Contact analysis of heavy-duty apron feeder with clearance

The problem of clearance contact between the bearing plate and the supporting guide rail is studied when the heavy‐duty Apron Feeder is subjected to impact load. Based on the energy method, the impact force of the falling ore was calculated, and the nonlinear contact finite element analysis of the structure with clearance was performed using ANSYS Workbench. The results show that at the first moment of contact, the initial contact shape is an approximately linear contact, and then a deformation occurs near the contact line, which quickly evolves from a linear contact to a surface contact. The contact stress distribution is diffused outward along the initial contact boundary and gradually decreases, and the stress concentration occurs at the contact boundary. When the distance is different, the shape of the contact area is similar, but when the distance is large, the contact area is small and the stress distribution is more concentrated. The nonlinear contact calculation of the skirt feeder reveals the instantaneous contact process of the plate rail under the impact force and determines the influence of the distance size on the contact properties, which provides a theoretical basis for the selection of the distance value.