Lab 1

Cantilever Beam Vibration

Nick Tetreault
Josh Boyle
Kurt Wiessmeyer
Jonah Eisman

Spring 2019
Professor Ma
MECH 4000-01 Mechanical Vibrations
Lab report:

a. Write the theory behind the determination of natural frequency of the cantilever
beam.

The theory involved in determining the natural frequency of the cantilever beam under
free vibration is fairly straightforward. Our lab setup included an aluminum beam mounted in a
fixture that clamped one end of the beam. Attached to the beam was a sensor that outputted
vertical displacement values to the oscilloscope. We gave the beam an initial vertical
displacement by holding it against the fixture and releasing it, then observed the results on the
oscilloscope screen--see the pictures below.

Figure 1: Vertical Motion of beam under free vibration, (no motor attached).
By repeating this process several times, we obtained damping frequency values from the
oscilloscope, which served as our experimental values. In order to test the validity of our
experimental value, we needed a calculated value to compare against. We calculated a natural
frequency value using the formula provided in the lab assignment, shown below:
ωd = √1 − ξ 2
* ωn
By solving for ω​n​ and plugging in the calculated zeta value, we came up with a calculated
value for the natural frequency. The process involved in calculating the damping ratio is detailed
below.
 b. Write the theory behind experimental determination of damping Ratio.

In order to determine the damping ratio of the beam we used the logarithmic decrement
method with the following equation:
1 x1
n−1 (ln( xn )
ζ= 1 x1
√4π +[
2
n−1 (ln( xn ))]

We found the values X1, n and Xn experimentally by measuring the amplitudes on the
oscilloscope. We measured the distance between the first maximum and minimum peak (in
millivolts) and divided it by two in order to find the first amplitude, X1. When did the same for
the ninth peak in giving us Xn; since we choose to use the ninth peak our n value is 9. For the
second amplitude in the equation we choose to move several wavelengths down the graph, using
the ninth peak to find this value. We observed that the first few peaks on the free vibration
graphs were not as smooth as the peaks later on in the graph. By choosing a point where the
oscillation of the graph was more established we were able to achieve more accurate results and
minimize the overall error of the experiment.

c. Write how did you determine modulus of elasticity of the specimen from the
experiment.

The modulus of elasticity of the specimen with no motor was determined using
the equation below.

Inputs for finding the modulus of elasticity of the specimen are as followed:
Length = 11.5 in, Base = 1 in, Height = 0.125 in, Density of the Aluminum beam =
0.09754369 lb/in^3, The experimental damping frequency = 28. To find the modulus of
elasticity, the moment of inertia must be calculated by the equation below.

The cross sectional area, “A”, is calculated by multiplying the base and height.
The calculated value for “A” is 0.125 in^2. The damping ratio was calculated using the
following equation.
1 x1
1 181.25
n−1 (ln( xn ) 9−1 (ln( 110 )
ζ= 1 x = = 0.0099273
(ln( x1n ))] 4π 2 +[ 9−1 (ln( 181.25
1
√ 4π 2 +[ n−1
√ 110 ))]
 The natural frequency, ω n , was next to calculate. It was calculated with the equation
below.

Plugging in the given and calculated information, the modulus of elasticity of the
specimen was found using the math below.

d. Calculate the natural frequency of the cantilever beam when static load is added
and compare with the experimental result.

Figure 2: Free Vibration of beam with static load (motor attached, no voltage applied).
The experimental result of the natural frequency of the cantilever beam was calculated
after obtaining the damping frequency observed, using the following equation:
ω
ωn = d 2
√1−ζ
The damping frequency observed was 13.9 Hz and the damping ratio calculated was
0.02372481192. The experimental natural frequency calculated came out to be 13.90391358 Hz.
The natural frequency of the cantilever beam when static load is added was then calculated by
using the equation:
k eq
ωn = (
√ meq
)/(2 * π)
The equivalent spring constant was calculated to be 125.9726595 lb​f​/ft using:
k eq = ( 3*E *I
l3 ) lbf
in *
12in
1f t

and the equivalent mass constant was calculated to be 0.003134417286 slugs with this equation:
1 slug
meq = ( 140
33
) [(mbeam + mmotor + mclip + mband )grams * 453.592grams
1lb
* 32.174lb ]
From there, the calculated natural frequency came out to be 31.90655196 Hz. Therefore, the
percent error of the two was 56.42301% using:
P ercent Error(%) = [ |T heoretical−Experimental|
T heoretical
] * 100
which is relatively high and could be due to not calibrating the cantilever beam before beginning
the experiment, thereby making the values askew.

e. Display the beam vibration under r<1, r=1, and r>1. Calculate the steady state
displacement of the beam (at the motor location) for different frequency ratio.

Figure 3: Vertical Displacement of beam with motor running at resonance frequency (r=1, 3.4V).
Figure 4: Vertical Displacement of beam with motor running below resonance frequency (r<1, 2.9V).
 Figure 5: Vertical Displacement of beam with motor running above resonance frequency (r>1, 4.4V).

The displacement of the beam for the different frequency ratios is calculated with the equation
below.

In order to move forward in finding the displacement, the force of the motor must be calculated.
It was determined that this force must be treated as a centripetal force. The formula for a
centripetal force is shown below. The denominator of the equation is not the frequency ratio, but
rather the radius of the motor wheel in feet. The math shown below is referring to the case where
r is equal to 1. The velocity was found using the given line chart (RPM vs. Input Voltage). The
RPM value was converted to velocity in feet per second.

The r value is the ratio of the experimental and calculated frequencies. These values should be
match the r=1, r>1,r<1 cases. For example, for the case where r=1, the ratio of the two
frequencies is 1.27. The k value was calculated as shown in “part d”. The value used for k is
10.5. Once these values are determined, they can be plugged into the displacement equation like
so:

The displacement values for all cases are shown in the table below.

Case Force (lbf) R value Displacement (in)

r=1 1.635 1.2727 0.25122

r<1 0.88089 0.934 0.65835

r>1 3.839 1.95 0.13044