Best SS For Drive Belt
Best SS For Drive Belt
(OP)
Hi,
I'm reviewing different stainless steels for a drive belt application. The drive belt is .003" thick, 0.5" wide and will placed around two pulleys of 1.4" diameter. The coil vendor can provide the following materials:
301 Full Hard
302/304 Full Hard
316L Full Hard
17-7PH Condition C
The design priorites are fatigue life (maximize), corrosion resistance (maximize) and magnetism (minimize, if possible). The environment will be inside a CNC machining center. It will be protected but I would assume some splashing.
From the data it appears 301 Full Hard has higher Fatigue properties (80ksi) than 302 & 316 and on par with 17-7 Cond C. Based on my calcs yield strength isn't a deciding factor. It seems 301FH is the best choice but any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help.
Tom
I'm reviewing different stainless steels for a drive belt application. The drive belt is .003" thick, 0.5" wide and will placed around two pulleys of 1.4" diameter. The coil vendor can provide the following materials:
301 Full Hard
302/304 Full Hard
316L Full Hard
17-7PH Condition C
The design priorites are fatigue life (maximize), corrosion resistance (maximize) and magnetism (minimize, if possible). The environment will be inside a CNC machining center. It will be protected but I would assume some splashing.
From the data it appears 301 Full Hard has higher Fatigue properties (80ksi) than 302 & 316 and on par with 17-7 Cond C. Based on my calcs yield strength isn't a deciding factor. It seems 301FH is the best choice but any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help.
Tom





RE: Best SS For Drive Belt
The 17-4 will be fully ferromagnetic.
I have trouble believing that the full hard strip will have better fatigue life than something with less strength. Alloys in this condition are very notch sensitive and have very low ductility.
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Plymouth Tube
RE: Best SS For Drive Belt
The data from the mill is indicating the fatigue strength of 301 is about 43% - 45% of the tensile strength. The tensile strength of 301 varies from 75ksi in the annealed condition to 185 ksi in the full hard condition. According to the mill the fatigue strengh is then 35ksi in the annealed condition to 80ksi in the full hard condition.
The data for 302/304 & 316 indicates the fatigue strength is about 35% of the tensile strength.
I like 301FH because the elongation in 2 inches is 9% whereas all the other materials its about 1%.
I agree that the notch sensitivty could be the main issue. But for a flat belt with no features how might this come into play?
Thanks
Tom
RE: Best SS For Drive Belt
Check the Belt Technologies design manual, Table 6, materials and discussion on belt life versus drive pulley diameter.
www.belttechnologies.com
RE: Best SS For Drive Belt
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Plymouth Tube