While the centrifugal tension σcfσcf acts equally throughout the belt during operation and the quasi-static tensions σtσt and σsσs are only present to this extent in the corresponding belt sections, the bending stress acts only during rotation around pulleys, with the largest bending stress acting on the smaller drive pulley (see figure above).

The maximum belt stress therefore occurs on the slack side, where the belt runs onto the smaller of the two pulleys (provided that the smaller of the two pulleys is the drive pulley, otherwise the greatest bending stress would be present when the belt runs off).

The maximum belt stress σmaxσmax results from the sum of the tight side stress σtσt, the centrifugal stressσcfσcf and the bending stress σbσb. The dimensioning of the belt depends on this maximum stress. Always ensure that the maximum permissible belt stressσperσper (allowable belt stress) is not exceeded.