Applied Science and Engineering Journal for Advanced Research

1. Introduction

In order to overcome the limitations of single-reinforcement composites and polymers in the areas of high hardness values, wear resistance, heat resistance, and fire resistance, hybrid composites have recently been developed [1]. Recent studies on hybrid composites has focused on combining certain fibers to create composite materials. Among the many benefits of hybrid composites are their high tensile, flexural, elastic, impact energy, thermal stability, and resistance to abrasion and wear [2, 3, 4].

A pulley is a wheel that has a belt, chain, cable, cord, or other flexible rope attached to its rim. Pulleys can be used alone or in combination to transfer motion and energy. Sheaves are pulleys with rims that include grooves. Pulleys represent important components in various industries, bringing about the need for materials that can withstand significant mechanical stress, wear, and toughness [5]. Traditional materials such as steel cast iron, and plastics have been performing this function a long time but the emergence of composite materials opens a pathway to enhance performance while promoting sustainability.

In the Pulley application, the development and fabrication of an aluminum-reinforced composite creates a favorable way to overcome the disadvantages of conventional materials, such as reduced weight, improved toughness, and wear resistance [6]. Combining the distinct qualities of soda-lime glass, silica sand, and aluminum, the suggested hybridized composite provides a viable alternative that combines robustness, hardness, reduced wear, and toughness [7, 8].

Rounak et.al 2021) [9] Investigated using steel material, a composite material of Ti, Al, Cr, Mo, Zr (SS), and the ZnAC41A alloy in the design and numerical simulation of a spur gear using SolidWorks simulation. Material properties of all three materials, such as yield stress, ultimate tensile strength, Poisson ratio, and modulus of elasticity, were used for the formulation characterization in order to analyze Results of strain, stress, and deformation under a determined load. Findings from the study indicated that the composite material was characterized by a lighter weight and showed minimum deformation under load.

With the help of proper technical documents, the design of the connecting rod was adequately done with standard specifications. Maximum Normal Stress and Maximum Equivalent (Von-Mises) Stress were less than yield strength from analysis study. Connecting rod material strength was evaluated to be 1.26 with a factor of safety of 3.406

A state-of-the-art fatigue propagation model to a new cohesive model for the initiation of fatigue, making use of initiation S-N curve data in predicting the cycles of delamination. A Mechanical APDL in ANSYS with user-defined cohesive element was developed that successfully predicted crack growth rates in fatigue propagation and successfully simulated test cases with multiple delamination in fatigue initiation and propagation. [15]

Maximum stress and deformation were determined and compared using SolidWorks; disc and six-spoke were flywheels were analyzed. Grey cast iron and S-glass fiber were used as material for the model for finite element analysis. The energy-storing capability of the thresher machine was enhanced through proper material selection and geometrical arrangement design for a flywheel. It was investigated that centrifugal loading on a cast iron flywheel with a solid disc results in larger levels of stress, but less deformation. [16]

The properties of the interface fiber and aluminum matrix using a two-dimensional planar FE model. From the simulation results, it was reported that the cohesive layer behaves almost exactly like the matrix during the linear elastic deformation before the occurrence of damage. Young's modulus and shear modulus values of the cohesive layer were assumed to be equivalent to those of the matrix material in the FE simulation for analyzing the debonding behavior of these MMCs. It was also observed that the cohesive layer concept for the interface can be utilized in determining the shear stress at which the damage initiates. [17]

In this study, silica sand and soda-lime glass-reinforced hybridized composite with steel and cast iron material were used for the analysis of the pulley material with SolidWorks simulation. Analysis includes stress, strain, deformation, and mesh. Results from the analysis were then used to make relative comparisons in terms of the chosen analysis.

2.3 Simulation Criteria

The static simulation is derived from the design calculation of a shaft attached to the pulley as the drive rotates with a speed of 1500 rpm over a pulley diameter of 54.1 mm. The torque is then calculated to result in 318.3 Nm with a power of shaft 31.42 kW. These criteria and boundary conditions were used to prepare the simulation study. Table 3 is the table that presents all criteria and the magnitude of all relevant criteria needed for the simulation.

