The chosen belt specification was one typically used in the sintering process of the
powder metal industry. Fig. 1 shows a section of a typical
balanced woven wire mesh furnace belt prior to being put
into service. The belt is constructed by forming wire into
elongated coiled spirals and then tying the spirals together
with cross rods (Figs. 2 and 3). This studv used a furnace belt
commonly referred to as a B-36-10-8-10. It is a balance
weave, which means the belt is assembled with alternating left
and right hand spirals. The belt has 36 loops per foot of
width and 10 loops (or cross rods) per foot of length. The
connecting rods and spiral loops were made from 8- and
10-gauge 314 stainless steel alloy wire, respectively. These
belts are typically two to four feet wide and the lengths vary.
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| Fig. 1 Typical balanced woven wire mesh furnace belt. |
Fig. 2 Woven wire mesh belt spiral loops and connecting rod. |
Fig. 3 An assembled mesh belt link. |
The analyses used the material properties of 310 stainless
steel at 2000o F instead of 314
stainless steel alloy due to the
lack of material properties for 314 stainless steel alloy at
2000o F. The Nickel Development Institute felt that the
mechanical properties of 310
stainless steel would be similar
to 314 stainless steel alloy
at elevated temperatures. A
Young's Modulus of 8.40 x 106
psi and a Poisson's Ratio of
0.27,[2] along with area properties listed in Table I, were used
for the linear analyses.
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| Table I Cross Sectional Area Properties |