Evaluation of Wear between Pin and Bush in Roller Chain

Abstract

A roller chain is a typical machine element used in bicycles, motorcycles and many other devices for power transmission. The life of a roller chain is determined by elongation. As a rule of thumb, a chain begins to skip cogs on the sprocket wheel when the percentage of elongation reaches approximately 3%. Mechanical wear between pins and bushes causes elongation of the roller chain. However, research on the evaluation of wear of the roller chain is rare and the achievement is unstated. We describe the following initiatives in the study of wear between pins and bushes of a roller chain: (1) development of a wear tester using only two chain links, (2) establishment of a specific evaluation method using a roundness tester, and (3) causal explanation of non-uniform wear using the finite-element method (FEM). The experimental results show that pins and bushes are not in contact at the centerline, and that wear occurs exclusively at the tips of the pins owing to the bending deformation under the condition of tensile load.