Parametric Optimization of Belt Conveyor Supporting Structure Using FEA-DOE Hybrid Modeling

The supporting structure use in track mounted convoyer. It should be rigid enough to withstand the vibration and other stresses. Along with strength, an important consideration in structure design is to have adequate bending. The main objective of the research is to obtain the minimum weight of supporting structure. The structure model is to be developed in Solid works 2012 and analyzed using Ansys14.5. Since the no. of parameters and levels are more, the probable models are too many. So, to select optimum parameters among them large no of modeling and analysis work is involved which consumes more time. To overcome this problem TAGUCHI method along with FEA is use. The weight reduction of the side bar is achieved by changing the Parameters using orthogonal array. Then FEA is performed on those models to get the best solution. This method can save material used, production cost and time.