Impact of wire rope polygonal effect on turnover rail vibration in carriage belt conveyors

Abstract Carriage belt conveyors represent a novel type of bulk material handling system with distinctive wheel–rail contact features. The turnover mechanism enables the carriages to transition seamlessly between the carry and return segments, facilitating continuous cyclic operation. When the wire rope interacts with the pulley, the presence of carriages disrupts full contact between the wire rope and the wheel, resulting in a dynamic polygonal structure. However, existing research has given limited attention to the polygonal effect of the wire rope. To address this gap, this study proposes a carriage-turnover rail coupled dynamic model that incorporates the polygonal effect of the wire rope. The model reveals the influence mechanisms of wheel radius, turnover rail radius, and carriage spacing on the geometric configuration and mechanical characteristics of the wire rope polygon. Based on the wire rope polygonal effect theory, an experimental prototype was developed. Experimental results confirmed that the carriages reliably followed the preset path through the turnover rail, demonstrating stability and smoothness. These findings validate the practical feasibility of the wire rope polygonal effect theory and provide valuable insights for improving track vehicles driven by wire ropes.