Phenomena occurring in the operation of conveyor belts are belt walking in the axial direction of the rollers and belt deformation in the belt plane [1, S. 142]. Whereas [2–4] investigate the first effect in detail [2–4], the latter is mostly neglected. The authors therefore focus on the calculation of the deformation of the elastic conveyor belt during dynamic operation using a flexible multibody approach. To consider the flexibility of the belt in an efficient way, the model uses the well-known Lumped-Mass-Approach. The discretization of the model (number and distance of masses) thereby impacts the shape of the band deformation. The article investigates the minimum required discretization for two dimensions, the effect on the system response and the influence on the computation time. As an example, a two-roller system with flexible, cylindrical rolls and a flexible conveyor belt is used. The results of the model will be compared with theoretical expectations and show very promising results.
