PROFESSIONAL

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EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF
TIMING BELT HEIGHT AT INTER-
TEETH

EKSPERIMENTALNO ODRE IVANJE

DEBLJINE ME UZUBLJA ZUP ASTOG
KAIŠA

Ph. D. Blaza Stojanovic,Assistant professor*1,

Ph. D. Lozica Ivanovic, Associate professor1
Andreja Ilic, Ph. D. student1

1
Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Serbia

ABSTRACT

Experimental determination of timing belt height at with teeth of the pulley. The first design of timing
inter-teeth is presented in this paper. Firstly, the belt was developed by Richard Case in 1946.
kinematic analyse of meshing at timing belt power Reliability and working life and of timing belt
transmitter is done. On the basis of the results, transmitters are highly influenced of invariability of
obtained by kinematic analyse, identification and timing belt geometrical dimensions. Primarily, this
analysis of tribomechanical systems at timing belt- is related to timing belt pitch and its width, height of
pulley of the power transmitter are done. Special timing belt at inter-teeth and total height of timing
focus is put on tribomechanical system that consist belt. Variation of only one of those values cause
of inter-teeth space-head of pulley teeth. unbalanced operation, vibrations, noise and failures
Experimental testing was done by special, custom of timing belt transmitter and whole machine
design and made, testing device that operate as open system. It is obvious that shape and design of timing
power loop. Variations of timing belt pitch, width belt cannot by significantly optimized, so analysis of
and height of timing belt, so as variation of timing its geometrical properties must be done during
belt height at inter-teeth are registered during exploitation [1-3].
experimental testing. The registration and analysis
of changings of timing belt height at inter-teeth are 2. KINEMATIC OF MESHING AT TIMING
done with simulation of real exploitative conditions. BELTS

Key words: timing belt, experimental testing, Timing belts and pulleys with trapezoid shape of
tribomechanical system, friction, timing belt height teeth are commonly used for regular industrial
at inter-teeth applications. The widest area of applications of
timing belts is automotive industry. Kinematic
1. INTRUDICTION analysis of timing belt, presented in this paper, is
done at timing belt power transmitter with
Timing belt drives present relatively new concept in trapezoidal profile, as it is experimentally tested one.
transmission of power and motion. The basic Transmission of power and torque by timing belt is
function of timing belt power transmitters is to done by friction and contact of profiles. During
transmit power and torque from driving to driven transmission of power, teeth of timing belt come in
shaft. Transmission of power from driving to driven mesh with inter-teeth of pulley with side and radial
pulley is done by direct contact of timing belt teeth gaps (Fig. 1).

* Address correspodence to Blaza Stojanovic, Ph. D. Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Sestre
Janjic 6, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia, e-mail: [email protected]

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Figure 2. Schematic presenentation of process when

timing belt teeth come in me
mesh with driving pulley
teeth
th

Maximal deformations of teeth

tee are at position 2 (Fig.
Figure 1. Scheme of timing belt
lt meshing with 2). Due to effects of stresses
es and rotation of belt and
driving pulley pulley, deformations are re reduced. The full
superposition of side surfa rfaces of belt teeth and
The motions of timing belt in tange gential, radial and pulley are done at position on 0 (Fig. 2). For now,
axial direction are caused during ccontact of timing contact is at surface. Proce cess of timing belt teeth
belt and pulley. Those motions aree ccaused by torque, come in mesh with pulleyy is followed by relative
leading forces, tension forces, radiaial and centrifugal sliding of its side surfaces,, w
when friction is caused.
forces, air resistance, deformations ns of timing belt Value of normal force have ave parabolic dependence
due to flection and elongation,, design solution, and this caused change of frifriction force. The highest
driving element and pulley propert erties, precision of value of normal and frictionn force are at the bases of
production and installation propertirties, so as quality teeth.
of surface finish. As there are la large number of
parameters influent to transmission ion of power and 3. FRICTION AT TIMIG BELTS
B
motion, kinematic analysis of m meshing is very
complex procedure. The largest amount of ppower and motion is
Side surface of timing belt teeth, afte
fter come in mesh, transmitted by shape contac tact, while much smaller
have direct contact with side surfacece of pulley. After amount of power is transm smitted by friction. But,
that, contact is at internal surface ce of inter- teeth effects of friction cannot bbe neglected in general
space of the belt and external surfarface of the pulley case. Friction and its effect
ects at timing belt power
teeth with simultaneous contact at side
si surface of the transmitter are not still fully
lly investigated. At timing
belt with pulley rim. belt power transmitters, conontacts are between metal
The teeth of timing belt are maxi ximally deformed and non-metal or two non-m metal surfaces, differently
when came in mesh with driving pulleypu due to pre- from other power trans nsmitters (gears, chain
tensioning. When come in mesh,, th the heads of belt transmitters, Cardan transmi mitters and so on) where
teeth make contact with side surfaceces of pulley teeth. contacts are between two meetal surfaces [4-6].
The contact is at line for the m moment. Due to The basic tribomechanica ical systems at timing belt
interference, teeth of the timing be belt interfere with transmitter are (Fig. 3):
surface of pulley teeth. Due to elaslastic properties of
timing belt and high rigidity of pul ulley, deformation 1. Belt teeth – pulley
ley teeth,
of belt teeth is done (Fig. 2, position
ion 4). By increase 2. Side surface of be
belt – pulley rim,
of teeth deformation, enlargementt oof contact surface
between belt and pulley is caused.. Contact point of 3. Inter-teeth belt sspace – head of pulley
belt teeth and pulley teeth move frorom the head to its teeth.
base.

