Safe and faultless operation of belt conveyor systems is a crucial factor in maintaining the availability of interlinked conveying systems employed in mining operations; the use of components with a high efficiency or low energy consumption and energy-conserving plant operation modes allow economic efficiency to be enhanced, With the power increase of single drives to 2500 kW the static design is gaining significance and - with the introduction of variable-speed conveyor drives - particular importance is also to be attached to the proper dynamic design and adjustment of the drive units. Comprehensive measurement and computational studies made of different conveyor drive units in the 900 to 2500 kW power range revealed that excitations of torsional natural frequencies caused by the drives' tooth contact frequencies were the reason for the damage that had occurred; remedial measures were developed the efficacy of which was demonstrated in practice. Moreover, investigations aimed at precautionary damage prevention are described which were performed with newly designed gears prior to the conversion of proven conveyor drives to variable-speed drive units, When designing new gears in the future, we recommend to also investigate them with regard to their dynamic behaviour in the drive train during the design phase by performing appropriate torsional vibration analyses.
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