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Fig.1 shows the application of a flat belt drive where power is transmitted
from motor to engine flywheel. Flat belts were used early in line shafting to transmit
power in factories. It is a simple system of power transmission that was well suited to
its day. It delivered high power for high speeds (500 hp for 10,000 ft/min), in cases of
wide belts and large pulleys. These drives are bulky, requiring high tension leading to
high loads, so vee belts have mainly replaced the flat-belts (except when high speed is
needed over power.
Round belts
and long service life. The V-belt was developed in 1917 by John Gates of the Gates
Rubber Company. They are generally endless, and their general cross-section shape is
trapezoidal. The "V" shape of the belt tracks in a mating groove in the pulley (or
sheave), with the result that the belt cannot slip off. The belt also tends to wedge into
the groove as the load increases the greater the load, the greater the wedging
action improving torque transmission and making the vee belt an effective
solution, needing less width and tension than flat belts. V-belts trump flat belts with
their small center distances and high reduction ratios. The preferred center distance is
larger than the largest pulley diameter, but less than three times the sum of both
pulleys. Optimal speed range is 1000-7000 ft/min. V-belts need larger pulleys for their
larger thickness than flat belts. They can be supplied at various fixed lengths or as a
segmented section, where the segments are linked (spliced) to form a belt of the
required length. For high-power requirements, two or more vee belts can be joined
side-by-side in an arrangement called a multi-V, running on matching multi-groove
sheaves. The strength of these belts is obtained by reinforcements with fibers like
steel, polyester or aramid (e.g. Twaron). This is known as a multiple-belt drive. When
an endless belt does not fit the need, jointed and link vee-belts may be employed.
Alas, they are weaker and only speed up to 4000 ft/min. A link v-belt is a number of
rubberized fabric links held together by metal fasteners. They are length adjustable by
dissasembling and removing links when needed.
In clockwise rotation of the driver, the driver pulls belt from lower side and
delivers it to the upper side. Thus the tension in the lower side belt will be more than
that of the upper side belt. Hence the lower side is called as tight side and upper side
is called as slack side.
Film belts
Though often grouped with flat belts, they are actually a different kind. They
consist of a very thin belt (0.5-15 millimeters or 100-4000 microns) strip of plastic
and occasionally rubber. They are generally intended for low-power (10 hp or 7 kW),
high-speed uses, allowing high efficiency (up to 98%) and long life. These are seen in
business machines, tape recorders, and other light-duty operations.
Timing Belts
Timing belts with a helical offset tooth design are available. The helical offset
tooth design forms a chevron pattern and causes the teeth to engage progressively.
The chevron pattern design is self-aligning. The chevron pattern design does not make
the noise that some timing belts make at idiosyncratic speeds, and is more efficient at
transferring power (up to 98%).
Disadvantages include high cost, need for toothed pulleys, less protection from
overload and jam, no clutch action.
Standards for use
The open belt drive has parallel shafts rotating in the same direction, whereas
the cross-belt drive also bears parallel shafts but rotate in opposite direction. The
former is far more common, and the latter not appropriate for timing and standard Vbelts, because the pulleys contact both the both inner and outer belt surfaces.
Nonparallel shafts can be connected if the belt's center line is aligned with the center
plane of the pulley. Industrial belts are usually reinforced rubber but sometimes
leather types, non-leather non-reinforced belts, can only be used in light applications.
Selection criteria
Belt drives are built under the following required conditions: speeds of and
power transmitted between drive and driven unit; suitable distance between shafts;
and appropriate operating conditions. The equation for power is:
power (kW) = (torque in newton-meters) (rpm) (2 radians)/(60 sec 1000 W)
Belt wear
Fatigue, more so than abrasion, is the culprit for most belt problems. This wear
is caused by stress from rolling around the pulleys. High belt tension; excessive
slippage; adverse environmental conditions; and belt overloads caused by shock,
vibration, or belt slapping all contribute to belt fatigue.
Specifications
To fully specify a belt, the material, length, and cross-section size and shape
are required. Timing belts, in addition, require that the size of the teeth be given. The
length of the belt is the sum of the central length of the system on both sides, half the
circumference of both pulleys, and the square of the sum (if crossed) or the difference
(if open) of the radii. Thus, when dividing by the central distance, it can be visualized
as the central distance times the height that gives the same squared value of the radius
difference on, of course, both sides. When adding to the length of either side, the
length of the belt increases, in a similar manner to the Pythagorean theorem. One
important concept to remember is that as D1 gets closer to D2 there is less of a distance
(and therefore less addition of length) until its approaches zero.
On the other hand, in a crossed belt drive the sum rather than the difference of
radii is the basis for computation for length. So the wider the small drive increases,
the belt length is higher. Otherwise it is similar.
Advantages of belt drive are:
1. They are simple.
2. They are economical.
3. Parallel shafts are not required.
4. Overload and jam protection are provided. Noise and vibration are damped
out. Machinery life is prolonged because load fluctuations are cushioned
(shock-absorbed).
5. They are lubrication-free.
6. They require only low maintenance.
7. They are highly efficient (9098%, usually 95%). Some misalignment is
tolerable. They are very economical when shafts are separated by large
distances.
