Technical Manual

Calculations; theory and practice

The general situation Belt conveyors are being used increasingly as a part of the production process, which is becoming more and more automated all the time. This means that supervision is restricted. Manpower is costly, particularly in continuous processes. These round-theclock production processes are necessary because investment demands them. The belt conveyor, generally accounting for a relatively small part of the total investment, must not interfere with the process. This is a requirement which is frequently under-estimated. That is because, in practice belt conveyors are treated somewhat offhandedly compared with the actual production equipment, the underlying idea probably being that anything so simple as a belt conveyor will always keep working, unlike the much more complicated production machines. All attention is consequently concentrated on the latter. Only after problems with the belt conveyor in the form of costly failures does this attitude change. Then, far too late of course, all attention is directed to the conveyor system. Temporary solutions are often looked for and found, because extensive modifications are time-consuming and costly. In this context, attention should be drawn to the fact that the most costly consequence of belt conveyor failure is downtime i.e. the cost of lost production in a continuous process. The consequences It is therefore vital to make clear the importance of the belt conveyor right from the design stage and to provide adequate advice. To be able to do so you must think along with the designers. But only, of course, after you have determined what the set of requirements comprises The procedure in the case of new installation In the case of complicated belt conveyors the requirements are itemised and your home base is consulted before any promises are made. In simpler cases, however, it is important to be able to give the appropriate advice is on the spot. Doing so strenthens your position. It is also important to listen to what the client has to say about his operating expceriences. It is vital to determine unambiguously what his wishes are and to compare these with what you can in fact offer him. Doing this fundamental work is 80% of the job and prevents misundertanding later. The procedure in case of existing installations If you are involved in a problem with an existing belt conveyor remember that, on their own, changes of or to the belt frequently do not solve the problem. The clients requirements often extend further than we can satisfy. It is very tempting to replace the belt, if it is of a different make, by an Ammeraal Beltech conveyor belt (for that is one of the reasons why you are employed). But even our product may have to be replace some time later (and your success proves to have been of short duration). The reason? The belt was not the sole cause of the problems! So in this case too, the rule is: analyse the list of requirements, consult our home base and arrive at a satisfactory solution to the problem, even if the conveyor has subsequently to be adapted or even drastically altered. For in the long run a client, after the trouble with costs, will be happier with the fundamental solution than with makeshift repairs. And as long as you are the one who suggests the solution and assists with its implementation, the stronger you make the relation. Calculation problems In performing the calculations required for a belt conveyor the general practice is to start from the static (=stationary) situation. It is only with regard to the power required (on the basis of the weights to be conveyed and the coefficients of friction which occur) thta movement has to bel considered in the calculations. Unfortunately, the interaction of forces in the stationary conditions is found to be quite different from that existing when the belt starts moving. Amidst the numerous (often unexpected) forces set up when the belt is put into and kept in motion, the tensioning device and also, as we shall see, tracking device have a buffer fuction. In other words: their task is not simply to get the conveyor belt to the right tension and to keep it at that tension, but also to ensure that it tracks properly.

The ability to give good advice, to think along the same lines as your client, is based on general under standing and theoretical knowledge
The belt conveyor, one of the most modern and inexpensive methods of transport, has from the technical point of view the poorest of backgrounds. Universitities throughout the world have devoted little or no attention to belt conveyors. There are consequently no textbooks and all that has happened is that certain researches have been carried out, followed by a publication. Belt conveyance is therefore still an imperical science i.e. one based on experience

