Mechanics Of Tape Contact With Circumferentially Grooved Cylindrical Rollers: Experiments And Modeling

Tape contact with a grooved roller was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The experiments were carried out for a stationary tape due to difficulty of measurements during operation. Nevertheless, this work showed that the tape deflects into the grooves and deflects up and away on the lands, as predicted recently. Variations in groove and land height and width were identified. Effects of these variations on the contact pressure between the tape and the grooves were investigated by using an original shell model. This showed that while the total contact pressure over the grooved roller is equal to the belt wrap pressure (T/Rb) local contact pressure over the corners of the grooves can reach considerably higher values, with the expected positive implications in lateral tape guiding. The work also showed that the sensitivity of the contact pressure to groove manufacturing parameters to be relatively small.