Drive shafts are usually made of solid or hollow tube of
steel or aluminum. Over than 70% of single or two-piece
differentials are made of several-piece propeller shaft that result
in a rather heavy drive shaft. Fig. 1and 2 shows a photographic
view of two-piece steel and a sample composite drive shaft
respectively. Composite drive shafts were begun to be used in
bulk in automotives since 1988. The
graphite/carbon/fiberglass/aluminum driveshaft tube was
developed as a direct response to industry demand for greater
performance and efficiency in light trucks, vans and high
performance automobiles. The main reason for this was
significant saving in weight of drive shaft; the results showed
that the final composite drive shaft has a mass of about 2.7 kg,
while this amount for steel drive shaft is about 10 kg. The use of
composite drive shafts in race cars has gained great attention in
recent decades. When a steel drive shaft breaks, its components,
are thrown in all directions such as balls, it is also possible that
the drive shaft makes a hole in the ground and throw the car into
the air. But when a composite drive shaft breaks, it is divided
into fine fibers that do not have any danger for the driver.