EGERTON UNIVERSITY

NAME: ELKANA BWANA

REG. NO: B13/08854/17
DEPT: IEEN (MENT)
UNIT: MENT 222 (MACHINE ELEMENTS)
NAME OF THE TECHNICIAN: MR. ONDITI

PRACTICAL 2
TITLE: BELT FRICTION
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 01/03/201
OBJECTIVE

To study the tensions in the tight and slack sides of a flat and a V belt wrapped round the pulley, and to
determine the coefficients of friction predicted by the formula.

PROCEDURE

The apparatus were mounted on a vertical surface about 1.5m above the floor.

Part 1. V belt
The belt anchor was screwed into the top most tapped hole in the heavy steel plate (using the
tommy bar clipped in the right hand channel section). One end of the V belt was attached on
the anchor using a hook.
The belt was laid over the pulley (300 arc of contact) and the load hanger was suspended from
the other end using the second hook.
The torque load cord was wound clockwise round the pulley and left hanging until the load was
hang on the belt. The load hanger was then suspended.
For each load added to the hanger on the ends of the belt, weights were added to the torque
hanger until the pulley gave a slight start, and crept slowly at about 1 0/second. The two added
loads were recorded.

Arc of Added Loads

Contact T (N)
Ѳ0
30 100 80 60 40 20
60 100 80 60 40 20
90 100 80 60 40 20
120 100 80 60 40 20

RESULTS
Applied Added Torque W and slack belt tension T2
belt load In (N) for stated contact arc Ѳ0
T1(N) 30 60 90 120
W T2 rev. t(s) W T2 Rev. t(s) W T2 rev. t(s) W T2 Rev. t(s)
100 50 50 2.0 530 25 75 2.05 121 15 85 2.0 101 8 92 2.08 66
80 30 50 2.1 90 20 60 2.02 208 10 70 2.0 98 8 72 1.8 183
60 25 35 1.92 130 15 45 2.02 137 10 50 1.95 145 3 57 2.03 41
40 15 25 2.05 50 10 30 2.05 105 5 35 2.0 46 3 37 1.95 158
20 8 12 2.05 104 5 15 2.02 78 3 17 1.95 172 1 19 1.9 40
 Part2; Flat belts
The above procedure was repeated for flat belts using the recommended loads below and the
results were tabulated.

Arc of Added loads

Contact T (N)
Ѳ0
30 200 150 100 50
60 200 150 100 50
90 200 150 100 50

120 150 125 100 75 50

150 150 125 100 75 50

Results

Applied Added Torque W and slack tension T2

belt In (N) for stated contact arc Ѳ0
Load T1 30 60 90 120 150
(N) W T2 W T2 W T2 W T2 W T2

200 150 50 140 60 100 100 - - - -

150 110 40 95 55 90 60 85 65 70 80
125 - - - - 65 60 55 70
100 65 35 60 40 50 50 40 60 30 70
75 - - - - - - 35 40 20 55
50 30 20 25 25 25 25 20 30 10 40

30 60 90 120 150
Rev. t(s) Rev. t(s) Rev. t(s) Rev. t(s) Rev. t(s)
200 1.6 71 1.55 258.2 1.7 69.5
150 1.65 117 1.2 115.1 1.65 134 1.7 159.3 1.55 142.9
100 1.65 35.5 1.65 97.3 1.7 66.6 1.8 144.2 1.7 196.9
125 1.75 70.32 1.6 70.6
75 1.75 121.0 1.7 86.6
50 1.35 16.6 1.7 54.1 1.7 76.8 1.65 78.3 1.65 55.0
 THEORY
Taka a pulley and a belt with an arc of contact Ѳ
The belt is driving the pulley clockwise and is on the point of slipping. Consider a small element
of the belt at an angle Ø to the tangent point where the belt arrives at the pulley. In the force
triangle (a), ignoring second order terms in dØ and dT.
dF = T.dØ.
For a flat belt and pulley this is the normal force causing friction, so the change in tension is
given by dT = μdF =μ T.dØ
Which leads to
dT
=μ dφ
T
Integrating over the arc of the contact
T2 Ѳ

∫ dT =∫ μ dφ
T1 T 0

T1
log c =μ dѲ
T2
T1
Or =eμѲ
T2
For V belt and pulley the normal force causing friction is greatly magnified, and using
Diagram (b) it can be seen that
1 1
N sin α = F
2 2
F
N=
sinα
Which leads to
μT
dT = μdN= dφ
sinα
From which;
μѲ
sinα
In the experiment T1= T+5 and T2 is T – W (because the two load hangers cancel out).
The tables 1 and 2 are completed and for simplicity, graphs of T against T 2 for each belt are
plotted.
This should give two families of curves with a zero intercept at T = -5, which is should be
straight lines with gradient to eμѲ for the flat belt and eμѲ/sinα for the V belt.

