Abstract: Drive axle sustains heavy force and is frequently used to transmit power and bear
weight of the tractor. Security of design can be verified and improved by the result of the finite
element analysis. First, hypermesh is used to proceed the preprocessing of the finite element
analysis to axle housing, steering joint, half-axle model which is designed by Pro/E, ANSYS is
used to proceed finite element analysis. By the result of the analysis and rigidity experiment,
fatigue experiment to housing, the correctness of design can be verified, and some advices are
given to increase the rigidity and fatigue lifetime for big horsepower tractor drive axle.

Key words: big horsepower tractor, drive axle, finite element analysis, experiment