Pulley lagging has historically been treated as a consumable and replaced when there’s a failure, without much further analysis other than historical experience. Mariana Ballestrin from Elastotec explains why making solutions based on historical experience is a simple guess.
Elastotec, a specialist in pulley lagging, has partnered with TUNRA Bulk Solids and the University of Newcastle to better understand how close to the fatigue limit lagging is operating.
As conveyors have increased in capacity, the amount of power being transmitted though the rubber lagging has also increased. As a result, we are now seeing failures of rubber lagging due to delamination of drive pulleys and high-tension bend pulleys.
Lagging Selection is key to obtaining the best possible lagging performance and a recent visit to a pulley refurbishment facility emphasised this with three pulleys on the floor – two with cold bonded ceramic lagging and one with hot vulcanised ceramic lagging.
Experts from the University of Newcastle and Elastotec investigate the emerging issues around pulley friction, the complexity of the issue, and the failures that may result.
Lagging can be of good quality and application can be correct, but lagging can still fail and does. Everything seems right but the lagging still doesn’t perform to expectations. So why does this happen? It’s because the lagging selection is not right for the application.
Ceramic lagging is widely used in applications that require increased levels of grip and long service life.
Elastotec extreme diamond rubber lagging is designed for drive and non drive pulleys that require extended service life.
At Elastotec, we engineer lagging solutions that keep conveyors running. Here are some causes of lagging failure.
Elastotec Direct Bond Ceramic Lagging – application system designed to improve adhesion consistency, reduce lead times, reduce glue wastage and labour time.
