Simulation and Experimental Study on Indentation Rolling Resistance of a Belt Conveyor
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe article concerns the rolling resistance of a belt conveyor. After indicating the iterative equation that allows determining the rolling resistance using the finite element method, experiments confirming the usefulness of the formulas are presented. Based on the results from the COMSOL program, rules are presented that allow reducing the rolling resistance, which should have been intuitively expected. The results of the experimental studies were similar to the theoretical results.
It should be noted, however, that not only the reduction of resistance is important. Efficiency is also important. Questions should be asked about the relationship between the factors causing the reduction of rolling resistance and the efficiency of the belt conveyor. Are the indicated relationships linear or maybe non-linear? How much should the rolling resistance be reduced without losing too much efficiency? Maybe it is possible to optimize the parameters of the belt conveyor taking into account rolling resistance and efficiency?
Detailed comments:
1) Maybe remove the "x" designations from Fig. 1, because they suggest that equation (1) has a value of zero? Leave only "a" and "b" and not "x=a", "x=b".
2) Parameter designations written in different ways (cursive and straight). Should be standardized.
3) There are excess spaces before punctuation marks.
4) Sort Table 1 by relaxation time.
5) There should be spaces between numbers and units.
6) Improve the quality of Figures 3 and 4.
7) In Table 1, units are entered in the header row. In individual table cells, these units are no longer needed.
8) Previous works by authors on this subject should be cited.
Author Response
Comments 1: It should be noted, however, that not only the reduction of resistance is important. Efficiency is also important. Questions should be asked about the relationship between the factors causing the reduction of rolling resistance and the efficiency of the belt conveyor. Are the indicated relationships linear or maybe non-linear? How much should the rolling resistance be reduced without losing too much efficiency? Maybe it is possible to optimize the parameters of the belt conveyor taking into account rolling resistance and efficiency?
Response 1: Reducing the running resistance of belt conveyor can improve its running efficiency, and the indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyor accounts for the largest proportion of all its running resistance, so reducing the indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyor can naturally greatly improve its running efficiency. Therefore, this paper studies the indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyor, and the expression of indentation rolling resistance is also calculated and deduced. From the calculation formula, it can be seen that the indentation rolling resistance is related to the thickness, speed and viscoelastic characteristics of conveyor belt, radius of idler and load. At present, no scholars have deduced the mathematical relationship between indentation rolling resistance and operation efficiency as to whether the relationship is linear or nonlinear.
“From the equation (8), it can be seen that the indentation rolling resistance is related to the thickness, speed and viscoelastic characteristics of conveyor belt, radius of idler and load “ is added in line 169 in this article.
Comments 2: Maybe remove the "x" designations from Fig. 1, because they suggest that equation (1) has a value of zero? Leave only "a" and "b" and not "x=a", "x=b".
Response 2: I have modified it according to your request, and added the horizontal and vertical axes in the drawing.
Comments 3: Parameter designations written in different ways (cursive and straight). Should be standardized.
Response 3: Thank you for your comment. I have expressed all the parameters in italics.
Comments 4: There are excess spaces before punctuation marks.
Response 4: I have modified it according to your request, but for italics, it takes up a lot of space, so it is far from punctuation, in fact, there is no space in the middle.
Comments 5: Sort Table 1 by relaxation time.
Response 5: Thank you for your comment. I have rearranged the data in Table 1 according to the increasing order of relaxation time.
Comments 6: There should be spaces between numbers and units.
Response 6: Thank you for your comment. I have added the spaces between numbers and units.
Comments 7: Improve the quality of Figures 3 and 4.
Response 7: Thank you for your comment. I have adjusted the clarity of the picture.
Comments 8: In Table 1, units are entered in the header row. In individual table cells, these units are no longer needed.
Response 8: Thank you for your comment. I have deleted the unit of a single table cell.
Comments 9: Previous works by authors on this subject should be cited.
Response 9: Thank you for your comment. I have added the reference on line 203.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper presents a simulation and an experimental study on indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyors. It considers the influence of load, speed and dimensions.
The paper needs minor modifications or clarifications:
1. Figure 1: Coordinate system with 0x axis should be presented. “a” and “b” should be dimensions on scheme and not “x=a” and “x=-b”.
2. W from Eq. 6 is not load, it is the load per unit of width (length of the idler). Same for when using measurement units N/m (lines 240, 272, Table 3)
3. Table 1: Measurement units from the head of the Table are enough. There is no need for measurement units for the values inside the Table. Where from did you get the values? Is there a reference? Are you considering only the top layer of rubber or all the three layers of the belt?
