Material Live load on a Belt Conveyor

[StrP88]

A 42" belt conveyor 127'-9" long, 200 TPH @ 160 fpm
Material conveyed is 65 pcf.

May I ask what is the live load in terms of lbs./ft. ?

I appreciate if you show me steps of calculation.

Sincerely,
Your colleague

 

[JAE]

Just some initial thoughts:

Get the natural angle of repose of the material and set that on the 42" wide belt (triangular load distribution).

Figure out the natural sag in the belt, if any, and add that curved area to the total cross-sectional area of the triangular material.

With that area, and density of material, figure out the load per foot.

Add a safety factor to that load (1.6?)




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[WARose]

If this is a new conveyor, I'd ask the manufacturer. JAE has some good advice for a existing one.

 

[StrP88]

The material is gypsum
I don't have the angle of repose.
No it is not a new conveyor and manufacturer is out of business and drawings are not available.

Is 200 TPH times 160fpm gives me the correct answer for lbs/ft?

 

[bootlegend]

StrP88,

JAE has described the general approach which would be conservative. I don't account for material in the sag because it should be minimal for a properly designed conveyor.

I posted a diagram illustrating the loaded cross-section in your previous thread. You need to know your idler style and surcharge angle, which is based on the natural angle of repose.
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=436109[/url]

I also compare the load from the surcharged belt to the maximum out put of the belt, 200tph/160fpm = 42 #/ft. The surcharge belt generally controls.

 

[topsisu]

Based strictly on the OP data:
200 TPH = 400,000 Lb/Hr assuming 2000 pound Tons
400,000 Lb/Hr = 400,000/60 = 6666.67 Lb/min

Conveyors are uniformly loaded normally.
A belt speed at 160 FPM means in one minute, 6666.67 Lb of material is spread out over 160 feet
OR 6666.67/160 = 41.67 Say 42 PLF material load

This is most likely not conservative, because conveyors are run overloaded all the time in industrial operations.

 

[StrP88]

bootlegend (Structural) and topsisu (Structural),
Thank you both for your direction and helping me out.

topsisu (Structural), thank you very much for detail calculation. I appreciate it.

Respectfully,
StrP88

 

[dik]

OP:
Attached is pdf print using Topsisu's data... Can download SMath Studio free... It's an excelllent program.

Dik

 

[dik]

and corrected *.pdf:

 

[StrP88]

JAE (Structural) and WARose (Structural,
I appreciate you guys for your time and directing me too. Thanks

Regards,
StrP88

 

[StrP88]

dik (Structural),
Thank you so very much. I appreciate it.

Respectfully,
StrP88

 

[dik]

OP:

Check *.pdf for minor corrections. SMath is an extremely good program...

Dik

 

[StrP88]

dik (Structural),
Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate it sharing with me.

Respectfully,
StrP88