Band Wheel Research Articles

Measurement of Wheel Radius in an Automated Guided Vehicle

In the case of automated guided vehicles using odometry, a very important issue is to know the actual rolling radius of the wheel used to calculate the position of the vehicle. This radius is not constant. Its changes depend on the elastic deformation of the band layer and wheel slip. The theoretical determination of the value of the radius and the nature of the change is very difficult. For this reason, it was decided to determine the rolling radii by the experimental method. For this purpose, an appropriate test stand was built and the proposed research method was checked. Within the tests, there was also obtained a number of interesting results characterizing the material used to build bands and the ranges of changes rolling radii for the tested material were specified.

Reliability analysis and life cycle cost optimization: a case study from Indian industry

Purpose – Reliability analysis is required to identify the components or subsystems with low reliability for a given designed performance. Life cycle cost analysis helps understand the cost implications over the entire life span of a product. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study describing reliability analysis and life cycle cost optimization of a band saw cutting machine manufactured and used in India. Design/methodology/approach – The data required for reliability analysis is collected from the manufacturer and users of band saw cutting machine. The parameters of failure distribution have been estimated by using ReliaSoft’s Weibull++6 software. The life cycle cost is divided into various cost elements such as acquisition cost, operation cost, failure cost, support cost and net salvage value. Findings – The results of the analysis show that the components such as band wheel bearing, guide roller bearing, limit switch, carbide pad, hydraulic cylinder oil seal, control panel dial, control panel and solenoid valve are critical from reliability and life cycle cost analysis perspective. Originality/value – With certain design changes it is found that the reliability of the system is increased by 15.85 percent while the life cycle cost is reduced by 22.09 percent. The study also shows that the reliability analysis is useful for deciding maintenance intervals.

A Study on Structural Characteristics of Temporary Steel Type Automobile Wheel

The wheel is an active area of automobile component design and development. The wheel must be durable enough to tolerate significant loads and harsh environment. Temporary tire substituted for spare tire is made in a half band wheel size. Therefore this temporary tire is carried out lightweight and fuel saving of automobile. In this research, structural analysis and fatigue analysis of the temporary steel wheel are carried out using ANSYS 3D-modeling. The model is verified by the equivalent(von-Mises) stress analysis obtained from the ANSYS static structural analysis. Fatigue analysis is performed at the equivalent stress considering the automobile load and moment. Finally, this temporary wheel can be used temporary but not continuously.

The Fatigue Life Prediction for the Transmittal Belt

The article carries on the question of the failure of the transmittal belt of the small supple-like pumping unit in Daqing oil field. But the fatigue life is not forecasted accurately. According to the characteristic that the pumping unit stands alternating dynamic load and the contact between transmittal belt and band wheel, this article established the finite element model of transmittal belt using ANSYS software. The model considered the biggest and the smallest stresses in the belt during a circle .It also established four element models in four special conditions and calculated respectively the stress in each time .Taking all the stress into considered and uniting the fatigue curve, it completed the fatigue life analysis.Through the comparative analysis with the fatigue life that the working site statisticsed in all kinds of behaviours, its error is smaller than 5%. It explains that this model is able to forecast the transmittal belt’s fatigue life more accurately. So it provides the reliable basis for making and choosing the transmittal belt.

A potentially energy efficient, resilient, thin steel wheel, for use on heavy road vehicles

The radial cross section of a thin spring steel, seamless round band is formed to a smaller radius. The forming changes the round band into an oval band with two natural, radial curved elbows. Any segment of a uniformly formed band moves with ease to any location along the oval geometry. The thin spring steel band, with a rubber tread, is mounted on two axles with four band support rims. The assembly is called ‘band wheel’. Band wheel has inherent spring suspension, a large rolling radius, a low rolling resistance and a low, adjustable ground pressure.

Thin spring steel band wheel with a rubber tread, a development proposal with potential to reduce fuel consumption on some road vehicles

A reduction in vehicle rolling resistance is one of the goals of a partially developed vehicle suspension, called a band wheel or a track wheel. Instead of a pneumatic tyre, a band wheel uses an oval thin spring steel band with a very low hysteresis energy loss. The lower segment of the oval band acts like a leaf spring suspension. The current status of this suspension development is summarized. The rolling loss of the band wheel is calculated and estimated. New details describe the steps in producing and forming the critical thin steel spring-loaded band structure. Bonding of a rubber tread to the steel requires close attention to tread design to minimize its rolling resistance. A development project is needed to produce highly uniform and durable spring bands to demonstrate and measure the band wheel rolling resistance.

Dynamic analysis of a non-conservative band–wheel system with a moving boundary part 2: Numerical results

The dynamic formulations of a non-conservative band/wheel system with a moving boundary are derived in the companion paper by use of Hamilton’s principle and calculus of variation. In this paper, numerical simulations for the system are obtained in transient amplitudes of the string and positions of the moving boundary by a modified finite difference method (FDM). Since the moving boundary position may not locate exactly at a grid point for any computational time, a special technique of the FDM is proposed to approximate both the transversality condition of a moving boundary and the partial differential equation of the neighboring grid points. The effects of parameters such as radius of the wheel, tension of the string, propagation speeds of the longitudinal and transverse wave and various initial conditions on the transient responses are investigated and compared with those of the fixed boundary problem.

