THEORY

Machinery for belt drive comprises large parts of mechanical systems. Belt drive
is used for power transmission over long distances. The application of the belt drive
often simplifies the design of a machine and reduces the costs significantly. The belt
drive uses transmission friction

Table 1: Coefficient of friction for belt and pulley materials

Pulley Material
Belt Material Greasy
Iron-steel Wood Paper Wet Iron Oily Iron
Iron
Oak-tanned 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.2 0.15 0.12
Mineral-tanned
0.4 0.45 0.5 0.35 0.25 0.2
leather
Canvas stitched 0.2 0.23 0.25 0.15 0.12 0.1
Cotton woven 0.22 0.25 0.28 0.15 0.12 0.1
Rubber-friction 0.3 0.32 0.35 0.18 - -
Rubber-covered 0.32 0.32 0.38 0.15 - -
Rubber on fabric 0.35 0.38 0.4 0.2 - -

There are two normal reactions in the case of a V-belt so that the radial reaction is 2R
sinα. The total friction force is therefore 2(μR)=2μR.

Tangentially solving the forces

𝛿𝜃 𝛿𝜃
2𝜇𝑅 + 𝑇 𝑐𝑜𝑠 − (𝑇 + 𝛿𝑇) cos =0
2 2
Radially solving the forces,

𝛿𝜃 𝛿𝜃
2𝑅𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 − 𝑇 𝑠𝑖𝑛 − (𝑇 + 𝛿𝑇) sin =0
2 2

Since the value of δθ small,

𝛿𝜃 𝛿𝜃
𝑠𝑖𝑛 ≈
2 2

𝛿𝜃 𝛿𝜃
2𝑅𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 − 𝑇 −T =0
2 2

𝑇𝛿𝜃
𝑅=
2𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼
𝑇𝛿𝜃
δT = 2𝜇 2 sin 𝛼

Or

𝛿𝑇 𝜇𝛿𝜃
=
𝑇 sin 𝛼

Combining the proper limits,

𝑇1 𝜃
𝑑𝑇 𝜇𝑑𝜃
∫ = ∫
𝑇2 𝑇 0 sin 𝛼

𝑇1 𝜇𝜃
𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒 =
𝑇2 sin 𝛼

The equation that relates to the friction coefficient, the tension, the wrap angle
and the groove angle is;
 𝑇1
= ⅇ (𝜇𝜃∕𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼)
𝑇2

T1 is the tight side initial tension in Newton T2 is the slack side initial tension in
Newton μ is the friction coefficient α is the degree total groove angle (α= 90 ° for
flat belt, α= 20 ° for V belt). θ is the wrap angle in radians measured from the
tangency to T1 and T2

The friction coefficient can be obtained from the equation mentioned above;

𝑇1 𝜇𝜃
𝑙𝑛 ( ) =
𝑇2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼

𝑇
𝑙𝑛 (𝑇1 ) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼
2
𝜇=
𝜃

OBJECTIVE

1) To investigate the relationship between the tension of the belt and the V-belt
friction coefficient.

2) To study the effect of different weights on the tension of the belt and the V- belt
friction coefficient.

3) To study the effect of various angles on the tension of the belt and the friction
coefficient of the V belt.

4) 4) To determine the friction coefficient of the V belt.