Numerical simulation of the influence of lap length on the load-bearing capacity of steel wire rope core conveyor belt joints

The drawing force of the steel wire rope in the joint area of the conveyor belt is an important indicator to measure the bearing capacity of the joint. At present, research on the joint of steel wire rope core conveyor belt mainly focuses on the structural parameters of the joint, vulcanization process, and adhesive performance of the rubber material. It has not pointed out the influence of lap length on the load-bearing capacity of the joint. To study the influence of lap length on the load-bearing capacity of steel wire rope core conveyor belt joints, the st1250 steel wire rope core conveyor belt is taken as the research object. A joint model is established by taking a single steel wire rope part at the conveyor belt joint. The bilinear cohesive zone model is used to simulate the bonding state between the steel wire rope and rubber. The model parameters are obtained through tangential tensile shear tests and normal tensile tests. By combining the bilinear cohesive zone model with the steel wire rope rubber contact interface, a simulation analysis is conducted on the damage evolution process of a single steel wire rope detached from rubber in a joint. It is found that the joint damage evolution process can be divided into four stages: linear loading, damage initiation, damage propagation, and complete failure. Moreover, the joint damage failure curve is consistent with the traction displacement curve of the bilinear cohesive zone model. It verifies that the bilinear cohesive zone model can effectively simulate the damage failure process of steel wire rope core conveyor belt joints. Simulation is conducted on joint models with different lap lengths. It is found that as the lap length increases from 350 mm to 750 mm, the overall stiffness of the joint shows a non-linear increase, and the maximum shear stress on the joint rubber shows a decreasing trend. Therefore, it is determined that the range of lap length should be controlled within 350 mm to 750 mm. The influence of lap length on joint bearing capacity under different wire rope diameters is simulated. The results show that the drawing force of wire rope increases nonlinearly with the increase of lap length. The larger the diameter of the steel wire rope, the greater the increase in the drawing force of the joint steel wire rope with the increase of the lap length. The functional relationship between joint lap length and single wire rope drawing force under different wire rope diameters is fitted, providing a theoretical basis for the rational selection of joint lap length under different bearing capacity requirements.