Chains Drives

Chain drive consists of an endless chain warpped around two sprokets as

shown in figure(1).

Fig.(1) Chain Drive

A chain can be defined as a series of links connected by pin joints. The

sproket is a toothed wheel with special profile for the teeth. The chain
drive is intermidiate between belt and gear drives.

Advantages of chain derive:

1- Chain drives can be used for long, short as well as intermidiat

center distances.
2- Number of shafts can be driven in the same or opposite directions
as can be shown in figure (2).

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 Fig.(2)
3- Chain drives have small dimensions that on belt drives, resulting in
compact unit.
4- A chain does not slip. It is positive drive.
5- High effeciency , for properly lubricated chain the effecieny is 96%
to 98%.
6- Chain does not require initial tension.
7- Chains are easy to replace.
8- Atmospheric conditions does not affect the performance of chain
drives.They do not present any fire hazard.

Disadvantageous of chain drives:

1- More wear at the joints. This increases the pitch of the chain. The
chain is stretched out and may leave the sproket, if tension is not
adjusted from time to time.
2- It is no suitable for non-parallel shafts.
3- It is unsuitable where presise motion is required due to polygonal
effect.
4- It generates noise.

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 Chain drives are popular in the transportation industry, such as bicycle,
motocycle and automobile vehicle.They are widely used in agrecaltural
machinery, building construction and materials handeling equipment. It
used for velocity ratios less than 10:1 and chain velocities up to 25m/s.
In general, they are recommended to transmit power up to 100kW.
Type of chains:
1- Link chain. It is used in low capacity hoist, winches and
hand operated crane. Figure (3) shows this type of chain.

Fig.(3) Link chain

2- Roller chain . the construction of the roller chin can be
shown in figure (4).

Fig,(4)

A roller chain consists of Pin, Bushing, Roller, Inner link plate, Outer
link plate.
The pin is press fitted to two outer link plates, while the bush is press
fitted to inner link plates. The rollers are freely fitted on bushes and
during engagement turn with the teethof the sproketwheels. This results

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 in rolling friction instead of sliding friction between roller and sproket
teeth. The rolling friction reduces wear and frictional power loss and
improves the efficiency of chain drive.
The pitch (p) of the chain is the linear distance between the axes of
adjucent rollers. Roller chains are standarized and manufactured on the
basis of the pitch. These chains are available in single, duplex or triplex
chain as shown in figure (5).

Fig.(5) Simple and duplex chain

The dimensions and breaking load of standard chains are given in table
(1). The roller chains are designated on the basis of pitch. It designated in
the following way:
(i) In table (1) ,the chain number is given in the first column, eg., 08B or
16A. It consists of two parts- a number followed by a letter. The number
in two digits expresses the pitch in sixteenths of an inch. The letter A
means American standard ANSI series and letter B means British
standard series. For example , let us consider the designation '08'B, the
pitch of this chain is (08/16) inch or (08/16) ×(25.4)mm or 12.7mm. The
chain number given in the first column is supplemented by suffix 1 for
simple chain , 2 for duplex chain , 3 for triplex chain, and so on. For

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example 08B-2 or 16A-1 the designations indicate 08B chain with
duplex construction(double strand) while 18A chain with simple
costruction ( single strand) .
The breaking load is defined as the maximum tensile load, which if
applied will result in chain failure.
Number of links calculation:
The number of roller chain links can be calculated as:

( ) ( )

Where
= Number of links
= center distance
z1= Number of teeth of small sproket
z2= Number of teeth of big sproket
= pitch
In practice a small amount of sag is essential for the links to take the best
position on the sproket wheel. The center distance is, therfore, reduced by
margine of (0.002 to 0.004 ) to account for sag. An important factor
affecting the operating smoothness of a roller chain drive, particularly at
high speeds, is chordal action as shown in figure (6-a) and figure (6-b).
The chain passes around the sprocket as a series of chordal links. This
action is similar to that of a non-slipping belt wrapped around a rotating
polygon. It is assumed that the sproket is rotating at a constant speed of (n
rpm) in figure (6-a) the chain link AB is at a distance of ( from the
center of the sproket wheel and its linear velocity is given by,

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Fig.(6) Polygonal action of chain

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 Table (1)Dimensions and breaking load of roller chains

