On-line Continuous Measurement of the Operating Deflection Shape of Power Transmission Belts Through Electrostatic Sensing

The measurement of the operating deflection shape (ODS) of power transmission belts is of great importance for the fault diagnosis and prognosis of industrial belt drive systems. This paper presents a novel method based on an electrostatic sensor array to measure the ODS of a belt moving both axially and transversely. Finite element simulations are performed to study the sensing characteristics of a strip-shaped electrode and the results reveal that the transverse velocity determines the sensor signal. Construction of the ODS is achieved in the frequency domain using the ODS frequency response function. Experiments conducted on a purpose-built test rig show that the belt vibrates at resonant frequencies that are well separated and identifiable using a peak picking method. The ODSs for different vibration modes exhibit similar deformation patterns and the axial motion of the belt determines that the ODSs propagate along the belt length, rather than stay fixed in space.