EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

1 INTRODUCTION:

Flat belts have been used for power transmission for many centuries. They are simple and
reliable with the capacity to operate for long periods without maintenance. Belt drives have two
distinct differences from a gear drive. The first is that adjacent shafts can rotate in the same
direction without the use of an intermediate or idler, as is necessary on a gear train. The second is
that some slip is possible if the load suddenly increases.
A belt can be used to transmit power with both sides enabling very efficient and compact drives
in e.g. packaging machinery or textile plant. Belts have developed into several different types,
three of which will be investigated later. Toothed belts, such as timing belts are a cross between a
belt and a gear and do not rely on the friction between the belt and a pulley. Therefore they are
outside our present discussions.
The three types of belt we are currently interested in are;
a. Flat Belt.
b. Vee Belt.
c. Round Belt.
Round belts were traditionally made from cotton rope. These were prone to fairly rapid wear and
rotting of the cotton. Modern round belts are usually only for lower transmission and are made
from a synthetic polymer. The example with the apparatus is resistant to environmental attack
and has a service life of many years when correctly used.
Flat belts were originally made from strips of leather stitched together. The coefficient of friction
is quite high and leather belts were the mainstay of factory power transmission in the 19th
century. Flat belts have been re-developed using modern materials for their construction. The belt
is usually made from a nylon or polyester core with a high friction driving face, sometimes
leather and an outer covering to protect the core. If the belt transmits power on both sides the
high friction face is applied to both sides.
V belts or wedge belts were an improvement over the early flat belts. The belt wedges into a V
groove machined into the pulley giving much higher friction that a conventional flat belt.
Consequently with a given size of drive much higher power can be transmitted. However the
action of wedging in and pulling out caused an energy loss to the transmitted power and the drive
does heat up. If the heating is severe and the belts and pulleys are not cooled there is a danger of
the belt catching fire. At present V belts are widely used for power transmission and appear
likely to remain for some little time. Power transmission efficiencies range from 60% at 1kW
around 88% at 750 kW. As the V belts used their wedging property to achieve grip they required
much less initial system tension than the flat belts they replaced. This of course leads to lighter
shaft and bearings as the pulley loads are reduced.
The modern flat belts achieve the friction and power transmission of the V belt with only the
same amount of tension. Thus the lighter machine construction can be retained whilst the power
transmission efficiency increases due to the abandonment of the loss causing wedge action.
Typical efficiencies are 98% over most of the power range. As the heating effect due to the
wedge action has also been removed very high vibration free speeds are possible.

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EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

2 DISCRIPTION:

This unit s designed to determine the co-efficient of friction of different types of belts. The belts
are one of the means of transferring energy from one object to other. There performance and life
is greatly affected by the friction. Is the friction is too large, a big part of energy will be wasted to
overcome that friction and the belt will undergo a lot of wear as well. On the other hand, friction
is important for performance of belt as well because if there is low friction between belt and
pulley, the slippage will occur.

This unit enables experiments to be performed on belt drives and belt friction. The core of the
unit is a cast iron pulley with grooves in its circumference for V-belts and flat belts. The pulley is
mounted in ball bearings and is operated with a hand crank. The inertia of the pulley contributes
to even rotation. The belts grip the pulley at an angle of contact from 30° to 180° in 15° steps.
Two spring balances measure the tensile forces at each end of the belt. The belt tension can be
precisely adjusted using a threaded spindle.

3 THEORY:

3.1 FLAT BELTS:

Consicran element of a belt wrapped around a pulley as shown in the diagram below. Let
the tensions in either side of the belt be T1 and T2.

The maximum power which can be transmitted occurs when the belt is on the point of
slipping. Thus we require to know the relationship between the tensions T1 and T2 with
respect to the pulley. The difference in these tensions is the force applied to the pulley at
its periphery hence the torque and power transmitted.

Resolving vertically we obtain:-

T + dF – (T + dT) = 0 (1)
so:- dF = dT

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EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

That is the increment of friction developed over the length r dβ and is equal to the
increment of tension in the belt over the same length.

Resolving horizontally we obtain; remembering that as dβ is small sin dβ = dβ.

dN – T dβ – (T + dT) dβ/2 = 0 (2)

neglecting small quantities of second order yields:- dN = T dβ (3)

This equation gives us the element of normal pressure at any point on the belt in terms of
the tension T in the belt at that point.

At the point of slipping dF = μdN (4)

substituting for these quantities from the dT = μTdβ

expressions above, we find:- dT/T = μdβ (5)

If we now integrate the above expression over the entire belt contact are we can find the
ratio of the belt tensions.

