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Pulleys And Belt drive
Introduction
In machines, mechanical power is transmitted from one shaft to another shaft.
Various types of drive systems are available. Important ones are belt and pulley
chains and sprockets, and gears. This chapter deals only with belt and pulleys.
Pulleys are used to transmit power with the help of belts. A pulley is a circular
machine element, having a hub in the center with a key way, which fits on the shaft.
Pulleys are mounted on shafts, while the belt passes over both the pulleys. The power
is transmitted due to the friction between the pulley and the belt. It is suitable, if the
center distance between the shafts is large.
Some features towards advantages and some towards disadvantages are given
below:
Advantages
• It is simple and inexpensive.

• The center distance between the shafts is not that critical as for gears.
• It does not require axially aligned shafts and can tolerate high misalignment.
• The distance between the shafts can be large.
• It needs no lubrication and requires minimal maintenance.
• It protects the machines from overload and jam.
• It damps and isolates noise and vibrations.
• Load fluctuations and shocks are absorbed.
• It does not increase the cost much, even if the shafts are far apart.
• Clutch action can be obtained by releasing / adjusting belt tension.
• It can operate at temperatures ranging from -35° C to 85° C.
• It can work in dusty or corrosive environment.
• Different speeds can be obtained by step or tapered pulleys.
• It offers high transmission efficiency (output/input) 90-98 per cent, usually 95
per cent.
Disadvantages
• Adjustment of center distance or addition of an idler pulley is needed to

compensate for wear and stretch.
• Tension of the belt causes bending of the shafts and load on the bearings.
• Short life in comparison to other types of drives.
• A cover, generally of wire mesh is needed on the drive for safety purpose.
Types of Belts
Belts are of many types as shown in Figure and pictures below. Use of a particular
type of belt depends on power to be transmitted and type of service:
• Flat belt
• V belt
• Grooved belt
• Ribbed belt
• Film belt
• Circular belt
Flat and V belts are generally used and hence described below.
Flat belts
Plain flat belts are of rectangular cross section with no teeth or groove as shown in
Figure (a). These belts are used for line shafts in factories, farming, applications, saw
mills, flour mills, conveyors, etc. These are low cost and used on small pulleys. They
need high tension resulting in high bearing loads. They are noisier than other types
of belts and have low efficiency at moderate speeds. These are made of leather,
fabric, rubberized fabric, non-reinforced rubber/plastic, reinforced leather, etc.
V belts
The V belt was developed in 1917 by John Gates. These are endless, and their cross-
sectional shape is trapezoidal. They reduce the slippage and alignment problem.
They provide the best combination of power transmission, speed of movement, load
of the bearings, and long service life. The belt tends to wedge into the groove, as the
load increases. Greater the load, more is the wedging action, thus improving the
torque transmission and need lesser width and tension than flat belts. The preferred
center distance is larger than the largest pulley diameter, but less than three times the
sum of diameter of both the pulleys. Optimal belt speed range is 5-35 m/s.
V belts have long life (3-5 years) and offer quiet operation and low maintenance.
These are most commonly used in industry and are available in standard cross-
sectional sizes and lengths. They offer more speed than flat belts. The best speed for
V belts is between 8 and 30 m/s. V belts are made in two sizes: conventional and
narrow. Ideal speed for standard belt is 23 m/s and for narrow belts it is 50 m/s.
Conventional V belts are designated as A, B, C, D, and E. Narrow belts are designat
as 3V, 5V, and 8V. Angle for all belts is 40", Width and thickness of these belts are
show Figure 1.2. More than one belt is used to increase power transmission capacity.
Numb belts on one pulley is limited to eight. If more than eight belts are required,
then larger should be selected.
V belts are designated by its cross-sectional letter A, B, etc., followed by inside
length. For example, B 420 means a belt of cross section B and inside length 420.
Table shows the sizes of various belts.
Size and Weight of V Belts
Small width of the of the section Width at large size (2x thickness × tan 20°)
w2= w-(2tx0.364) = w-0.728
Area of the trapezoidal cross section A = Large width + Small width/ 2 x Thickness
= w + w2/2t mm2
Volume of belt per meter V = 1,000A
Weight of belt per meter = Volume × density = V X p
Construction of V belts
V belts are made of three layers. The outer layer is of polychloroprene as an elastic
cover. The central part has load-bearing cords of polyester fabric located near the
center of the section.
(Figure ). Since the stresses are minimum in the center, these cords have not to bear
too much fatigue. In between the outer part and cords is the rubber to transmit force
from cords to side walls. Thermoplastic polyurethane, and Elastomers are also used
for V belts. Temperature range 0° C-80° C.
Types of Flat Belt Drive

The open belt drive has parallel shafts rotating in the same direction, whereas the
cross-belt drive also have parallel shafts but rotate in the opposite direction. The
former is far more common, and the latter is not common, because the pulleys
contact both the inner and outer belt surfaces. Non-parallel shafts can be connected,
if the belt's center line is aligned with the center plane of the pulley.
Three types of flat belt drives are used; open, crossed, and quarter twist depending
on the direction of rotation of shafts, angular position, and distance between shafts.

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Pulleys And Belt drive

• It is simple and inexpensive.

• Adjustment of center distance or addition of an idler pulley is needed to

Size and Weight of V Belts

Types of Flat Belt Drive

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