Condition monitoring of belt based motion transmission systems

A key asset of Royal Mail Group consists of a nationwide network of sorting offices that forms a constituent component of the means through which the organisation provides an efficient nationwide postal service within the United Kingdom. It may be argued that the efficiency currently possessed by modem sorting offices is due to the utilisation of machines that automate the process of sorting items of mail. The modem letter-sorting machine possessed by Royal Mail can sort up to 30,000 letters per hour; such machines serve as an example of an achievement of the application of Mechatronics. The maintenance of letter sorting machines constitutes a large overhead for the organisation. In the face of competition from pervasive electronic media within the personal communications market and the prospect of deregulation, Royal Mail seeks to streamline its operation in part by the reduction of the overheads incurred through maintenance of letter sorting machinery. The adoption of condition based maintenance techniques and predictive maintenance, for letter sorting machine components such as belts and bearings, forms part of the strategy through which Royal Mail seeks to reduce this overhead. Utilisation of flat belts and timing belts for the implementation of key functions in letter sorting machinery, such as the transportation of items of mail within the mail sorting process, results in the use of many such components within letter sorting machinery. A direct link exists between the maintenance of peak performance of a sorting machine and the maintenance of belt drives; as such the maintenance of belt drives forms a substantial component of the maintenance overhead. The focus of this thesis consists of the condition monitoring of belt based motion transmission systems and in particular, flat belts. The research that forms the basis of this thesis consists of three elements. Firstly, consideration of current knowledge of belt based power transmission such as knowledge of the mechanics of the belt based power transmission process within the context of condition monitoring... [cont'd]