4. Mechanical Effect of Scraper Conveyor Based on DEM

In the process of transportation in the middle trough, the coal bulk acts as the load of the scraper conveyor, and the force on the related parts affects their normal work, may cause malfunctions and the scraper conveyor cannot work normally. Moreover, its load characteristics have a significant impact on the normal operation and service life of related components. In previous studies, load of coal bulk was often regarded as a concentrated load acting at a certain point, ignoring the time variability of load of coal bulk and its related load caused by the interaction of components. In this chapter, EDEM was used to simulate the distribution and flow characteristics of coal in the middle trough under different conditions, as well as the load distribution characteristics of coal and the force characteristics of affected parts. Based on the simulation results, the distribution of wear area of the middle plate, the size of wear and the wear reason of the middle plate were analyzed.