Conveyor belt splicing improvement technology

This work reviews current industry technology used for splicing steel cord and fabric conveyor belts. The focus is on the use of the ‘step method’, which splices belt ends together by vulcanising natural rubber, creating a bond between steel cords and fabric members. Investigation into the use of vulcanised rubber as a bonding medium raises concerns regarding its ability to sustain high loads under shear. Additional limitations arising from reliability, environmental affects and fatiguing were also highlighted as issues. Because of the shortfalls in current joining methods for steel cord belts, development of a new splicing technology has been proposed, with direct cord-to-cord joins with an adhesive bonded splice assembly. Preliminary Finite Element Analysis (FEA) indicates that a combination of cyanoacrylate/acrylic adhesives and a mechanically locking splice assembly can support high-tensile loads transferred through steel conveyor belt steel cords.