Vibration reduction effect of one-way clutch on belt-drive systems

Abstract In order to study the vibration reduction effect of the one-way clutch on belt-drive systems, especially on the transporting belt, an experimental platform is built. The strongest resonant areas of the midpoint of the transporting belt with and without the one-way clutch are compared. The experimental results clearly show the vibration reduction effect of the one-way clutch on the resonance of the belt-drive system. In order to determine the optimum vibration reduction parameters of the one-way clutch, a two-pulley belt-drive dynamic model coupled is established. The commonalities between numerical simulation and experimental research are the inclusion of a translating belt, a driving pulley, a driven pulley and an accessory pulley. The difference is that there is no connection between the physical parameters of the numerical simulation and experimental studies. By establishing the relationship between the longitudinal vibration and transverse vibration of the translating belt spans, the coupled governing equations of the belt-drive system are derived to describe the coupling of the transverse vibration of the transporting belt and rotation of the pulleys. The natural frequency of the belt is determined by using the amplitude spectrum of the free vibration response of the system. Numerical results illustrate that the two main parameters of the one-way clutch, the wrap spring and the pre-load have little effect on the natural vibration frequency of the belt. However, these two main parameters are very sensitive to the vibration reduction effect of the one-way clutch. Therefore, this study is very helpful to understand the optimal design of the one-way clutch.