Belt conveyor failure simulation at the design stage with transverse displacements of the belt

To find possible conveyor failures at the design stage means to determine a transverse belt displacement and compare the obtained data with the permissible ones. The dynamic problem of the belt movement on the conveyor has been defined. Resistance and external forces, limits of the belt displacement have been determined. The transverse belt displacement can be described by partial differential equations. To solve the problem, the Fourier transform has been used. Change patterns in the transverse belt conveyor displacement dependent on conveyor’s parameters, type of load, and skewing of the idlers along the conveyor have been obtained. The results agree with experimental data. The method of adaptive control of the transverse belt displacement has been described. The essence of this method is to adapt the model of the moving belt in the conveying trough to changed conditions and to reveal the uncertainty of the control with the known parameters of the mathematical model.