Computers & Strucrures Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 267-277, 1990 0045-7949/w 53.00 + 0.

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Printed in Great Britain. 0 1990 Pergamon Press plc

A FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS FOR THE DESIGN OF

A CONVEYOR PULLEY SHELL
N. SIVA PRASAD and RADHA SARMA
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 600 036, India

(Received 16 May 1989)

Abstract-A finite element analysis of the cylindrical shell of a conveyor pulley is carried out.
Deformations and stresses in the shell are calculated. The load is expanded into a Fourier series. The
results obtained by the analysis are found to be in good agreement with the analytical and experimental
results obtained by Lange. A parametric study is made, varying the wrap angle and belt tension. This
approach is useful in the design of a conveyor pulley shell with improved accuracy.

NOTATION shells. Belt loading in the circumferential direction

a ,,’i= 1 2, elements of the inverse Jacobian matrix was assumed following Euler’s distribution. The
j=1...2 equations were solved by assuming the displacement
a, . a, coefficients of Fourier series component in double trigonometric series and load
b length of the shell in the double Fourier series. Hong-Sheng [4] estab-
b,...b, coefficients of Fourier series
strain4isplacement matrix lished a model on the basis of classical theory of
WI
PI material property matrix shells for the displacements, stress resultants and
E Young’s modulus stresses in the shells of driving and driven pulleys.
J Jacobian matrix Siva Prasad and Ramamurti [5] presented a semi-
Fl element stiffness matrix
analytic method for the analysis of cement mill
4, L,, L, natural coordinates
Fourier index ends. References [68] present general finite element
;41 nodal displacement vector formulations.
r, z, 0 local coordinates In the present analysis an attempt has been
R outer radius of the shell made to establish the suitability of finite element
I thickness of the shell
tight side tension analysis for this kind of problem. The conveyor shell
T,
T2 slack side tension is an axisymmetric object with an asymmetric load.
u”, v”, w” displacements corresponding to nth Semi-analytic finite element methods are well suited
harmonic for this type of problem. In this method, the
displacements at the ith node
load is expanded into a Fourier series in the circum-
cumulative radial displacement
cumulative axial displacement ferential direction, thus reducing a three-dimensional
cumulative circumferential displacement problem into a two-dimensional axisymmetric prob-
normal stresses in r, 0, z directions lem. The results obtained by this method are com-
shear stresses pared with those available in Ref. [2]. Analysis is
element straindisplacement matrix
starting reference for wrap angle carried out for different wrap angles and belt ten-
ending reference for wrap angle sions. The results show that the present method can
wrap angle be used for the rational design of conveyor pulley
Poisson’s ratio shells.

INTRODUCTION FOURIER ANALYSIS OF LOAD

A belt conveyor pulley is shown in Fig. 1. The
thickness of the pulley shell is generally calculated
using simple empirical relations. Theoretical analysis
for stresses and deformations, under linear distribu-
tion of belt tensions, was presented by Scholich [I].
Lange [2] developed equations using the theory of
elasticity for calculating stresses in cylindrical shells
and a comparison was made with experimental val-
ues. Das and Pal [3] formulated differential equations
of equilibrium for bending of circular cylindrical
The belt tensions in a driven pulley are shown by
the thick lines in Fig. 2. The tight side tension and the
slack side tension are equal. In the driving pulley, the
tight side tension is greater than the slack side
tension. The load in the axial direction is assumed to
be uniform The pressure corresponding to any ten-
sion can be expressed as
T
p=j$

267
 N. &VA .P~~s~oand RADHASARMA

-b---------------r/
Fig. 1 Conveyor pulley.

From Fig. 2, the pressure p(O) at any angle can be

F(O) = t + ,E (a, cos(n8) + b, sin(nO)), (3)
expressed as I-l

P(e)=0 for 0~8 <e, where a,, an; b, are given by

(e-e,) f0r6?,<@5ge2 a, = -2 TF(e) de

7 Ia

P(e) = 0 for 8, < e G 27~ 2 r

a, = - F(B)cos(nnB)de 6b)
= s cl
(2)

The Fourier expansion for the load can be written

as

n ~3
I n =5 !
n =7
~

-201 I I I I I I I I I 1
0 40 80 120 160 200 210 280 320 36C
ANGLE (degreas) -

Fig. 2. Fourier terms along circumference.

