Chain Terminology and Definitions

Working Load Limit The Maximum load (expressed in this catalogue in metric tons) which should ever be applied to chain even when chain is new and when the load is uniformly applied in direct tension to a straight length of chain.

Proof Force The term designating the force applied to a chain during or subsequent to, the process of manufacture. It is the force which the chain has withstood, in the condition and at the time it left the factory, under a test in which the force has been applied in direct tension to a straight length of chain at a uniform rate of speed on a standard testing machine. The process ensures that the working load limit is, in fact, safe. This proof force is normally at least double the working load limit.

Chain Size The nominal diameter, d, in millimetres, of the wire or from which the chain is made.