Classification of chainflex® cables

To make it easier for you to select a cable, we have classified all chainflex® types according to the criteria "stress, travel, oil resistance and torsion". The higher the number, the better the cable.

Example: You are looking for a cable that is suitable for the highest mechanical stress. The travel should be up to 100m for unsupported and gliding applications. It should also fulfil the oil resistance requirements of DIN EN 50363-10-2. The cable should not be specially designed for torsion applications.

Select from the classification overview:

Stress: 6 Travel: 5 Oil resistance: 3 Torsion: 1
This results in the rating of the cable - in this case "Class 6.5.3.1", which you can also see on the respective product pages.

Load	Travel	Oil resistance	Torsion
from 1 to 7	1 to 6	1 to 4	1 to 4


Load	low	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	highest
Travel	unsupported	1	2	3	4	5	6		400m +
Oil resistance	none	1	2	3	4				highest
Torsion	none	1	2	3	4				±360°/m

The chainflex® class is composed of 4 parts:

Stress (R and V)

1 to 7

1: Flexible cables
2: Highly flexible cables
3: Chain-compatible cables without special construction (e.g. cores wound in layers) for use in e-chains®.
4: Cables with special construction for continuous movement in e-chains®, medium stress, radii from 7.5 x d, speed up to 3m/s
5: Cables for continuous movement in e-chains®, high stress, radii from 6.8 x d, speed up to 10m/s
6: Cables for continuous movement in e-chains®, maximum stress, radii from 5 x d, speed up to 10m/s
7: Cables for continuous movement in e-chains®, maximum stress with the smallest radii, indoor and outdoor applications, radii from 4 x d, speed up to 10m/s and more

Travel

1 to 6

1: unsupported
2: Travel up to 10m
3: Travel up to 20m
4: Travel up to 50m
5: Travel up to 100m
6: Travel up to 400m and more

Oil resistance

1 to 4

1: No oil resistance
2: Oil-resistant (in accordance with DIN EN 50363-4-1)
3: Oil-resistant (in accordance with DIN EN 50363-10-2)
4: Oil-resistant (in accordance with DIN EN 60811-2-1, resistant to organic oils (tested in accordance with VDMA 24568 with Plantocut 8 S-MB by DEA)

Torsion

1 to 4

1: no torsion
2: ± 90°, with 1m cable length
3: ± 180°, with 1m cable length
4: ± 360°, with 1m cable length

In theory the following classes would be possible: lowest "Class 1.1.1.1", highest "Class 7.6.4.3"

**Stress (R and V)**1 to 7
1: Flexible cables
2: Highly flexible cables
3: Chain-compatible cables without special construction (e.g. cores wound in layers) for use in e-chains®.
4: Cables with special construction for continuous movement in e-chains®, medium stress, radii from 7.5 x d, speed up to 3m/s
5: Cables for continuous movement in e-chains®, high stress, radii from 6.8 x d, speed up to 10m/s
6: Cables for continuous movement in e-chains®, maximum strees, radii from 5 x d, speed up to 10m/s
7: Cables for continuous movement in e-chains®, maximum stress with the smallest radii, indoor and outdoor applications, radii from 4 x d, speed up to 10m/s and more

Travel****1 to 6

1: unsupported
2: Travel up to 10m
3: Travel up to 20m
4: Travel up to 50m
5: Travel up to 100m
6: Travel up to 400m and more

Oil resistance****1 to 4

1: No oil resistance
2: Oil-resistant (in accordance with DIN EN 50363-4-1)
3: Oil-resistant (in accordance with DIN EN 50363-10-2)
4: Oil-resistant (in accordance with DIN EN 60811-2-1, resistant to organic oils (tested in accordance with VDMA 24568 with Plantocut 8 S-MB b DEA)

Torsion****1 to 4

1: no torsion
2: ± 90°, with 1m cable length
3: ± 180°, with 1m cable length
4: ± 360°, with 1m cable length

In theory the following classes would be possible: lowest "Class 1.1.1.1", highest "Class 7.6.4.3"

What does the chainflex® "Class"(ification) mean?

With chainflex® cables, igus® has now been offering cables for continuously moving use in e-chains® for over 25 years, which are simply only good for one thing:
Safe operation.
In all e-chain® applications, the chainflex® cables must fulfil demanding requirements, such as very small bend radii, a high number of cycles, small installation spaces and a wide variety of chemical influences and dynamic parameters.
igus® carries out basic qualification of cables according to igus® standards in its own technical centre and test laboratory. These chainflex® qualification standards include test programmes that ultimately lead to the igus® "Class".

1. chainflex® "Materials" standard qualification

Materials used for the high-volume production of chainflex® cables must pass a whole series of endurance tests in e-chains® in addition to the usual cable-specific standard tests (such as continuous flexing cycle tests, ageing, abrasion, media resistance, possibly flame resistance, etc.). These series of tests, which can last up to three years, are always based on motion tests in and with e-chains®/e-chain® materials and include:

Continuous bending tests in e-chains® at room temperature and on gliding and unsupported travels.
Continuous bending tests in e-chains® at low temperatures and a travel of 8m (down to -40°C depending on the material)
Continuous bending tests in e-chains® in different liquid media with a travel of approx. 0.5m.
Abrasion tests Abrasion tests in combination with chain materials.

2. chainflex® "Design" standard qualification

These test series, which can take 1-3 years depending on the defined objective (e.g. double strokes), are always based on motion tests in and with e-chains® and include:

Continuous bending tests in e-chains® at room temperature and on gliding and unsupported travels. The radii are considerably smaller than those defined later in the catalogue.
Continuous bending tests in e-chains® with varying temperature curves between -40°C and +60°C - depending on the design and material - with gliding travels and smaller radii than defined later in the catalogue.
Continuous torsion tests in triflex® e-chains® with ±180°/m for torsion cables on torsion test rig with 1m triflex® e-chain®.
Continuous torsion tests in triflex® e-chains® with motion programs on 6-axis robots.

igus® has now comprehensively expanded its test laboratory for energy chains and cables to 1,030 square metres. New standard products and customised energy chains are permanently tested on over 70 different test rigs.

3. chainflex® standard qualification

These test series are based on the standard specifications of the approval authorities and are carried out in accordance with these specifications.

4. chainflex® "Production optimisation" standard qualification

After several years of qualification of the designs and materials, the manufacturing processes are qualified and defined right down to the machine in order to minimise any possible manufacturing tolerance. It goes without saying that cables are systematically and continuously removed from ongoing production and subjected to batch testing. Batch testing at igus® means:

Recording and examination of the production parameters of the chainflex® cable.
Feed-through of continuous bending tests in e-chains® test systems in short, fast travels.

Based on these test series, igus® has introduced the new "Class" selection and cable qualification system for easier selection from almost 1000 moving e-chain® cables.
Based on this "Class"(ification), you can quickly and easily select a cable for your application, with the "Class" describing the expected load, the travel and the necessary oil/media resistance.
The higher the class, the more complex the design principles and materials used. The lower the class, the more cost-effective the cables with the same key electrical data.

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