A thin-walled, dual-curved, steel band wheel with inherent spring suspension for use on heavy vehicles

A new vehicle suspension system, called band wheel or track wheel, is in an early stage of development. Band wheel prototype models have low rolling resistance and a good load capacity. Its unique component, the spring band, is a thin-walled, dual-curved, seamless steel oval band with rubber tread. Mechanical properties of band wheel and spring band, designed for use on heavy road vehicles, are described in some detail. The lower spring band segment provides spring suspension with a very low unsprung weight. Suspension characteristics are derived from measurements on prototype models. A band wheel could replace a set of dual wheels with tires and its suspension on a heavy vehicle as a pavement-friendly alternative. Other potential applications include armored vehicle and airplane landing wheel. A finite element analysis of spring band is proposed and outlined as a further step in band wheel development. The author, who is about to retire, offers prototype models, special tools, documentation and a US patent to a company or institution with an interest and commitment to continue this development.

High Volume Pumping with Sucker Rods

Abstract Recent studies have shown that often large fluid volumes can be lifted by sucker rods with great effectiveness from shallow to medium-depth wells. Wherever feasible, significant redaction in cost of elevating a barrel of fluid may be realized by the operator. The advent of longer stroke units with improved geometry, larger speed reducers and bottom-hole pumps, as well as the new high-strength sucker rods, make high volume rod pumping a practical and economical achievement. Past applications of this type generally have been considered only for bottom-hole centrifugal pumps. This paper reviews some field studies and emphasizes the practicality of high volume production with sucker rods. Introduction A century ago the almost universal mechanism for artificially lifting fluid in an oil well was the standard rig-front. A wooden walking beam drove a string of hickory sucker rods, often called "well poles", as many as ten 15-in.- strokes/minute with the maximum tensile stress of the rods about 12,800 psi. The bottom-hole pump was cast iron or brass with the barrel approximately 1 1/4-in. in diameter, and the well depth ranged from 500 to 1,000 ft. The torque capacity of the band wheel and flat-belt speed reducer ran only a few thousand inch-pounds, and the unit's structural capacity was from 1,000 to 1,500 lb. Today, the structure of a modern pumping unit with its 240-in. maximum stroke reaches higher than the wooden drilling and servicing derricks of those early days. Its structural capacity exceeds 47,000 lb, with a torque rating greater than 2.5 million in. lb. The plunger diameter of some bottom-hole pumps (casing-type) runs as high as 5 3/4 -in. Perhaps the greatest improvement is in the sucker rod, which now has a tensile stress of some 140,000 psi. Today practice sucker rod pumping approaches 13,000 ft, and capacities of 5,000 and 6,000 B/D from shallow to medium depths are handled with ease. Volumes as high as 9,500 B/D are entirely practical with modern sucker rod pumping equipment. Comparing the modern sucker-rod system with its counterpart of 100 years ago produces some startling figures. The structural capacity of the modern unit has increased nearly fifty-fold, the torque capacity perhaps a thousand-fold, the area of the bottom-hole pump over 20 times; the stroke length nearly twenty-fold; and maximum rod tensile stress nearly 12 times. With the increased stroke length, even the maximum rate of polished rod travel per minute has increased five or six times. Since all of these are compounding increases, the sucker-rod pumping unit of today has the capacity for producing massive fluid volumes from relatively great depths.

Use of Electricity in the Mid-Continent Field

Only general treatment of a subject of such scope can be given in a shortpaper, therefore, except in a few instances, statistics and descriptions ofspecific installations are omitted. The earlier applications of electricity to the production of petroleum inthe Mid-Continent field were widely separated chronologically, each holding aspecial interest, and each contributing greatly to the present development. Electric Pumping One of the first installations of electric pumping was on a lease nearJenks, Okla., in the Arkansas River bed, where a difficult problem was solvedby the use of motors. The Arkansas River had frequent flood periods whichinterfered seriously with the use of jacks and pull rods. Small piers werebuilt with old casing used as piling, and upon these were set small jacksdriven by 3-hp. squirrel-cage motors. The starting switches were located on abank and the power was furnished by a small generator, which was driven by anoil country gas engine. This installation was made in 1913 and is, I believe, still in satisfactory operation. In 1914, the Cushing field came in and the Hill Oil &Gas Co.electrified its Shamrock property, using eight-pole Star Delta motors, rated at10 to 30 hp. and belted through countershafts to the band wheel. Power wasfurnished by a small generating plant consisting of two 135-kw. machines, gas-engine driven. Considerable difficulty was experienced in the earlyoperation of this station because of low voltage. It is characteristic of smallalternating-current generators that voltage regulation will be poor with widelyfluctuating loads. This field had three producing sands, and a number of wellswere redrilled with the motors, and this, together with a great deal ofswabbing, was responsible for the bad load conditions.