INVESTIGATION OF THE AGEING INFLUENCE ON THE HARDNESS OF ESSENTIAL BELT COMPONENT

ABSTRACT

The accelerated ageing affects the quality of an important element of the belt conveyance – a conveyor belt. This paper analyses the resistance of the belt cover layers to the deterioration caused particularly by the accelerated ageing. The investigation was carried out using the fabric conveyor belts of the P 2000/4 type (4-layer textile belts with a polyamide carcass, the strength of 2,000 N/mm) at different ageing periods. The effect of ageing on the rubber cover layers was identified on the basis of the observed hardness values. The type of the conveyor belt that was more resistant to ageing was identified by analysing the measured data.
The basic methods of thermal ageing, including the analysis of the selected methodology, are presented herein. The hardness of each type of rubber increased due to the ageing and the ageing period also played an important role. The samples exposed to the 3-day ageing at 100 °C showed 2.5 - 3.5% higher hardness values. For the samples exposed to accelerated ageing for 7 days, 4 - 5.3% higher values were observed. These results show that the hardness depends on the ageing period.

Keywords: rubber, ageing, hardness