Substantiation of cable-stayed system parameters for RopeCon continuous belt conveyors

Abstract

A belt conveyor has recently become one of the critical transportation systems in the mining industry. New engineering solutions towards improvement of belt conveyors with a view to overcoming complexities associated with rugged landscape during transport of loads in bulk conditioned creation of a new RopeCon continuous belt conveyor. This conveyor is a combination of a cableway and a belt within a complex suspension system with support towers arranged at a design spacing subject to the tilt angle of the conveying route. The belt conveyor structure is examined in terms of its parameters for the further calculations. The estimation criteria of loads on the cable-stayed system of the suspension conveyor by analogy with the aerial tramways and the adherence safety of the cables and support frame brackets are determined. The load transmission factors for the load cables via support frames to be equivalent to the adherence safety between the cables and the support frame brackets are recommended. Optimization of the cable-stayed system parameters and the roller spacing reduces to finding optimal values of the utilization factors of the breaking strength of the cables and the load transmission factors between the guide cables and the load cables. Solution of this problem involves the mathematical methods and takes into account the cable sag limitation between the support towers to ensure the transverse stiffness of the cable-stayed system and to meet the cable endurance capability requirement.