The Outlook for Mechanical Component Technology

Strengthening basic research and raising the level of technical innovation is the key task for mechanical component manufacturers.

In recent years a great deal of test work has been done on the fatigue behaviour of chains, both in China and abroad, and it has played an important role in guiding product design and manufacturing. Research on fatigue life distribution is still not deep or systematic enough, however, and analysis of fatigue fracture surfaces — especially microscopic analysis — remains limited. Understanding crack initiation, micro-crack growth, macro-crack growth and final failure is essential for verifying designs and processes. Fracture analysis should not stop at chain plates: rollers and bushings also fail by low-energy fatigue.

Wear mechanisms are equally important for building a reputable product. Wear is one of the most important and most easily observed technical indicators of chain performance. Work has already begun on the wear mechanisms of roller and toothed chains — abrasive, fatigue and adhesive wear, the dynamic process of contact-fatigue crack formation, growth and spalling, and cyclic hardening and softening. As customers demand better wear resistance (elongation below 1%), systematically studying roller, bush and toothed chains under severe conditions — high speed, impact, variable speed and load, dust and corrosion — becomes unavoidable. Research in this direction is where the practical gains will come from.