1

Belt drive


Elankumaran Nagarajan



22
nd
February 2012


















2




Summary

Belt drives are transmission devices that are used for transmitting power from
one machine to another. The goal of this experiment was to measure the tensions
on the both sides of a flat belt wrapped around a revolving pulley and then
compare it to the theoretical formulae raised by Grosjean and Fawcett and
Burdess. The results from the experiment supported the theoretical formulae,
although there were slight differences in the experimental and theoretical
values. These differences were due to belt slip and the uncertainties in the
calculation of the coefficient of the friction between the belt and the pulley. It
was also discovered that the efficiency of the electric motor varies with the
torque.


















3
Index
Page no


Introduction 4


Theory 4


Experimental procedure 6


Results 6


Discussion 10


Conclusion 12


References 12









4

Introduction

Belt dives are used in wide range of machines such as CD player, cars, washing
machine, etc. They are economical in terms of cost of production and
maintenance but still effective. They are used for the transmission of power from
one machine to another. Earlier flat belts, made of leather were used. Now a days
vee belts made of synthetic rubber and composite steel are used, as they are
more efficient than the flat belts. The vee belts has an advantage over the gear
based transmissions that it can work on pulley of variable diameter thus
providing a relatively inexpensive form of continuously variable transmission.
The main disadvantage associated with the belt drives is that they tend to slip
between the belt and the pulley, which affects the efficiency of the machine. The
amount of the slip will depend upon the coefficient of friction between the pulley
and belt, the belt profile and the torque transmitted.

The ultimate aim of this experiment is to investigate the relationship between
the tensions in a slipping pulley and compare that with the results predicted by
the theory.

Theory

The relationship between tensions in a slipping pulley was examined in detail by
Grosjean and Fawcett and Burdess. They showed that for a stationary belt as
shown in fig 1, the ratio of the tensions is related to the coefficient of friction and
the angle of contact between the belt and pulley as shown in equation (1).


.. (1)

5



for a flat belt the angle is 90.

The motor torque transmitted by the belt is given by

Torque = (T - T ) R (2)

Where R is the radius of the pulley.

The power transmitted by the belt drive is given by the following equation

Power = torque ..(3)

Where is the rotational speed.













Fig 1. Belt drive apparatus
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Experimental procedure

The experimental rig comprised of fixed radius pulley (50mm) driven by a DC
electric motor at a constant voltage of 10v. Three other pulley were present at
different places around the centre pulley so that the angle of contact between the
belt and pulley could be set at different angles (90, 180, 270, 360) as shown
in fig 1.

A flat belt, wrapped around the pulley was supported by a series of weights
ranging from 100 grams to 800 grams at one end and a load cell at the other end.
The centre pulley was directly connected the electric motor, which rotate against
the motion of the weights.

The angle of contact between the belt and pulley was set to 90 and the tension T
on the load cell is noted by varying the weights (T ) at the other end of the belt
from 100 grams to 800 grams. This procedure was repeated for three different
angle of contact between the belt and pulley (i.e. 180, 270 and 360)

Finally for one set of reading (in this experiment for the set of results at 360)
the current supplied and the rotational speed of the electric motor was
calculated. The motor current was measured by a digital meter and the pulley
rotational speed was measured with a hand held optical tachometer.

Results

The tensions T and T at four different angles of contact are shown are shown in
table 1. The graph form of table 1 is shown in fig 2. A graph of ln (T / T ) against
the belt contact angle is shown in fig 3.

From the graph in fig 3, the coefficient of friction between the belt and pulley is
calculated to be 0.23.

7

T
(N)
T
at 90
(N)
T
at 180
(N)
T
at 270
(N)
T
at 360
(N)
0.98 0.60 0.45 0.20 0.15
1.96 1.25 0.90 0.50 0.40
2.94 2.00 1.30 0.80 0.60
3.92 2.65 1.85 1.10 0.85
4.90 3.40 2.20 1.50 1.15
5.88 3.95 2.80 1.75 1.40
6.86 4.70 3.20 2.15 1.70
7.84 5.30 3.65 2.35 2.00

Table 1. Experimental data of T and T for different belt contact angle








Fig 2. T against T
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 2 4 6 8 10
T (90 )
T (180 )
T (270 )
T (360 )
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Fig 3. ln (T /T ) against belt contact angle




Belt contact angle

(rads)
Experimental belt
tension ratio
Theoretical belt
tension ratio
1.57 1.4 1.43
3.14 2.3 2.05
4.71 3.12 2.95
6.28 3.69 4.22

Table 2. Experimental and theoretical belt tension ratio for different belt contact
angle


A graph form of table 2 is shown in fig 4.

