This thesis about belt conveyor dynamics should find and compare existing algorithms for calculating the dynamic behavior of belt conveyors to finally develop a computer program which enables us to quickly calculate the dynamic response of a belt conveyor with an easy to use graphical user interface. However not many calculation methods are published and explained detailed enough to compare them. Reason for this is that most of these calculation methods where developed as a commercial software package. The idea behind all this computation methods is very similar – the conveyor is divided into a finite number of elements and motion resistances and drive forces are applied to the corresponding nodes. The main difference between different software available seems to be the model of the motion resistances. While some use their own model with values obtained from experiments others base the friction model on the static calculation. The first option will give a better result but requires additional work and expenses to set up and verify the friction model. For basic calculations a model based on the static calculation was found to be sufficient also helping to keep the program easy to use. The program developed named BeltStressTM mainly uses input parameters which are also used in the static calculation except some more detailed input for the motor and motor control are necessary. BeltStressTM is capable of simulation starting and stopping of conveyors of arbitrary length but is limited to a single drive station. For starting and stopping a model of an induction motor with variable frequency drive and different ramp up profiles of direct drive force input can be used. The conveyor belt model includes inclination profile, belt mass, load on the belt, idlers, the drive system and a gravity take up system. The calculated data can be viewed in different ways including graphs of belt tension, velocity, nodal displacement, inclination profile and motor data as well as different animations of the belt tensions. The results and the input data can also be exported to Microsoft Excel. In this thesis the calculation method is presented in detail and also includes a step by step guide for using the program. Some examples are used to show how the program works and what results can be expected.