The graphs log c T 1/T 2 (ie logc gradients) against Ѳ are plotted for each belt; and the values of
the friction coefficients deduced from the gradients of these graphs.
For V-Belts;

T1 AGAINST T2
120

100
f(x) = 1.33333333333333 x

f(x) = 1.20666666666667 x + 1.09999999999999

f(x) = 1.14 x + 0.100000000000001

80

60
t1

f(x) = 0.673333333333333 x + 4.1

40

20

0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

t2

Ѳ0 30 60 90 120
T 1/T 2 0.6733 1.3333 1.14 1.2067
 Log T1/ T2 0.00828 0.1249 0.0569 0.0816

GRAPH OF LOG (T1/T2)

AGAINST Ѳ
0.14

0.12

0.1

f(x) = 0.000506533333333334 x + 0.02993

0.08
log (t1/t2)

0.06

0.04

0.02

0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Ѳ0

μ
Log (T1/T2) = Ѳ
sinα
The coefficient of friction is= 5×10 -4 × sin400
3.2×10 -4

For Flat Belts

The graphs are plotted;

Ѳ0 30 60 90 120 150
T1/T2 0.8133 2.4133 1.2267 0.84 2.5333
Log (T1/T2) 0.0091 0.00924 0.0887 0.382 0.404
 GRAPH OF T1 AGAINST T2
250

200

150
f(x) = 2.53333333333333 x + 20.6666666666667
t1(n)

100

f(x) = 2.41333333333333 x − 28.7333333333333

f(x) = 0.813333333333333 x + 39.2666666666667

f(x) = 0.84 x + 25.8

f(x) = 1.22666666666667 x + 0.533333333333339

50

0
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

t2
 log(T1/T2) AGAINST Ѳ0
0.45

0.4 f(x) = 0.0038752 x − 0.17016

0.35

0.3

0.25
LOG (T1/T2)

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Ѳ0

The coefficient of friction;

Log = μ Ѳ
Hence it is equal to the gradient;
=3.9×10 -4
Sources of errors
Friction losses between the belts and the iron-steel leading to errors inaccurate data recorded.
Sudden loading of the pulley also led to errors in that the loads would not move freely.
Discussion
From the tabulated data and the plotted graphs, the coefficient of friction, between iron-steel
pulley and the Flat and V belts is obtained. The T1 value will always higher than T2 value in
order to give high horsepower transmitted.
The coefficient of friction value will tend to decrease when the contact angle is increased from
30° to 150°. This shows that at a higher contact angle, the friction between pulley surface and
the belt is very small compared to the smaller peg angle.
This is because at higher contact angle, the friction force needed in the slack side of the belt is
small in order to prevent slip from occur. But, at a small peg angle such as at 30°, the friction
effect plays an important role in order to prevent slip and creep from occur and to ensure
smooth transfer of energy. This also shows that friction play an important part in absorbing
shock loads and in damping out and isolating the effects of vibration. This is an important
advantage as far as machine reliability and efficiency is concerned.
Moreover, the belt type also tend to effect the μ value. Flat belt has a higher μ at each contact
angle compared to the V belts type because flat belt. This makes flat belt efficient at high
speed, tougher and can transmit large amounts of power over long distances. In contrast with
flat belt, V belts are slightly less efficient than flat belt, but a number of them can be used on a
single sheave, thus making a multiple drive.
The graph of T1 against T2, the graph is linear

Conclusion
The coefficient of friction, μ between iron-steel pulley and the flat and V belts has been
determined. μ value varied as the peg angle change. The objective of the experiment is
achieved since the results of the experiment has revealed the importance of friction effect in
transfer of energy and the relationship between the belt material, pulley type, angle conditions
and the coefficient of friction value.
Recommendations
Loading of these weights should be uniform so as to minimize errors and vibrations due to
friction and more care should be taken when handling these apparatus.
References
MENT 222 practical manual
MENT 222 classwork notes