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Belt Drives

A mechanical drive, sometimes called a power transmission, is usually used to transmit
power and motion from one rotational element to another. Mechanical drives include
belt drives, chain drives, gear drives, wormgear drives and so on. They can be broadly
classified as flexible and non-flexible or rigid power transmission drives. In a flexible
drive, there is an intermediate, flexible element such as a belt or a chain between the
driving and driven shafts. The rotary motion of the driving shaft is first converted into
translatory motion of the belt or chain and then converted back into the rotary motion of
the driven shaft. In a rigid drive, such as in a gear drive, the rotary motion of the driving
shaft is directly converted into the rotary motion of the driven shaft by the direct contact
of pinion and gear. This chapter will discuss in detail the features, as well as analysis
and design of belt drives. The analysis and design of other mechanical drives will be
introduced in the succeeding chapters.

Analysis and Design of Machine Elements, First Edition. Wei Jiang.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte. Ltd. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/Jiang/analysis_of_machine_elements