Dynamic characteristics of conveyor belts

Abstract The dynamic characteristics of a belt conveyor are determined to a large extent by the properties of the belt. This paper describes experiments designed to establish the dynamic properties of belting material. The dynamic elastic modulus, viscous damping and rheological constants of the belt were measured. Several properties were studied as a function of the tensile loading on the belt. These included longitudinal vibration, the natural vibration frequency in the transverse direction and the response to an impulse excitation. Vibration response was observed under several different excitation frequencies. Most of these properties have not been tested previously under conditions appropriate for the ISO/DP9856 standard. Two types of belt were tested, a steel reinforced belt and a fabric reinforced belt. The test equipment was built to provide data appropriate for designing belt conveyors. It was observed that the stress wave propagation speed increased with tensile load and that tensile load was the main factor influencing longitudinal vibrations.