Rubber–textile conveyor belts with polyester–polyamide (EP) carcasses are widely used in bulk material handling, where their mechanical performance significantly affects their reliability, safety and service life. Due to the anisotropic structure of the textile reinforcement, the deformation of EP belts is strongly dependent on the loading direction. This study investigates the deformation rate behavior of rubber–textile conveyor belts under uniaxial tensile loading, with an emphasis on the differences between the longitudinal (warp) and transverse (weft) directions. The experimental results show that the strain rate is controlled by different deformation mechanisms of the textile components, which leads to significantly different deformation kinetics under warp and weft loading. The findings provide new insights into the time-dependent tensile behavior of EP belts and support the optimization of the textile carcass design for better durability and sustainability under severe operating conditions.

Digital twin (DT) technology is a key element of Industry 4.0. Despite its rapid development, current research is mainly focused on industrial optimisation and machine-level monitoring. However, its implementation in the educational process lags significantly behind practice. Moreover, existing DT implementations in education often emphasise visualisation or simulation, while neglecting synchronisation and verification of functional equivalence between the physical and virtual systems. This study presents the design, development and experimental verification of a digital twin of a laboratory material handling system. The virtual model created in Tecnomatix Plant Simulation is connected to the physical system controlled by a Siemens PLC SIMATIC S7-1200 and equipped with industrial sensors and an HMI interface. Real-time bidirectional communication is established via the OPC UA protocol using KEPServerEX, ensuring synchronisation between the physical and virtual systems. Experiments confirmed the functional synchronisation of both systems. Additionally, the study presents that DT technology can be adapted for educational purposes and implemented in engineering education.