Development of analytical model for escalator hand rail

Abstract

Nowadays escalator has become a regular part of our lives. This time we introduce our research giving attention to the hand rail of escalator. A hand rail is usually made of three main parts which are 'Cover made of urethane to shape forms', 'Tensile carrier made of steel to provide tensile strength' and 'Sliding layer made of cloth to decrease friction between a hand rail guide and a hand rail. The purpose of this research is to develop an analytical model of the hand rail which is able to reproduce buckling when the hand rail is bended in under side direction. At first we tried bending tests making simple test pieces, because the hand rail has a complicated structure. Based on the test results, we developed an analytical model which includes suitable material parameters and elements. Next, we tried buckling tests and found that the initial form of the hand rail influences buckling dramatically making a comparison between tests and simulations. So we improved our analytical model considered the initial form. Finally we could confirm consistency between the experiments and the simulations reproducing buckling.