Conveyor belt design software
Software Article - By Betty Gibbs

Primitive conveyor belts were used since the 19th century. In 1892, Thomas Robins began a series of inventions which led to the development of a conveyor belt used for carrying coal, ores and other products. In 1901, Sandvik invented and started the production of steel conveyor belts. In 1905 Richard Sutcliffe invented the first conveyor belts for use in coal mines which revolutionized the mining industry.
The longest belt conveyor system in the world is in Western Sahara. It is 100 km long, from the phosphate mines of Bu Craa to the coast south of El-Aaiun. The longest conveyor system in an Airport is the Dubai International Airport baggage handling system at 92 km. It was installed by Siemens and commissioned in 2008, and has a combination of traditional belt conveyors and tray conveyors. The longest single belt conveyor runs from Meghalaya in India to Sylhet in Bangladesh. It is about 17 km long and conveys limestone and shale at 960 tons/hr, from the quarry in India to a cement factory in Bangladesh.

Engineers in the modern world design the engineering parameters for conveyor belts using computer software. Following are a few of the programs available for designing conveyor belts.

WINBELT
This program is set up to design and optimize safe and economic conveyor systems. The program now adds automatic design of trusses, bents and towers.
Belt tensions under running, acceleration, deceleration and stopped belt conditions are applied directly to the efficient use, spillage control, failure reduction, specification and cost estimate of all components including belt, idlers, pulleys, shafts, gear reducers and motors. Prices for erected conveyors are displayed based on several types of support structure.
The ESTIMATE and HAULPLAN business development programs are designed for feasibility studies, estimates and can predict qualification of proposed material handling systems in terms of Internal Rate of Return and Modified Internal Rate of Return.
The TRUSS, BENT and TOWER programs enable job estimators to optimize and control estimating of entire projects in real time.  The TRUSS program computes an estimated weight of Howe like box trusses such as those used for belt conveyors and small bridges. The BENT program computes an estimated weight of belt conveyor support bents. The TOWER program computes design criteria for towers that support conveyors, tanks, screens, crushers etc.
The complete help file is available for viewing on the Web site and a  free demo is available. For more information and a free demo, visit http://www.beltconveyor.com or contact Don Suverkrop at Creative Engineering, 3513 Century Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93306-1238. Phone: 661 871 2168, Fax: 661 871 1798

Overland Conveyor Company
The company offers conveyor design software as well as consulting and training in how to use the software. Two products are offered for designing conveyors:
Belt Analyst™ Suite - Complete design evaluation of any bulk material handling belt conveyor. You can input any vertical and horizontal profile with up to 360 flights, 48 pulleys and 20 unique drive locations. Use the older and well documented CEMA 5th Edition calculation methods, the newest universal CEMA 6th Edition power methods or the International ISO/DIN methodology. Handy graphics of the cross sectional area, profile and tension diagram as well as many design RED flags makes make this the easiest program to use. Handy databases of belt constructions, idler characteristics and common material properties make the selection process seamless. Use the databases provided or create your own custom data.
Dynamic Analyst™  - This is an add-on to the “Belt Analyst™ program. Dynamic analysis is used to verify the maximum and minimum loads on all belt conveyor components during all possible transient conditions of stopping and starting. It is also used to develop and test the control algorithms necessary to safely and reliability stop and start the load.
For more information, contact Overland Conveyor Company at 12640 W. Cedar Dr. STE D Lakewood, CO 80228. (303) 973-7357 Email: info@overlandconveyor.com ; Internet - http://www.overlandconveyor.com/software/

HELIX delta-T - Design of Belt Conveyors
HELIX delta-T is a package developed to assist materials handling design engineers and equipment suppliers with conveyor design and optimisation. Highlights of the new delta-T version 5 program include:
- Automatic Selection of Belt and Tension, Power Calculations
- Equipment Selection from Databases for Belts, Idlers, Pulleys & Shafts, Gearboxes, Motors, Fluid Couplings, Brakes etc.
- Create a 3D model of the conveyor
- Calculate Vertical Curve radii and super-elevation (banking) angles for Horizontal curves
- Add any number of Conveyor Pulleys, Drives, Loading points, Trippers, Brakes etc.
- Over 60 reports can be viewed, printed or exported to Word, PDF files or Excel etc.

