Measurement of Stiffness and Natural Frequency of a Vibrating Beam

Review of one degree of freedom system Let us first consider a one degree of freedom system as shown in fig. 1. Assume small displacement and friction forces.

kx m

Figure 1

The only external force acting on the block is the spring force in the opposite direction of motion. Therefore the equation of motion is given by

or

, Therefore (1)

Equation (1) can be solved for a given set of initial conditions at t=0. (2) The solution of the above system is given by (3) Where Equivalent System Vibrational properties of the cantilever beam shown in fig. 2 are very similar to the one shown in fig. 1. is the natural frequency of the above system.

E, I L0 L Tip mass=mtip y

Figure 2 The equation of motion for the vibration (y direction) of the tip mass is given by (4) Where meq and are the equivalent mass and stiffness of the cantilever beam. Therefore the .

system shown in fig. 2 has a natural frequency of Equivalent Stiffness of a Cantilever Beam(keq)

The stiffness of a cantilever beam is determined based on the force displacement relationship. Consider the beam shown in fig. 3.

E,I

P keq L

Figure 3 Displacement of a cantilever beam subjected to a force P at its free end is given by

The equivalent stiffness of the beam shown in fig. 3 is then determined by

(6)

Equivalent Mass of a Cantilever Beam (meq) The maximum kinetic energy of the cantilever beam shown in fig. 4 is given by

Figure 4 Notice that in equation 7 the transverse velocity is not constant and depends on the deflection of the beam. Force-deflection relationship for this beam is given by

Where

. We can also write a similar relationship for velocity

as

Velocity

in equation (7) is replaced by equation (9) to get

(10)
Also:

Comparing equations (10), and (11), the equivalent mass of the beam ( determined by

is then

The equivalent stiffness and mass obtained in equations (6) and (12) could be used to determine natural frequency of the beam shown in fig. 2.

Experimental Measurement of the Natural Frequency of a Vibrating Beam The natural frequency of the cantilever beam will be measured with an accelerometer, an impact hammer, and a real-time spectral analyzer (see fig. 5). As its name suggests, the accelerometer measures the acceleration of the beam at its attachment point. The impact hammer is used to excite the beam and provide a controlled input force. The output of these transducers is connected to a real-time spectral analyzer, which processes the transducer signals and outputs the frequency response function between the input and the output. The spectral analyzer is connected to a host computer which displays the data in real-time and provides a graphical-user interface (Medallion software) for the analyzer.

Hammer excitation

Accelerometer (Piezoelectric)

Amplifier Amplifying signals Real time analyzer

Raw data

Figure 5 Medallion Software The main window of Medallion software is shown in fig. 6. The panels on the right (channel pairs, Analyzer setup, Channel setting) display the current setup conditions. To change these setting, click on a panel to open the appropriate setup condition. Around each plot display are pop-up menus for the plot. Additionally when you place the cursor over a plot and click the right mouse button a menu of additional plotting feature is displayed.

Force Response

Accel. Response

Freq. Response

Coherence

Figure 6

The four different plot displays are shown in fig. 6. The input force (Lb) and output acceleration ( in/sec2) responses are shown on the top row of the main display. The frequency response and coherence functions are shown on the bottom row of the main display. The frequency response function represents the ratio of output over input signals.

The frequency response is a function of frequency and reaches its maximum value at natural frequency (see fig. 6).
Coherence function is a measurement of the noise in the signal if it is one both force and acceleration signals are not contaminated with noise. Generally, coherence is a function of frequency and should be close to one near the natural frequency of the structure.