AGM 310:

FARM MECHANIZATION
AND WORKSHOP PRACTICE
I
LECTURES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN
NIGERIA
LECTURERS: PROF. E.A. AIYELARI
MR. O.A. SADIKU
LECTURE THREE – PART I

MACHINE
ELEMENTS
II
Belts & Pulleys
 BELTS and PULLEYS
Objectives:
1.Students should be able to identify belt types
and belt-pulley drives; where and when to use

them

2.Students should be able to understand the

mechanics of belt drives and solve simple
problems in belt drives.
3.0 Belts
A belt is a looped strip of flexible material used to mechanically
link two or more rotating shafts with the help of pulleys. A belt
drive offers smooth transmission of power between shafts at a
considerable distance. Belt drives are frictional and the power
transmitted depends on the belt tension; the friction between the
pulleys and the belt; arc of contact; and speed of belt.

3.1 Belt types

The most common types of belt drives include:
3.1.1 Round belts: Round belts are are generally
made of rubber. This type of belt is generally
used for light loads, such as in a sewing machine
or a vacuum cleaner.
3.1.2 V belts: V belts are arguably the most widely
used belts in industry. V belts have a V shaped
cross-section, which rests against the side of
V pulley under tension. The V shaped cross-
section prevents belt from slipping off.

3.1.3 Flat belts: Flat belts are also used to

transmit power from one shaft to another.
They are generally classified as either small
woven endless belts or higher power flat belts.
The woven endless belts are especially useful
where minimum vibration is required at the
driven pulley due to semi-elastic material
used in construction.
The higher power flat belts are often useful because they
eliminate the need for high belt tension used to grip pulleys,
which in turn reduces the load on the shaft bearings. The
material used for high power flat belts is sticky yet abrasion-
resistant rubber compounds.

3.1.4 Timing (toothed) belts: Timing belts are

toothed belts that use their teeth for power
transmission, as opposed to friction. This
configuration results in no slippage, and
therefore, the driving and driven shafts
remain synchronized. It’s more expensive
to manufacture due to complexity of the
belt and pulley shapes.
Types of belts
Types of Belt drives
Types of Pulley
3.2 Belt drive
Belt drive, in machinery consists of a pair of pulleys attached to
usually parallel shafts and connected by an encircling flexible
belt (band) that can serve to transmit and modify rotary motion
from one shaft to the other. Most belt drives consist of flat
leather, rubber, or fabric belts running on cylindrical pulleys or of
belts with a V-shaped cross section running on grooved pulleys.

Fig. 3.1 Belt drive

Fig. 3.2 A typical belt drive with an idler pulley
3.3 Types of belt drive
In a two pulley system, depending upon the direction the belt
drives the pulley, the belt drives are divided into two types. They
are open belt drive and crossed belt drive.

3.3.1 Open belt drives: An open belt drive is used to rotate the
driven pulley in the same direction of driving pulley. In the
motion of belt drive, power transmission results make one side of
pulley more tightened compared to the other side.
In horizontal drives, tightened side is always kept on the lower
side of two pulleys because the sag of the upper side slightly
increases the angle of folding of the belt on the two pulleys.

3.3.2 Crossed belt drive: A crossed belt drive is used to rotate

driven pulley in the opposite direction of driving pulley. Higher
value of wrap enables more power that can be transmitted than in
open belt drive. However, bending and wear of the belt are
important concerns.
3.3.3 Quarter turn belt drive
This type of belt drive is also known as right angle or mule
(angled) belt drive. In this configurations, the shafts are at the
right angle and move in one direction. This provides for a unique
problem and that is the belt running down the pulley. To
overcome this problem the width of the shaft is quarter times
more than the width of the belt. Hence the name quarter turns
belt drive.
3.3.4 Compound belt drive
As the name suggests, compound belt drive is a complex
arrangement of shafts and pulleys where power is transmitted
from more than one shaft utilizing a number of pulleys. It is
generally used in a complex application environment.
3.3.5 Serpentine belt drive
The serpentine belt, also known as the multi-vee, or multi-rib
belt, is a single, continuous belt used to drive multiple peripheral
devices in an automotive engine, including; the alternator, power
steering pump, water pump, air conditioner and others. Without
the serpentine belt there is no way to drive power to any of these
devices.
3.3.5 Advantages of belt drives
•Belt drives are simple are economical.
•They don’t need parallel shafts.
•Belts drives are provided with overload and jam
protection.
•Noise and vibration are damped out. Machinery life is
increased because load fluctuations are shock-absorbed.
•They are lubrication-free. They require less maintenance
cost.
•Belt drives are highly efficient in use (up to 98%, usually
95%).
•They are very economical when the distance between
shafts is very large.
3.3.6 Disadvantages of belt drives:
•In Belt drives, angular velocity ratio is not necessarily
constant or equal to the ratio of pulley diameters,
because of slipping and stretching.
•Heat buildup occurs. Speed is limited to usually 35
meters per second. Power transmission is limited to 370
kilowatts.
•Operating temperatures are usually restricted to –35 to
85°C.
•Some adjustment of center distance or use of an idler
pulley is necessary for wearing and stretching of belt
drive compensation.
3.4 Calculations on belt drives
3.4.1 Belt length (BL)
BL = π (PD1 + PD2) x 0.5 + (2 x CD) + [(PD2 – PD1) 2 /(4 x CD)]
Where PD1 = Pulley diameter (driver);
PD2 = Pulley diameter (driven)

3.4.2 Centre distance (CD)

CD = [4 x BL – 6.28 x (PD1 + PD2)] + √{[4 x BL – 6.28 x (PD1 + PD2)]2 - 32(PD1 – PD2)2}

16
3.4.3 Wrap angle: In the open belt configuration, both pulleys tend
to rotate in the same direction, and the larger pulley tends to have a
larger belt wrap angle. In the crossed belt configuration, the pulleys
tend to rotate in opposite directions, and both pulleys have the same
wrap angle.
The following figure shows the wrap angles and the equation
parameters used in the open-configuration calculations.

Where θA is the wrap angle of pulley A; θB is the wrap angle of

pulley B; RA is the effective radius of pulley A; RB is the
effective radius of pulley B; C is the distance between the centers
of pulley A and pulley B.
In the crossed configuration, the wrap angle of the belt around
each pulley is given by the following expression. The two wrap
angles are equal.

The figure shows the wrap angles calculated in the crossed-

configuration expression.
Exercise:
A 30 cm diameter pulley on a Tractor
P.T.O. running at its higher standard speed
is to drive a pulley on a maize sheller
running at 1800 rpm. If the belt is a circular
belt of 200 cm diameter, determine how
far apart the pulleys should be from each
other? If the distance between the pulleys
is increased by 10%, what belt length
would be required?
THANK YOU

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