The reason why hardened steel chains wear faster than alu chainrings as far as I can work out:
Contact area of chainring against chain = lots. (lets say 24 teeth x about 20mm square, approx 480mm sq.)
Contact area of one pin against two steel link plates = tiny. (If plates are 1mm thick, that's about 12.5mm sq.)
Divide hardness of chainring by area in contact,
Divide hardness of steel pin by area in contact with link plates.
The pin always loses.
If there is too much tension in the chain, some wear will come from grit between links and chainring but the pins still bear the brunt of the stretching force. The total force is not shared by all the links, the same total force goes through each and every link.
The reason why hardened steel chains wear faster than alu chainrings as far as I can work out:
Contact area of chainring against chain = lots. (lets say 24 teeth x about 20mm square, approx 480mm sq.)
Contact area of one pin against two steel link plates = tiny. (If plates are 1mm thick, that's about 12.5mm sq.)
Divide hardness of chainring by area in contact,
Divide hardness of steel pin by area in contact with link plates.
The pin always loses.
If there is too much tension in the chain, some wear will come from grit between links and chainring but the pins still bear the brunt of the stretching force. The total force is not shared by all the links, the same total force goes through each and every link.