H7092

THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX

ENGINEERING & DESIGN

BEng (Final Year) and MEng (Year 3) Examinations 2011

DYNAMICS OF MACHINES AND VEHICLES

Tuesday 31st May 2011 9.30am – 11.30am

Candidates should answer THREE questions out of FOUR.

Time allowed: 2 hours.

Where a question indicates the division of marks between different

parts, this information is for guidance only; the examiners reserve
the right to make small adjustments to the division.

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Turn Over/
H7092 DYNAMICS OF MACHINES AND VEHICLES
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1. Answer both parts of this question.

Part 1: 2-Dimensional Rigid Body Dynamics

Figure Q1A shows a robot manipulator arm moving in the horizontal xy plane. Two rigid
links are shown: OA and AB, and an end-effector rigidly fastened at point B. Link AB
plus the end-effector, can be treated as one rigid body with a total mass of 20 kg and,
about G, a moment of inertia I = 1.5 kgm2. The length of link OA is 1 m, and the mass
centre of link AB combined with the end-effector, is shown at point G, at a distance of
0.6 m from point A. At the instant shown, link OA is turning in the horizontal plane with
constant angular velocity OA  2 rad/s , and link AB is turning in the horizontal plane with
constant angular velocity AB  4 rad/s . All other kinematic components are zero.

y
end-effector

OA  AB

O A G B x

0.6 m

Figure Q1A

i) Determine for link AB, the absolute acceleration vector for the mass centre
position G, expressed as components with respect to the fixed xy frame of
reference.
[5 marks]

ii) Draw a plane rigid body free-body diagram for link AB, and by constructing
Newtonian equations of motion, calculate the instantaneous forces and
moment at the joint A in the xy plane.
[5 marks]

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Part 2: 3-Dimensional Rigid Body Dynamics

A two-bladed wind generator is shown in Figure Q1B mounted on a vertical tower. At

the instant shown the rotor is spinning at constant speed n and the tower is being
turned (into the wind) with constant angular speed N. A principal frame of reference
Gxyz is fixed to the rotor with corresponding principal moments of inertia Ixx, Iyy, and Izz
about the mass centre at point G.

x
y

Figure Q1B
z
Write down:

i) the angular velocity vector  for the moving frame Gxyz. [2 marks]
ii) the angular velocity vector for the rotor  . [2 marks]
iii) the rotor angular momentum vector. [2 marks]
d[ ] [ ]xyz
iv) and, by using Coriolis’ theorem     [ ] , write down the
dt t
instantaneous moment about the rotor spin axis z at the point G. [4 marks]
Turn Over/

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2. A downsized two-cylinder gasoline engine runs at maximum speed of 8000 rpm.
For the purposes of balancing calculations, the system reduces to a pair of
reciprocating masses of 1 kg, with effective piston rod length of 120 mm; and a
pair of rotating masses of 2 kg, at a crank radius of 50 mm. The cranks are phased
180o apart, and the mass centre of the rotating assembly lies midway between unit
1 and unit 2, in a plane 100 mm from the vertical centre lines of unit 1 and unit 2
respectively.

In terms of primary and secondary forces and moments, determine the state of
external balance of the engine.
[12 marks]

If the primary yawing moment mx (i.e. the out-of-balance moment about the vertical
axis) is to be totally eliminated using a pair of identical balance masses placed at
the crank radius in the centreline planes of units 1 and 2, find the magnitude and
relative angular positions of the balance masses.
[8 marks]

3. A multiple-unit passenger train comprises two powered carriages. Under a

commissioning test, the train is powered into a set of buffers by Carriage-1. A
model for this test condition reduces to the two-degree-of-freedom lumped-mass
system shown in Figure Q3. The carriages have respective masses m1 and m2,
and are coupled by a linear spring of stiffness k1 and a linear damper with
coefficient c1. Motor traction applied to Carriage-1 generates an input
displacement y(t) via a spring k3. Carriage-2 is coupled to the buffer by a linear
spring of stiffness k2 and a linear damper with coefficient c2.

z1(t) z2(t) BUFFER

y(t)
c1 c2

Carriage-1 Carriage-2
m1 m2
k3
k1 k2

Figure Q3

i) Draw free-body diagrams for Carriage-1 and Carriage-2.

