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AE451 Vibration Lab Manual - 2024-25

VIBRATION LAB MANUAL

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43 views6 pages

AE451 Vibration Lab Manual - 2024-25

VIBRATION LAB MANUAL

Uploaded by

Kalyan G
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lab – 3

Vibration characteristics of a slender beam


TA: Ravindra

Objective

I. Record acceleration history in a Free vibrating cantilever beam and evaluate its vibration
characteristics by employing the Fast Fourier Transform.
II. Perform theoretical analysis and compare your results with the experimental data.

III. Observe a beam under resonance in forced vibration, and retrieve its fundamental
frequencies and mode shapes.

Introduction

Free vibration occurs when a mechanical system is set in motion with an initial input and allowed to
vibrate freely. The mechanical system vibrates with a combination of frequencies, out of which one or
more may be dominated. If left unperturbed, the vibration damps down to motionlessness. Some of the
examples of free vibration are, pulling a child back on a swing and letting it go, or hitting a tuning fork
and letting it ring.
Forced vibration is observed when a time-varying disturbance (load, displacement or velocity) is
applied to a mechanical system. The disturbance can be periodic with steady-state, transient or
random input. The periodic input can further be divided into harmonic and non-harmonic
disturbances. The importance of this mode rises in the engineering field. Machines, motors and
other industrial applications exhibit this mode of vibrations, which may cause serious damage to
the equipment. Washing machine shaking due to an imbalance, transportation vibration caused
by an engine or uneven road, or the vibration of a building during an earthquake are some of
examples of forced vibration. Following are the equipments used in the laboratory to conduct the
vibration experiment.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

(a) Electrodynamic shaker


(b) Function generator
(c) Power amplifier
(d) Stroboscope

(1) Natural (Free) vibration


Experimental setup

Fig: Schematic of the experimental setup for free vibration

Four specimens are used to demonstrate the free vibration of the cantilever beam.
(A) Sandwich beam having core layer as Aluminum and Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) layer
as face layer. PMMA is popularly known as Acrylic.
(B) Sandwich beam having a core layer as a Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) layer and
Aluminum as a face layer.
(C) Beam with single Aluminum layer.
(D) Beam with single Acrylic layer.

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

Fig: Different Configurations of the specimens for free vibration


Effective Young’s modulus of Sandwich beam
The effective elastic modulus of a sandwich structure (E T) can be calculated from the elastic
modulus of the core (Ec) and face materials (Ef) using the below equation:

Where c is the core thickness and h is the structure thickness.

Procedure:

i) Mount the accelerometer at the end of the cantilever beam and connect it to the
data acquisition system.
ii) Provide initial end deflection to the beam and release the beam
iii) Once the vibration stabilizes (after a short initial interval), begin recording the
accelerometer data.
iv) Stop recording the data before the amplitudes diminish.
v) Perform FFT on the recorded data and get the free vibration characteristics.

Calculation and Results:

For a cantilever beam subjected to free vibration, there are no external driving forces and the
beam is vibrating under the influence of gravitational forces. The system is considered a
continuous system in which the beam mass is considered distributed along with the stiffness of
the shaft, the equation of motion can be written as

For a uniform beam under free vibration, the above equation becomes:

with

Where µ is mass per unit length


E is the modulus of elasticity
I is the Area moment of inertia
x is the distance from the fixed end
W is the displacement in the y direction at distance x from the fixed end
ω is the circular natural frequency

After applying the boundary conditions, a closed form of the circular natural frequency ω and
frequency f for nth mode are given below.

Above are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd natural frequencies of free vibration. Go through the lecture notes
for a detailed analysis.

Table: Natural vibration of Cantilever Beam


Frequency Experimental value Theoretical value % Error
st
1 Natural
Frequency
2nd Natural
Frequency
3rd Natural
Frequency

 Draw Acceleration vs time and Frequency vs Amplitude plot.


 The observation: write observations from the experiment.
(2) Forced vibration
The schematics of the experimental setup used to demonstrate forced vibration are shown below.

(a) Forced vibration

Fig: Schematic of the experimental setup for forced vibration

Procedure:

i) Mount the beam on the electrodynamic shaker.


ii) Define force amplitude by turning the knob. Make sure not to give very large amplitude
which would overheat the device.
iii) Gradually increase forcing frequency and observe the change in the amplitude of vibrations.
iv) When the forcing frequency matches with one of the natural frequencies, resonance will be
visually apparent.
v) Switch off the lights and start the stroboscope. Adjust the flickering light frequency such that
the beam appears stationary.
vi) Perform minor adjustments on the Stroboscope and forcing frequencies to attain maximum
amplitude. Note down this fundamental frequency.
vii) Repeat the process for the first three fundamental frequencies and record the mode shapes
for characterization.

Fig : High amplitude of vibrations at the fundamental frequency

Fixed node
Opening node

Fig: Second mode shape


Table: Forced vibration in a free-free beam
Frequency Waveform Frequency (Hz) value from Frequency (Hz) value
(Input) Function generator from Stroboscope
st
1 Mode shape
2nd Mode shape
3rd Mode shape

 Draw 1st, 2nd and 3rd mode shapes observed from the forced vibration experiment.
 The observation: write observations from the experiment.

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