distributed around the circumference of a shaft, and serrated splines which are in the form of adjacent triangular teeth.

[WMS-1] "Theory". West Michigan Spline, Inc. Retrieved 2010-07-06.

[Seger-2] Dan Seger (January 2005). "Inside Splines". Gear Solutions Magazine. Retrieved 2010-07-06. The externally splined shaft mates with an internal spline that has slots, or spaces, formed in the reverse of the shaft's teeth.

[3] Oxford English Dictionary (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989. 1966 G. W. MICHALEC Precision Gearing vii. 324 Generally, involute internal and external teeth are mated, but non~involute splines are also suitable. 1979 Industrial Fasteners Handbk. I. 318 There are two basic forms of spline--straight-sided splines which may number 4, 6, 10 or up to 16 splines equally distributed around the circumference of a shaft, and serrated splines which are in the form of adjacent triangular teeth.

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