CORIOLIS ACCELERATION

Throughout the preceding analyses, two components of an acceleration vector (i.e., normal and tangential) were thoroughly examined. In certain conditions, a third component of acceleration is encountered. This additional component is known as the Coriolis component of acceleration and is present in cases where sliding contact occurs between two rotating links. Mechanisms used in machines have been known to fail due to the mistaken omission of this Coriolis component. Omitting the Coriolis component understates the acceleration of a link and the associated inertial forces. The actual stresses in the machine components can be greater than the design allows, and failure may occur. Therefore, every situation must be studied to determine whether a Coriolis acceleration component exists. Specifically, the Coriolis component is encountered in the relative acceleration of two points when all of the following three conditions are simultaneously present: 1. The two points are coincident, but on different links; 2. The point on one link traces a path on the other link; and 3. The link that contains the path rotates. Figure 7.21 illustrates a rear hatch of a minivan and the related kinematic diagram. Notice that point B can be associated with link 2, 3, or 4. To clarify the association to a link, point B is referred to as B2, B3, and B4. Up to this point in the chapter, a coincident point on different links had the same acceleration because only pin joints were used to connect two rotating links. In Figure 7.21, both pin and sliding joints are used to connect the two rotating links, links 2 and 4. In this case, the velocities and accelerations of the coincident points B2 and B4 are not the same. Relative motion equations can be used to relate the velocities and accelerations as follows: This situation represents a mechanism analysis case where the Coriolis component must be included in the relative acceleration term, AB2/B4. Notice that AB2 = AB4 +7 AB2/B4 VB2 = VB4 +7 VB2/B4 _ The points are coincident, but not on the same link (condition 1); _ Point B2 slides along and traces a path on link 4 (condition 2); and _ The link that contains the path, link 4, rotates (condition 3). Separating the relative acceleration term into its components yields (7.27) where Coriolis component of acceleration

The magnitude of the Coriolis component has been derived [Ref. 4] as (7.28) Both the relative linear velocity and the absolute angular velocity can be determined from a thorough velocity analysis of the mechanism. The angular velocity, , must be of the link that contains the path of the sliding point. Care must be taken because a common error in calculating the Coriolis component is selecting the wrong angular velocity. The direction of the Coriolis component is perpendicular to the relative velocity vector, vB4/B2. The sense is obtained by rotating the relative velocity vector such that the head of the vector is oriented in the direction of the angular velocity of the path. Thus, when the angular velocity of the path, 4, rotates clockwise, the Coriolis direction is obtained by rotating the relative velocity vector 90 clockwise. Conversely, when the angular velocity of the path, 4, rotates counterclockwise, the Coriolis direction is obtained by rotating the relative velocity vector 90 counterclockwise. Figure 7.22 illustrates the four cases where the direction of the Coriolis component is determined. Because both the magnitude and direction of the Coriolis component can be readily calculated from the velocity data, no additional unknown quantities are added to the acceleration equation. However, in solving problems, it is more convenient to write the acceleration equation with the point tracing on the left side. The technique for such acceleration analyses is best illustrated through the following example problem.