 FE analysis for design of conveyor pulley shell 269

Substituting eqn (2) in eqns (4a), (4b) and (4c),

T, - Tz
a*=RbB,K K %j sin(n%,) + _!_
nz cos(n%,)
%I
n sin(n%,)+icos(n%,)

1PW
+tW,-W,) 1 .
n sin(~%*) - f sint~%,)
Rb6,n

b -- cos(n%,) -I--$ sin(n%,) - cos(n%,) + ;li sin@%,)

)(

cos(n%,) +; c0s(?2%,)
1. tw
A computer program has been developed for the
above series. The convergence for the summation of Substituting for L, in terms of Lr and L,
the numbers of terms 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 is shown in
Fig 2. 24= L,(Ul --,)+~2(~2-%)+& (94
SEMI-ANALYTIC METHOD
v = L,(Ol -v~)+L2(v*-vj)-kvj Pb)
The displacements u, u and w for a triangular
axisymmetric element can be expressed as ~=~~(~,-w~)+~2(w2-w~)+~~. PC)
u =~u”cos(ne)
Using the isoparametric form, the geometry of the
u = c v” cos(n%) (6) element can be described as
w = C w” sin@%).
r = L,(r, - 4 + h(rz - 5) + r3 Wa)
Assuming linear displacement models for the shape
functions
2 = L,(z, -zz,)+L,(z,-zz,)-i-z,. Wb)
u=L,u,+L,u,+L,u, (7)
I,,+.&+&= 1. (8) The stress relations in cylindrical coordinates can be
expressed as

au"
Y

cos n%
-z-
ae
cos He
-iTi-

I
(“+$ > cos n%
> (11)
au” aon
cos Fle
!- C?Z +ar >
pUn awn w”
If~-; sinn6
>

f+ +g)sinn% ,
270 N. SIVA PRASAD and RADHA SARMA

Substituting the respective derivatives, using the

Jacobian matrix, in eqn (1 1), the stiffness matrix can
be obtained as
{L”} =
alI 0 0 ai2 0 0 (-all - 42) 0 0

0 azl 0 0 a22 0 0 (-a,, -a221 0

L, 0 nL
_.! 2L 0 nL
-2 -L, 0 nL3
- r r r r r
r
a21 aI1 0 a22 aI2 0 (-a21 - 022) c-41 - Q22) 0 (4).
-nL, L, -nL, L, -nL, L3
0 -- - 0 -- 0 -a
011 alI II-a12--
r ( r > r (>- r r ( r >
-nL, -nL,
0 - 0 nL,
a21 a22 (-al2 - a22)
r r r

The strain-displacement relationship can be written

as
T2 = 10.0 kN
{cl = PlIqj. (13) b = 1000.0 mm.
The stiffness matrix [k] can be written as For the analysis, the shell alone is considered,
ignoring the webs. Since the shell is symmetric about
[k] = [B]r[D] [B] d J’. half-length, only one half is considered. The
sY boundary conditions at the support end are that the
The above integration is evaluated using the Gaus- radial displacement is fixed and the axial and circum-
sian quadrature method by three-point numerical ferential displacements are left free. At the centre the
integration. axial displacement is fixed and the other displace-
ments are free. The load is assumed to be uniformly
VERIFICATION OF THE METHOD distributed along the length. The circumferential load
is expanded into a Fourier series and it is found that
To verify the validity of the present approach to the
convergence is taking place with the first six terms.
conveyor pulleys an example problem is presented.
The axial and circumferential stresses along the me-
Lange [2] has conducted experiments and made a
ridian, at an angle of 120 and 60” on the circumfer-
comparison with his theoretical values for the dimen-
ence, are shown in Figs 3 and 4, respectively. They are
sions given below.
compared with the experimental values obtained by
R = 776.0 mm Lange [2]. The axial and circumferential stresses
t = 12.0 mm along the circumference at the mid-section are shown
7-, = 10.0 kN in Figs 5 and 6, respectively, and they are compared

- FEM values

0 0.1 I 0. 2 I 0.31 0.41 O.!

LENGTH

Fig. 3. Axial stresses (wrap angle = 180”).

 FE analysis for design of conveyor pulley shell 271

- FEN values
-.- Lange’s experimental values

0.11 0.2 1 0.3L 0.4L 0.

LENGTX -

Fig. 4. Circumferential stress (wrap angle = 180’).

with those obtained by Lange [2]. In the above com-
parison the stresses obtained by the present method
are found to be close to Lange’s experimental
values.
Having established the suitability of the method by
the above comparison a parametric study is made.
PARAMETRIC STUDY
Figs I and 8. For the drive pulley the tensions T, and
T2 are different and they are calculated assuming the
coefficient of friction to be 0.3. The axial and circum-
ferential stresses along the length are shown in Figs
9 and 10. The axial and circumferential stresses, at
mid-section, around the circumference for equal and
unequal tensions, for wrap angles 60, 120, 180 and
240”, are shown in Figs 11-14.

