LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

EXPERIMENT 01

Objective:
To find the efficiency of belt drive system

Apparatus:

 Belt Drive with Step pulleys

 Chord
 Weights (1,2,5,10,20 N) with hangers

Diagram:

n
𝜔in 𝜔out

Effort Load

Theory:

Belt:
A belt is a loop of flexible material used to link two or more rotating shafts mechanically, most
often parallel. Belts may be used as a source of motion, to transmit power efficiently or to track
relative movement. Belts are looped over pulleys and may have a twist between the pulleys, and
the shafts need not be parallel.

Fig: 1.1 (Belt)

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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Power Transmission:
Belts are the cheapest utility for power transmission between shafts that may not be axially
aligned. Power transmission is achieved by purposely designed belts and pulleys. The variety of
power transmission needs that can be met by a belt-drive transmission system are numerous, and
this has led to many variations on the theme. Belt drives run smoothly and with little noise, and
provide shock absorption for motors, loads, and bearings when the force and power needed
changes.

Power transmitted between a belt and a pulley is expressed as the product of difference of tension
and belt velocity:

where, T1 and T2 are tensions in the tight side and slack side of the belt respectively. They are
related as

where, μ is the coefficient of friction, and α is the angle (in radians) subtended by contact surface
at the centre of the pulley.

Fig: 1.2 (power transmission)

Uses of belt:
 Belts are used to transmit power.
 Belts are used to mechanically link two or more rotating shafts.
 Belts are used in car engine to rotate generator
 Belts are used in different electronic appliances (washing machine, alternator, water pumps
etc)
 Belt drives are used as the source of motion to transfer to efficiently transmit power or to
track relative movement.
 Belt is used inside the engine driven off the crankshaft to power the valve camshaft.
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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Types of Belt:
 Flat belt
 V-belt
 Round belt

Flat belt:
A flat belt is a belt with a flat surface, or rectangle shape usually evenly textured on both sides,
used in a pulley system. Historically, flat belts were often used for transmission of power from
flywheels to other parts of machinery, and today, they are commonly seen in use as conveyor belts
or parts of belt arrays, where the flat surface makes it easy to move products along the top of the
belt.

OR

A power transmission belt with flat surface used where high speed motion rather than power is
main concern.

Fig: 1.3 (Flat belt)

Properties of a Flat Belt Material

 The material from which belt is made of should have high coefficient of friction.
 To withstand the tensions created, the belt material should have high tensile strength.
 When belt passes through pulley bending stress is induced, to avoid this the material should
be flexible and should not be rigid.
 The material should have water resistance.

Uses of Flat belt:

 Flat belt is used where high power is needed to move heavy loads.
 Flat belts are used where high power transmission is needed.
 Flat belt is used in grinders, wood planers, fans, roller conveyors, etc.
 They are also used in conveyers.
 Flat belt are also used in bucksaws, sawmills, threshers.
 Flat belt are used in silo blowers.

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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Advantages of Flat Belts

 The efficiency of flat belts in 98%, which is equal to that of gears.
 They have high load carrying capacity.
 They can be employed where high operating speed is required.
 They produce less noise compared to v-belts.
 They can absorb shock loads compared to v-belts.
Disadvantages of Flat Belts
 Flat belts cannot be operated on small diameter pulleys.

 If the working environment is corroding the belt life decreases

Round Belt:

Round belts are a circular cross section belt designed to run in a pulley with a 60 degree V-groove.
Round grooves are only suitable for idler pulleys that guide the belt, or when (soft) O-ring type
belts are used. The V-groove transmits torque through a wedging action, thus increasing friction.
Nevertheless, round belts are for use in relatively low torque situations.

Fig: 1.4 (Round belt)

Round belts are solid or hollow lengths of cylindrical material. They maintain contact with belt
pulleys using friction and must be stretched or elongated to operate. Round and o-ring belts are
commonly used in typical power transmission applications, including industrial conveying,
packaging machinery, photocopiers and printers, and imaging equipment.

In addition to providing power transmission for straight conveyors, round belts can be twisted 90
degrees (a quarter turn) to turn a shaft whose axis is rotated a quarter turn from the drive shaft.

