Bionic Design of the Surface Morphology of Rubber Bush Covered on Driving Drums

Driving drum uses friction force to transfer power in belt conveyor. By means of bionic technology, the surface morphology of driving drum's flexible cladding was researched to increase the frictional traction force in this paper. Taking tree frog and katydid as biological prototypes, the structural features and adhesion mechanisms of their epidermal pad attachment organs were studied. Imitating the shape and structure of the epidermal pads, based on the principle of function bionics, four new surface morphologies of drum’s bush were designed. The behavior of the bionic bush contacting to the belt was simulated with finite element analysis software. The results of contact analysis show that the bionic drum’s bushes can generate embedding and interlocking effect during the contact process. The contact form can be changed from plane or cambered surface contact to meshing contact to enhance the frictional traction of drums. Keywords: Epidermal pad; Surface morphology; Bionic design; Finite element analysis; Friction