0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 2 4 6 8
ln (T /T )
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Fig 4. Experimental and theoretical belt tension ratio against the belt contact
angle






T
Current
(A)
Rotational
speed
(rads/s)
Input
power
(watts)
Output
power
(watts)
Torque
(Nm)
Efficiency
(%)
0.15 1.3 147.55 13.26 5.90 0.04 44.50
0.40 2.1 141.58 21.42 11.33 0.08 52.90
0.60 2.9 135.51 29.58 16.26 0.12 54.97
0.85 3.3 129.33 33.66 19.40 0.15 57.64
1.15 3.9 124.09 39.78 23.58 0.19 59.27
1.40 4.2 118.23 42.84 26.01 0.22 60.71
1.70 5.1 112.78 52.02 29.32 0.26 56.36
2.00 5.8 106.71 59.16 30.95 0.29 52.32

Table 3. Motor input and out power, motor torque and its efficiency at 360 belt
contact angle.


0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
0 2 4 6 8
theoretical belt tension
ratio (T /T )
experimental belt
tension ratio (T /T )
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The motor input power, motor output power, motor torque and its efficiency for
360 belt contact angle are presented in table 3. A graph of motor efficiency
against motor torque for 360 belt contact angle is shown in fig 5.




Fig 5. Motor efficiency against motor torque at 360 belt contact angle

Discussion

It is evident from the above results that the experimental results demonstrate
the validity of the formula, although there were differences between the
theoretical and experimental values of the belt tension ratio.

The graph in fig 2 and table 2 shows that as the angle of contact increases the
belt tension ratio also increases as predicted by the theory. Fig 3 also shows that
the theoretical and experimental belt tension ratio were very much similar. This
again proves that the experimental values support the predicted theory. But still
the experimental and theoretical values were not the same. This is due to the belt
slip and the uncertainties associated with the calculation of coefficient of friction
between the pulley and belt.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
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These differences were due to the lack of constant friction between the belt and
pulley. During the experiment there were some visible slips between the belt and
pulley. There could have been many such slips happened without being noticed,
which certainly would have affected the readings in the load cell.

The other reason why the experimental and theoretical belt tension ratio were
not identical is that if the coefficient of friction between the belt and pulley had
varied. The coefficient of friction was calculated to be 0.23 from fig 3. Any
uncertainties associated with this calculation will be very small and hence can be
neglected. But considering the exponential term in the formulae in equation (1),
even that small change can affect the theoretical belt tension ratio to certain
effect.

From the above discussions it is evident that even though the experimental and
theoretical results were not the same, it still demonstrates that the derived
formulae in equation (1) is valid. By preventing the belt slip and uncertainties
with the calculation of coefficient of friction, the experimental results will agree
with the theoretical values.

The efficiency of the motor was calculated (see table 3) from the output and
input motor power. Fig 5 clearly shows that the efficiency of the electric motor
varies with its torque. Fig 5 also shows that the maximum efficiency is around
61% and that occurs when the motor torque is around 0.22 Nm. From the graph
in fig 5 it can be learnt that the efficiency increases with torque, reaches a
maximum value and then it starts to decrease with the motor torque still
increasing.

From this one can understand that the motor is at its peak efficiency with a
torque of 0.22 Nm (approximately). Increasing or decreasing this torque will
lower the efficiency of the motor.



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Conclusion

The analysis of the results show that the experimental and theoretical values of
the belt tension ratio were not identical, but the results were almost similar. The
differences were due to the constant slipping between the pulley and belt and
the uncertainties associated with the calculation of the coefficient of friction.
These errors justify the differences in the results. Hence the theory was
experimentally proved.

The efficiency of the electric motor was found to vary with the motor torque. The
maximum efficiency of the electric motor 60.71% is achieved at a torque of 0.22
Nm

References

Grosjean,j., principles of dynamics, Stanley Throne (publishers) ltd,
ISBN0 85950 2953, 1986.

Fawcett, J.N. and Burdess, j.s, basics mechanics with engineering
applications, Edward Arnold, ISBN 07131 3620 0, 1988.

Wikipedia (online). Available from :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_%28mechanical%29 (accessed 21
February 2012).