MECHANICS OF MACHINERY

Adapted From theory of machine and mechanisms

J.E Shigley
6. Acceleration Analysis

Qassim University
Unayzah College of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Dept.
 Acceleration analysis

• Objective: Compute accelerations

(linear and angular) of all
components of a mechanism

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Let the point B moves with respect to A, with
an angular velocity of w rad/s and let a rad/s2 be
the angular acceleration of the link AB.

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 Acceleration of a particle whose velocity changes both in
magnitude and direction at any instant has the following two
components :
1. The centripetal or radial component, which is
perpendicular to the velocity of the
particle at the given instant.

This radial component of acceleration acts perpendicular to

the velocity vBA, In other words, it acts parallel to the link AB.

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2- The tangential component, which is parallel to the
velocity of the particle at the given instant.

This tangential component of acceleration acts parallel to

the velocity vBA. In other words, it acts perpendicular to
the link A B.

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• Guidelines
– Start from the link for which you have most
information
– Find the accelerations of its points
– Continue with the next link, formulate and solve
equation: acceleration of one end = acceleration of
other end + acceleration difference
– We always know the normal components of the
acceleration of a point if we know the angular
velocity of the link on which it lies
– We always know the direction of the tangential
components of the acceleration
– A point at the end of a link which moves with
constant angular velocity has no tangential
component of acceleration.
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