AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING LAB 3

(MEC 3610) LABORATORY MANUAL

Experiment 8:
Resonance

AUGUST 2014

Eperiment 8: Resonance
Objectives:
- The purpose of this experiment is to plot resonance curves with and without damping.
Apparatus:
Beam oscillator with exciter mounted on the Universal Vibration System.
Introduction:
Resonance is a phenomenon occurs in forced vibration whenever the natural frequency of
vibration of a machine or structure coincides with the frequency of the external excitation.
With forced oscillation, an oscillatory system is caused to oscillate by external means.
Leaving aside non-steady state transient response, oscillation takes place over the course of
time at the excitation frequency. If excitation and natural frequency coincide, this is
referred to as resonance. The oscillation then becomes very pronounced and can result in
destruction of the machine. An example of resonance curve is shown in Figure 8.1.

Figure 8.1: Plot of resonance curve

The calculation and avoidance of resonance is one of the most important tasks in the field
of engineering. Some methods that can be employed to avoid or reduce resonance are
additional of systems damping or a shift in natural frequency (biasing).
In this experiment, the same beam oscillator in experiment 7 is used. To provide for forced
oscillation, an exciter of an unbalance system is used. The exciter can be fixed on the beam
oscillator and provides a harmonic excitation force of adjustable frequency and amplitude

Fe = mu 2 sin t

where mu is the unbalance mass with eccentricity and is the excitation frequency/
speed of the unbalance mass. The exciter is attached to the center of the beam at L/2. From
the moment equilibrium about the fulcrum point O of the beam oscillator gives
J 0 + db 2 + ca 2 = mu

L 2
sin t
2

or with y = L

y + 2D 0 y + 02 y =

mu L2
2 sin t
J0 2

with the known degree of damping and natural angular frequency. The steady dtate
solution this inhomogeneous differential equation results in the forced oscillations

y ( t ) = y

2
1 ( 0 ) + [ 2D 0 ]
2

y =

sin ( t + )

mu L2
2J 0

For an undamped system where D = 0, the above equation is reduced to

y ( t ) = y

2
1 ( 0 )
2

sin ( t + )

It can be seen that, for the frequency ratio 0 = 1 , there is no longer any denominator, i.e.
the expression tends towards . There is resonance with infinitely large amplitude. As
soon as damping is provided, the amplitude becomes smaller.
The profile of the oscillation response as a function of the ratio 0 is shown in Figure 8.2
in the form of resonance curve. The amplitudes are normalized to the value y . The
influence of damping can be seen in addition to the non-damped situation.

Figure 8.2: Resonance curve for different system with different degree
of damping


Procedure:
1. Beam oscillator with exciter is set up as in Figure 8.3.

Figure 8.3: Experimental setup
2. With no damper attached, set the exciter frequency to 4 Hz and start the exciter. Plot
the deflections in 2 Hz increment.
3. 1 Hz increments are appropriate in the range between 6 and 10 Hz, whereas 0.2
0.5Hz increments are to be used in the immediate vicinity of the resonance level.
4. Measure the amplitude of oscillaton for each set frequency. Record in tabular form.
5. Repeat steps 2-5 but now with attached damper. Set the value for b according to
Table 8.1.
Table 8.1
Damper settings for resonance curves
Spring setting: c = 3.09 N/mm, a = 650 mm
No. Needle valve position

Lever arm b in mm

No damper

No damper

Open

150

Closed

150

Closed

550

6. On a graph paper, plot the resonance curves based on your measurements.

Report:
1. You are required to produce a maximum of 2 pages hand written report. Report should be
submitted individually.
2. Report should consist of the following sections:
a) Title: what the report is about?
b) Results: raw data and processed data from the lab exercises
c) Calculations: detailed calculation steps showing how the raw data is processed
d) Discussion: intepret your results i.e. explain, analyze and compare them. You should
explain how the variables/ parameters involved in the experiment influence your
result.
e) Conclusion: What can be concluded from your results? Is the experiments objective
achieved? If the objectives were not met, you should analyze why the results were not
as predicted.
3. Report submission: at the end of lab session.