The material used for transmission belts and ropes must be strong and flexible and should have high coefficient of friction to provide higher efficiency. So the transmission belts material plays a major role in power transmission. According the transmission belt material is classified as follow.
1. Leather belt:
This are the most important transmission belt used in workshops. It is made by 1.2 meter to 1.5 meters long strips cut from either side of the bhack bone of the top grade steer hides. The hair side of lather is more smoother and harder than the flesh side but the flesh side is interwoven and parallel to the surface. The leather may be either oak-tanned or mineral salt tanned. To increase the thickness of transmission belts, the strips are cemented together. According to this the transmission belt are designate by the numbers of layers, single ply, double ply etc.
2. Cotton or fabric belt:
Canvass or cotton duck are used in the fabric transmission belts. These transmission belts are made by three or more layer stitching together. These transmission belts are woven also into a strip of the desired width and thickness. These transmission belts are impregnated with some filler like linseed oil in order to make transmission belts water proof and to prevent injury to the fibers. The cotton transmission belts are suitable in warm climates, in damp atmospheres and in exposed positions. Since cotton transmission belts require little attention, therefore these transmission belts are used in farm machinery, transmission belt conveyor etc.
3. Rubber belt:
The rubber belts are made of layers of fabric impregnated with rubber composition and have a thin layer of rubber on the faces. These transmission belts are very flexible but the quickly destroyed if allowed to come into contact with heat, oil and grease. The rubber has elastic quality so these transmission belts are easily made endless. These transmission belts are found suitable for saw mills, paper mills where they are exposed to moisture.
4. Balata belts:
These transmission belts are similar to rubber belts except that balata gum is used in place of rubber. These transmission belts are acid proof and water proof and it is not effected by animal oils or alkalies. This transmission belt has higher strength than rubber belt.
These are the main types of transmission belts used in industries and material used to manufacture transmission belts. If you got any query, put in comment box. If you like this article, don’t forget to share it on social networks. Subscribe our website for more informative articles. Thanks for reading it.