Dimensions the same as those given in the above

example are taken for this study. For the case of
equal tensions the axial and circumferential stresses,
for the wrap angles 60, 120, 180 and 240”, are
calculated. The maximum stresses are found to be at
the circumferential locations of 180, 140, 120 and 90”
for the respective wrap angles. These are presented in
CONCLUSIONS
The present authors have presented a finite element
method for the analysis of conveyor pulley shells of
driving and driven pulleys. This supplies a theoretical
basis for accurate calculations. The stress conditions
at various locations on the circumference have been

J
40 60 80 100 120 140 160 160
ANGLE (degrees) -

Fig. 5. Axial stresses (wrap angle = 180”).

 272 N. SIVA PRASAD and RADHA SARMA

FEM vatues

-.- Lange’s theoretical

values

-4. 0 I I I I I I I I 1
0 20 40 60 60 100 120 140 160 160
ANGLE (degrees) _T

Fig. 6. Circumferential stresses (wrap angle = 180”).

presented for different wrap angles in order to obtain
an insight into the effect of wrap angles.
It has been found that the maximum stresses occur
at the centre of the shell for all wrap angles and
tensions. The maximum stresses in the circumferen-
tial direction will vary depending on the wrap angle.
The smaller the wrap angle, the larger the stresses. It
has also been found that the assumption of linear
variation of belt tension in the circumferential direc-
tion will give satisfactory results.
It is concluded that finite element analysis can be
used for a rational design of conveyor pulley shells.

3.c

2.c

I
‘;; 1.c
r”
zi
2 0.0
@r Q
2
U-Y 60° 180”
-1‘C --- -320” 140°
- .--180” 120’
- I. -240° 90”
-2.0

-3.0 I I I I
0.11 0.2 1 0. 3L 0.41 0.
LENGTH

Fig. 7. Axial stresses (for equal tensions).

 FE analysis for design of conveyor pulley shell 273

60” 180”
-- - -120” 140*
-. -180” 120°
- -- -240’ 90”

LENGTH
Fig. 8. Circumferential stresses (for equal tensions).

3.0 -

60” 180”
---- - 120” 140°
-. - 160” 120”
- ..- 240’ 9o”

-3.0. I I I I
0 0.11 0.2 I 0.31 0.41 0.5
LENGTH .-e

Fig. 9. Axial stresses (for unequal tensions).

CAS 35,3--F
214 N. SIVAPIMUD and RADHASARMA

4.01

3.0-
\

2.0-

l.O-
0
z
;; 0.0.
z
a
--- - 120” 140°
-.- MO0 120°
--a- 240’ 90”

LENGTH -

Fig. 10. Circumferential stresses (for unequal tensions).

ANGLE(‘).

Fig. 11.Axial stress around circumference at 0.5 1 (for equal tensions).

 FE analysis for design of conveyor pulley shell 275

Fig. 12. Circumferential stresses around circumference at 0.5 1 (for equal tensions).
276

Fig. 13. Axial stresses around circumference at 0.5 1 (for unequal tensions).
 Fig. 14. Circumferential stresses around circumference at 0.5 1 (for unequal tensions).
Acknowledgemenf-The authors would like to express their
sincere thanks to Prof. M. A. Parameswaran, Head of the
Mechanical Handling Laboratory, for his encouragement
and suggestions at various stages of the work.
REFERENCES
I. S. Scholich, Spannungen und Verformungen an
Gurtbandtrommeln Bergbautechnik. 15jg. Heft 10,
pp. 517-522 (1965).
2. H. Lange, Untersuchungen zur Beanspruchung von
Foerderbandtrommeln. Dissertation, T. H. Hannover
(1963).
3. S. P. Das and M. C. Pal, Stresses and deform-
ations of a conveyor power pulley shell under expo-
nential belt tensions. Comput. Struct. 27, 787-795
(1987).
4. Lu Hong-Sheng, Shell strength of conveyor belt pulleys:
theory and design. Int. J. mech. Sci. 30, 333-345
(1988).
5. N. Siva Prasad and V. Ramamurti, Comparison of
external and internal flange type mill ends. J. Prep.
Process. 10, 585-588 (1984).
6. K. J. Bathe and E. L. Wilson, Numerical Methodr in
Finite Element Analysis. Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ (1987).
7. J. N. Reddy An Introduction to the Finite Element
Method. McGraw-Hill, New York (1985).
8. 0. C. Zienkiewicz, The Finite Element Method.
McGraw-Hill, New York (1985).