On the Fatigue Resistance of Roller Chain

Abstract

Occasionally roller chain fails by fatigue, though abrasion generally seems to be the cause of the failure In this report we considered the life of roller chain from the results of fatigue tests on roller chain. The testing machine used was the Haigh's tension compression fatigue testing machine. The chains applied to the tests was those of the capacity 2, 000 kg for a static load. The results obtained were as follows : (1) Fatigue tests were made on chains having the roller links tempered at various temperature, and it was found that the tempering at 450°C is most suitable for chains used at heavy load. (2) Fatigue tests were made on chains having different forms of roller links, and it was found to be favourable to extend the breadth of the neck of a roller link. (3) Deformation due to fatigue was very small. (4) The value of the notch factor of roller chain is about 3. (5) From the test results the diagrams showing the life of roller chains for fatigue were made.