Textile Belt Splice Analysis Using Finite Element Method

Regarding to investment costs of a conveyor system, the conveyor belt has a decisive role when it comes to the design of the system. The individual belt segments are spliced at the system to form an endless belt. In the spliced sections, the tension force of the belt is transferred via the skim rubber from one belt end to the other, which makes splices the weakest points of a conveyor belt. Besides system requirements and economic reasons, the tension members are made of steel cords or textile layers depending on nominal strength requirements. Textile belts can consist of multiple fabric plies. The number of layers and the tensile strength of the fabric define the splice layout. In most cases, a finger splice design is used for single ply belts and multi ply belts are spliced using a step design. The achievable splice strength is directly related to the design. In a step splice of n fabric layers, the tension force is carried by n-1 layers. Therefore, for a 3-ply belt, the maximum splice strength is 66 %. The theoretical achievable strength of a finger splice is approximately 90 %, which is defined by the total cross section of the fingers. The experimental testing of a conveyor belt splice is standardised in DIN 22110-3, which provides the time fatigue curve of a splice. This testing procedure is very time-consuming and cost-intensive. During the test, it is possible to measure the overall tension of the test belt sample, but not the local tension in the tension member or the shear stress in the skim rubber. The use of the finite element analysis provides a possibility to determine stress and strain in the individual components of a belt splice. With FEA, the stress and tension curve can be simulated. Therefore, the use of FEA is an effective tool to optimize the belt splice design.

[569]