Preliminary research of the thermomechanical properties of the round drive belts

Most of the industrial machines use round-shaped drive belts for power transfer. These drive belts are often a few millimeters in diameter, and made of thermoplastic elastomer, especially polyurethane. Their production process requires the bonding step, which is often performed by hot plate butt welding. The authors have undertaken an effort to design an automatic welding machine, which calls for an analysis of the hot plate welding process consisting in describing the dependency between the technological parameters (temperature, pressure force, time) and the quality of the joint. To analyze this process in a proper way, it is necessary to describe the physical phenomena in the material during temperature and force impacts. In this case the research of thermomechanical properties of the belts is needed. The paper shows results of some preliminary research of the thermomechanical properties of the polyurethane. This research allows to predict the material reaction to increased temperature and force during hot plate welding