LAB REPORT

ME3112-1
Vibration Measurement
Semester 5

1. Objective
This experiment was mainly aimed to determine the first few natural frequencies of a
cantilever beam and the corresponding mode shapes. Two techniques were introduced to
find the natural frequencies, namely the CRO and the stroboscope methods. Mechanics of
dynamics as well as the phenomenon of resonance and its applications were also briefly
explained before conducting the experiment.
2. Procedures
a) One end of the cantilever beam was clamped and excited by a shaker. A schematic is
shown in Fig. 1. x=0 at the fixed end.

Fig. 1
b) The first five theoretical natural frequencies were calculated using the formula:
f i=

2L

m = mass per unit length

1 /2

(
2

EI
)
m

, i = 1, 2, 3 where

i = Mode No.
E = Youngs modulus
I = Area moment of inertia
Span of beam

i = 1.875

i=1

4.694

i=2

7.855

i = 3 .. (1)

10.996

i=4

14.137

i=5

c) The beam vibrated violently at resonant frequency. The frequency was (1) read from
the oscilloscope and (2) measured using stroboscope. The frequencies for mode 2 to 4
were measured. The positions of the nodes were read from the beam.
d) The theoretical mode shapes for mode 2 to 4 were calculated using the formula:
i x
x
x
x
cos i ai (sinh i sin i ) , where
L
L
L
L

y cosh

a1 = 0.734 and ai 1.00 for i>1

(2)

e) The experimental and theoretical values for natural frequencies and nodes positions
were compared.
3. Sample Calculation
The dimension of the beam: t = 0.0012m, b = 0.03m, L = 0.475m
Density of the beam: = 7903kg/m3
Youngs Modulus: E = 220GPa
I = bt3/12, m = bt
Theoretical 1st natural frequency:
2
9
3
12 EI 1 /2
1.875
220 10 0.03 0.0012 /12
f 1=
(
)
=

=4.55 Hz
7903 0.03 0.0012
2 L2 m
2 3.14 0.475 2

4. Results
The mode shapes were calculated using Formula (2). The cantilever beam was divided
into 10 intervals and the corresponding y values were calculated. The data is shown in
Table 1. Base on the raw data, smooth curves were then plotted to represent the mode
shapes, as shown in Graph 1 to 3 at the back of this report.
Table 1: Data for Mode 2 to 4
x(m)

x/L

0
0.05

0.00
0.11

mode 2
0.000
0.204

y
mode 3
0.000
0.496

mode 4
0.000
0.828

0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.475

0.21
0.32
0.42
0.53
0.63
0.74
0.84
0.95
1.00

0.657
1.135
1.452
1.490
1.212
0.670
-0.017
-0.691
-0.972

1.271
1.487
0.858
-0.275
-1.208
-1.352
-0.619
0.516
1.001

1.512
0.653
-0.904
-1.353
-0.175
1.214
1.152
-0.288
-0.998

The theoretical node positions were located at the intercepts of the curves with x-axis.
The values were read from the graphs and compared with the experimental values. Also,
the frequencies measured using the two methods were compared to each other, as well as
to the theoretical values. The comparison is shown in Table 2. It was noticed that the
experimental node positions were smaller than the theoretical values, and the frequencies
measured were smaller than the theoretical values, though the two different methods gave
almost identical natural frequency values. The reason is to be explained in the section of
Discussion.
Table 2: Comparison of the Theoretical and Experimental results

theoretical
node
position
(mm)
/

experiment
al node
position
(mm)
/

40.0

36.6

mod
e

24.0; 42.8

23.4; 41.0

17.0; 31.9;
44.0

16.6; 30.5;
43.0

% of
error

CRO
frequen
cy (Hz)

strobosco
pe
frequency
(Hz)
/

-8.5

26.3

26.2

28.4

73.0

73.0

79.5

147.0

146.8

155.9

881
0

257.6

-2.5;
-4.2
-2.3;
-4.4;
-2.3
/

theoretic
al
frequenc
y (Hz)
4.55

5. Discussions
Vibration that occurs in most of the dynamic systems is undesirable as it may result in
unpleasant motion and noise, and the dynamic stresses which may lead to structure
failure. Also, the energy losses accompanied by the vibration may negatively affect the
performance. Resonance occurs when the frequency of driving force is near the natural

rpm
/
157
2
437
9

frequency of a system, and the system undergoes violent vibration which may cause
serious damages. The resonant frequency is approximately equal to the natural frequency
of a system. It is therefore essential to measure the natural frequencies to ensure that the
system will not be easily excited by external forces. On the other hand, we may
sometimes take advantage of resonance. Such applications include vibratory conveyors
and compactors.
A system may have more than one natural frequency. The number is dependent on the
degree of freedom it has. For instance, a mass connected to a spring in one dimension has
only one degree of freedom and thus one natural frequency. In contrast, the cantilever
beam used in this experiment has an infinite number of natural frequencies. However, in
the experiment, only the second to the forth natural frequencies were measured. Higher
natural frequencies are usually not of our interest as under these frequencies, the vibration
amplitude of a system is attenuated by damping to a very small value that is not easily
observed by bare eyes and not likely to cause serious damage. Furthermore, as the beam
in this experiment would vibrate in a very dangerous manner in its first mode, its first
natural frequency was not measured for safety reasons.
A mode shape refers to the displacement of a system at a particular mode, which is
characterized by the number of half waves in the vibration. By determine the mode
shapes of a system, we are able to predict the manner in which it vibrate. Particularly, we
can find the position of the nodes where no displacement is observed, as well as the place
where the maximum displacement occurs. Knowing this, we can suppress the amplitude
by attaching mass to the nodes. Whats more, in a tall building, for example, delicate
equipment could be kept in the location of the nodes to minimize disturbance.
The natural frequencies obtained in the experiment were smaller than the theoretical
values. The accelerometer attached towards the fixed end of the cantilever beam was
accountable for the deviation. As we know, the natural frequency of a mass-spring
oscillator is proportional to

k /m . Similarly, the additional mass of the accelerometer

lowered the natural frequencies of the system. Moreover, it altered the mode shapes of

the system. In short, the accelerometer is the main reason for the errors in the
experimental results.
6. Conclusion
To sum up, the first few natural frequencies of the beam were measured and the mode
shapes obtained. The results were close to the theoretical values. The main source of error
is the additional mass of the accelerometer attached to the system. Also, the two
techniques, CRO and stroboscope methods, for measuring a systems natural frequencies
were learnt, and knowledge in vibration and resonance was acquired.

Graph 1: Mode Shape 2

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5 0
-1.0
-1.5

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

Graph 2: Mode Shape 3

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5 0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

-1.0
-1.5

Graph 3: Mode Shape 4

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5 0
-1.0
-1.5

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3