Enhancement of Pulley and Belt Mechanism using Finite Element Analysis

Abstract

The pulley and belt mechanism has been developed to supply the needs of power transmission. This mechanism and especially the V-belt drive mechanism is widely used in the agricultural industry, however, it is facing numerous challenges due to the heat generated in the belt during its operation. The rate of hysteresis loss induced by the frequent use of the belt is important which made it a major concern for engineers. The heat produced on the contact surface during the process under the effect of friction is transformed into heat, which leads to the degradation of the microscopic polymer molecular chains and the fast aging of the rubber part, therefore it adversely impacts the durability of the V-belt. To tackle this encountering problem, we have conducted a thermal study using finite element simulations on a pulley and belt mechanism. We sight to improve the design by adding the so-called cooling fins to the pulley, mainly to increase the heat transfer area and reduce the temperature of the pulley, hence improve its efficiency along the service life. And by examining these new models using finite element methods (FEM), the results show a decreasing in the temperature, therefore increasing in the lifetime of the belt is expected and reduce the problems which occur in high temperature.