Influence of Belt Construction on Strain Rate During Tensile Testing of Rubber–Textile Conveyor Belts

Rubber–textile conveyor belts with polyester–polyamide (EP) carcasses are widely used in bulk material handling, where their mechanical performance significantly affects their reliability, safety and service life. Due to the anisotropic structure of the textile reinforcement, the deformation of EP belts is strongly dependent on the loading direction. This study investigates the deformation rate behavior of rubber–textile conveyor belts under uniaxial tensile loading, with an emphasis on the differences between the longitudinal (warp) and transverse (weft) directions. The experimental results show that the strain rate is controlled by different deformation mechanisms of the textile components, which leads to significantly different deformation kinetics under warp and weft loading. The findings provide new insights into the time-dependent tensile behavior of EP belts and support the optimization of the textile carcass design for better durability and sustainability under severe operating conditions.