Belt and chain drives
Belt length, wrap angle, pulley speed and tension ratio, plus chain length, center distance, sprocket pitch diameter and chain speed for power-transmission drives.
Enter the known geometry or speed, solve for the missing quantity, then check the result against the driver and driven sprocket or pulley limits.
Calculators in this category
Belt-drive ratio from pulley diameters
Determine belt-drive ratio from pitch diameters.
Open calculator →Belt length and center distance for a belt drive
Calculate required belt length from center distance and pulley diameters, or the center distance needed for an existing belt.
Open calculator →Belt wrap angle at the small pulley
Determine the belt's wrap angle at the smaller pulley from pulley diameters and center distance.
Open calculator →Belt-drive output speed from pulley diameters
Determine output speed, input speed or a required pulley diameter for a belt drive directly from pulley diameters.
Open calculator →Power transmitted by a belt drive
Calculate a belt drive's transmitted mechanical power from tension difference and belt speed.
Open calculator →Belt tension ratio using the capstan equation
Determine the maximum tight-to-slack tension ratio before a belt slips, from friction coefficient and wrap angle.
Open calculator →Chain length and center distance for a roller chain drive
Calculate the required roller chain length from center distance, chain pitch and sprocket tooth counts, or the center distance needed for an existing chain.
Open calculator →Sprocket pitch diameter
Calculate a sprocket's pitch diameter from chain pitch and tooth count, or the tooth count needed for a target pitch diameter.
Open calculator →Roller chain speed
Calculate a roller chain's linear travel speed from chain pitch, driving sprocket tooth count and rotational speed.
Open calculator →Belt effective tension from span tensions
Determine a belt drive's effective pull from tight- and slack-side tension, or solve for a missing span tension.
Open calculator →Crossed-belt drive length
Estimate the effective belt length of a crossed two-pulley drive from center distance and pitch diameters.
Open calculator →Centrifugal tension in a running belt
Calculate the centrifugal tension in a running belt from mass, corresponding belt length and speed.
Open calculator →Pulley shaft load from belt span tensions
Determine the resultant pulley, shaft and bearing force from both belt span tensions and their included angle.
Open calculator →Belt slip and actual output speed
Calculate belt-drive output speed with a specified total slip, or derive slip from measured shaft speeds.
Open calculator →Belt flex frequency
Determine belt flex cycles per second from belt speed, pitch length and number of pulleys passed per revolution.
Open calculator →Timing-belt pulley pitch diameter
Calculate a timing-belt pulley's pitch diameter from tooth pitch and tooth count.
Open calculator →Timing-belt teeth in mesh
Determine the geometric number of pulley teeth covered by a timing belt from tooth count and wrap angle.
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