UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

Faculty Course : : Engineering & Science Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Mechanical Engineering Year 1/ Semester 2 Unit Code Unit Title : : UEME1143 Dynamics

Year/ : Semester Session :

Lecturer

Experiment 2: Free Vibration of a Cantilever

Objective The purpose of this experiment is to determine the natural frequency of a cantilever beam and study both undamped and damped free vibration motion of a cantilever beam. Principles Free Vibration If a system, after an initial disturbance, is left to vibrate on its own, the ensuing vibration is known as free vibration. No external force acts on the system. The oscillation of a simple cantilever beam is an example of free vibration as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

The simple cantilever beam shown in Figure 1 can be modeled as a mass-spring system where the governing equation of motion is given by 2 m&& = kx or && + n x = 0 x x (1.1) where m is the mass of the system and k is the stiffness of the system

n is known as the natural circular frequency of the system and is given by k n = m Equation (1) is a homogeneous second-order equation linear differential equation, has the following general solution: & x ( 0) x= sin n t + x(0) cos n t (1.2)

The natural period of the oscillation is established from n = 2 or m = 2 (1.3) k The natural frequency of the system is 1 1 k fn = = 2 m

(1.4)

Viscously Damped Vibration

Every mechanical system possesses some inherent degree of friction, which dissipates mechanical energy. Precise mathematical models of the dissipative friction forces are usually complex. Viscous damping force can be expressed by & (1.5) Fd = cx The equation of motion of a free-damped vibration system is given as m&& + cx + kx = 0 . x & The general solution is given as

x = A1e ( +

2 1 ) n t

+ A2 e (

2 1 ) n t

(1.6)

The radicand (2 1) may be positive, negative or zero, giving rise to three categories of damped motion: > 1 (over-damped, Figure 2), = 1 (critically damped, Figure 2) and < 1 (underdamped, Figure 3).

Figure 2

Ce nt

Ce nt

Figure 3
The frequency of damped vibration d is given by

d = 1 2n
Natural Frequency of A Cantilever Beam

(1.9)

Figure 4
The maximum deflection of the cantilever beam under a concentrated end force P is given by PL3 P y max = = (1.10) 3EI k 3EI L3

Therefore the stiffness of the beam is given by k = Where L = length of the beam I = moment of inertia, for rectangular area, I = bh 3 12

(1.11)

b = width of the beam h = height of the beam E = modulus of elasticity, for aluminum, E = 70GPa

The static deflection of a cantilever beam y(x) is given as y Px 2 y ( x) = (3L x) = max (3 x 2 L x 3 ) 6 EI 2 L3 Expressed as velocity variation, gives & y & y ( x) = max (3 x 2 L x 3 ) 2 L3

The maximum kinetic energy of the beam itself is given by

Tmax

1 m 1 33 & & 2 = {y ( x )} dx = m y max 20 l 2 140

Compare it with the kinetic energy equation Tmax = meqv2 and therefore the equivalent mass of the beam is meq = (33 / 140) m (1.12) If a damper is added to the free end of the cantilever beam, the total equivalent mass is given by (1.13) meq = (33 / 140) m + mdamper

Apparatus and Materials

1. Cantilever beam apparatus Modulus of elasticity of aluminum (E) Dimension of the cantilever beam Mass of the cantilever beam Mass of the damper 2. Strain gauge 3. Strain recorder 4. Viscous damper

:= := := :=

70 GPa 926 x 19 x 6 mm 295 g 122 g

Experiment Procedures

Strain Recorder Strain gauge Cantilever beam

USB

PC

Figure 5
1. Switch on the computer and the strain recorder. 2. Start the strain recorder application software by double click on the DC104REng shortcut icon on the computer desktop.

3. Figure 5 shows the experiment setup. Please refer to the operational manual for the operation of the strain recorder and the recorder application software. 4. Remove the viscous damper if it is attached to the beam. 5. Displace and hold the beam, ymax (refer to Figure 4) by -20 mm, -15 mm, -10 mm, -5 mm, 0 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm and 20 mm and record the strain recorder reading for each displacement value manually from the Numerical Monitor screen of the application software. 6. Obtain the relationship of the displacement (of the free end of the beam) and the strain recorder reading by plotting an appropriate graph using a spreadsheet. 7. Displace the beam by 30 mm and leave the beam to vibrate on its own. Record the strain recorder reading by clicking on the Play and Stop button. 8. Retrieve the recorded file by clicking on the Read USB button. 9. Plot the graph of the beam displacement versus the time, t. 10. Repeat the experiment using beam displacement of 50 mm. 11. Connect the viscous damper. Repeat steps 7 and 10 using beam displacement of 30 mm and 50 mm, respectively.

Discussion
1. Calculate the theoretical natural frequency of the cantilever beam. Comment on the difference in values between experimental natural frequency and theoretical natural frequency. 2. For the free-damped vibration in Step 5, calculate the damped period, damped natural frequency and the damping ratio of the system. 3. Comment on the accuracy of the experiment for amplitude = 30 mm and amplitude = 50mm in both the free-undamped and free-damped cases. 4. Comment on the accuracy of experimental results if the strain gauge is mounted on the other end of the cantilever beam (refer to Figure 5). 5. Discuss any other findings from the experiment.