Quote:
Originally Posted by Ice Berg
Hey,
Team 694 was considering building a drive train over the summer, and using belts as opposed to chain to cut down on weight. I have two questions relating to this. First, is it a bad idea to use the nylon pulleys? Are they too weak or will the teeth wear? Second I was wondering how much belt stretches. I know that chain can stretch quite a bit and was wondering if belt does the same. Any teams have experience with this?
Thanks a lot.
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Nylon pullys will wear faster than aluminum ones.
Is it a bad idea to use them? For that answer you'll need to calculate the sheer force that your drivetrain will produce and look at the sheer strength of the material. From there you should have a good idea if you have enough safety margin (I usually look for a safety margin of 5x or better due to shock loads)
Belts do stretch a little. You can get belts that have been pre-stretched and ones that have fiber mesh reinforcement (both will limit stretching ... but it will still stretch). I would recomment an idler so that you can adjust the tension as the belt stretchs.