[4 marks]

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ii) Construct a matrix equation for the system in terms of physical displacement
variables z1 and z2, identifying the excitation vector p(t ) , the mass matrix
[m], the stiffness matrix [k], and the damping matrix [c].
[6 marks]

iii) When the magnitude of the carriage masses are m1=m2= 100  10 3 kg, and the
stiffness parameters are k1=k2=k3= 410 6 N/m, the modal matrix associated
with E  [m] -1[k] is given as follows:

0.7071 0.7071 
[U]  
0.7071 - 0.7071 

And when damping is assigned, the magnitude of the damping matrix [c] is found
to be proportional to stiffness such that [c]=0.1[k]. Use the modal matrix [U] to
transform the system to normal coordinates to create two uncoupled modal
equations from which, obtain the modal natural frequencies and modal damping
factors. Note the magnitudes of the following matrix multiplications should be
useful:
100 0  4 0 
[U]T [m][U]    10 3 , and [U]T [k ][U]    10
6

 0 100   0 12 
[10 marks]

Turn Over/

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4. Answer both parts of this question.

Part 1: The Principle of Virtual Work

One wing of a twin-engined aircraft is shown in Figure Q4A. An equivalent dynamic
model is also shown comprising a massless uniform beam of constant elastic bending
stiffness EI, and a concentrated mass M. Use the principle of virtual work, to write down
a free-vibration equation of motion for the wing in terms of variable z(t) assuming a
generalised displacement y(x, t)   ( x)z(t) , with displacement pattern  (x)  (x/L) 3 .

x
L/5
M

y(x,t)  x 
L

Figure Q4A

Note: for a beam, the single coordinate virtual bending work w B is given by
w B     EI( (x)) 2dx z z ; And for the displacement pattern  (x)  (x/L) 3 , a useful
L

 0  
L 12
definite integral of the second derivative 0
( (x)) 2dx 
L3
.
[10 marks]

Part 2: Lagrange Equations

The horizontal plane system shown in figure Q4B comprises two undamped and
unforced rigid masses m1 and m2 constrained by rigid boundaries (and connected to
each other), via three linear springs, all with stiffness k. Displacements of mass m1 and
m2 from their respective equilibrium positions (within frictionless sliders) is specified by
variables x1 and x2. The line of motion of mass m2 is offset from the line of motion of
mass m1 by distance d1, whereas d2 measures the equilibrium distance between m1 and
m2

i) Write down in terms variables x1 and x2 the kinetic energy T of the system.
[1 mark]

ii) Show that for the system undergoing arbitrarily large displacements, the
1
potential energy V  k ( x12  x 22   (x1 , x 2 ) 2 ) where
2
 (x1 , x 2 )  (d1  (d 2  x1  x 2 )2 ) 2  (d12  d 22 ) 2 .
1 1
2

[3 marks]
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iii) By defining variables x1 and x2 as generalised coordinates, use Lagrange

equations to construct the equations of motion for the system.
[6 marks]

Note: you may use without proof the Lagrange equations in the usual form:

d  T  T V
     Qr (r = 1, 2 , …, m)
dt  q r  q r q r
d1
and the following partial derivatives:

  (x , x )(d  x  x )
 (x1, x 2 )2  2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1
x1 (d1  (d 2  x1  x 2 ) ) 2 k

and
x1(t)
m1
  (x , x )(d  x  x )
 (x1, x 2 )2  2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1
x 2 (d1  (d 2  x1  x 2 ) ) 2 d2

x2(t)
m2

Figure Q4B

End of paper