Assessment of the flight section strength of an armoured face conveyor

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2026-4S-113-119

Читать на русскоя языкеA.D. Lazarev, I.A. Zhukov
Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
Russian Mining Industry №4S/ 2026 p. 113-119

Abstract: The article sets the task of assessing the strength of a flight section of an armoured face conveyor, which operational loading has a complex character, thereby forming a complex stress-strain state. In the existing engineering practice, the strength of the section is assessed by individual structural elements, which does not allow taking into account the combined effect of stresses and identifying critical areas at the design stage. It is established that direct application of the finite element method to a complete model of the section involves significant computational costs, and modeling welded joints as a solid body introduces an additional systematic error in the stress calculation. Application of the superelement method is proposed as a solution, based on decomposition of the structure into subsystems, which allows reducing the order of the final system of equations while maintaining the accuracy of the initial discretization. A minimally sufficient design scheme has been established and the structural element limiting the bearing capacity of the node has been identified using the guide rail subsystem as an example.

Keywords: coal mining, armoured face conveyor, conveyor flight section, strength assessment, finite element analysis, superelement method

For citation: Lazarev A.D., Zhukov I.A. Assessment of the flight section strength of an armoured face conveyor. Russian Mining Industry. 2026;(4S):113–119. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2026-4S-113-119

Article info

Received: 02.06.2026

Revised: 29.07.2026

Accepted: 10.08.2026

Information about the authors

Artur D. Lazarev – Postgraduate Student, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation

Ivan A. Zhukov – Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9068-3201; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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