Universal Computer Model for Studying the Dynamics of a Two-Motor Scraper Conveyor

To study the dynamics of a scraper conveyor (SC), which is one of the main components of a powered coal face complex, the article proposes to use a universal computer model in which the multi-mass system of the traction unit (TU) with lumped parameters is replaced by a script in the form of a MATLAB function, in which the code for modeling the system of TU equations is developed using the Matlab programming language. The results showed that the proposed model provided 2 times faster simulation of the developed model compared to the model of a conveyor made up of the same number of individual elementary masses, while the accuracy of simulation in terms of velocity of the traction unit chain is in the range of 0-5% against a real conveyor. It has been concluded that an efficient method of controlling the head and end drives of the scraper conveyor should be developed to balance their load. The simulation results can be used to predict the fatigue life and determine the optimal pre-tensioning force at an early stage of design, when only a few design parameters are known.