Abstract
The implementation of multiple drives for belt conveyors can solve the problems associated with motor overpower and the excessive tension of conveyor belts powered by a single drive. However, multiple drives can suffer from uneven driving power allocation. Among various factors, the selection of the type of conveyor belt particularly affects the power allocation. The current study aims to investigate the influence of the elastic modulus of a conveyor belt on the power allocation of multi-drive conveyors. Based on the Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic model, a discrete model of an entire machine is established. Kelvin-Voigt software is used to simulate the working conditions of conveyor belts with different elastic moduli under full loads. The driving forces of individual rollers are obtained and then compared. Compared to other types of belts, a steel wire core conveyor belt, whose elastic modulus is relatively high, effectively improves the stability of the conveyor belt under a full load after start-up to achieve a reasonable power allocation. The results of this study provide a foundation for conveyor belt selection for multi-drive conveyors.
Highlights
Belt conveyors have been extensively applied to bulk material delivery applications in various industries, such as the metallurgy and mining industries, the coal chemistry industry and the food processing industry
In response to policies related to energy conservation and consumption reduction, belt conveyors are being developed to accommodate heavy loads, long distances and high speed [2,3,4]
This study led to the following conclusions: 1. For double-head driving belt conveyors, the elastic modulus of the belt has an important influence on the start-up process of the conveyor under a full load
Summary
Belt conveyors have been extensively applied to bulk material delivery applications in various industries, such as the metallurgy and mining industries, the coal chemistry industry and the food processing industry. As the driving force produced by the traditional single-roller belt conveyor cannot satisfy the requirement for long-distance driving, scholars have proposed the multi-roller driving method [5,6,7]. This method tends to cause uneven power allocation among the rollers [8, 9], which results in either overloaded or underloaded individual electric motors, thereby increasing production costs and wasting resources [10].
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