Round belts are special belts that are used almost exclusively for motion transmission and less for
power transmission. Due to their symmetrical cross section, round belts can very easily be guided
in different directions with the aid of guiding pulleys (as show in figure 1.5 below. The figure
below shows the motion transmission of a round belt for centripetal force measurement.

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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Fig: 1.5 (Round belt power transmission)

While the round shape of the belt fits snugly into a U-groove pulley, the optimum shape of a
pulley when using a round belt is a V-pulley. Moreover, a 60-degree V is commonly
recommended for use with the round-shaped belt. The U-grooved pulley is typically resigned to
guide pulleys or non-critical pulley drive systems. Occasionally, a U-groove pulley will be used
with the softest rubber belts as the U-shaped groove takes advantage of maximum contact surface
for the sticky belt and slippage is typically not an issue.

V-groove pulley U-groove pulley

These two pulleys are generally used in Round belt.

An advantage that a round belt has over a typical V-belt is in its ability to be re-sized by cutting
and trimming material away. The rubber is cut and the required amount needed to make the belt
the correct length is removed. The two ends of the trimmed belt are reconnected using various
methods, including gluing, melting and stapling. When gluing a belt, it is imperative that a quick-
setting glue, such as contact cement, be used to adhere the ends of the belt back together.

Uses of Round Belt:

 Round belts are used at low torque applications.
 Round belts are used in photocopiers.
 Round belts are used in short length application.

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LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

 Round and o-ring belts are commonly used in typical power transmission applications,
including industrial conveying, packaging machinery, imaging equipment.
 Round belts are can be used where the pulleys are at the angle of 90 degree.
 Round belts are used where low power is needed.
 Round belts can be used at low temperature application.
 Round belts are used in electric drill motor.

Advantages of Round Belt:

 Easy maintenance, with no lubrication required.

 Round belt are very good for short and long distance.
 Round belt can be used when pulley are placed at 90 degree and or vertical.
 Quiet operation with vibration dampening.
 Invulnerable to oils/petroleum.
 Can be easily disengaged; can serve as a clutch.
 Very little wear on pulleys.
 Less expensive than roller chain drives.

Disadvantages of Round belt:

 Round belts are easily slip and stretched when heavy load is applied.
 Power losses in the form of heat.
 Round belt have less efficiency then flat and V belt.
 For Round belts groove pulley is used.

V belt:
V belt is also known as trapezium shape belt the cross-section of v belt is shaped roughly like
a regular trapezium. On a cross-section of a straight-sided belt, that trapezium is outlined by
the base, sides and top of the belt.

Or
The cross-section (shape) of the V-Belts is somewhat trapezoidal. They have tapered sides
resembling the letter ‘V’, hence acquiring the name – V-Belts. The Pulleys also have tapered
sides forming a ‘V’-groove in which the belt sits. By virtue of this shape the V-Belt does not
get much possibility to slide away from the Pulleys. Thus the shapes of the Pulleys are adapted
to the shapes of the Belt and the drive transmits power via the wedging action.

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LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Fig: 1.6 (V-shape belt)

Uses of V-belt:
 V- belt is used where we need effective friction.
 V-belt is used in driving mechanisms in an engine such as the fans or water pump.
 V-belts are used where chance of slip is greater on the application of force.
 V – belts are used where power transmission is needed at small distance.
 V belts are used where shaft distance is less than 2 meters and also used for moderate
speed and high power.
Advantages of V-belt:

 Positive drive as slip between belt and pulley is negligible.

 In V-belt drive, two side surfaces of the belt remain in contact with the pulleys

 No joint troubles as V-belt are made endless.

 Operation is smooth and quiet.

 High-velocity ratio up to 10 can be obtained.

 It can be easily installed and removed.

 Due to wedging action in the grooves, limiting ratio of tensions is higher and thus,
more power transmission.

 It may be operated in either direction with a tight side at the top or bottom.

 Multiple V-belt drives increase the power transmission manifold.

 Slip between the belt and the pulley is negligible.

 The axis can be vertical or horizontal or inclined.

