METHODOLOGY AND SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION FOR CALCULATING THE DURABILITY OF A V-BELT DRIVE WITH AN ARAMID CORD AND AN IDLER PULLEY

The work presents An engineering methodology for calculating the durability of a V-belt drive with an aramid cord operating with an idler pulley that presses against the back side of the belt and induces additional reverse bending; develops a software implementation of the methodology in Python with a graphical user interface and automatic generation of a report document. The aim of the study is to develop a unified calculation algorithm for predicting the service life of a V-belt drive with an aramid cord that accounts for reverse bending due to the idler pulley, temperature corrections to the friction coefficient and rubber modulus, centrifugal forces, and multi-mode loading. The objective is to formalize a calculation sequence that combines geometric, kinematic, force, and fatigue analyses of the drive and to implement it in software for engineering use. The research methods include an analytical description of the stress–strain state of the V-belt; Euler’s equation for determining belt tensions with an effective friction coefficient; Goodman diagram and Woehler power curve for cord life prediction; assessment of rubber layer life based on the amplitude of alternating bending; and damage summation according to the Palmgren–Miner rule. The novelty of the work lies in the joint consideration within a single algorithm of temperature corrections to the friction coefficient and rubber modulus, additional reverse bending from the idler pulley on the belt back side, centrifugal forces, and identification of the limiting element of the drive (cord or rubber) according to the criterion of maximum accumulated damage. The results are presented as the structure of the methodology, a set of calculation equations, an algorithm flowchart, and a software tool. A test calculation for a combine harvester belt shows that the limiting factor for service life in this configuration is aramid cord fatigue rather than rubber failure due to reverse bending. The proposed methodology and its software implementation are suitable for engineering comparison of drive options at the design stage, for calibrating fatigue curve parameters against experimental data, and for further development of digital calculation modules for drives.