Abstract: Carbon fiber composite has the characteristics of high specific strength, high specific modulus, light weight and good vibration reduction performance. According to the requirements of strength and critical speed of a helicopter drive shaft, a carbon fiber composite helicopter drive shaft was designed. The cohesive finite element simulation of the weak links of the carbon fiber drive shaft was carried out by ABAQUS, and the simulation results show that the design of the adhesive layer is reasonable. In addition, the natural frequencies of the carbon fiber reinforced composite helicopter drive shaft are simulated and analyzed. The experimental results are in agreement with the theoretical analysis, and the error between the experimental results and the simulation results is small. It shows that the critical speed of the carbon fiber reinforced composite drive shaft designed can meet the requirements of the helicopter drive shaft.

Key words: carbon fiber composite, helicopter drive shaft, finite element, natural frequency, adhesive layer