Online tool optimises belt drive design

New software that helps engineers to design belt drive systems more efficiently could lead to substantial energy savings. Dean Palmer reports New online selector software can help design engineers optimise the operating life, reliability and efficiency of belt drive systems. The Drive Design Assistant, from Fenner, provides engineers with a structured, detailed approach to optimising their designs. Many years of design and application experience have been incorporated into the software, taking into account thousands of variables and applying proven formulae developed to optimise performance and longevity. It should save a huge amount of time for engineers who design belt-drive systems, allowing them to fine-tune a design and check the theoretical performance before specifying components. Equally, designers and commissioning engineers with limited experience of specifying belt drives can now do so with more confidence. The most important benefit is arguably the energy savings. With the advent of higher energy costs, small percentage increases in efficiency can reduce long term energy usage and provide substantial financial savings on fans, pumps and machines that are powered by belt drives. These obvious targets tend to be run constantly and so are likely to yield the most significant savings. Belt drives are an often-overlooked area where other gains in efficiency can either be wiped out or enhanced. For example, the correct specification for a belt drive system can deliver a similar gain in efficiency as upgrading to an EFF1 electric motor from an EFF2. Across a site, the difference can amount to thousands of pounds per year in energy savings. The speed ratio capability of a belt drive allows electric motors to drive machines - both operating near their optimum (most efficient) speed. Belt drives have low lifetime costs, are versatile and easy to maintain, but also contribute significantly to energy savings if correctly designed and installed. In this application, the Drive Design Assistant functions allow users to 'design a drive' from the start, make 'calculations', experiment with 'drive dimensions' and enter 'end loads' among other power, distance and speed variables, to achieve an ideal result. Once an optimum belt drive has been selected, the complete drive specification can then be sent to the local Fenner Authorised Distributor for a quote via the same website. Bryan Burton, product manager for Fenner Open Drive products says: "This web tool includes all the formulae that have been perfected over the years and should provide an ongoing support tool for designers and application engineers." He added that maintenance engineers can also use the system to check the efficiency of existing drive systems and evaluate ratio adjustments to make sure that their plant is running as efficiently as possible. The software is freely available at www.fptgroup.com . There are also added benefits to users who register with the website, allowing them to store previous calculations for later reference. Fenner is owned by Wyko Industrial Services. (BLOB) Transmission Developments, has launched a unique range of belts suitable for demanding power transmission applications. Its Brecoflex BAT and BATK polyurethane timing belts feature a unique curved arc tooth profile with improved tooth shear strength characteristics for higher efficiency and optimised force transmission. The curved arc tooth profile is self-guiding, using only flangeless pulleys for quieter operation and, with a lower polygonal effect than straight tooth belt systems. It also boasts low vibration, making the range suitable for demanding applications where high force, a wide safety margin and low noise and key design considerations. In addition to the field-proven 10mm pitch version, a 15mm pitch belt is now available with a complete range of truly endless, spliced and welded, and open ended versions. These offer higher load and stress factors for demanding applications, including positioning systems and high throughput machinery for paper, textiles, print and converting. Pointers: * Online drive selection tool helps users optimise the design of belt drive systems, by taking into account the dimensions, end load, power, distance and speed of the system * Improved design of belt systems should lead to significant energy savings * Transdev's new Brecoflex BAT and BATK belts are ideal for demanding applications and feature a unique curved arc tooth profile with improved tooth shear strength