Home

Foundations™ Learning Center

Foundations Learning Center

Below is a list of all the blog posts you are posting that your
visitors might be interested in...

Threats to the Pulley and the Conveyor

When materials become trapped between the belt and a pulley, both components can be significantly damaged. These damages are not necessarily limited to significant amounts of material, and it is entirely possible to see more than one of the following failures:

Degradation of the Fugitive Material

Any material that falls between the conveyor belt and the pulley poses a potential danger if the material fails, Breaking down into small enough particles to fit between the components. Material trapped in this location can allow the belt to slip against the pulley, causing the non-carrying underside of the belt to wear. Because the underside of the belt lacks the durable top cover that protects the load-bearing side of the belt, even small particles can prove damaging with long exposure.

Over time, the buildup of materials in a tail pulley can lead to belt wander, potentially causing damage to the edge of the belt or conveyor structure itself.


Entrapment of material between the pulley and the belt can damage the pulley and/or the belt.

Failure of the Belt

While degraded materials and fines or small particles can cause wear on the belt through steady abrasion, there is also the possibility of more sudden and more significant damage to a belt. Any material entrapped between the pulley and the belt has the potential for forcing its way out through the top cover of the belt, particularly if the material is a lump with sharp edges.

These gouges and tears can create uneven belt surfaces that can be exacerbated by normal wear from material loading and regular abrasion they can sometimes extend across the length or width of the belt depending on the nature of the damage.

Failure of the Pulley

Though conveyor belts are often more susceptible to abrasion and wear, pulleys can also easily be damaged by stray materials, leading to pulley misalignment and pulley slippage. Both types of damage will often lead to further damage to the belt.

Recurring Problem

The most damaging problem arising from the entrapment of material between the belt and tail pulley is the fact that it can become a repeating phenomenon. If material gets pinched between the belt in the pulley it can sometimes be pulled all the way around the pulley. However, at the tail pulley, this material will most likely fall back onto the returning belt, where it will be caught in the pulley once again, in essence, if it initially fails to break something, the lump will keep trying until a failure occurs or the lump is removed from the belt.

Topics: Conveyor Belt Component Damage

Leave Comment