As the sproket rotates through an angle the position of the chain AB

is shown in fig.(6-b). In this case the link is at distance of

from the center of the sproket and its linear velocity is given by:

The linear speed of the chain is not uniform but varies from to
during every cycle of smooth engagement. This result in a pulsating and
jerky motion. The variation of velocity is given by:

( )

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 Or

( )

In order to reduce the variation in chain speed, the number of teeth on the
sproket should be increased.
Power Rating of Roller Chains
The power transmitted by the roller chain can be expressed as:

Where:
= allowable tension in the chain (N)
average velocity of chain (m/s)

It is not easy to determine the allowable tension in the chain. It depends

upon number of parameters such as type of chain , pitch of the chain
link,number of teeth on smaller sproket, chain velocity, the type of power
source and the system of lubrication.Table(2) gives the values of power
rating for simple (single-strand) roller chain. These vvalues are based on
the assuption that there are 17teeth on the driving sproket wheel.

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Table (2) Power rating for simple roller chin

For a given application, the kW rating of the chain is determined by the

following relationship :

Where

Ks=serviece factor (can be taken from table 3)

K1=multiple strand factor. (can be taken from table 4)

K2= tooth correction factor. (can be taken from table 5)

The serviece factor takes into consideration the effect of shocks and
vibration on the power to be transmitted.

The corrected center distance of the chain can be calculated as:

[ √ * +

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Table(3) Servies factor Ks

Table(4) Multiple strand factor K1

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Table (5) Tooth corection factor (K2)

For satisfactory performance of roller chains, the center distance between

the sprokets should provide at least 120o warp angle on the smaller
sproket. In practice the recommended center distance is between 30 to 50
chain pitch.

The expected service life of these chains is 15000 hours. The velocity
ratio should be kept below 6:1 to get a satisfactory performance.

Ex1 A single- strand chain No. 12A is used in a mechanical drive. The
driving sprocket has 17 teeth and rotates at 1000rpm. What is the factor

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of safety used for standard power rating? Neglect centrifugal force acting
on the chain.

Solution

The pitch of the chain is given as

The chain velocity can be evaluated as:

From table (2) the power rating of chain 12A at 1000rpm is given as
14.32kW. The chain tension at the power rating can be calculated as:

The factor of safety can be calculated by determining the braking load

from this chain from table (1). The braking force is given as 31100N

Ex(2)

A chain drive is used in a special purpose vehicle , The vehicle is run by a

30kW rotary engine. There is a separate mechanical drive from the engine
shaft to the intermediate shaft. The driving sprocket is fixed to this
intermediate shaft. The efficiency of the drive between the engine and the
intermediate shaft is 90%. The driving sprocket has 17teeth and it rotates
at 300rpm. The driven sprocket rotates at 100rpm. Assume moderate
shock conditions and select a suitable four-strand chain for this drive.

Solution

The power transmitted to the driving sprocket is given by,

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Power transmitted= efficiency× Engine power

Power transmitted= η×(30)=0.9×30=27kW

From table (3) for moderate shock condition the service factor is given as
Ks =1.4. from table (4) K1=3.3, from table (5) K2=1

The rating power of chain can be evaluated as:

Refer to table (2) the required power rating 11.45kW at 300rpm speed of
driving sprocket. Chain No. 16A ( Power rating =11.63kW) is suitable for
the above application.

Ex3:

It is required to design a chain drive to connect 5kW, 1400rpm electric

motor to a drilling machine. The speed reduction is 3:1. The center
distance should approximately 500mm.

(i) Select a proper roller chain for the drive.

(ii) Determine the number of chain links.
(iii) Specify the correct center distance between the axes of
sprockets.
Solution
The number of teeth on the driving sprocket is selected as 21. It is further
assumed that the chain is a simple roller chain with only one strand. From
table (3) the service factor is taken as 1.3 assuming moderate shock
conditions. For single strand chain K1=1, for 21 teeth , K2=1.26
The power rating of the chain can be calculated as:

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To select suitable chain use table (2). It can be observed from this table
that the power rating of the chain 8A at 1400rpm is 5.28kW. Therefore
the chain number 8A is selected.
To calculate the number of links in the chain chose the pitch (p) from
table (1). For chain 8A the pitch must be 12.7mm.
Since z1=21 then z2=iz1=3(21)=63 teeth

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