Group Project (MEE 5206: Vibration)

Aim
To study the system response of the free vibration of an Undamped translational system.

Objective
1. To study the effect of spring configuration (parallel and series) on the spring
stiffness value.
2. To determine the system response of a spring-mass system in vertical position
under free vibration.

Experiment equipment and apparatus

The equipment used consists of three springs and a stand frame to hold the springs and the
weight plate. The weight plate used for the experiment is 550g included the weight of the
weight plate holder. More, there will be a ruler located at the side of the stand to measure
the displacement of the spring which is known as deflection of the system.

Figure 1: Equipment and Apparatus of Experiment

Experiment procedure
Objective 1 (a) Spring stiffness of each spring
1. Install the spring 1 to the hook at the stand frame.
2. Record the length of the spring. This is the initial position of the spring system, 0 .
3. Put the 500g load with the hook (50g) at the bottom end of the second spring.
4. Measure and record the length of the first and second spring after loading. This is
the final position of the spring system, .
5. Determine the displacement of the spring by the difference between final position
and initial position.
6. Repeat Step 1 to 5 for Spring 2 and Spring 3.

Objective 1 (b) Parallel configuration

1. Install the first spring and second spring to the stand frame in parallel configuration.
2. Records the length of the first and second spring. This is the initial position of the
spring system, 0 .
3. Put the 500g load with the hook (50g) at the bottom end of first spring and second
spring together as one.
4. Measure and record the length of the first and second spring in parallel after loading.
This is the final position of the spring system, .
5. Determine the displacement of the spring by the difference between final position
and initial position.

Objective 1 (c) Total system deflection

1. Install total three spring in the way spring 1 is parallel to spring 2 and the spring 3
is underneath the spring 1 and spring 2 as shown in Figure 1 above.
2. Load the 500g load with the hook (50g) to the spring system.
3. Measure and record the initial and final displacement of the system.
4. Determine the displacement of the spring by the difference between final position
and initial position.
Objective 2 System response of Spring-Mass system
1. Set the initial position of the 550g load as 0 = 20; 22; 24 respectively
when time is zero.
2. Calculate the number of oscillations in 10 seconds.
3. Determine the natural frequency and system response of the Spring-Mass system.

Formulas
1. Deflection, = 0

2. Spring constant, = [ = ()]

3. Equivalent spring constant, = 1 + 2 (Parallel)

4. Equivalent spring constant, = 1+2 (Series)
1 2

5. System response: () = 1 + 2

6. Natural frequency, =
.
7. Frequency, = ,

8. Gravitational constant, g = 9.81 2

Data and results

a) Each spring stiffness value

K1 K2 K3
Mass 550g
Top Bottom x Top Bottom x Top Bottom x
(cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm)

X0, Initial

Xf, Final
b) Type spring configurations
K1 and K2 or K3
Displacement, x
Mass 550g
Bottom length (cm)
Top length (cm)
(cm)
X0, Initial

Xf, Final

c) System Response
Period, T = 10 s
Mass, m = 550g

X0 Oscillation Average (Cycle)

24 cm

22 cm

20 cm

Interpreting data
1. Equivalent spring constant, = 1 + 2 (Parallel)

2. Equivalent spring constant, = 1+2 (Series)
1 2

3. System response of the Spring-Mass system.

4. Plot a graph of system response x(t)

Discussion
1. Relationship of parallel and series spring configuration to the equivalent spring
constant.
2. Behavior of Spring-mass system in free-vibration.
3. Percentage error of the experiment.

Conclusion
Summarize the observations and results of the experiment.