Comparative study of the friction phenomenon in the contact between the guide and the bush and silent chain links

Abstract

The optimisation process of the chain drives includes the development of new chain links in order to reduce the noises, the vibrations and the non-linearity of the motions. One solution is the development of the silent chains in order to replace the bush chains. According to the literature, the silent chains have a better dynamic behaviour instead of bush chains but there are only few studies regarding their frictional behaviour. As part of the global friction in a chain drive transmission, the paper presents an experimental comparative study of the friction between a PA46 polyamide material (used to manufacture the active part of the tensioning guide) and the bush chain and silent chains respectively. The tests are performed on a tribometer by considering different rotational speeds, local pressures and temperatures. The results are presented as variations of the dynamic and static friction coefficients depending on the test parameters. Finally there are offered conclusions regarding the practical applications of the results.