Horizontal Bending Angle Optimization Method for Scraper Conveyor Based on Improved Bat Algorithm

The horizontal bending angle of scraper conveyor has a great influence on the running resistance, the current consumption, coal winning efficiency of the working surface, etc. Approximately 1-3 degrees is usually the range of horizontal bending angle, but does not indicate the optimum bending angle of the coal mining face. To find the optimal horizontal bending angle, an optimization method is proposed. A mathematical calculation model of the running resistance of the scraper is established based on the direction of the shearer operation. Then, a method of adjusting the step size of the search by inertia weight and expanding fly distance range obeying the t-distribution is proposed based on the basic bat algorithm (BA). Finally, an industrial application was conducted in 21220 Changcun fully mechanized coal mining face, Henan Province. The results show that the current consumption by the scraper conveyor was reduced by 31% when the horizontal bending angle of the S-bending area was 0.66 degrees. Meanwhile, the theoretical current has good consistency with the experimental data, and the average absolute error was 3%.