LABORATORY TESTS OF CONVEYOR BELT PARAMETERS AFFECTING ITS LIFETIME.

Conveyor belts operated on belt conveyors are subjected to a variety of loads that lead to damage. Belts undergo wear in a process that depends on the type of conveyor, its length, the material transported and the working site [2, 3, 5, 8]. Laboratory evaluation of a conveyor belt's lifetime requires determining a number of its properties, such as tensile strength, longitudinal and transverse elongation strength, delamination strength, shear strength, flammability, and resistance to low temperatures, as well as rubber cover tensile strength, abrasion resistance, aging resistance, etc. The methods for measuring the above mentioned properties, as well as the required limit values for the properties, are standardized. However, a group of belt properties has not yet been standardized, although they have a fundamental importance for belt lifetime. Tests performed for many years in operating conditions show that the majority of belts undergo wear and are disassembled from the conveyor as a result of damage caused by punctures and cuts [4, 8, 9, 10]. Therefore, an assumption may be made that the resistance of conveyor belts to punctures and longitudinal cuts are among the most important criteria for the evaluation of their lifetime, which in turn remains a key factor affecting the costs related to the operation of belt conveyors. According to analyses performed in mining plants, the share of the costs of conveyor transportation is estimated to be between 8% and 30% of the production cost, depending on the type of a mine. These costs include both the cost of electricity and the costs related to the wear and replacement of belt conveyor elements, especially of conveyor belts. The aim of this paper is to present the results of research into conveyor belts, which may be implemented in mining industry to lower the costs of operating a conveyor transportation system [11, 12]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]