Good Evening all! I'm currently a second year Mechanical Engineering student and I've been tasked with a research assignment based around Design & Technology with respect to manufacturing processes and I am hoping somebody with experience/knowledge in the matter can help. I have chosen a motorbike drivetrain chain (roller chain) due to it being a component with multiple parts and my lecturer has approved this. I have a good understanding the the applied theory of them in service (tension, torque loads etc) however I'm hitting somewhat of a dead end with respect to the actual material the chain is constructed from. I've reached out to multiple manufacturers but understandably have been given the generic response of "we can't tell you due to confidentiality and conflict of interest".........fantastic. The only different response I've received so far was from a supplier who although stated they couldn't give clear details on the material specification, they did say that the links are double alloyed steel and the roller pins are triple alloyed steel. Given that this only narrows the search down slightly, I'm trying to deduce what the alloys in the various steel components are (not looking for bang on percentages). I'm leaning towards possibilities of vanadium due to the steel requiring strong resistance to wear and corrosion resistance but I'm also thinking chromium and/or nickel. Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Mr Knight. Damn, it feels as if I'm speaking to a teacher, not a student. That's a fairly big ask for technical info. I hope there might be an engineer on here who can offer definitive info. In the absence of that, I am a devotee of Renolds chains, and have used them for both road and race. It is a British company that I'm sure would offer assistance, especially if you had background knowledge of the company. Read this link, you will learn heaps and perhaps enough to give you a bump start: http://www.renold.com/company/history/
