Additium has introduced Tycan synthetic chains as force transmission couplings between actuators and load application shapes, which improves the seat belt anchorage test set-up process.
The chain, made of a high resistance polymeric fiber, is eight times lighter than the equivalent steel version. The rated maximum service load is 100kN (10t) with less than 3% elongation.
As a 3m chain weighs only 1.75kg it can be easily handled by a single operator to prepare the test. The catenary shape can be easily removed and therefore there is no need to use heavy turnbuckles to recover the available stroke of actuators for test.
The low mass of the chains also increases the global stiffness of load transmission, bringing further benefits to the control system (not affected by heavy chain mass bouncing while test is in progress).
March 22, 2016