In mechanical engineering, a shaft is a rotating machine element, usually circular in cross section, which is used to transmit power from one part to another, or from a machine which produces power to a machine which absorbs power.
The material used for ordinary shafts is mild steel.
When high strength is required, an alloy steel such as nickel, nickel-chromium or chromium-vanadium steel is used.
Shafts are generally formed by hot rolling and finished to size by cold drawing or turning and grinding.
[citation needed] Source:[1] The standard lengths of the shafts are 5 m, 6 m and 7 m. Usually 1m to 5m is used.