4. Table 2…5: Even in stabilized condition, the measured tensile force cannot be constant. Is the value of the indentation rolling resistance an average of the measured values over a period of time? What is the maximum deviation in percentage?
Author Response
Comments 1: Figure 1: Coordinate system with 0x axis should be presented. “a” and “b” should be dimensions on scheme and not “x=a” and “x=-b”.
Response 1: I have revised it according to your request.
Comments 2: W from Eq. 6 is not load, it is the load per unit of width (length of the idler). Same for when using measurement units N/m (lines 240, 272, Table 3).
Response 2: Thank you for your comment. The unit “N/m” is misspelled, so I changed it all to “N”.
Comments 3: Table 1: Measurement units from the head of the Table are enough. There is no need for measurement units for the values inside the Table. Where from did you get the values? Is there a reference? Are you considering only the top layer of rubber or all the three layers of the belt?
Response 3: I have modified Table 1. About these parameters are the data measured by experiments done before this paper, I added the reference in line 203. Only one layer of rubber affects the indentation rolling resistance. I added “Because the conveyor belt has three layers, but the one covering layer that contacts with idler will cause indentation rolling resistance” in line 127.
Comments 4: Table 2…5: Even in stabilized condition, the measured tensile force cannot be constant. Is the value of the indentation rolling resistance an average of the measured values over a period of time? What is the maximum deviation in percentage?
Response 4: I added” (average value of 15 s)” in line 345. The maximum deviation in percentage is based on all the data in the table, I added” From all the data in Table 6 and Table 7” in line 396.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis study focuses on the indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyors. The authors perform simulations and experiments to determine the way of reducing the indentation rolling resistance of the belt conveyor. The study is comprehensive; however, the following comments should be addressed before this manuscript can be considered for publication.
1. The abstract and conclusion should be carefully revised. By checking the abstract and introduction, the motivation of this study is still unclear to the reviewer. The authors should explicitly illustrate the motivation for conducting such experiments and simulations.
2. In terms of the simplified model shown in Figure 1, the authors should give a detailed explanation of the model simplification, such as the assumptions, and differences from the real model.
3. The iterative calculation process of the indentation rolling resistance of the conveyor belt consists of six key steps. The authors should summarize it in a flowchart.
4. The simulation is the critical part of this study, the authors should give more details about the simulation model. A typical explanation of the finite element model should at least include the materials, elements, boundaries, loading conditions, etc. The author should update section 4 with more information.
5. For the finite element simulation, how did the authors verify the correctness of the model?
Author Response
Comments 1: The abstract and conclusion should be carefully revised. By checking the abstract and introduction, the motivation of this study is still unclear to the reviewer. The authors should explicitly illustrate the motivation for conducting such experiments and simulations.
Response 1: I added “In order to reduce the indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyor and improve the operation efficiency of it, this paper studies the indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyor.” in the abstract and “in order to reduce the indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyor and improve its operation efficiency” in the conclusion.
Comments 2: In terms of the simplified model shown in Figure 1, the authors should give a detailed explanation of the model simplification, such as the assumptions, and differences from the real model.
Response 2: I added “Because the conveyor belt has three layers, but the one covering layer that contacts with idler will cause indentation rolling resistance, so a ” in line 127.
Comments 3: The iterative calculation process of the indentation rolling resistance of the conveyor belt consists of six key steps. The authors should summarize it in a flowchart.
Response 3: I added the flowchart in line 174.
Comments 4: The simulation is the critical part of this study, the authors should give more details about the simulation model. A typical explanation of the finite element model should at least include the materials, elements, boundaries, loading conditions, etc. The author should update section 4 with more information.
Response 4: Thank you for your comment. I have supplemented the details of the simulation.
Comments 5: For the finite element simulation, how did the authors verify the correctness of the model?
Response 5: I added “Figure 3 adopts Winkler model, and Lu Yan [32] has confirmed the rationality of this model.” in line 209.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThere should be spaces after punctuation marks.
Axle names are written straight.
In the review I spoke about transport efficiency [kg/h] and not energy efficiency.
The article was written reliably as a report of tests conducted to confirm theoretical research.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsPaper good for publishing
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors' response and the manuscript revision look good to me. No further comments about this manuscript.
