Transient Vibrations During Acceleration and Braking of Bucket Elevator Chain

The paper deals with an analysis of transverse vibrations of a bucket elevator chain, arising during the acceleration and braking process of the drive sprocket. A linear model of a moving string was used to describe the vibrations, and the force of gravity and the longitudinal force component resulting from the axial acceleration were taken into account. A vibration analysis was performed in a non-inertial coordinate system connected with the moving ends of the chain. Galerkin’s method was used in the numerical calculations. Example calculation results for the industrial bucket elevator made it possible to determine the conditions for exceeding the permissible level of transverse displacements in the chain. The created calculation algorithm can be used in engineering practice at the design stage of the bucket elevator system, allowing the optimal control method for the acceleration and deceleration process of the drive sprocket to be determined based on the given operating parameters.