CEMATechnicalReport201601

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CONVEYORCHAINMATCHEDSTRANDS

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March14,2016

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ConveyorEquipmentManufacturersAssociation
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5672StrandCourt,Suite2
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Naples,Florida341103314
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www.cemanet.org
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Approved:March14,2016
 ConveyorChainMatchedStrands

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MatchingLeftHandandRightHandStrands

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Righthand and lefthand strands may be required in multiplestrand installations where the

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chain or the attachments are not symmetrical. In this situation, righthand and lefthand

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strands should be specified when ordering chain from the supplier, (see Figure 1.01).

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Specification of righthand and lefthand conveyor strands should not be confused with the

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concept of left and righthand attachments. If the application has more than two parallel

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strandsofchainthesameissuesapplybuttheterminologymaychangetosetsofchain

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Figure1.01Righthandandlefthandstrands
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whereattachmentsarenotsymmetrical.

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DirectionofTravelforLeftHandandRightHandStrands
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Chains and attachments used in conveyor service are not always symmetrical. It should be
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noted that many such chains have a recommended direction of travel relative to the head
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sprocket.Whenthereissucharecommendation,itshouldbeclearlyshownontheconveyor
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drawingsorbepartofthecontractorsspecifications.
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MatchingandTaggingStrandsforLength
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Whenpairsorgroupsofchainareusedinparallel,itisbestpracticetousematchedstrandsto
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minimizedifferencesinoveralllength.Allchainismadetolengthtolerancespecifications,but
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therecanbevariationwithinthetolerancerange,especiallyfromdifferentmanufacturinglots.
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The matching of strands ensures that sections of chain and attachments maintain proper
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relationstooneanotherwhenrunningintheapplication.
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StandardHandbookofChainsChainsforPowerTransmissionandMaterialHandling,2ndEdition,AmericanChain
AssociationMechanicalPowerTransmissionAssociation(MPTA.org)2006:pgs254255

Note:Informationinthisdocumentisnotverbatim.

Matchedstrandsshareloadmoreequallyandensureuniformalignmentbetweenstrands.Itis
particularly important where through rods, scraper flights, or other carrying attachments are
used to rigidly connect multiple strands of chain. Unmatched strands may result in unequal
loadingwhichcancauseunevenwearresultinginrackingproblemsasshowninFigure1.02.

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Figure1.02Effectoftwostrandsof
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unequallength
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Pairs or groups of chains may be matched in overall length by selectively pairing or grouping
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based on their dimensional (length) characteristics. This process is generally described as

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matchingandtagging.Attachmentsalongthelengthofthestrandarealsocomparedtoone
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anothertoassuretheirpositionsarelocatedproperlyfortheapplication.Theproductisthen
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packaged and shipped to provide matched sets of chain for installation. There are different
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techniques or processes that can be applied depending on the circumstances to achieve the
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matchedandtaggedcondition.
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Chains from a specific production run tend to be very consistent in strand length. Simply
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assemblingthechainaspairsorsetsfromthesameproductionrunwillusuallycreatematched
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setsthatwillbeadequateformanyapplications.Ifatighterrangeorimprovedconsistencyis
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requiredaprestressoperationmaybeadded.Thisprocessiscommononsmallerchainsbut
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becomeslesseffectiveormaynotbepracticalonlargerchains.
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During the prestress process, a onetime tensile load usually between 30% and 50% of the
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chain tensile or breaking strength is applied. Prestressing forces the chain components to
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physically engage one another to assure proper length measurement during the matching
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process.
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StandardHandbookofChainsChainsforPowerTransmissionandMaterialHandling,2ndEdition,AmericanChain
AssociationMechanicalPowerTransmissionAssociation(MPTA.org)2006:pgs254255

Note:Informationinthisdocumentisnotverbatim.

Ifanapplicationrequiresveryclosematchingofstrandlengths,especiallywhenmultiplesets
are connected together, each strand of chain can be placed under load and measured to
determinetheexactstrandlength.Withthestranduniquelyidentifiedandmeasuredthetotal
lengthofeachassembledstrandcanbekeptinbalancebycarefullyselectingwhichstrandsto
pairandcalculatingtheaccumulatedlength.

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Whenanapplicationrequiresmatchedsetsofchainitisbestpracticetodiscusstheapplication

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andthematchingtolerancedesiredwiththe manufacturer.Eachmanufacturercanprovide a

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process or specification recommendation based on the circumstances (chain size / type,

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applicationrequirements,costimpact,leadtimeimpact,shippingstrandlengths,etc.).Ideally

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this discussion is part of the quotation process, but the requirements need to be clearly

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identifiedwhenthechainisordered.

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It is common practice to tag or otherwise identify the matched sets of chain. When multiple

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parallel strands are matched it is common to use a tagging format similar to what is shown

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belowinFigure1.03.Ifthereisaspecifictaggingormarkingrequirementthatalsoshouldbe
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includedinallquotationandorderdocumentation.
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Figure1.03Matchedandtaggedchainstrands
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StandardHandbookofChainsChainsforPowerTransmissionandMaterialHandling,2ndEdition,AmericanChain
AssociationMechanicalPowerTransmissionAssociation(MPTA.org)2006:pgs254255

Note:Informationinthisdocumentisnotverbatim.