Technical Manual

Calculations, theory and practice

General With regard to belt conveyors for bulk goods there are number of methods of calculation based on empirical factors arrived at by conveyor belt manufacturers and standards which apply in the particular country. These standards in which, for example, dimensions are laid down, differ from country to country and apply only to bulk-good conveyors in which rubber belts are used. For piece goods conveyors, in which all kind of conveyor belts may be used in principle, there is a complete absence of standards. Which means that you simply have to calculate on the basis of the factual data which you have collected. But before we proceed to do so let us first make the acquaintance of a number of types of conveyors and their applications. Belt conveyors and their applications ) Installations for very heavy-duty bulk transport, with possible capacities of ,500 tons per hour over great distances with belt speed of  to 6 m/s. Steel cord belts are often used for this purpose because tensile stresses of some 6,500 N/mm of belt width occur in this application and these would necessitate many plies if fabrics were used. Depending on the particular application, the belts used may have covers up to 20 mm thick. Belt widths of 2,600 mm are usual, but some applications may demand greater widths. Belt support is always in the form of trouged idlers. ) Installations for heavy-duty bulk transport, with possible capacities of 500 - ,500 tons per hour over large distances at belt speeds of  to 5 m/s. Steel-cord belts can be used here but rubber belts with polyamide or polyester plies, which may give total strengths of 4,000 N/mm, may also be used. Belt support is always provided by troughed idlers. 3) Installations for medium-heavy bulk transport, with capacities of 50-500 ton per hour. Belt speeds from  to 3 m/s. Rubber conveyor belts are used here. If additional requirements have to be met, PVC belts may also be satisfactory, e.g. in fertiliser factories. Centres of 500 metres are possible. Belt support is always provided by rollers, which are often troughed, but belts fitted with spill edges may also be used, in which case flat rollers are used for support. 4) Installations for light bulk transport, with capacities up to 50 ton per hour at maximum speed of  m/s. These installations are frequently used inside factories, etc. Since the goods conveyed often consist of semi-manufactures and overall dimensions different from those of preceding installations are required, plastic conveyors belts are frequently employed, particularly in the food-processing industry. In this industry many special requirements have to met, such as angles of inclination, carriers, precautions against spillage (corrugated side walls), and conditions relating to cleaning, which in the case of PVC and PU belts are easily met. Belt support consist of troughed idlers, flat rollers in the case of belts with spill edges and steel sheets arranged in troughed form if the distances involved are short (up to 20 metres). 5) Installations for heavy piece goods Piece goods such as boxes, crates, pallets, luggage and the like are conveyed at speeds up to 1 m/s; mainly plastic belts are used for this purpose and they can be supported either by flat rollers or by steel sheets, while combinations of both are possible. 6) Installations for light piece goods. The objects covered by the term light piece goods may vary from boxes and cased to matchboxes. The belt speed is frequently low, on average 0,5 m/s, because people work at the belt and they determine the capacity in combination with various kinds of packaging and parcelling machines. Sliding support and plastic belts are frequently used. The overall dimensions are limited. 

Technical Manual

Calculations; theory and practice

Theory The upper part of conveyor belts are supported by rollers, flat or in the form of troughs, by steel sheets (slider bed) and also by strips. A combination of steel sheets and rollers is also possible. The resistance which are set up in this process and which have to be overcome when the belt is set in motion differ considerably from case to case but can easily compared with the aid of the following examples. A loaded cart can be readily pulled over a smooth floor (fig. 1.0) The resistance becomes greater as the snow loses its quality or disappears completely. Therefore there has to be an ideal snow situation. That ideal snow situation is comparable with that of the smooth belt on a smooth metal sliding bed. But in the latter case too, the resistance is increased if a belt has a wrong bottom cover structure at the underside and/or if the sliding bed is rough, as maybe the case if pollution is doing its dirty work. If, additionally, an incline has to be followed for in either of the preceding situations, an extra quantity of work has to be performed (compare Fig. 1.0 and 1.03) In both the cases of the cart and the sledge tow extra children are needed to take the inlcine. In practice, the relation between roller resistance and sliding resistance is 1:10. Thus one child in front of the cart means ten in front of the sledge. To take the incline, therefore, 1+2+3 children for the cart and 10+2+12 chidren for the sledge (Fig. 1.4). Sliding support The most ideal method of supporting belts is sliding support. This means that the belt slides over a smooth surface. There obviously has to be littlle friction as possible.

Fig. 1.0

hat is due to bearings in the wheels. Similar bearings in conveyor rollers ensure that the resistance in belt conveyors is just as low. A sledge is reasonable alternative to the cart, but only as long as there is snow on the ground. In the winter time you can see children pulling one another on sledges (fig. 1.1). The slides are not subjected to too much resistance in the snow, although the sledge is harder to pull than the cart.

Fig. 1.2

Fig. 1.3

The material (metal sheet) supporting the conveyor belt must therefore be as smooth as possible. But, with a view to reducing friction, the bottom of the conveyor belt has also to satisfy special requirements. There is yet another factor which must be borne in mind, namely sound, which is acquiring increasing importance as people become more environment-conscious. Nowadays, we have what are called noise pollution criteria. 3

