Chapter 9 Transmission of chains

Key points: Failures

Efficiency of polygon;
Lubrication methods, arrangement and tension of chain
drives.
Difficulties: Design procedure
9.1 Characteristics and Application of chain drives
1. Characteristics
big centre distance
smaller overall than belt drive
No elastic creep, imean constant , iins tan variable
positive
gear

Instantaneous

chain belt

smaller tension required and small force acting on the shafts

can operate under adverse working conditions such as high
temperature, high humidity and oil pollution and so on.
operate only among parallel shafts
Has more noisy, more impact than belt drives
wearing lead to faulty engagement between chain and sprockets
can not be used in big variable load and sudden reverse rotation
cost is higher than V-belt drives, because complicated manufacturing
and service such as lubricating and adjusting.
2. Application
Low-speed because wearing, impact, noise. As a rule, v 15m / s ,
High quality chain with small pitch, large number of teeth and effective
lubrication, v 40m / s

High-torque (P<100KW (<5000Kw)),

belt drive (P<20~30KW (<1000Kw)),
gear drive (P<60000KW )
i 8 , a 8m 0.92 ~ 0.96

9.2 Types of chain drives

1. Classify
by their purpose
Lifting/load chains, be used mainly in materials handling machinery.
Hauling/towing chains, used for conveying machinery.
Power transmission chain used for transmitting mechanical energy.
by their structure
Roller chain
Silent chain
2. Roller chains
Components
Pins, bushings, rollers, inner side plates, outer side plates
Bushing and inner side plate, Pin and outer side plate tight fit
Roller and bushing, bushiing and pin clearance fit
Single strand, double-strand, three-strand, quadruple-strand pt
Multiple-strand chains have same components except longer pins.
Joints
Cotter pin

for even number of links and large pitch

Alligator clip for even number and small pitch

Offset link

for odd number of links

Chain number
05B06B08B08A10A12A16A20A

The digits indicate the pitch of the chain in sixteenth of an inch.

p

no.
(in)
16
2

p no.

25.4
16

(mm)

Suffix AA series, standard sizes

Suffix BB series, smaller and lighter sizes
Designation:
Chain numberNumber of strand Number of links Standard number
Example: 08A180 GB1243.183

Single strand

Multiple strand
3. Silent chain
Guide plate

Inner guide plate better guidance for high speed and heavy-duty,
3

Outside guide plate for width of sprocket less than 25~30mm

Joints
1

Cylindrical pin type

Bushing type

Roller type
9.3 Moving characteristics of chain drives
Chain average velocity v
Speed ratio

z1 pn1
z 2 pn2

60 1000 60 1000

m/s

n1 z 2

n2 z1

i12

On small sprocket, chain advanced speed

v x v1 cos R1 1 cos v1 C

chain perpendicular speed

v y v1 sin R1 1 sin

180
180

z1
z1

Similarly, on big sprocket, chain advanced speed

v x v 2 cos R2 2 cos

R1 1 cos
R2 cos

R cos

Instantaneous speed ratio i 1 R 2 cos constant

2
1
4

Only when z1 z2 , that is R1 R2 , the change ranges of and equal,

and when a np , , then i 1 constant
conclusionChain drives cannot move smoothly.
Efficiency of polygon:
9.4 Appended dynamic loads of chain drives
1. Caused by periodical variable chain speed
Fd 1 ma c m

dv x
d
m ( R11 cos ) mR1 12 sin
dt
dt

180

z1

Fd 1max mR1m12 sin

180
p
mm12
z1
2

p Fd
2. Caused by periodical variable angular velocity of the driven sprocket
Fd 2

J d 2
J

R2 dt
R2

z, R2 Fd
Conclusion:
The larger speed and the larger chain pitch, the larger dynamic load.
9-5 Force analysis of chain drives
F

1. Effective peripheral force

2. Centrifugal force

Fc qv 2

3. Sagging force F f

1000 P
v

K f qga

where a Center distance of chain drive, mm

q Mass per chain length, /m, See table 9-1
g acceleration of gravity, m/s2
K f Hanging factor

when hanging value

y 0.02a

y sag degree
angle

of gradient,

For perpendicular installation,

For horizontal installation,

Kf

4. Tight side force

6.5
5.7

4.9

2.6
1.7

0.7

F1 F Fc F f

K f 1

K f 6.5

0
20
30
60
70
80
90

Ignoring dynamic loads

5. Loose side force F2 Fc F f

9.6 Design of roller chain drives
1. Failures
Fatigue breakage of the link plates due to the repeated application of
the tension in the tight side of the chain
Pitting on bushings or rollers surface due to the impact of the rollers as
they engage the sprocket teeth.
Wear between pins and bushings
Wear in the joints leading to elongation of the chain and faulty
engagement with the sprockets.
Gluing/veneer failure between pins and bushings owing to poor
lubrication or high speed
Impact damage caused by overload
Static strength failure of the joint elements for heavy load and lowspeed chain drives v 0.6 m / s
Wear of the sprocket teeth
2. Rated power curves for single strand P0
Experiment conditions:
6

z1 19 ;
L p 100

pitches;

Single strand chain mounted horizontally

Steady load
Normal working environment
Recommended lubrication way, see fig 9.12
Service life of 15 000 h;
Relative elongation of chain causing by chain wear
Fig 9.11: Rated power curve

