LECTURE #27 CONVEYER

SYSTEMS

Course Name : DESIGN OF MACHINE ELEMENTS

Course Number: MET 214

Package handling requirements established from supply chain management

strategies dictate transfer rates of packages.
Package specifications (weight, volume, etc) and transfer rate requirements
influence the conveyer system configuration selected for a particular application.
Transfer rates, package specifications and conveyor system configuration influences
drive requirements for the conveyer system.
Conveyer configuration influences how drive requirements for the conveyor system
are related to design requirements for sub system components.
Various types of conveyor systems are available

To determine the drive requirements for a conveyor system, torque

requirements associated with conveyor motion must be reflected
back to the drive shaft of the motor.
Information provided in previous lectures identified how to reflect
mass moment of inertias between shafts of pulley systems and will be
utilized to assist in the development of the drive requirements for a
conveyor system. In addition to reflecting mass moment of inertia
and/or torque loads as illustrated in the previous lecture, conveyor
systems transport packages having specified weights. The torque
requirements for a conveyor system are influenced by the movement
of the packages. To identify how to relate motion of the packages to
torque requirements for the drive of a conveyor system, consider the
system shown below.

The total amount of mass being transported by the conveyor system involves the
mass of the individual packages in addition to the mass of the belt.
mT = m1 +m2 + m3 + m4 + m belt
Using Newtons 2nd law we can relate mT to the force necessary to accelerate m T.
F=mT a where
F =Force applied to conveyor belt in order to accelerate
and packages on belt
a = acceleration of conveyor belt

belt

The linear acceleration a may be belt expressed in terms of angular measures as

follows.
F mT r11 r = radius of drive pulley of conveyor system
where
1
1 = angular acceleration of drive pulley rads/sec 2

The force F necessary to accelerate m T can be related to torque about the drive shaft
as follows

TM T r1 F r1mT r11 mT r121

Recall Newtons 2nd law for angular measures

TJ

Accordingly, the total mass m T being accelerated by an acceleration of a may be

expressed in terms of an equivalent mass moment of inertia as shown below

T mT r121
Tm J
J mT mT r12
2

r1 by
The total mass mT multiply
establishes an equivalent mass moment of
inertia which is to be included in the analysis of the drive requirements for a
conveyor system.
Prior to identifying how all of the torque requirement of a conveyor system are
reflected to the shaft of the motor, let us consider how friction effects due to
linear motion of the belt impact the torque requirements for a conveyor system.
To relate how friction accompanying linear motion of the belt impacts the torque
requirements of a conveyor system, consider the conveyor system illustrated
below.

Belt motion creates a friction force between the conveyor belt and the support
platform which supports the conveyor belt. The magnitude of the friction force
is related to the normal force and the coefficient of friction existing between
the belt and the platform. The relationship is presented below.
where Ff =
Force due to friction between conveyor belt and support platform
F f uN
u = coefficient of friction between belt and platform
N = Normal force acting to press belt against support platform
To relate the friction force Ff to a torque requirement for the motor of the
conveyor system, note that Ff can be related to a torque acting about shaft #1.

T f r1 F f r1uN r1umT g
After accounting for rotational acceleration effects, the total torque required
from a motor for a conveyor system can be determined.
To identify the torque required for a motor, all motion effects relating to torque
must be transformed to the motor shaft.
To systematically transform all motion effects relating to torque to motor shaft,
proceed as follows:

1) Determine mass moment of inertia of all components undergoing

rotational motion and reflect to drive shaft of conveyor system using
scale factors consistent with reflected impedances.
2) Determine resisting torques accompanying rotational motion of
rotating components and reflect the resisting torques to drive shaft of
conveyor system using scaling factors consistent with reflected torques.
3) Transform all masses experiencing linear motion to equivalent mass
moment of inertias and reflect equivalent mass moment of inertias to
drive shaft of conveyor system.
4) Transform all forces associated with linear motion of conveyor system
to equivalent torques and reflect to drive shaft of conveyor system.
5) Combine the torques associated with steps 1-4.
6) Reflect torque in steps 1-5 to shaft of motor if motor is not directly
connected to conveyor system.

