10 INTRODUCTION

Vibrational forces are among the most prominante aspects when designing a
mechanical component. From dealing with outside vibrations to internally
generated ones, these forces come into play in all areas of mechanical
design and testing. These vibrations are often modeled, with varying dergees
of accuracy, using a single degree of freedom differential equation of motion.
This equation takes into account a mass, spring and damper, all of which
effect the vibrational response in a different manner. In the following
document the results of both an analytical and experimental approach are
analyzed and compared. This procedure was executed for two different
mass, spring, damper systems: one being a translational and the other
torsional. A discussion of each case and reasons for the consistancy, or lack
of, between the analytical and experimental is provided with
20 Results:
2.1Linear and Rotary Potentiometer Curve

To gain a starting point for the analysis of the vibrational system a

calibration of the test stand was necessary. For the translational system the
block intended to vibrate was pulled and held at a displacement of -6.0 mm
read from the measuring device on the test stand. The corresponding
voltatage was then read from the SignalCalc computer program and
recorded in an excel table. The same procedure was then replicated for
distances of -4.0, -2.0, 0.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 mm respectivly. The results were
then plotted in Figure 1 below. For the Rotational System, a handle on the
rotating apparatuse was pulled back and held at a displacement of -12.0
deg., measured on the test stand. Once again the corresponding voltage was
recorded from SignalCalc for displacements of -9.0, -6.0, -3.0, 0.0, 3.0, 6.0,
9.0 and 12 deg. respectively. The results were than plotted and can be seen
in Figure 2 below.

Figure 1: This chart shows the correlation between the voltage and
displacement of the translational system. It can be seen that the distribution
is not equal with regards to negative displacement relating directly to
negative voltage.

Figure 2: This graph shows the relation between voltage and displacement
for the torsional system. Unlike the translational, all the voltatages are
negative. The voltage continues to decrease steadily the more positive the
displacement is.

2.4 Acquiring Experimental Data from Test Stands

In order to display the data collected from the experimental test stands in a
meaningful manner, the SignalCalc program had to be set up appropriately.
The calibration factor from the slopes of the above curves was entered into
the program and the units were converted into meaningful values through
the program. This was done for both the translational and rotational
experiments. For the translational test the mass was pulled back to a
maximum value of -6.0 mm and let go. The SignalCalc software was started
momentarily before the mass was released and the vibration was recorded.
The corresponding vibration is displayed in figure 3. For the rotational
system the lever was pulled back to a maximum value of -12.0 deg. and
once again released. The experimental data was displayed on through the
software as before. This oscillation is shown in figure 4 below.

4 FreeVibrationResponsefor theTranslational System

x10
1.5
Analytical
Horizontal Displacement [ mm ]

0.5

-0.5

-1

-1.5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Time[ sec]
Lab 4
 4 Free Vibration Response for the Translational System
x 10
1.5
Analytical
Experimental
1
Horizontal Displacement [ mm ]

0.5

-0.5

-1

-1.5
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time [ sec ])

Lab 5
 Free Vibration Response of the Torsional Test Stand
35

30
Angular Displacement [ deg ]

25

20

15

10

5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time [ sec ]
 Free Vibration Response of the Torsional Test Stand
15
Simulated
Experimental

10
Angular Displacement [ deg ]

-5

-10
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
Time [ sec ]