8 TECHNICAL DIAGNOSTICS (N 1 - 2014th year)

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which are caused due to its deformations and

differences of load at its teet
eth, caused sliding type of
friction (Fig. 4). Value oof this force can be
determined by following rela lation:

Fti' = c K ⋅ ∆k ,

Where is:
Figure 3. Timing belt power transm
smitter with basic c K - Rigidity of timing belt and
tribomechanical system
tems ∆k - Deformation of timingg belt at envelope arc

The motion types at those tribomec

echanical systems During motions of timin ing belt, changing of
are presented at Tab. 1. directions and values of fri friction forces is caused.
The changings of forces alo long envelope arc caused
Table 1. Tribomechanical systemss aand motion type changings of timing belt ppitch. At driving pulley
at timing belt power trans
nsmitter pitch of timing belt is higheher at active zone, which
caused sliding of timing bbelt in direction of its
Tribomechanical system Mootion type rotation, so friction forces ac
act in direction of tension
teeth of timing belt- i
impact force at inactive zone of the
he belt (Fig. 4). At driven
teeth of pulley s
sliding pulley and belt zone that iss not
n active, pitch is lesser
r
rolling that pitch of the pulley, while
ile it is higher at its active
side surface of belt – i
impact zone. Those differences caus used that friction forces at
pulley rim s
sliding active zone act in opposite ite direction of rotation,
inter-teeth belt space – s
sliding means in direction of force aat zone of belt that is not
head of pulley teeth r
rolling active.

4. TRIBOMECHANICAL SYSTE EM AT INTER-

TEETH OF TIMING BELT AN
ND HEAD OF
PULLEY TEETH

During motion of the timing belt at evelope arc, its

flection and strains are caused. Tim iming belts flex at
multi-angle profile, differently from m flat belts which
flex at continual and smooth curve. e. Flexures of the
timing belts caused internal losing ng and fatigue of
timing belt, means its tension eleme ment. Flection and
strains of the belt at envelop lope arc caused
deformation of the belt.
Besides that, load at teeth of the tim
ming belt decrease
from higher value that act at com me in meshing to
lower value that act when come out ut of meshing. The
highest value of load is at first tooth
oth that is in mesh,
so this tooth is highly deformed.. D Due to different
load at each tooth, the differentt deformations
d are
Figure 4. Friction force at timing belt inter-teeth
caused along envelope arc. Difference of
deformations caused relative motio tions, primarily, at and head of pu
pulley teeth
tangential direction. Also, timing belt
be came in mesh
with maximal strains and come ou out of mesh with Direction of friction forcece Fti' , in general case,
decreased load. Those motionss caused relative depend on sign of total defoformation along envelope
motions in relation to pulley at direc
rection of envelope arc. The highest values of fr
friction forces are caused
arc. Friction occur along whole ole envelope arc in case when high differencence of force distribution
between inter-teeth and head of o pulley teeth. along envelope arc is presen
sent, means in case when
Relative motions of timing belt acrocross envelope arc, high difference of forces betw
etween active and inactive