∫ dT/T = ∫0 dβ

which gives:- In T1/T2 = μ θ (6)

or :- T1/T2 = eμθ

This gives the ratio between the tensions on either side of the pulley. It shows that it
increases very rapidly with the angle of lap, θ.

3.2 Vee BELTS:

The effect of a V Belt is to increase the maximum ratio of the tensions. Consider a pulley
having a V groove of total angle 2 φ. Let the Normal reactions perpendicular to the face
of the groove be N and the total reaction R.

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EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

resolving forces:- R = 2N sin Ø

N = R/2sin Ø (7)

The maximum friction force is :- = 2μN

= μR/sinØ

=μR (8)

Where μ’ is the virtual coefficient of friction.

The analysis for a V belt is therefore similar to a flat belt where μ’ replaces μ in the
previous analysis.

T1/T2 = e(μ/sinØ)θ (9)

where θ is the angle of lap as before.

3.3 ROUND BELTS:

The analysis for a round belt is identical and yields the same formula. However the
groove is often of a round section rather than a V.

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EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

4 EXPERIMENT:

4.1 AIM:

The aim of the experiment is to test Flat, Vee and Round belts with varying angles of lap
around a pulley. Then the empirical data may be compared with the theoretically derived
solutions and the coefficients of friction evaluated for all the belts types.

4.2 PROCEDURE:

Set up the flat belt on the apparatus and place a load on the hanger. Place the cord on the
pulley peg in a clockwise direction and add its load hanger. Gently add weights to the
cord hanger until the pulley is just on the point of slipping. Note the two mass spring
hanger loads. KEEP YOUR FEET OUT FROM UNDER THE LOADS.

The pulley can accept flat, vee or round belts. The belt under test is placed over the mass
spring balance hook. The mass spring balance is hooked to the extension arm which is
secured to the back plate to give the desired angle of lap. The main load is applied to the
bottom end of the belt via a load hanger.

The torque required to just make the belt slip may be determined by looping the cord over
the small peg in the pulley periphery and adding weights to the load hanger until slip just
occurs.

Repeat the experiment for each angle of lap from 30 o to 180o. Then try the round belt and
the V belt in its correct and ‘worn’ grooves.

4.3 OBSERVATIONS:

Angle of lap T1 Load (cord) T2 In T1/T2

0
30
60
90
120
150
180

4.5 Graph:

Plot the graph between ln(T1/T2) against angle of lap,

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EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

The vee belt and round belt are slightly different in as much as the groove geometry in
incorporated in the formulae. (It is in the flat belt but the geometry factor is 1.0) In the
case of the Vee and round belts the graph slop is multiplied by Ø.

μ = sin Ø x slope of the graph

For both the vee belt and the round belt the groove angle, 2Ø, may be taken as 40 o, i.e. Ø
= 20o. This may be slightly inaccurate for the round belt as it tends to deform into the
groove, the higher the applied load.

4.6 Conclusions:

Does the pulley radius affect the belt tension or coefficient of friction?
What is the effect of a worn groove on the performance?
In a belt drive is there any limit upon pulley size?
Comment on the coefficients of friction found for the different belts.
Why do you think that the vee belt is the most popular belt form for power transmissions?

5 TECHNICAL DATA:

FLAT BALT: 10mm x 2.2 mm

Vee Belt: 9.7mm x 8mm
Round Belt dia: 5 mm

6 TEACHER’S GUIDE:

Flat Belt:

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EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

Angle of lap T1 Load (cord) T2 In T1/T2

21 0 21 0
31 0 31 0
0
41 0 41 0
21 2.5 18.5 0.13
30 31 3.5 27.5 0.12
41 5.5 35.5 0.13
21 4 17 0.21
60 31 5 26 0.18
41 7 34 0.19
21 6 15 0.34
90 31 7.5 23.5 0.28
41 10 31 0.28
21 8 13 0.48
120 31 10 21 0.39
41 13 28 0.38
21 10 11 0.65
150 31 13.5 17.5 0.57
41 17 24 0.54
21 12 9 0.85
180 31 17 14 0.80
41 21 20 0.72

Graph:

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
ln(T1/T2) vs theta (flat
0.5 belt-21)
ln(T1/T2) vs theta (flat
0.4 belt-31)
ln(T1/T2) vs theta (flat
0.3 belt-41)
0.2

0.1

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Vee Belt:

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EES®-Engineering Dynamics Belt Friction Apparatus

Angle of lap T1 Load (cord) T2 In T1/T2

0 21 0 21 0
30 21 9 12 0.56
60 21 13.5 7.5 1.03
90 21 16 5 1.54
120 21 18 3 1.95
150 21 19 2 2.35
180 21 20 1 3.04

Graph:

3.5

2.5

2
ln(t1/t2) vs theta(V belt)
1.5

0.5

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

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