Investigation of numerical belt sag and conveyor capacities in inclined belt conveyors: An iterative approach

Belt sag in belt conveyors, which is the deformation of the belt profile between two successive idlers, occurs during the transportation of the bulk material. In practice, bulk material is transferred upon a curved belt surface due to this sag. To apply this phenomenon to the numerical analysis, Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Finite Element Method (FEM) are coupled, where the data transfer between the methods repeated iteratively. It is aimed to investigate the effects of this process on the conveyor capacities and belt sags of different conveyor angles. Normal forces of bulk material, hence belt sags, increase as the data transfer is repeated. Capacities on the conveyor angles higher than 15 degrees also increase, whereas the lower angles are not affected by this process. It is concluded that, in numerical applications aiming to acquire the belt sag and capacity of high conveyor angles, the repeated data transfer should be employed.