Dynamic Analysis Of A Rail Conveyor System

Belt conveyors can be regarded as the most common material handling system in the modern world due to their eco-friendly characteristics and the economic viability. Whilst comparing the energy loss for a unit distance, belt conveyor systems rank second lowest in the continues mode of transportation while slurry pipelines and hydraulic transport ranks the lowest. However, in terms of energy consumption, the railway method can transport the farthest as the sag of a belt conveyor system greatly limits the maximum length it can transport. In this thesis with the intention of tackling with issues limiting the total distance of a conventional belt conveyor, a novel type of conveyor system is introduced and the dynamic analysis of the new conveyor is performed. The new belt conveyor system termed rail conveyor abandons the usage of idlers and replaces them with trolleys to support the belt and the bulk material. Thus, the rail conveyor system combines the advantage of less friction of a railway and the continuity and large capacity of a belt conveyor. Due to the abandoning of the idlers, the relative movement existing between bulk material and belt, and between the belt and idlers is non present in the rail conveyor. Therefore, a great amount of energy is saved due to lack of resistance forces.The absence of resistance forces makes the rail conveyor system suitable for off-road transportation ranging from several kilometers to extended amounts of distance in a single-conveyor configuration: well exceeding similarly configured traditional belt conveyor systems. Because the rail conveyor system can be utilized to’ support conventional rail tracks, usage of abandoned rail tracks can be of an advantage for bulk material transportation.Though there exist several methods and standards to aid the design process of conventional belt conveyers such as C.E.M.A, due to the differences in structure, the designing and the dynamic analysis of the rail conveyor system can be quite eccentric.Thus, this thesis researches the existing physical and operational characteristics of the prototype rail conveyor system to derive its dynamics which in turn will be beneficial for future development.This thesis includes five chapters. The first chapter contains the background of the research focusing on the significance of bulk material transportation, belt conveyor systems, and by what means the rail conveyor system differs from traditional belt conveyor systems. Subsequently, the second chapter gives an in depth introduction and analysis on rail conveyor’s structure and working principle focusing on different configurations such as horizontal and vertical arrangement. The third chapter presents rail conveyor’s dynamic analysis focusing on force analysis such as ramp resistance, inertial resistance, bearing resistance of trolley’s wheels etc. An analysis of minor forces acting on the belt of the rail conveyor is also made on the same chapter. The fourth chapter focuses on the formulation of a dynamic model. Nevertheless, the dynamic model which is derived in this thesis can utilize the viscoelastic properties of the conveyor belt and the properties of the trolley such as its rolling friction. The mentioned rheology based model is different from the traditional method of taking the conveyor belt and other components as a single accelerated rigid body. The fifth chapter is concentrated on software simulation for the resulting dynamic model. A simulation model which is composed as a physical system in the software tool SIMULINK enables the previously derived rheological models of the rail conveyor system to be added and analyzed. Consequently, the simulation is performed by developing several case scenarios by using signal builder which mimics numerous starting and stopping velocity conditions. Several ideal sensors were placed at significant places of the rail conveyor simulation model which enables comparison between the attained velocity results.This thesis researches the advantages of the rail conveyor system compared to traditional conveyor systems by analyzing its structure and operational behavior. The dynamic analysis of the rail conveyor system is performed by researching its dominant forces in the innovative structure. A novel method for dynamics analysis based on rheological models is also introduced. Similarly, a computer simulation based analysis is also completed by a SIMULINK model. The research of the rail conveyor dynamics, the novel rheology based model and the devised simulation model shall be of reference for future improvements of the rail conveyor’s structure, its operational behavior and dynamic analysis methods.