Fig. 1.1

Technical Manual

Calculations, theory and practice

However smooth the sliding support is, however well engineers have been designed the bottom of the conveyor belt, and however low the friction consequently is, the weight of the goods to be conveyed can creat a situation such that the friction is raised to an inadmissable level. When that is the case, the designer has to resort to roller support. Roller support When the material on which the conveyor belt is resting can also move (rollers), the friction between the conveyor belt and the support is of much less importance. The ball-bearings in the supporting rollers solve the friction problem. To ensure that the belt moves without bumps or jams, the rollers have to be located close to each other. The centre distance between rollers is primarily determined by the dimensions of the products to be conveyed. But also their weight is important, particularly in connection with the size and construction of the roller itself. For roller support more complicated frames are necessary. A roller support system also requires more maintenance. When the conveyor operates under dirty conditions, it is possible for the dirt to cause one or more rollers to jam, which can have very undesirable consequences. One of the most serious consequences of rollers jamming is that considerably more power has to be developed because the jammed roller starts acting as slider support. it will be obvious that the bearings of rollers have to be perfectly sealed, particularly under extremely dirty conditions. So far as the actual rollers are concerned, they may be made of steel or a combination of steel and plastic. Forces The following forces can occur in a belt conveyor: The force required for the upper part: load x coefficient of friction. The load is the sum of the belt weight in the upper part and the material conveyed. The load can also be expressed as the weight per m x the distance between the end rollers. The force required for the return part: the weight of the belt in the return part x the coefficient of friction of the return rollers. If relevant: the force required to overcome the gradient: the weight per m of the load x the height difference. The remaining resistances of the bearings in the end drums, of scapers, of load resistances, etc. which are allowed for with a factor which depends on the length of the conveyor. Drive drum The drive drum has to be able to transmit the tangential force P to ensure slipfree transport. The maximum result is achieved by: A large drum diameter; this may be restricted by overall dimensions. Non-slip drum surface area; cover the smooth steel drum with rubber of PVC. Increased belt tension; achieved by tensioning of drums or special tensioning devices. Limits are set by the loads on the drum axes and bearings. Increased arc of belt contact; a slight improvement can be anchieved by increasing the contact path between the belt and drum with a snub pulley. Depending on the operating conditions and wishes with regard to design and technology, a choice may be made of the above ideas. Two factors the friction between the drum and conveyor belt and the arc of belt contact determine the relationship between forces T1 and T3 in the sketch in Fig. 1.4.

The forces in the belt of an operating conveyor behave as follows (see Fig. 1.4).

Fig. 1.4

We will now use these forces to design the various parts of the belt conveyor, starting with the drive drum. If the drum diameter is relatively small, the surface tension in the outmost ply of the conveyor belt may become too high. This is indicated by the drawing in Fig. 1.5.
Fig. 1.5

Technical Manual

Calculations; theory and practice

The belt tension If a tensioning pulley is used for the initial tension it can be adjusted with screw-type tensioning devices as long as a fixed initial tension is decided upon. In all other cases however, tensioning may take place using hydraulic, pneumatic or electric tensioning devices or by socalled weight-tensioners, being self-adjusting. The advantage of self-adjusting is that forces exceeding those calculated can not occur, as opposed to for example screw-type tensioning, with which it is hardly possible to check the forces and particularly in the case of rigid belts with polyester plies problems can arise due to overlading parts of the installation. The amount of initial tension given to the belt depends to a large extent on the belt type used and in particular the fabric used. A procedure often used in practice is: the belt is slightly tensioned, then it is loaded, next the tension is increased so that the drive drum immediately starts moving the belt, after this the tension is increased a little more. A rule of thumb is that the tension of the belt is 0.2 to 0.7%, depending on the type of belt. This means theoretically that every metre of belt stretches 2 to 7 mm. This is called the initial tension because it is possible to calculate in advance how much force is needed for it. But again realise that the static situation is the starting point. In a dynamic or moving situation other values are often crated and it is the task of the tensioning device to deal with these. The tensile strength of the belt The tensile strength per mm of the belt width is found by dividing the maximum belt tension by the belt width, making allowance for the safety factor 10, the purpose of which is to prevent overl The power The power required to drive the drive drum in Watt is found by multiplying the required driving force (tangential force) in Newton by the belt speed in m/s. The drive unit, i.e. the motor, the first reduction gear, the transmission between the reducer and drive drum, has what is called a certain efficiency. This efficiency indicates the power losses due to internal causes and it is taken into account when choosing the drive unit. We now propose to familiarise you with a number of concepts and practical experiences which you will find in practice for assessing an installation. A conveyor belt has its own peculiarities Goods have to be moved from A to B and so the conveyor belt, too, has to be move from A to B. But... the conveyor belt sometimes has a tendency to depart from the straight path. There are a number of reasons: the effect of dirt, particularly on the underside of the belt the fact that the conveyor installation is out of line or gets out of line imperfections in the design or construction of the conveyor imperfections in the conveyor belt itself the fact that the goods conveyed are slid on or off from and to the sides Conveyor belts therefore hasve to be guided. In order to move exactly from A to B. To ensure a coneyor belt keeps in line, there are 4 methods which are generally used in combination with eachother: the drive (and usualy also the tail) drum may be crowned (made convex, a spherical shape) tracking idlers may be used guide ropes may be fitted other methods..