Friction properties of 5PK belt made by various manufacturers

One of the problems occurring at the stage of creating belt transmission models is determining the tribological properties at the belt-pulley interface. These properties depend on the manufacturer and, most importantly, on the materials and technological processes used during the belt production. The article presents the research results of 5PK belts from various manufacturers used in belt transmissions of the alternator and air conditioning compressor pump, i.e. FEAD (Front Engine Accessory Drive) systems. The main goal of the research was to check whether these belts would differ in their tribological properties. Belts from ten different manufacturers were subjected to experiments. The research was divided into two stages. First, the values of the friction coefficients of the belt fragment were determined when trying to force it to move around the pulley. Subsequently, an analysis was conducted to establish the relationship between the belt slip installed in the transmission and the resistance torque in all the cases under consideration. As shown in the work, belts from various manufacturers differ in both the surface layer structure interacting with the pulley and the values of friction and slip coefficients. Finally, a simplified model was proposed to analyze the dynamics of belt transmissions, using research results presented in this work.