LAUSR

Abstract The wear of automotive chain drive systems after high mileages is numerically calculated based on Fleischer’s energetic wear equation. This equation is embedded in a FE-model, consisting of one single chain link only. Their time-variant positions and acting forces are taken from a multi-body simulation. A focus is on ensuring the quality of the FE-model and the contact between pin and bush, where here a penalty approach has provided a stable solution schema. The parameters of the wear model are derived from measurements. After each time increment the wear results in a changed surface geometry, which is used for the simulation of the next time increment. The enormous computation time is reduced by the development of a convenient extrapolation factor. The complex simulation approach is applied to the chain drive of a test vehicle after a mileage of about 50000 km. The comparison of the simulated and measured data demonstrates an agreeing correlation.