Table 3: Static Simulation Criteria

2.4. Mesh Properties

The mesh parameters provided are good for a 3D finite element analysis, using a solid mesh type and standard meshing approach to balance resolution and computational efficiency. Disabling automatic transitions ensures uniform element sizes, which is good to avoid abrupt changes in density but requires manual refinement in critical areas. The mesh has a 4-point Jacobian with a high mesh quality setting, which will maintain accuracy with the linear element but would be higher if nonlinear problems were present. An element size of 4.35961 mm with a tolerance of 0.217981 mm balances between detail and the speed of processing, while a high-quality plot ensures that the result is numerically stable as represented in Table 4. Figures 1, 2, and 3 are the mesh plots for the three pulley models of steel, hybridized, and cast iron composites, respectively

Table 4: Mesh Information for Model Pulley

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Stress Analysis of Pulley Materials

The static simulation of the pulley shown in Figure 4 showed that the maximum von Mises stress is 2.255 × 10⁷ N/m² near the inner edge of the hub, while for the outer parts, it is less. It must be noted that the calculated stresses are much below the material yield strength value of 5.902 × 10⁷ N/m², thus meaning the pulley, in this condition, is within its elastic limit and is safe from permanent deformation under applied conditions. Nonetheless, stress concentrations at the hub reveal promising spots for design refinement through radius fill-ins or geometry changes to achieve improved durability. The deformation scale is exaggerated for visualization and does not represent actual physical deformation.

The von Mises plot of the pulley has a minimum of 4.410e+03 N/m² and a maximum of 2.280e+07 N/m² as seen in figure 5, which is well below the yield strength of the material, 2.500e+08 N/m². Thus, this design is structurally safe under the applied load. The high-value stress regions are concentrated around the hub and on load-carrying surfaces of the pulley, with low-stress regions out on the outer rims. The deformation has been exaggerated by a factor of 44.84 to view it easily.

This von Mises stress analysis of the pulley in Figure 4 shows the highest stresses near the central hub and inner edges of the groove, with decreasing stresses toward the outer edges. The maximum stress (2.284×107 N/m²) is well below the yield strength (1.75 × 10⁸ N/m²). That is, the design is safe under the current load. However, the local concentration of stress near the hub may require further inspection for possible fatigue.

3.2 Displacement Analysis of all Model Pulley Materials

Figure 7 is an FEA results display in terms of the static loading analysis for the displacement distribution of the pulley. The displacements are in red at 1.258 mm, light blue indicates areas that see the least amount of displacement, and the overall distortion is amplified by a factor of 6.05591 for clarity. Such asymmetry means there could be non-uniform loading or non-uniform constraints: Confirmation of loading conditions, material properties, and boundary constraints will be necessary for further analysis.

The static displacement plot indicates that displacements vary within a very small range, from 1.000e-030 to 1.713e-003 mm, indicating that it deforms minimally and retains its structural integrity under the load applied. Maximum displacement is recorded on the outer rim, while its central hub exhibits no essential displacement due to its boundary conditions, which are fixed. The resultant deformation is amplified with a scale factor of 44.84. The results confirm the design's robustness, though material optimization in low-displacement areas near the hub could reduce weight if necessary, as depicted in figure 8.

Figure 9: Total displacement analysis of the pulley. The red regions display the maximum displacement, occurring at the outer edges. The displacement of the rigid central hub is minimal and shown as blue. The magnitude is 2.835×10⁻² mm at maximum. The small range of displacement could suggest that the pulley has not shown any loss of structural integrity under the load applied.

The color contours in this FEA in figure 11 result show the static strain distribution in a pulley, with strain concentrated around the central hub and along certain curved sections, as depicted by the red and orange regions of the color scale. Deformation has been exaggerated 448:24 to enhance visibility; the outer surfaces have little strain (blue areas). The results point to some possible stress concentration near the hub, also in agreement with similar study of Ezechukwu et al [18]

FEA analysis of the pulley in Figure 12 shows strain distribution under static loading, with maximum strain (1.259e-003) concentrated around the inner bore and hub, as indicated by green to yellow regions, while the outer rim and middle surfaces experience minimal strain (blue). The symmetrical distribution suggests balanced loading conditions, but the strain concentration at the hub may require design improvements. Figure 13 is the actual produced hybridized pulley composite from silica sand and soda-lime glass reinforcement accompanied by the steel pulley that served as the pattern in the production of the composite in a cylindrical blank before machining.

Figure 10: Strain analysis of Hybrid Pulley

yield strength, and poison ratio for the three production (A36 grade steel material, cast iron material, and hybridized composite) within a torque level of 318.3 Nm and the same boundary conditions indicated sufficiency in service life operation conditions. The maximum von Mises stress, displacement, and strain of the three simulated pulley materials are presented in Table 5 below. The weight levels of the three materials used in the pulley are also presented in the table below, indicating that the hybridized pulley had the least weight compared to that of steel and cast iron.

Table 5: Summary from Simulation and Finite element analysis of Materials for Pulley

Author Contributions:All the authors contributed to the development of the work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Declarations:Ethics approval and consent to participate This work does not include humans and animals and hence does not require ethical approval from any committee and does not require consent to participate in the research.

Consent for Publication: The authors give the publisher the consent to publish the work.

Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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