Power Transmission(Chain Drives)

Types of chains used for power transmission.

1. Roller chains: These are probably the most common

and used in a wide variety of low-speed to high-speed
drives.
2. Engineering steel chains: These are used in many low-
speed, high-load drives.
3. Silent chains: These are mostly used in high-speed
drives.
Note: Other standard types may be found in
manufacturers' catalogs.
 Advantages of chain drives:
1. They are adapted to long and short distances.
2. They operate at high efficiencies (up to 99%) and
require low maintenance costs if properly selected,
installed and lubricated.
3. They can be operated under adverse temperatures
and atmospheric conditions.
4. They transmit more power than belt drives.
Disadvantages:
5. Higher production costs compared to belts
6. Velocity fluctuations
7. Noise
8. The need for accurate mountings
 Classification
They can be classified by the
i. Type of chain:- Roller, Bush, Engineering steel, Silent
ii. Step down, step up
iii. Number of chains transmitting the load(s):- single strand, multiple
strand
iv. Number of driven sprockets
⁻ Normal chain drive for one driven sprocket
⁻ Special chain drive for more than one driven sprocket

Typical roller chain on sprocket. (Diamond Chain Company.)

 Standard Chain Dimensions.
The (3) key dimensions for describing roller chain are
1. Pitch, P. The distance between adjacent bushing centers.
2. Roller diameter, D. The outside diameter of the chain rollers
3. Roller width, W. The inside distance between roller link plates.
These and other selected dimensions are shown in Table 10.1 on
the next slide.
Standard chain dimensions.
Engineering Steel Chains
The engineering steel chains that are specifically designated
for power transmission
are heavy-duty offset sidebar chains.
Table 10.2 Offset sidebar chain dimensions
Silent Chain drives
Table 10.3 Silent chain dimensions
Nomenclature of roller chains

 180
2 Z
The angle α/2, through which the link
swings as it enters contact, is called the
angle of articulation. It can be seen that
the magnitude of this angle is a function of
the number of teeth.

P – Pitch of the chain i.e. the distance between adjacent rollers for
roller chains or adjacent pins.
W – width (effective width over which load is taken and is equal to
the distance between the inner plates of the chain).
Dr – The diameter of the roller
Dp – The diameter of the pin
D1, D2 – The diameter of the pinion and the wheel
respectively where the pinion is the smaller sprocket
and the wheel is the bigger sprocket.
L – Length of the chain
a – Centre distance
I – velocity ratio = D1/D2 of Z1/Z2 where
Z -is the number of teeth
α - Angle subtended by adjacent teeth = 360/Z
 Designation of Roller Chain Drives

Roller chains are designated as per roller diameter and

the number of strands.
For example,
8.0.S.IS -represents a single strand chain
(designation no., single strand, International standard)

10.0.D.IS -represents a double strand chain

 Chain Speed
As the sprocket rotates uniformly with angular velocity ω, the chain
which was initially at position 1 will take on to position 2.
The velocity of the sprocket is given by Vc = ωr

The velocity with which the chain moves from 1 to 2 is, V  r cos
2
This means that the chain velocity is not constant but varies from ωr
which is the maximum to 
V  r cos
2
This fluctuation can be minimised by reducing the value of α. That is
by increasing the number of teeth on the sprocket. It has been
practically found that the variation of speed is 4% for a sprocket
having 11 teeth, 1.6% for 17 teeth and 1% for 24 teeth.
Length of the chain and centre distance
The length of the chain is normally given in terms of the number of
pitches and is given by the expression
2
Z1  Z 2 2 a  Z 2  Z1  p L
Lp     . 
2 p  2  a p
Pitch is got from table 10.2. In order to balance, the length should be
a multiple of an even number of pitches. So Lp must be an even
number. The above expression must therefore be approximated to
the nearest even number.
If Lp is the corrected length of the chain in pitches, the centre
distance should be corrected to e  e 2  8M
where Z  Z  Z  Z 
2 a p  pitches
e  Lp  1
2
2
,M   2
 2 
1
 4
Finally, in order to accommodate initial sag, the centre distance
should be decreased by the amount;   1 r   Z 2  Z1  p 
 2
 
