Study on the mechanical effect and wear behaviour of middle trough of a scraper conveyor based on DEM–MBD

Middle trough is the main-force portion of a scraper conveyor during transport, and its performance directly affects the reliability and service life of the scraper conveyor. To investigate the wear of a middle trough, a coupling-wear model of a middle trough was built to analyse the motion state and stress of a scraper, and the wear of the middle trough was analysed according to the wear morphology of the middle plate. The research results demonstrated that the simulation model based on coupling of the discrete element method and multi-body dynamics could effectively simulate the transport conditions of a scraper conveyor. The wear of the middle trough was mainly caused by three-body wear. Formation of three-body wear required that the coal particles between the scraper (chain) and middle plate must be in a certain position and posture, and the coal particles were subjected to the normal force of the scraper (chain) and middle plate. Constant fluctuation in the movement and force of the scraper (chain) resulted in uneven wear of the middle trough and random occurrence of three-body wear. This study provides a theoretical basis for wear prediction of the middle trough of a scraper conveyor and a simulation basis for further research on the wear resistance of a middle trough.