What are the advantages and disadvantages of chain drive?

High cost, easy to wear and stretch.

superiority

High transmission power and high transmission efficiency

Chain drive is a transmission mode that transmits the motion and power of the driving sprocket with special tooth profile to the driven sprocket with special tooth profile through the chain. Compared with belt drive, chain drive has the advantages of inelastic sliding and skidding, accurate average transmission ratio, reliable operation and high efficiency. Under the same working condition, the transmission power is large, the overload capacity is strong and the transmission volume is small; The required tension is small, and the pressure acting on the shaft is small; Can work in harsh environments such as high temperature, humidity, dust and pollution. The disadvantages of chain drive mainly include: it can only be used for transmission between two parallel shafts; High cost, easy wear, easy elongation, poor transmission stability, additional dynamic load, vibration, impact and noise will be generated during operation, which is not suitable for fast reverse transmission.

General characteristics

Compared with belt drive, chain drive has no elastic sliding and slipping, and can maintain accurate average transmission ratio; The required tension is small, and the pressure acting on the shaft is also small, which can reduce the friction loss of the bearing; Compact structure; Can work in harsh environmental conditions such as high temperature and oil pollution.

Compared with gear transmission, the manufacturing and installation accuracy of chain transmission is lower; When the center distance is large, its transmission structure is simple. The instantaneous chain speed and instantaneous transmission ratio are not constant, the transmission stability is poor, and there is some impact and noise in the work.

Chain drive has accurate average transmission ratio, high transmission efficiency and wide shaft spacing, and can be used in high temperature and high humidity environment. However, chain drive can only be used as parallel shaft drive, and its instantaneous transmission ratio fluctuates greatly and the transmission noise is great. Because the links are rigid, there is polygon effect (that is, uneven motion), changing the instantaneous transmission ratio of chain drive will cause additional dynamic load and vibration, which should be considered when selecting chain drive parameters. Chain drive is widely used in transportation, agriculture, light industry, mining, petrochemical and machine tool industries.