Vibration Characteristics of an Industrial-Scale Flip-Flow Screen with Crank-Link Structure and Parameters Optimization

Flip-flow screens are increasingly used in the processing of fine wet coal. In this work, the vibration characteristics of an industrial-scale flip-flow screen with crank-link structure (FFSCLS) were investigated theoretically and experimentally. An improved kinematic model of FFSCLS was proposed and experiments are carried out to verify the reasonability. The effects of the key parameters of the eccentricity of the crankshaft, the rotational speed of the crankshaft, and the tension length of the screen surface on the vibration characteristics of the screen were investigated parametrically. The results show that the kinematic model can describe the vibration characteristics of screen perfectly with the maximum error between the theoretical and experimental results being within 6.96%. Moreover, the key parameters of the eccentricity of the crankshaft, the rotational speed of the crankshaft, and the tension length of the screen surface have significant effects on the vibrations of the screen body and screen surface. These parameters should be optimized to achieve maximum screening performance of the FFSCLS. This work should be useful for optimal design and efficient operation of the flip-flow screen.