2   2a p  
a
where r is the initial sag ≈ 0.02a  
The minimum value of the centre distance is 30 times the
pitch but it can be made smaller to 20 times provided
proper shaft and sprocket alignment is ensured.
For speed ratios greater than 3.5 the centre distance
should not be less than D1+ D2. In order to have a
sufficient arc of contact of the chain on the pinion, the
arc of contact should not be less than 120°.
Design Procedure
i. Select the type of chain depending on use, velocity ratio etc from Table 10.1
ii. Determine the design H.P
= Rated H.P x Service factor
service factor Ks can be determined from table 10.6
iii. Using table 10.5 fix the type of chain, the number of strands for the design H.P
and the pinion r.p.m
iv. Note down the parameters of the chain, such as pitch, roller diameter, minimum
width of roller etc. from Table 10.2. Check ap and adjust K3 and Ks accordingly.
v. Select the number of teeth on the pinion from table 10.3 and determine the pitch
circle diameter of the pinion sprocket D1.
vi. Find the pitch line velocity D1 N1
V m/s
60
vii. Determine the load on the chain using Rated _ H .P  75
F kg
V
viii. Determine the factor of safety using the breaking load (Q) obtained from table
10.2 n
Q
F
n should not be less than the value given in table 10.7
ix. Calculate the bearing stress on the roller F

wDr
σ should be less than that given in table 10.8
x. Fix the length of the chain from the centre distance and correct it to the nearest
even pitch
xi. Correct the centre distance for the corrected length and give allowance for sag.
xii. Draw the arrangement.
Example
Design a chain drive to actuate a compressor from a 15 H.P electric motor
at 970 r.p.m. The compressor r.p.m is 350. The minimum centre distance
should be 550mm. The chain tension may be adjusted by shifting the
motor on rails. The compressor is to work 8 hrs per day.
Assignment 6 Chain Drives:
A transporter of a heat treatment furnace is driven by a 60 H.P, 1440 r.p.m
induction motor through a chain drive with a speed reduction of 2.4.
The approximate centre distance is 1650. The transmission is horizontal
with bath type of lubrication. Rating is continuous with 3 shifts per day.
Design a complete chain drive and send arrangement at
pimukasa@kyu.ac.ug individually.
Also submit your design details in your groups on Saturday 16 th March
2024, physically.
 Example solution.
Design a chain drive to actuate a compressor from a 15 H.P electric
motor at 970 r.p.m. The compressor r.p.m is being 350, the
minimum centre distance should be 550mm. The chain tension
may be adjusted by shifting the motor on rails. The compressor is
to work 8hrs per day.
Solution.
We want to determine the following specifications.
Center distance
Type of chain
Number of strands
Pitch of chain
Roller dia.
Width of roller
Pitch circle dia. Of pinion & wheel
No of teeth of pinion and wheel.
The Velocity ratio
Using velocity ratio, From table-10. 1 almost all types of chains can be
used but roller chains are cheaper. It can be adopted for this purpose.
Hence, we select a roller chain for this drive.
Then Design H.P = Rated HP x Ks.
From table 10.6, Ks = K1 xK2 xK3 xK4 xK5 x K6.
K1 =1.25, K2=1, K5=1.5 and K6 = 1.
K4 = 1 for horizontal drive(most of these are horizontal unless stated.)
K3 = 1,for ap = 30 – 50 (at this juncture only an assumption is made.)
Thus Ks = 1.25x1x1x1x1.5x1 = 1.875,
Design H.P = 15X1.875= 28.125 H.P
From table 10.5, chain IS16(16B) can transmit 34.89 H.P at a pinion
speed of 1000r.p.m. hence it can be used to transmit our design
power of 28.125H.p. otherwise ap, k3 and type of chain need to be re-
selected.
From table 10.2, we determine the xteristics of this chain.
Pitch =25.4mm, Roller dia. = 15.58mm, width = 17.02mm &
breaking load for simplex(single row) is 4310kg.
The minimum number of teeth on pinion is got from table
10.3. i.e. Z1 = 25, If i = 2.77, then Z2 = i x Z1 = 69.5.
take 70 teeth.
The angle subtended by the adjucent rollers on the pinion
.
.
.
The d2 = 562mm.
The pitch line velocity in m/s
.
The steady load on the chain,
Then .
hence the factor of safety, n
Checking, n with table 10.7, for a pitch of 25.4 and rpm of
1000. For Ks = 1.875 for 11.7 is f.o.s
Then new factor of safety n = 1.875 x 11.7 = 21.9
Find Lp and ap=
.=93.2pitches taken even Lp=94 pitches becoz it is the nearest
even number.
Adjusting the Centre distance.
To be continued….in next lecture.