Mathematical Physics 2 Assignment CONVEYOR BELT Iryna Dovbush, Tabitha Kinyanjui PROBLEM BACKGROUND Belt conveyors are an important

and reliable means for continuous transport of bulk solids. Investigating transverse vibrations of a belt system is a challenging subject which has been studied for many years and is still of interest today. Belt conveying of bulk materials has evolved to the point where the demands of the modern mine to increase capacity is limited by the ability of engineers to design dynamically stable conveyors. The main purpose of studying the dynamic behavior of a belt system is to know the natural frequencies of the vibrations. By knowing these natural frequencies, the so-called resonance-free belt system can be designed. Resonances that can cause severe vibrations can be initiated by some parts of the belt system, such as the varying belt speed, the roll eccentricities, and other belt imperfections. The occurrence of resonances should be prevented since they can cause operational and maintenance problems including excessive wear of the belt and the support component, and the increase of energy consumption of the system. NOMENCLATURE a - belt width in [m], b - belt thickness in [m], c - characteristic wave speed in [m/s], l - distance between the centers of the two pulleys in [m], m - the mass of the belt in [kg], L - belt length in [m], R - radius of both pulleys in [m], v - the velocity of the belt in [m/s], y(x, t) - the transverse displacement of the belt at time t and axial coordinate x in [m], - linear density of the belt (mass per unit lenght) in [kg/m], - mass density of the belt in [kg/m3 ], 1

 - the initial tension in the belt in [P a], n - natural frequencies in [Hz]. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION Traditionally, belt conveyors for handling of bulk solids consist of two or more pulleys and a belt (with a continuous loop of material) that rotates around them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the solids on it. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley is called the idler. For an optimal design of the conveyor-belt system it is important to have a resonance-free operation, especially during starting up and stopping. Therefore, one is interested in knowing the eigenfrequencies of the belt-conveyor system. PROBLEM GOAL Our goal for this assignment is to develop a mathematical model that determines the dynamic behavior of transverse vibrations of the belt and to answer the following questions: What are the input parameters one can control? What are the eigenfrequencies of the transverse vibrations of the belt? On which parameters do these eigenfrequencies depend? Into which direction do disturbances propagate along the belt? ASSUMPTIONS We make the following assumpions which simplify developing of the model: the belt travels at a constant and uniform axial transport speed v; the initial tension is suciently large so that its variation due to extension of the belt is negligible; take only transverse displacement y(x, t) into consideration; 2

 the transverse displacement y is very small compared to the belt length L; the eect of gravity is neglected; the belt is assumed perfectly exible (the bending force is neglected); the mass of the belt per unit length is assumed constant. MATHEMATICAL MODEL Denote by y = y(x, t) the transverse displacement. Hence, dy y dx y y = + v+ = vy . dt x dt x t Balance of linear momentum implies that ( ) 2 d 2y 2y 2 y dx vy = v + 2v + 2 dx = Fy . dt x2 xt t (2) (1)

Figure 1: Small part of the belt of length ds Since we assume that the magnitude of the tension on each end of ds is equal, and the net force in x direction Fx = 0 (neglect the longitudinal displacement),

we take only the displacement in y direction into account. Therefore, the net force in the y direction is Fy = sin 1 + sin 2 For small angles 1 , 2 y , x y 2 y dx. = tan 2 = + x x2 ( y 2 y + x x2 ) = 2y x2

sin 1 = tan 1 = sin 2 Therefore

y Fy = + x

(3)

2 2y 2y 2y 2 y ( 2 + 2v +v ) 2 = 0. t tx x2 x Denote by c = the phase velocity.

Thus, we obtained the following equation which describes the dynamic behavior of transverse vibrations of the belt 2y 2y 2y + 2v + (v 2 c2 ) 2 = 0. t2 tx x by y(0, t) = y(l, t) = 0. To determine the natural frequencies n we consider the problem of a belt moving at a constant velocity subjected to harmonic excitation y = y0 cost at one of its ends (i.e. at x = l). The solution is given as

(4)

If the two pulleys are xed, the boundary conditions are homogeneous and given

[ ( )] sin(x/c ) lx y(x, t) = y0 cos t , sin(l/c ) v where c2 v 2 c = = c

(5)

) ( v 2 1

and v = c2 v 2 = v. v v

Equation (5) indicates that resonance occurs when l/c = n, or n n = l ) ( v 2 1 (6)

and the standing wave has a node where x/c = n.

DATA AND NUMERICAL CALCULATIONS We have the following data for a conveyor-belt system: meaning radius of both pulleys, R distance between the centers of the two pulleys, l velocity of the belt, v mass density of the belt, belt width, a belt thickness, b tension in the belt, value 0.8 10 4 2.2103 0.8 6.25 1.0 unit m m m/s kg/m3 m mm GP a

Calculate the linear density of the belt as mass per unit length = m abL = = ab. L L ( ) abv 2 1 . ab

Hence, (6) can be rewritten as follows n n = l

Numerical calculation of these natural frequencies in Matlab gives us the following results: n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 n 2995,39053865783 5990,78107731566 8986,17161597348 11981,5621546313 14976,9526932891 17972,3432319470 20967,7337706048 23963,1243092626

Hz Hz Hz Hz Hz Hz Hz Hz