The program will automatically calculate the belt tensions in the system, select a suitable belt from the database, calculate the pulley and shaft sizes required, select a suitable electric motor, fluid coupling and gearbox from the databases, calculate the idler shaft deflections and bearing life and then present the full conveyor design in reports which can be viewed, printed or exported to Word for Windows, Excel, PDF files and other applications.

In addition, delta-T provides an in-depth analysis of conveyor belt tensions under different operating conditions such as running fully loaded, running empty, starting fully loaded, starting empty, braking fully loaded, braking empty and coasting. A new sketch facility allows users to sketch the conveyor profile and enter data in tabular format.

A demonstration version is available. For more information visit the Web site at: http://www.chempute.com/deltat.htm.  Email: sales@chempute.com

PRO-BELT - Belt and Belt Feeder Design
PRO-BELT Version 6.0 is a package of four computer programs for the design of Belt Conveyors, Belt Feeders and Pulley Shafts. It is available in Imperial (English) units or Metric (SI) units. Version 7.0 includes all of the programs in Version 6.0 plus a program for Horizontal Curve design in overland belt conveyors.
The program will design all belt conveyor sizes from 16" to 120" (400mm to 3000mm) belt widths with idler troughing angles from zero degree flat belts up to 45 degrees. Design and analyze all belt conveyor profiles with head pulley drives, return belt drives or tail pulley drives. Dual pulley drives and booster drive stations are also possible. Two conveyor programs are included; one for regular flat or uphill conveyors and the other for downhill regenerative conveyors. The program to use depends on the relationship of the drive and the take-up counterweight. PRO-BELT allows any configuration, even unusual designs, such as inclined conveyors with tail drives or regenerative conveyors with head drives.
   Design any length overland belt conveyor without limit. Divide the conveyor into as many as 24 sections as desired. Fully load, partially load or unload any section for running special conveyor loading simulations.
For more information contact Professional Designers & Engineers, Inc., Kent R. Rieske, BSME, PE, 5086 Cottonwood Drive,Boulder, CO 80301 USA. Tel: 303 - 927 - 6937 Fax: 303 - 953 - 9725 Internet: http://www.pro-belt.com/

"Sidewinder" conveyor design software.
AC-Tek designs overland conveying systems.  Sidewinder was developed from the ground up using the latest software development tools and years of conveyor design experience. The program’s features interface and entire hierarchical structure was thoroughly laid out before development began. The program can handle conveyors of any geometry, length, and drive configuration. Numerous advanced features have also been included such as; vertical and horizontal curve analysis, turnover and transition stress and requirements, quick geometry input, auto sizing and calculations of major components, terrain modeling, dynamic analysis, and much much more.
For more information Contact AC-Tek at 507-345-5748; email: kruse@actek.com; or visit the Web site at: http://www.actek.com/

BELTSTAT v7.0
BELTSTAT is used to design a wide variety of conveyor systems including the strongest and longest. BELTSTAT is intended to be a design tool and a computational aid to competent and experienced conveyor design engineers. Using good engineering judgment and conveyor design experience, users can quickly arrive at the following conveyor design results: Belt width and speed; Belt tension rating; Counterweight tension; Horsepower rating of drive motors; Drive motor starting characteristics; Idler specifications and spacing; Pulley and shaft design; Vertical curve radii and required special idler spacing; Brake size (if required); and Flywheel requirements (if applicable).
For more information contact  Conveyor Dynamics, Inc., 360-671-2200.  On the Internet at http://www.conveyor-dynamics.com