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zone of belt is present and number er of teeth in mesh 3. Input shaft with mea
easuring devices,
are small. All this lead to conclusiosion that direction
4. Sensor for input shaf
aft number of rotation,
and value of friction force iss changing along
envelope arc in relation to current c position. 5. Torque sensor on inp
input shaft,
Changing of friction forces is presenent when changing 6. Considered powerr transmitter (timing belt
of its pitch is present. The entire ex
explanation, that is pulley),
presented, is related to driving pulley,
p while at
driven pulley, things are in reverse [3-7].
[3 7. Output shaft,
8. Mechanical brake,
S
5. TESTING OF TIMING BELTS
9. Tension mechanism and
Experimental testing of timing beltt is
i done at custom 10. Signal amplifier.
design and made testing device. Th The testing device
operate as open power loop [8-10]. [ As this Configuration of basic eleme
ments of device for testing
experimental testing belong to grou
oup of testing with of timing belt power transmimitter is presented at Fig.
simulation of exploitation condition
ons, it is important 5.
to define demands and limitation ons at process of Driving unit, type KR-11 11/2C (37-180 rpm-1) –
device design in order to obtain in relevant testing producer "Prva petoletka" a" OOUR Devices and
results. elements, Brus, consists of electromotor (1) type
Those demands can be defined as: ZKT90S-4 (totally enc nclosed single phase
• Compact and rigid design, asynchronous motor with cage c rotor with thermal
protection, size 90L, 4-poleole type), friction power
• Wide load range, transmitter, and gear reductctor.
• Simple changings of load level,
lev Design solution provides aautomatic regulation of
pressure between friction dis
discs and compensation of
• ameter ( M opt , n ),
Ability to control load param axial gap due to wear. C Changing of number of
rotations per minute is donee manually, by rotation of
• Ability to obtain highly cocontrolled working wheel that by coupling of gear and bar, radially
regime with precision and reli
eliability, (vertically) move electromot otor with conical friction
• Ability of testing device tto be connected disc from friction wheel. Driving
Dr unit (1) and input
with output peripherals (ggraphical output shaft (3) are connected by Cardan
Ca shaft (2).
devices, computer...). Input, measuring, shaft (3) is design in the way to be
elastically deformed under er maximal torque load.
Inductive sensor of number er of rotations per minute
(4), type MA1 is placed on measuring shaft, so as
torque transducer (5) that is formed of strain gauges
and signal transmitter MT25 2555A that is mounted by
special adapter with batteryy compartment
c BK2801A.

Figure 5. Device for timing bbelt testing

Basic elements of testing device are:

e:
1. Driving unit,
2. Cardan transmitter,
Figure 6. Mecha
hanical Brake

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Input and output shafts (7) are re connected by and back side of belt. The ddevice DIGIMAR that is
considered power transmitter (6), means
m timing belt used for measuring of timin ing belt height at inter-
- pulley system. Tension of timingng belt is done by teeth is presented at Fig. 8.
the tension mechanism (9) with external
e threaded Changing of belt height att inter-teeth (∆t1 ) during
spindle. By spindle rotations the moovements of plate experimental testing can bee calculated
c as:
with output shaft and mechanical bra
brake are done.
Mechanical brake is specially des esigned for open
∆t1 =t 1o −t1
power loop (Fig. 6). Breaking is do done by acting of
breaking pads on both sides of thee disc. Regulation
of force and torque is done manual ally by the means Where is:
of spring and screw. t1 - Value of belt heigh
ght at inter-teeth measured
Mechanical brake obtain certainn braking torque, during experimental testingg aand
means load torque on output shaft ft of timing belt – t1o - Belt height at inter--teeth before testing.
pulley power transmitter. Value ue of torque is
presented on digital display of thee signal amplifier
that gets signal from measuring device
de on shaft by
signal transmitter EV2510A. T The number of
rotations per minute of input shaft
ft iis also displayed
on amplifier gain that gets signal al from inductive
sensor and impulse receiver DV V2556. By that,
working regime at input shaft iis obtained and
regulated.
By adaptations of joining elementsts wwith driving unit
from one side and output shaft ft equipped with
measuring devices, testing of variou
ous types of power
transmitters can be done with th limitations in
dimensions and load regime.

6. TESTING RESULTS AND EV

VALUATION

Measuring of geometrical dimensi sions are done at

ZASTAVA TOOL FRACTORY,, Department for
Quality Providing. In order to obtain
ain relevant results
about changing of considere red dimensions, Figure 8. Device for meas
asuring of geometrical
measuring were done at eight teetheth of timing belt. dimensions – DIGIMAR
D
During experimental testing follow wing values were
measured (Fig. 7): Measuring results of changing
ch of timing belt
• Pitch (h ) , height at inter-teeth, during
ng exploitation, for eight
• Belt width (b ) , considered teeth are presente
ted at Tab. 2 and Fig. 9.

• b (t1 ) and
Height at inter-teeth of the belt 80

• Total belt height (t ) . 70

Belt groove thickness variation [µm]

60

50

40

30

20

Figure 7. Dimensions of tim

iming belt 10

zub 1 zub 2 zub 3 zub 4 zub 5 zub 6 zub 7 zub 8

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

In this paper, the changing of timin

ing belt height at Operation ti
time (h)

inter-teeth is considered. Timing bel

belt height at inter-
teeth is distance between internal side
si of inter-teeth Figure 9. Changing of timi
iming belt height at inter-
teeth
th

