SEGi University

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

SUBJECT:

EME3431 LAB. INVESTIGATION 4

Experiment:

Forced Vibration of an Undamped Simply Supported Beam

1.0 Objective:
To determine the amplitude of vibration for an undamped simply supported beam
subjected to a rotating unbalanced mass, variable mass and fixed motor speed.
2.0 Procedure
Setting up the apparatus
1. Check the position of the pinned supports to make sure that they are at the same
level.
2. Take the beam and mount it on the two supports. Make sure that the beam is held in
position at one support, by slightly turning the screw such that it touches the beam.
Ensure that the other end of the beam is free to slide over the support
3. Locate the centre of the beam and fixed the motor with the out-of-balanced mass at
this location.
4. Fixed the vertical guide to the horizontal member of the frame directly below this
position.
5. Decide on the mass to be used for loading the beam.
6. Anchor the weight stopper tightly to the loading rod.
7. Insert the loading rod through the hole at the centre of the mass.
8. Insert another weight stopper at the bottom of the mass and tightened it so that the
mass is between the two weight stoppers.
9. Insert the lower end of the loading rod through the hole in the vertical guide.
10. Screw the top end of the loading rod to the hole at the bottom of the motor
mounting.
11. Adjust the position of the vertical guide so that the the loading rod is vertical and
free to oscillates.
12. Fixed the LVDT to the LVDT stand
13. Adjust the position of the stand so that the LVDT's probe is resting on top of the
motor and clear of all objects.
14. Anchor the stand to the frame by turning the knob at the top of the stand.
15. Adjust the height of the LVDT such that the probe is approximately at its centre
position. Anchor theLVDT to the stand.
16. .Connect the LVDT to one of the channel at the data acquisition terminal block.

Setting the motor speed

17. Decide on the motor speed in rpm.
18. Switch on the motor. Adjust the speed control button until the desired speed is
displayed on the LED monitor.
19. Switch off the motor and let the oscillation dies down.
Setting the software
20. From the Window Start menu, go the to program menu. Choose Data
translation Inc, then click on the quickDAQ button. This will run the data
acquisition program.
21. Refer to the quickDAQ manual to setup the data acquisition system
22. Click the 'Run' button to record the initial position of the displacement transducer.
23. After a few seconds click the 'Stop' button
24. Save data using the 'Save As' command in the 'File' menu. Save data in the CSV
format so that it can be read by EXCEL spreadsheet.
25. Switch on the motor and click the 'Run' button to record the oscillation of the beam.
26. After a few seconds click the 'stop' button and switch off the motor. Let the
oscillation dies down.
27. Save data using the 'Save As' command in the 'File' menu. Save data in the CSV
format so that it can be read by EXCEL spreadsheet
28. Unscrew the loading rod and the weight stopper and increase the load on the rod.
29. Tightened the weight stopper and screw the top end of the loading rod to the hole
at the bottom of the motor mounting.
30. Repeat step 22 to 29 for a few more load increaments.
31. Measure the width and thickness of the beam

3.0 Result
Diameter of out-of-balance mass
Mass of out-of-balance mass
Mass of motor assembly
Mass of loading rod
Thickness of beam
Width of beam
Moment of inertia, I, of beam
Length between supports
Motor speed from speed indicator
LVDT conversion factor

150 mm (please check)

gm each
gm
gm
mm
mm
mm4
mm
rpm
mV/V/mm

Experimental Frequency and Period Of Oscillation For Each Mass

1. Run the Excel spread sheet program.
2. Open the 'initial position of the LVDT' data file for the first mass. Caculate the
average voltage output from the transduce before the experiment (initial reading)
3. Open the data file that records the experimental results of the first mass. Subtract
the initial reading from all the data (the beam is now oscillating approximately about
the 0 volt axis)
4. Add column to the left of the data.
5. In the new column insert the data number for each data
6. Plot the graph of LVDT readings Vs time for approximately 10 cycles.
7. From the graph determine the frequency of vibration by filling in the Table 1 below .
The frequency of vibration coincide with the speed of rotation of the out of balance
mass. The speed meter only indicates the approximate speed of rotation of the
motor. Therefore all calculations should be based on the frequency obtained from
the graph.
8. From the graph obtain the double amplitude of vibration and record it in Table 2
below. Convert the double amplitude readings from voltage to meter using the
conversion factor given for the transducer. Refer to Manual
9. Repeat the above procedures for other masses

Cycle No.

Table 1: Mass No.1

Data No. For each
Cycle
Start
End
Time per cycle
millisec

Note : * Time / cycle, (period) = No. of (Data / Cycle) x (Time to scan 1 sample) **
Frequency = 1/(period)

Repeat the above procedures until the frequencies and double amplitude of all the
masses are obtained and fill the results in Table 2 below.

Mass (kg)

Table 2 Experimental Results

Average Angular Freq =
Double Amplitude YT m
Frequency of rotating Mass
(rad/sec)

Calculate the amplitude for all the masses and fill the results in the Table 3 below
* Table 3
Oscillating
Mass.m kg

Experimental

Theoretical
Frequency Of The
Double Amplitude Average Single
System u>
YT m
Amplitude,Y=Yt/2
rad/sec
m

Plot the graph of maximum amplitude versus oscillating mass. Draw

conclusions from the results obtain

LVDT
to
measure
displacement

Mot
or

Mass
undergoing
oscillation

Experimental Setup

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

(f)
(g)

The equipment comprises of:

A beam that is tightly anchored to the pinned supports.
The loading rod to mount the oscillating mass to the beam.
Weight stopper to hold weight in position during oscillation.
A motor to drive the out-of-balanced mass
(e) A motor speed controller to set the speed of the rotating
unbalanced mass
LVDT to measure the displacement during oscillation.
6 volt battery pack to energise the displacement transducer.
(h) A simple data acquisition system to logged the output from the
displacement transducer.

Beam
Specimen
Rotating
Unbalanced
Mass

Motor
Controller
Vertical
Guide

The LVDT
The LVDT is of the inductive type. Its connection to the power supply and data acquisition
system is as follows:
Red connected to positive excitation terminal
Blue connected to the negative excitation terminal
White connected to the positive signal terminal
Green connected to the negative signal terminal

The output from the LVDT is dependent on the battery voltage.

Each transducer has its own conversion factor and is shown on the paper attached to
the lead wire.
The conversion factor is given in the form of xxx mV/V/mm output. Thus if the
conversion factor is 15.5 mV/V/mm and the battery voltage is 6.34 volts, then 1 mm
displacement will generate 15.5 x 6.34 mv of signal. This signal will be digitised by
the data acquisition system.
To convert the digitised signal back to mm simply divide the digitised voltage by the
conversion factor and the battery voltage.

Displacement (mm) = digitised voltage / (conversion factor x battery voltage)

Mass Of Critical Components

Mass of semicircular disk & attachment (each) = 193 gms
Total motor attachment + guide
= 1658 gm
Loading rod
= 195 gm

Units of measurement for calculation purposes

Mass
kilogram
Displacement
meter
Stiffness
Newton per meter

Time

Second