P0

p
3% .
p

for A series of roller chain horizontally

centered shafts
Fig 9.12: p, v lubrication ways
type Artificial regular lubrication
type Drop lubrication
type Oil-bath lubrication or splash lubrication
type pressure-spray lubrication
If lubrication is poor or is not applied in the recommended way, value
in the figure should be reduced:
When v 1.5 m/s , and no lubrication,
When v 1.5 m/s , poor lubrication,

P0

P0

. v 7 m / s , poor lubrication,
When 15

P0

0.15 P0

0.3 ~ 0.6 P0
0.15 ~ 0.3 P0

When v 7 m / s lubrication must be used

4. Modified power

P0 '

The real working conditions are different from experiment condition.

P0 '

K AP
p0
KZ KLKm

Where K A Working condition factor

K Z

factor for number of teeth of small sprocket when z1 19 ,

see Table 9.3
7

When failure is fatigue of plates (left fatigue curve),

KZ

When failure is impact fatigue of roller or bushing

(left fatigue curve), K Z '
K L chain length factor
K m

when Lp 100 , see Fig. 9.13

multiple-strand factor when number of strands does

equal 1 , see Table 9.4

4. Design procedure
Given: Transmitted power P,
Rotational speed of sprockets n1, n2 or speed ratio i
Specify numbers of teeth of sprockets and speed ratio
Specify number of teeth of small sprocket
z1 17 , see

table 9.5

For smaller sprocket at very low speed, z 1min = 7.

uniform

wearing

relatively

prime

17 19212325385795114

Compute number of teeth of big sprocket

z2 iz1

Select an integer

Generally,

z 2 120

p d
180

sin
2
2
z
p d sin

180
z

Compute actual speed ratio

i

n1 z 2

n2 z1
i 8

recommending

i 2 ~ 3.5

Determining the number of the

chain links

odd

number

From the belt length formula

L 2a

And

D1 D2 D2 D1
2
4a

L L p p D zp ,

we gain
2

(z z2 )
z z1
L p p 2a 1
p 2

2
2
2a ( z 2 z1 ) z 2 z1
Lp

p
2
2

The centre distance is usually recommended

a 40 p the

p2
a

p
a
a (30 ~ 50) p if

we select

above equation is
( z z1 ) z 2 z1
L p 80 2

2
2

1
40

Even number of pitches is better.

a max 80 p

Determining the chain pitch

The smaller the chain pitch, the lower dynamic load; the larger the
chain pitch, the bigger the power capacity.
Large pitch less-strand chainlow-speed heavy-duty,ai
Small pitch multiple-strand chainHigh-speed heavy-duty, ai
P0 '

n1 P0
p, v

K AP
KZ KLKm

Fig 9-11
chain number, p

Fig 9-12
recommended lubrication way

Computing chain length and center distance

chain length
L

Lp p
1000

Lp

the number of the chain links, the chain length in pitches

Compute real center distance a '

Belt centre distance
a

2 L D1 D2

2 L D1 D2 2 8 D2 D1 2
8

Theoretical chain center distance:

a

Lp

( z 2 z1 )
( z z1 )

Lp 2

2
2

In order to ensure a suitable sag:

z z1
8 2

mm

f 0.01 ~ 0.02 a , actual

center

distance is smaller than the theoretical.

a ' a 0.002 ~ 0.004 a

The bigger value is for adjustable center distance.

Checking chain velocity
v

z1 pn1
0.6 m/s
60 1000

Force acting on the sprocket shaft

FQ

FQ K Q F

where K Q

1.2 ~ 1.3

Static strength for low speed v 0.6 m / s

S

mFlim
4~8
K A F1 Fc F f

Where S calculate safety factor

Flim the

limiting tension force for single strand, see Table 9.1

n number of strands
KA

Service factor, see table 9-9

9.7 Roller chain sprockets

10

1. Basic parameters and principle sprocket sizes

p chain pitch
d1the maximum diameter of bushing
ptthe strand distance for multiple-strand
znumber of sprocket teeth
pitch diameter of a sprocket with z teeth for a chain with a pitch of p is
d

p
180
sin
z

Others can be seen in table 9-3, table 9-4

2. The shape of teeth three arcs-straight line

3R

3. The structure of sprockets

4. Sprocket materials
Wear resistant, strength
Low carbon steel, medium carbon steel,
Low carbon alloy steel, medium carbon alloy steel,
Plain carbon steel,
Cast steel, gray iron

11

GB1244-85

9.8 Lubrication, arrangement and tensioning of chain drives

1. Lubrication methods
type Artificial regular lubrication
type Drop lubrication
5~20 drops/miniter

Drop lubricator

type Oil-bath lubrication or splash lubrication

oil-disc v 3m / s
type pressure-spray lubrication
oil-pump, oil pipe
Lubricants:
L-AN32

20#

L-AN46

30#

L-AN60 40#
2. Arrangement
3. Tension of chain drives
Regularly adjusting by adjuster such as screw and eccentric
Automatically tensioning by springs or hangers
Supporting plates for long centre distance
Tension wheel: maybe sprocket or toothless roller with diameter closed
to that of the small sprocket.

12