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Due to the reduction of the energy consumption of belt conveyors over the past few decades, longer installations of overland conveyors are now more feasible. Installations of single flight belt conveyors up to 30km in length have been successfully commissioned with longer systems already planned. To further push the boundaries of long overland conv...
Citations
... Carr and Wheeler [29,30] applied variational methods to optimize the top profile of the carriages, resulting in a 30% increase in the conveyor's throughput [31]. Furthermore, Rahman et al [32] examined the transient tension distribution of the carriage belt conveyor during start-up, shutdown, and operational processes, providing insights for further conveyor improvements. However, research on the dynamic characteristics of vertical turnover mechanisms remains insufficient. ...
Carriage belt conveyors represent a novel type of bulk material handling system with distinctive wheel–rail contact features. The turnover mechanism enables the carriages to transition seamlessly between the carry and return segments, facilitating continuous cyclic operation. When the wire rope interacts with the pulley, the presence of carriages disrupts full contact between the wire rope and the wheel, resulting in a dynamic polygonal structure. However, existing research has given limited attention to the polygonal effect of the wire rope. To address this gap, this study proposes a carriage-turnover rail coupled dynamic model that incorporates the polygonal effect of the wire rope. The model reveals the influence mechanisms of wheel radius, turnover rail radius, and carriage spacing on the geometric configuration and mechanical characteristics of the wire rope polygon. Based on the wire rope polygonal effect theory, an experimental prototype was developed. Experimental results confirmed that the carriages reliably followed the preset path through the turnover rail, demonstrating stability and smoothness. These findings validate the practical feasibility of the wire rope polygonal effect theory and provide valuable insights for improving track vehicles driven by wire ropes.
... Belt conveyors play an important role in solid bulk material transport systems and have the advantages of long-distance continuous transportation, large transportation volume, and small environmental impact. Research on belt conveyors is increasingly inclined to intelligent-monitoring and energy-saving technologies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. However, traditional belt conveyors are associated with energy consumption due to large running resistance. ...
... Due to the elimination of the indentation rolling resistance and belt and bulk material flexure resistance within the conveyor system, an approximate reduction of 50% in energy consumption can be achieved. Theoretical and experimental results have shown that under the condition of the same conveyor power, the transportation distance of the rail conveyor can reach 1.5-2 times that of the conventional belt conveyors, and the longer the transportation distance, the more obvious the energy-saving effect [8,9]. ...
The rail conveyor is a new type of energy-saving system for the long-distance transportation of bulk materials. Operating noise is an urgent problem that the current model faces. It will cause noise pollution and affect the health of workers. In this paper, the factors causing vibration and noise are analyzed by modeling the wheel-rail system and the supporting truss structure. Based on the built test platform, the system vibration of the vertical steering wheel, the track support truss, and the track connection were measured, and the vibration characteristics at different positions were analyzed. Based on the established noise and vibration model, the distribution and occurrence rules of system noise under different operating speeds and fastener stiffness conditions were obtained. The experimental results show that the vibration amplitude of the frame near the head of the conveyor is the largest. The amplitude under the condition of 2 m/s running speed at the same position is 4 times that under the condition of 1 m/s. At different welds of the track, the width and depth of the rail gap have a great influence on the vibration impact, which is mainly due to the impact of the uneven impedance at the track gap, and the greater the running speed, the more obvious the vibration impact. The simulation results show the trend of noise generation, the speed of the trolley, and the stiffness of the track fasteners have a positive effect on the generation of noise in the low-frequency region. The research results of this paper will play an important role in the noise and vibration analysis of rail conveyors and help to optimize the structure design of the track transmission system.
... This change would lengthen the starting and braking procedures of the drive, minimising the dynamics of the increase in mass. A dynamic Finite Element Method (FEM) model of the Rail Conveyor is presented in [28]. This model splits the system into two strands to account for the behaviour of the carts and belt separately, with localised resistances specific to the belt location placed on each node. ...
The energy consumption of modern belt conveying systems has reduced considerably over the past few decades. Although extensive research has been conducted into the production of energy-efficient belt conveyors, significant scope remains to further reduce the energy consumption, especially when heavily loaded or long overland belt conveyors are considered. A new rail-based conveyor system has been developed to reduce the energy consumption of heavily loaded and long overland conveyors. The new technology is aptly named the Rail Conveyor due to its combination of two well-established transportation technologies. The Rail Conveyor merges the benefits of both belt conveyor technology and rail transport to produce an energy-efficient and cost-effective bulk material transportation system. This paper presents a comparison between the energy consumption and motion resistances of the Rail Conveyor system and conventional belt conveyors. The Rail Conveyor is a continuous bulk material transportation system that, due to track wheels running on steel rails, shares a rolling resistance similar in magnitude to railway systems. Due to the effective elimination of the indentation rolling resistance and belt and bulk material flexure resistance within the Rail Conveyor system, an approximate reduction of 50% in energy consumption can be achieved when compared to conventional belt conveyors.
Purpose. The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of the drive station parameters on the traction force between the drive wheel tire and the longitudinal beam of the conveyor train trolley. Methods. The research was carried out using a dedicated test bench, which made it possible to determine the friction force depending on the different normal load and pressure in the tire of the drive wheel. The planning matrix before the experiment is provided, the most significant parameters are determined. Results. It was revealed that the significant parameters include the normal load, the tire pressure and the material of the longitudinal beam of the trolley. It was also revealed that with different coating materials, the traction force can increase or decrease with increasing of the tire pressure and the normal load on the drive wheel. Conclusion. In the course of experimental studies, empirical values were obtained of the traction force between the drive wheel and the side surface of the longitudinal beam of the trolley made of various materials. The maximum values of the traction force have been determined for certain materials over the entire range of pressures and normal loads.
The rail belt conveyor is a new bulk material conveying system that combines the advantages of traditional belt conveyors and railway systems. However, the turnover system, which is a key part of the carriage's direction-changing mechanism, experiences severe vibration and impact problems that affect its performance and reliability. In this study, a dynamic model of the carriage-rail coupling in the turnover system is established, and the vibration characteristics of the rail are analyzed. The influence of carriage speed, wheelbase, and wheel diameter on the vibration acceleration of the rail is investigated. The results show that higher carriage speeds intensify the vibration response of the rail when the carriage leaves the turnover wheel. The wheel diameter has a significant effect on the vibration acceleration, especially at high speeds. Additionally, the wheelbase affects the vibration acceleration, with smaller wheelbases resulting in more prominent effects. The established dynamic model is validated using measured data, providing insights into the dynamic behavior of the turnover system in rail belt conveyors.
: Over the past few decades, the energy consumption of modern conveyor belts has decreased significantly. Although extensive research has been conducted into the production of energy-efficient belt conveyors, there remains significant scope for further reduction of energy consumption, especially when considering heavily loaded or long ground belt conveyors.