 They can dampen vibration

Disadvantages of V-belt:
 It can not be used for large centre distances.

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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

 In V-belt construction of pulleys is not simple.

 V-belt is not as durable as a flat belt.

 It costlier as compared to the flat belt.

 V-belt drive can't be used for long distances due to a greater weight per unit of length.

 It may be not applicable to synchronous machines because they are not free from creep.

 The centrifugal tension prevents the use of belts at speeds below 5 m/s and above 50 m/s

Drive:

Drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to
convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycle.

Types of Drive:

Following are the types of drive

 Open Belt Drive

 Cross Belt Drive

Open Belt Drive:

The open belt drive is used with shafts arranged parallel and rotating in the same direction. In that
case, the driver pulls the belt from one side and delivers it to the other side.

Thus, the tension in the lower side belt will be higher than the upper side belt. The lower side belt
is known as the tight side belt while the upper side belt is known as the slack side belt.

Fig: 1.7 (open belt drive)

When the shafts are too far apart, the bottom of the belt should be the tight side and the upper side
should be the slack side. This is so, when the upper side becomes the dull side, it will relax due to
its own weight and thus increase the arc of contact.

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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Crossed Belt Drive:

Cross or twisted belt drives are used with rotating shafts in parallel and opposite directions. In this
case, the driver pulls the belt from one side and delivers it to the other side.

Thus, the tension at the Bottom Side of the belt will be higher than at the upper side of the belt.
The belt is known as the tight side due to high tension, while the belt due to low tension is known
as the slack side.

Fig: 1.8 (crossed belt drive)

This type of belt drive employs a belt when two parallel shafts have to rotate in the opposite
direction. At the junction where the belt crosses, it rubs against itself and wears off. To avoid
excessive wear, the shafts should be kept at maximum distance from each other and operated at
very low speeds.

A little consideration will show that at a point where the belt crosses, it rubs against each other and
there will be excessive wear and tear. To avoid this, the shaft must be placed at a maximum
distance of 20 B, where B is the width of the belt and the belt speed must be less than 15 m/

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LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Terminologies:

𝐷𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐼𝑀𝐴 =
𝐷𝑖𝑛

Another way to measure IMA is to take the ratio of the rotational speeds for the input pulley
and the output pulley (this is also known as the speed ratio):

𝜔𝑖𝑛
𝐼𝑀𝐴 =
𝜔𝑜𝑢𝑡

Actual Mechanical Advantage (AMA) is the ratio of the output torque (τout) to the input
torque (τin).

𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐿. 𝑅
𝐴𝑀𝐴 = =
𝑟𝑖𝑛 𝐸. 𝑅

Here,
E = Effort
L = Load
R = Radius of pulleys on which load and effort is applied.

Efficiency:

Efficiency (η) is either the ratio of Work Out (Wout) to Work In (Win), or of AMA to IMA, or
of Power Out (Pout) to Power In (Pin), multiplied by 100%:

𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐴𝑀𝐴 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡

𝜂= = × 100 = × 100
𝑊𝑖𝑛 𝐼𝑀𝐴 𝑃𝑖𝑛

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LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Procedure:

1. Mount the belt on step pulleys selecting different combinations.

2. Start applying load on hangers which are threads tighten with both of pulleys.
3. Apply weights in such a way that the hangers come at a balance position and then have a
slight motion in the direction of effort.
4. Note the diameters of both pulleys (the driver & the driven) and the load applied.
5. Calculate the Ideal Mechanical advantage which is ratio of diameters of Pulleys.
6. Calculate the Actual Mechanical Advantage which is ratio of torques on both pulleys.
7. Then change the combination of pulleys or mount the belt on different steps on Pulleys.
8. Follow the same procedure as above to calculate the efficiency.

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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Specimen Calculations:

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LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Assignment Qeuestions:-

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 LAB 02 Belt Drive Apparatus

Graph between Load and Effort.

Graph between Load and Effort

60

50
Load in Netwon (N)

40

30

20

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Effort applied in Newton (N)

Graph between Efficiency and Load applied.

Graph between Efficiency and Load

90

80

70

60
Efficiency in %

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Load applied in Newton (N)

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