The use of conveyor belt technology to support the economic development of natural resources is gaining more and more importance, especially in exporting nations. Technically highly developed conveyor belts are manufactured in industrialized countries. In a process of technical dialogue between the institute and manufacturers and distributors the world over, useful ideas were gleaned to properly target the research activities into conveyor belts at the institute. The research program for wide systems carrying large volume flows concentrates on abrasive wear, penetration and splitting stresses and also the stress distribution at the charging and discharging trough areas. High-tensile belts, on which the institute studied the problem of stressing of splices, are used in applications with large height differences. How material and design parameters effect energy consumption is a further research project particularly pertinent to long systems. Work into the development of new systems, e.g. pipe conveyors, is focussed on belt design.
