Chains · Size & tolerance table

Grade 8 (Grade 80) lifting chain — working load limit and breaking force (EN 818-2)

Standard: EN 818-2 (Grade 8 chain) · EN 818-4 (Grade 8 chain slings) · ISO 3076

Grade 8 alloy steel short-link chain is the standard chain for lifting slings. Its grade is the mean stress at the minimum breaking force: 800 N/mm² on the cross-section of the two legs of a link. The working load limit (WLL) is a quarter of the breaking force — a safety factor of 4 — rounded down to the R20 series of preferred numbers.

Pitch is three times the nominal (bar) diameter d. Chain is tagged with its grade and size; a sling also carries its WLL for each angle range.

Grade 8 chain, single leg

d mm	Pitch mm	WLL t	MBF kN
6	18	1.12	45.2
7	21	1.5	61.6
8	24	2	80.4
10	30	3.15	126
13	39	5.3	212
16	48	8	322
18	54	10	407
19	57	11.2	454
20	60	12.5	503
22	66	15	608
23	69	16	665
26	78	21.2	849
28	84	25	985
32	96	31.5	1290
36	108	40	1630
40	120	50	2010
45	135	63	2540

Notes

Multi-leg slings (EN 818-4, uniform load method): two legs at an included angle up to 90° (each leg up to 45° from vertical) carry 1.4 × the single-leg WLL, and at 90–120° 1.0 ×; three- and four-leg slings carry 2.1 × and 1.5 × respectively. Never use a sling at more than 120° included angle.
Grade 10 (Grade 100) chain carries about 25% more than Grade 8 for the same size; it is not covered by EN 818 and is supplied to makers' specifications.
Values were recalculated from the 800 N/mm² grade stress; every WLL is the breaking force ÷ 4 ÷ 9.81, rounded down to the R20 series.