Re: trailer safety chains

[Niccolai Murphy <niccolai_m@yahoo.com>]

If you look at the cross sectional area of the chain and that of the
cable you will probably find that the wimpy cable, has approximately
the same working cross section as the chain. Further the wimpy cable
is composed of strands of material with a higher strength than the
chain and in general the load path is unidirectional through the cable
fibers, where as the chain has to withstand bending and shearing load
at each link. Further, the strength of the chain being less than the
strands in the cable, is worsened by the joint forming process when
forming each link. This means that the cable would be stronger for a
given amount of material. 

An additional advantage of cable is that, being composed of multiple
strands it has inherent fail-safe properties and it can stretch more
than chain prior to failure. 

==
Nicco Murphy - Poway, San Diego, CA


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