Structural Design of a Rotary Valve Manipulator of Bulk Materials - Strength Design of Connecting Elements of the Frame and Trolley

The paper is a further step in ongoing research on the incorporation of the proposed bulk material rotary valve assembly into an existing production line serving the food industry in bagging milk powder. The main objective of the present paper is the strength static analysis of the previously presented structural design of the trolley and attachment of the frame structure as a track for the travel. Moreover, analytical engineering calculations whose results provide boundary conditions for the numerical strength design of the assembly of the rotary valve for transporting of bulk materials are included in the paper. The pro-posed mechanism allows precise manipulation of the rotary valve, especially at the time when it is nec-essary to clean the pipe connected to the rotary valve. Such manipulation is currently actual because of increasing the safety of maintenance of machines and equipment as well as because of reducing the physical burden of maintenance workers. The results of the analyses demonstrate the suitability of the design and provide a basis for further research in this area. The results discovered will be implemented in the form of additional boundary conditions in the numerical analyses of the frame itself carrying the whole travel of the trolley with the rotary valve (the frame forms the track for the trolley travel). The aim of the research is to reach a condition where the entire structure is safe for the operator during mainte-nance as well as for its surroundings during normal operation.