The prediction of the stress profile on a loaded conveyor belt is essential not only for the engineering design of the belt, but for the analyses of the interactions between the belt and neighbouring components like idlers. This paper presents a new analytical approach by which the stress profile on a loaded conveyor belt can be modelled. We propose a new hypothesis of the dynamic movement of bulk material during conveyance based on recent experimental discovery. We investigate the internal friction within bulk material, as well as the interface behaviour between bulk material and the belt. The presented analytical approach incorporates both the stress field analysis and the Stress Discontinuity method. The resulting Stress Discontinuity model can fully characterise active and passive stress states within bulk material. Compared with results of on-site experiments and a widely accepted previous model, it shows that a good correlation can be achieved. The Stress Discontinuity model is verified by comparison to a series of experimental data. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.