The experimental research of the conveyor belts damage used in mining industry

The conveyor belts represent the most productive, and thus even the most economical transport device with a high transport performance and ecologic harmlessness. From the point of belt conveyor operation, the most important construction element is the conveyor belt. During the operation, the conveyor belt is influenced by many different stresses, which cause the process of damaging and wearing the belt. In order to describe the processes related to the conveyor belt wear due to material's impact, it is necessary to analyse the impact loading process depending on the time during which the impact processes are spreading. The objective of the article is to identify the effect of selected parameters on the impact force while applying the Design of Experiment method. The result of the design of experiment shows a significant effect of the drop height, drop hammer weight, and the interaction between them on the impact force. We receipted that the drop hammer head type in the considered conditions has not significantly effect on the impact force. Using mathematic models, the relationship between the impact force local peaks and various values of the impact process input parameters (drop hammer weight and drop height) is identified. For the first impact force local peaks it has been confirmed by already existing multiple linear regression model. Other local peaks of the impact force are affected by the damped motion of an object falling onto the conveyor belt. As a result, for the other local peaks were formed the different, simpler forms of the regression models. The experimental measurements have been performed on a test rig, which was developed at the Institute of Logistics FBERG of Kosice.