Cosine-Trapezoidal Soft-Starting Control Strategy for a Belt Conveyor

To improve the soft-starting performance of a belt conveyor, a cosine-trapezoidal soft-starting control strategy is proposed. With this strategy, the speed curve for soft-starting is S-shaped, continuous, and smooth. The acceleration and jerk are also continuous and smooth without discontinuities. The time-interval ratio of the horizontal and cosine curves can be changed via a single parameter setting, so that the strategy can be modified to meet different practical needs. In this paper, the soft-starting control strategy of cosine trapezoid is analyzed and simulated based on current international and domestic standards. The results show that compared with the classical soft-starting control strategy, the cosine-trapezoidal soft-starting control strategy enables the belt conveyor to start at its highest efficiency. Moreover, the energy savings are obvious, the safety performance is good, and the controllable performance is excellent.