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A new design of tooth profiles increases synchronous belt's fatigue life

  • Jianhua Guo*
  • , Hongyuan Jiang
  • , Gang Han
  • , Hui Yan
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Qiqihar University
  • Harbin Institute of Technology

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Synchronous belt and its driving pulley have non-conjugate tooth profiles. Because of non-conjugate motion and polygon effect, interference occurs during incomplete meshing, resulting in excessive wear and tear at tooth-root, which are the main forms of failure of synchronous belts. Tooth cracking also results from uneven stress distribution and/or increased maximal stress. In addition to discovering better materials to increase the strength of the belt's teeth, optimization of the geometry of tooth profiles of belt and pulley to decrease the maximum tooth-root stress and to reduce interference during meshing is critical in improving the carrying capacity and increasing the belt's life span. In the present study we proposed a new design of synchronous belt's and pulley's tooth profiles, modifying several key geometric parameters commonly used in synchronous belts' designs. Applying the conformai mapping function and the theory of plane elasticity we systemically investigated the distribution of stress and distortion at the belt's and pulley's teeth of varying geometric parameters and analyzed the interference during meshing using an approach to investigating tooth profiles of non-constant pitch diameter. Finite Element Analysis showed that with the same load the maximum principal stress values of belt teeth in complete meshing in our design (STSB) were 54.4% and 67.8% of that of HTD (by Uniroyal) and STPD (by Good Year) belts with an 8 mm pitch commonly used in automobiles, respectively. The uneven distribution of stress along the edge of tooth profile was reduced, and the interference during meshing minimized with our design. We then experimentally tested belts made of the same materials with the three designs manufactured by the same factory. The belts were tested in the enclosed type of testing machine for synchronous belt's fatigue-life, power = 6.5 kW and speed = 1500 r/min with test belt tension at 400 N. The fatigue lives of the belts (n=5 each group) were 988±36, 439±21 and 665±22 hours (mean ± SD) for STSB, HTD and STPD belts (p<0.0001), respectively, demonstrating the superiority of our design. We anticipate that the new design will have wide applications not limited to the automobile industry.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProcessing and Engineering Applications of Novel Materials
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Pages161-169
Number of pages9
ISBN (Print)9780791848760
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Event2008 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2008 - Boston, MA, United States
Duration: 31 Oct 20086 Nov 2008

Publication series

NameASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings
Volume15

Conference

Conference2008 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2008
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBoston, MA
Period31/10/086/11/08

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