DEVELOPMENT OF METHOD TO EVALUATE FRICTION LOSSES OF CHAIN DRIVES

The power of mechanical losses in chain drives is an important characteristic of the quality of their manufacture, since the internal resistances in the bearing assemblies, as well as in the chain hinges, not only influence the energy efficiency of the mechanical system, but also have a significant effect on the rate of degradation processes, and hence its durability and reliability. Widely used methods and instruments for control of mechanical losses in chain drives, for example, strain measurement, do not allow identifying the required parameters with sufficient accuracy in the dynamic modes of operation, and very often require expensive measuring equipment. The purpose of the present paper is to develop a method and instruments for high-precision control of the quality of assembling and manufacturing of chain drives based on identifying the energy loss in their friction units in dynamic modes of operation. This study presents the results of theoretical and experimental substantiation of the method and instruments being developed. The accuracy of the control of the mechanical parameters of chain drives, and, consequently, the quality of their control when using the presented method, is increased by several times in comparison with the results obtained by other existing methods. The developed method can be used for accelerated test of chain drives and chains at manufacturing companies. Having determined the acceptable level of losses in the chain drives, it can be possible to build a system for assessing their technical state, determine their efficiency, reliability and durability with minimal financial and time costs. In further research, we plan to improve the design of the test bench for easy replacement and installation of chain drives in order to reduce the laboriousness of the test process based on the developed method.