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Table 2. Changing of timing belt height at inter-teeth caused. Those movements are caused by torque,
∆t1 = t1o − t1 [ m] circumferential force, pre-tensioning, radial force,
centrifugal force, air, belt deformation due to
∆t1 flection and strain, timing belt design, tension
Exploitation
time (hours)

element and pulley, production tolerances and

Tooth of timing belt installation properties, quality of surfaces, and so on.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 It is obvious that kinematic of meshing at timing belt
5 40 10 6 9 12 19 28 9 transmitters is very complicated. As consequence of
10 42 20 6 13 20 34 30 33 friction and wear, reduction of timing belt height at
20 50 28 14 20 28 39 32 38 inter-teeth is caused, so reduction of total height of
50 52 41 26 32 33 40 34 38 timing belt is, also, directly, caused. By that,
100 60 43 28 33 38 40 36 38
150 60 43 28 39 38 50 38 43
nominal contact surface of timing belt teeth and
200 60 45 30 41 43 60 42 50 pulley teeth is reduced. After 300 hours of
250 62 48 38 49 48 70 50 56 exploitation, the height of timing belt at inter-teeth is
300 62 49 43 51 54 70 52 58 reduced by ~2%, averagely, in relation to starting
value. The consequences of those changings are
The conducted analysis showed that height of timing
unbalanced operation, increase of noise, vibrations,
belt at inter-teeth continually decrease during
and significant reduction of timing belt working life.
exploitation period. During running-in period, that
lasts for approximately 20 hours, this changing is
very significant and it is happening on all of 7. LITERATURE
considered eight belt tooth. The changing during
[1] Perneder, R. & Osborne, I. (2012). Handbook
running-in period is caused by deformations of the Timing Belts: Princilpes, Calculations,
belt, its pitch and width decrease. During period of Applications, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
normal wear timing belt height at inter-teeth [2] Tanasijevi , S. (1994). Mechanical drives: chain
continue to decrease. During period of 20 hours to drives, timing belt drives, cardanic drives, Yugoslav
50 hours of exploitation this changing is significant. tribological society, Faculty of engineering from
After 50 hours of exploitation till 200 hours of Kragujevac. (In Serbian)
exploitation, changing of timing belt height is not [3] Stojanovi , B. Tanasijevi , S. Marjanovi , N.
significant. The highest plastic deformations are Ivanovi , L. & Blagojevi , M. (2011). Wear as the
present during running-in period. Due to the fact that Criterion of Mechanical Transmitters Working Life,
J Balk Tribol Assoc, 17(2), 215-222.
those deformations are small during period of
[4] Stojanovi , B. Babi , M. Marjanovi , N. Ivanovi ,
normal wear, cylindrical wear of tooth head are not L. & Ili , A. (2012). Tribomechanical Systems in
significant, so changings of belt height at inter-teeth Mechanical Power Transmitters, J Balk Tribol
are small. After 200 hours of exploitation changings Assoc, 18(4), 497-506.
of belt height at inter-teeth are significant for all [5] Stojanovi , B. Tanasijevi , S. & Miloradovi , N.
considered eight teeth. By further evaluation of (2009). Tribomechanical Systems in Timing Belt
those values it can be concluded that all values do Drives, J Balk Tribol Assoc, 15(4), 465-473.
not have same trend of changing. But, it can be [6] Stojanovi , B. Miloradovi , N. Marjanovi , N.
concluded that total belt height have larger Blagojevi , M. & Marinkovi , A. (2011). Wear of
changings than belt height at inter-teeth. This Timing Belt Drives, J Balk Tribol Assoc, 17(2),
206-214.
process caused reduction of active teeth height that
[7] Stojanovi , B. Miloradovi , N. Marjanovi , N.
is in contact with teeth of the pulley. If reduction of Blagojevi , M. & Ivanovi , L. (2011). Length
timing belt width after 150 hours of exploitation is Variation of Toothed Belt During Exploitation,
considered, it can be concluded that nominal side Strojniški vestnik, 57(9), 648-654.
surface of belt teeth is, also, caused. As timing belt [8] Stojanovi , B. Ivanovi , L. & Blagojevi , M. 2010).
power transmitters, transmit power by contact of Friction and Wear in Timing Belt Drives, Tribology
profiles and friction, enlargement of belt pitch and in Industry, 32(3), 33-40.
reduction of nominal surface of teeth caused failures [9] Stojanovi , B. Ivanovi , L. & Miloradovi , N.
during exploitation of those power transmitters. (2010). Testing of Timing Belt Drives, IMK-14,
37(4), 77-80.
6. CONCLUSION [10] Asonja, A. Cvetkovic, S. & Mikic, D. (2013).
Testing of cardan shaft operating realiability in
During contact of timing belt teeth with teeth of the agricultural machines, Technical Diagnostics,
pulley, radial and axial movements of belt are 12(3), 12-19.

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