KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,

KUMASI.
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING.
FACULTY OF MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING.
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
BIFILAR AND TRIFILAR SUSPENSION
ME 296, GROUP A-4.
NAME INDEX NUMBER
Awudu, Prince Khalid 3140420
Ayedzi, Prince 3140520
Azuma, Jubilant Selorm 3140720
Badger, Dylan Nii Adom 3140820
Baffoe, Ernest 3140920
Baidoo, Kwadwo Charles 3141020
Baidoo, Philomena Odum 3141120
Banie, Abel Atta 3141320
Bello, Raphael Ametefe Komla 3141420
Benson, Esi Maud 3141520
Boahene, Abena Abrafi 3141620
Boakye, Edmund 3141720
Boakye, Elijha Akomea 3141820
Boakye-Turkson, Kwame Korankye 3141920
Boateng, Atta Andrews 3142020
Bonah, Alfred 3142120
Boye, Daniel Albert 3142220
Boye, Jenny 3142320
Cobbinah, Joshua 3142420
Cobbson, Enoch 3142520
Colecraft, Mary 3142620
Cornelius, Godwin 3142720
Cudjoe, John 3142820
Cudjoe, Paul Bonku 3142920
Dadzie, Edward 3143020
Daniel Adonu, Seyram 3143120
Dapilla, Lawrence 3143220
Darko, Obed 3143320

LECTURER : Dr. Kofi Owura Amoabeng

9/3/2022
INTRODUCTION
Torque (T), the moment of inertia (I), and angular acceleration (α) are related in the same way
that force, mass and linear acceleration are related. That is T = Iα. To compute the torque
required to start a flywheel rotating, the time for a motor to accelerate a rotating mechanism to
full speed, or the torque required for an emergency brake to stop a ride at the midway, it is
necessary to know the moment of inertia of the component. Although moments of inertia can be,
and often are, calculated from a knowledge of the dimensions and (perhaps assumed) densities, it
is quite often desirable that the moment of inertia of an engineering component be measured
directly.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the moment of inertia of a connecting rod using a bifilar and a trifilar suspension

EQUIPMENT
• Connecting rod
• Sting
• Stopwatch
• Trifilar suspension table
• Spirit level
• Measuring tape

THEORY
If a rod of moment of inertia I and mass m is
hung from two threads of length L and
separated by a distance a + b, and is oscillated
in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis
through its center, then the period is given by:

k 2L
 T = 2
abg
A Typical trifilar suspension setup
youtube.com - Dr. P. J. Patil Technical Videos
Where: k=
grad  a  b  g therefore, k = 3.073  0.1352 0.1  9.81 = 0.1015𝑚
4 2 4

Length of connecting rod, L = 0.235m

Mass of connecting rod, mc = 0.7Kg
Distance of left wire from G, a = 0.135 m
Distance of right wire from G, b = 0.1 m
Mass of suspension table, ms = 2Kg
The radius of suspension table, r = 0.0635m
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.81 m/s2

PROCEDURE – BIFILAR
• The position of the center of mass, G, of the connecting rod was determined by weighing
it on suspended spring balances.
• The distance, b, between one end of the connecting rod and the center of gravity was
measured.
• With the connecting rod suspended by the wires, the length L of the string was adjusted
to a convenient extent.
• The connecting rod was then tilted through a very small angle about the vertical axis and
the time it took for 20 oscillations was recorded.
• The length was further increased by a reasonable magnitude and the time it took for
another 20 oscillations was recorded.
• This was repeated three additional times for different values of L for a total of five
readings.
• The values obtained were then tabulated
PROCEDURE – TRIFILAR
• The connecting rod was placed on the table with its center of mass coinciding with that of
the table.
• The two are then set swinging about the common center of mass, with the wire at a
certain length L.
• The time it took for 20 oscillations was recorded.
• This was repeated for different values of L for a total of six readings.
• The results were then tabulated.

The tables below show the set of data that were recorded during the experiments.
BIFILAR
LENGTH TIME AVG TIME PERIOD T T2
86 33.7 33.63 33.665 1.625151108 2.641116
78.5 33.12 32.59 32.855 1.552670677 2.410786
70.7 31.55 32.66 32.105 1.473513875 2.171243
63.5 29.46 29.66 29.56 1.396469277 1.950126
54.8 28.68 29 28.84 1.297283224 1.682944

TRIFILAR
LENGTH TIME AVG TIME PERIOD T T2
67.2 28.73 29.36 29.045 1.387644738 1.925558
58.7 26.48 26.73 26.605 1.342652341 1.802715
56.6 26.18 26.45 26.315 1.31841683 1.738223
49.3 24.47 24.43 24.45 1.230461366 1.514035
46.9 24.03 23.68 23.855 1.200137329 1.44033
40.2 21.78 21.98 21.88 1.111111261 1.234568
 grapg of T2 Vs Length
1.4

1.2

0.8

Linear (Bifilar)
T2

0.6
Linear (Trifilar)
0.4

0.2

0
-0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

-0.2
Length (m)

PRECAUTIONS
• Parallax error was avoided when readings were being taken from the measuring tape.
• Experiment was carried out twice on each step to attain a consistent range of values.
• The experiment was not disturbed during the oscillations as this would have introduced
errors into the experiment.
• The suspension platform and the part were both made as horizontal as possible with the
help of a spirit level to ensure an accurate experiment.
• A suitable number of swings was chosen such that the swings do not die out for
accuracy’s sake.
• Two stopwatches were used and their average was taken to ensure accurate values.

CONCLUSION
The experiment proves that there is a correlation between the moment of inertia and the periodic
time. The bifilar and trifilar suspension experiments here were used to determine the moment of
inertia of a connecting rod. Both served as a check on the other. The result obtained from one
was expected to be the same as the other, but the slight or marginal differences can be attributed
to errors that were introduced during the experiment.