8. Clutch action may be obtained by relieving belt tension.
9. Variable speeds may be economically obtained by step or tapered pulleys.
Disadvantages include:
1. The angular-velocity ratio is not necessarily constant or equal to the ratio of
pulley diameters, because of belt slip and stretch. Heat buildup occurs.
2. Speed is limited to usually 7000 feet per minute (35 meters per second). Power
transmission is limited to 370 kilowatts (500 horsepower).
3. Operating temperatures are usually restricted to 31 to 185F (35 to 85C).
Some adjustment of center distance or use of an idler pulley is necessary for
wear and stretch compensation. A means of disassembly must be provided to
install endless belts.
There are four general types of belts: flat belts, V-belts, film belts, and timing
belts. Each has its own special characteristics, limitations, advantages, and specialpurpose variations for different applications.
Flat belts, in the form of leather belting, served as the basic belt drive from the
beginning of the Industrial Revolution. They can transmit large amounts of power at
high speeds. Flat belts find their widest application where high-speed motion, rather
than power, is the main concern. Flat belts are very useful where large center
distances and small pulleys are involved. They can engage pulleys on both inside and
outside surfaces, and both endless and jointed construction are available.
V-belts are the basic power-transmission belt, providing the best combination
of traction, operating speed, bearing load, and service life. The belts are typically
endless, with a trapezoidal cross section which runs in a pulley with a V-shaped
groove. The wedging action of the belt in the pulley groove allows V-belts to transmit
higher torque at less width and tension than flat belts. V-belts are far superior to flat
belts at small center distances and high reduction ratios. V-belts require larger pulleys
than flat belts because of their greater thickness. Several individual belts running on
the same pulley in separate grooves are often used when the power to be transmitted
exceeds that of a single belt. These are called multiple-belt drives.
Film belts are often classified as a variety of flat belt, but actually they are a
separate type. Consisting of a very thin strip of material, usually plastic but sometimes
rubber, their widest application is in business machines, tape recorders, and other
light-duty service.
Timing belts have evenly spaced teeth on their bottom side which mesh with
grooves cut on the periphery of the pulleys to produce a positive, no-slip, constantspeed drive. They are often used to replace chains or gears, reducing noise and
avoiding the lubrication bath or oiling system requirement. They have also found
widespread application in miniature timing applications. Timing belts, known also as
synchronous or cogged belts, require the least tension of all belt drives and are among
the most efficient.
Chain drive
invented by the Morse Chain Company of Ithaca, New York, USA. This has inverted
teeth.
Sometimes the power is output by simply rotating the chain, which can be
used to lift or drag objects. In other situations, a second gear is placed and the power
is recovered by attaching shafts or hubs to this gear. Though drive chains are often
simple oval loops, they can also go around corners by placing more than two gears
along the chain; gears that do not put power into the system or transmit it out are
generally known as idler-wheels. By varying the diameter of the input and output
gears with respect to each other, the gear ratio can be altered, so that, for example, the
pedals of a bicycle can spin all the way around more than once for every rotation of
the gear that drives the wheels.
easier to build gears that can increase or shrink in diameter, again altering the gear
ratio.
Both can be used to move objects by attaching pockets, buckets, or frames to
them; chains are often used to move things vertically by holding them in frames, as in
industrial toasters, while belts are good at moving things horizontally in the form of
conveyor belts. It is not unusual for the systems to be used in combination; for
example the rollers that drive conveyor belts are themselves often driven by drive
chains.
Drive shafts are another common method used to move mechanical power
around that is sometimes evaluated in comparison to chain drive; in particular shaft
drive versus chain drive is a key design decision for most motorcycles. Drive shafts
tend to be even tougher and more reliable than chain drive, but weigh even more
(robbing more power), and impart rotational torque.
Use in vehicles
Bicycles
Chain drive was the main feature which differentiated the safety bicycle
introduced in 1885, with its two equal-sized wheels, from the direct-drive pennyfarthing or "high wheeler" type of bicycle. The popularity of the chain-driven safety
bicycle brought about the demise of the penny-farthing, and is still a basic feature of
bicycle design today.
Automobiles
2.
200 mm
400 mm
2m
400 rpm
Angle of contact
197.3
D1 = 200 mm
D2= 400 mm
C = 2m
N1 = 400 rpm
Length of the belt = L =2C+ / 2 (D1+ D2) + (D1+ D2) / 4C
= (2x2) + / 2 (0.2+ 0.4) + (0.2+ 0.4) / 4x2
= 4.99 m
3. For the above drive if tension on tight side is 1.3 kN, and the coefficient of friction
between the belt and pulley is 0.25, find the power capacity of the drive.
T1 = 1.3 kN
= 197.3 x ( /180) radians
V = D1 N1 / 60
= ( x 0.2) (400/60)
= 4.2 m/s
T1 / T2 = e
1.2 x 103 / T2 = e (0.25 x 197.3 x /180 )
T2 = 506.33 N
Power transmitted, P = (T1 - T2) V
(1200-506.33)x4.2
= 2.9 kW