As an example of how to determine the drive requirements for a conveyor

system, consider the system shown below

For angular motion:

1) Determine mass moment of inertia of rotating components and reflect to
drive shaft of conveyor system using scaling factors consisted with reflected
impedances.
A) Jm2 = mass moment of inertia about shaft #2 includes mass moment of
inertia of shaft #2, and pulley #2 and any component rotating about shaft
#2 . (from lecture #14) Shaft #1 is destination.
reflect Jm2 to shaft #1
2

r
J 2 R1 J m 2 1
r2
2
r1
r1 r2 1
r2
J 2 R1 J m 2

B) Jm1 = mass moment of inertia of about shaft #1: includes mass moment of
inertia of shaft #1, and pulley #1, and any component rotating about shaft #1.
C)

J mT1 J m1 J 2 R1 J m1 J m 2
2) Determine resisting torques accompanying rotation of rotating components
and reflect back to drive shaft of conveyor system using scaling factors
consisted with torques.

C) Assume rotation of shaft 2 is accompanied by a viscous damping torque due to

bearing behavior that depends on speed of conveyor.

T2 2 n2
T2 R1 T2

n2
n
D
2 n2 2 2 n2 1 2 n2
n1
n1
D2

T2 R1 T2 2 n2 2 n1
B) Assume rotation of shaft #1 is accompanied by a viscous damping torque due to
bearing behavior that depends on speed of conveyor.

T1 1n1

C) Combine the torque loads acting on shaft #1 with all torque loads reflected to shaft #1

TT1 T1 T2 R1
TT1 1n1 2 n1
TT1 n1 1 2
D) Alternatively, the torque loading on shaft #1 and/or shaft #2 could be independent of
speed, and modeled simply as a drag torque.
where
torque existing
on shaft #1
T1 Td=drag
Td 1
1
=drag torque existing on shaft
#2
T

T2 Td 2

d2

E) Reflecting T2 to shaft #1 and combining the two torques results in the following
expression:

TT 1d Td 1 Td 2
F) Combination of torque types may exist depending on circumstances
3) Transform all masses experiencing linear motion to equivalent mass moment of
inertias and reflect equivalent mass moment of inertias to drive shaft of conveyor
system:
Utilizing relationships presented earlier:

J eq1 mT r12
mT m1 m2 m3 m4 mbelt

4) Transform all forces associated with linear motion of conveyor system to

equivalent torques and reflect to drive shaft of conveyor system.
Utilizing relationship presented earlier:

T f r1 F f r1umT g
5) Combine the torques associated with steps 1-4

TS 1 J mT 1 J eq1 1 TT1 T f
TS 1 J m1 J m 2 mT r12 1 Td 1 Td 2 r1umT g
or if viscous dragging effects

TS1 J m1 J m 2 mT r12 1 1 2 n1 r1umT g

6) Transform torque in step 5 to shaft of motor. Recall basic relation governing
transformation of torques in pulley/ chain drive systems.

Note:

Tm nm where
T1n1
Torque Tsupplied
by motor
m
n1 Pitch diameter
Tm T1
Dm of sprocket attached to motor
nm
n
D
nm Dm n1 D1 1 m
nm D1

Accordingly:

Tm TS 1

Dm
D1

Applying the scalar factor above to the equations for T 1 results in the following
torque requirements for the motor

TM J m1 J m 2 mT r12

Dm
D
D
1 Td 1 Td 2 m r1umT g m
D1
D1
D1

or if viscous effects are considered

TM J m1 J m 2 mT r12

Dm
D
D
1 1 2 n1 m r1umT g m
D1
D1
D1

Substituting
1 m

Dm
D1

n1 nm

Dm
D1

D
D
D
TM J m1 J m 2 mT r12 m m Td 1 Td 2 m umT g m
D1
2

D1

Or if viscous effects are considered

TM J m1 J m 2

Dm
mT r12
D1

TM AS 2 BS C

Dm
m 1 2

D1

nm umT g

Dm
2

Note:

J eqs

D
2
m

J m1 J m 2 mT r1

D1

If m = 0 then

Dm
D
D
D
umT g m Td 1 Td 2 m umT g m
2
D1
2
D1

Tm Td 1 Td 2

Or if viscous effects are considered

2

D
D
Tm 1 2 m nm umT g m
2
D1