International OPEN ACCESS Journal Of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER) | IJMER | ISSN: 2249–6645 | www.ijmer.com | Vol. 4 | Iss. 4 | Apr. 2014 | 1 | Performance Evaluation of Friction Belt Apparatus Using Indigenous Materials Durowoju M.O 1 , Sangotayo E. O 2 , Orowole I. A 3 1, 2, 3 (Department of Mechanical Engineering, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso-Nigeria) I. Introduction and Concept Man’s quest for a better life has led him to various technological breakthroughs . Some of these breakthroughs are recorded in machine design, particularly in the area of power transmission in engines. Power transmission is a function of belt tension. Fatigue, more so than abrasion, is the culprit for most belt problems, due to stress from rolling around the pulleys. High belt tension, excessive slippage, adverse environmental conditions and belt overloads caused by shock, Vibration or belt slapping, all contribute to belt fatigue. (Attaway et al 1999). In some cases in machine design, in the past, belt tension with respect to the pulley diameter and surface on which the belt moves were not taken into cognizance therefore slip occurred and therefore maximum power transmission could not be achieved. Belt tension should be adjusted to belt type, size, and speed and pulley diameter. The equation that describes the relationship between tension ratio and angle of wrap is given as:     2 1 ln T T  Where μ describes the coefficient of friction, T 1 is the initial tension, while T 2 is that required to overcome friction, is the angle of wrap and μ is the coefficient of friction. It has been reported that for technological development in Nigeria to succeed, development and manufacture of most of the needed equipment and machines must be based on indigenous designs. (Charles – Owaba, 2009; Ismaila, 2008 and Akintayo, 2009). These will ensure conservation of foreign exchange earnings, maintainability and affordability to average Nigerians. In view of importance of the control of the friction between belts and pulley at various angles of wrap, to optimum power transmission of machine in Nigeria, it is therefore pertinent to explain the possibility of constructing an equipment to measure the tension require to overcome the coefficient of friction of different angels of wrap, using different types of belt such as Flat belt and V-belt. With the availability of this apparatus in the laboratories on large scales, Engineer will be equipped with the right information before lunching to go into the field of construction as properties of different belt at different angles of wrap with respect to apply tension would be known. This project present the performance evaluation of locally produced friction belt apparatus for the purpose of laboratory teaching aids and industrial application using indigenous materials in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ladoke Akintola university of technology, Ogbomoso. The apparatus was tested using two different belts viz: flat belt and V-belt. Abstract: This project presents performance evaluation of a designed and constructed friction belt apparatus, using locally available materials. The aim is to explore the possibility of producing cheaper alternative testing apparatus for quality control laboratories and institutions in Nigeria. The locally produced friction belt apparatus has the main body frame ; pulley ; bearing ; stud ; hangers ; masses; Tommy bar ; and belts as components. The apparatus was tested with V-belt and flat belt with constant load as T 1 (kg) and varying load masses as T 2 (kg) at different angles of wrap and thereafter compared with results using similar procedures on fabricated apparatus and standard imported friction belt apparatus. The comparisons were done, using graphical presentation to study the trend and t-Test was used to investigate the significant difference in the results. t-Test shows that, for flat belt experiment, t-Stat value (1.378189195303) is lesser than the critical value (2.17898812792408) and also for V-belt experiment, t-Stat value (1.06852895427649) is lesser than the critical value (2.17881279240828), for two tail analysis. These confirmed that there is no significant difference between the two results. (t-stat value < critical value). It was established that the result of the friction belt apparatus obtained for all the experiments carried out using standard imported apparatus and locally produced apparatus have no significant difference at 95% confidence limit. The production cost of the locally produced apparatus is N 33,520.00k, as against the sum of $960.00 for the purchase of standard imported apparatus. Keywords: Friction, belt, performance evaluation, Analysis of variance and t-test.