Spiral Drive Motor Sizing Calculator

Estimate torque, shaft speed and recommended motor power for the drum drive and the secondary belt drive of a Lotension friction-drum spiral.

Drum Drive

Main inputs for the cage/drum motor.

Advanced drum settings

Secondary Belt Drive

Inputs for the secondary belt-drive motor.

The “equivalent belt length” should represent the resistance between the spiral exit and the secondary belt-drive sprockets. Fixed turns, inclines and return-path effects should be converted into an equivalent resistance before use.

Drum Drive

Required output torque
kN·m
Drum speed
rpm
Recommended motor size
kW
Cage chain pull
Driven sprocket pull
Running mechanical power
Calculated motor power
Approximate reducer ratio
Cage surface speed

Secondary Drive

Required output torque
N·m
Shaft speed
rpm
Recommended motor size
kW
Secondary belt pull
Running mechanical power
Calculated motor power
Approximate reducer ratio
Total recommended installed power

Calculation basis

Drum drive: industry-standard friction-drum spiral model using system radius, total linear load, number of tiers, support type and operating friction.

Secondary drive: simplified belt-pull calculation converted to shaft torque through the secondary sprocket pitch radius.

Power: calculated from torque and shaft speed, then corrected for transmission efficiency and service factor. The calculator selects the next standard motor size.

Preliminary sizing only. Final motor, gearbox, chain, shaft, bearing, acceleration, VFD and thermal selection must be checked against manufacturer ratings and the actual conveyor layout.