Mechanical Translational Systems

INTRODUCTION This experiment utilizes a linear potentiometer for position measurement and a strain gage force transducer for force measurements. This instrumentation is used to explore the character of a mechanical spring as a system component and the natural second order dynamic behavior of a mass-spring system. The overall system is shown schematically in Figure 1.

EQUIPMENT SET-UP AND PREPARATION The National Instruments Data Acquisition Package called the VirtualBench will be used for gathering data in this experiment. Activate the VirtualBench-Scope to begin preparing and initializing the instrumentation. As you take data you will want to store it in files for processing by Microsoft Excel here in the laboratory or elsewhere. Leave the VirtualBench-Scope operating as you carry out the following steps: 1. Connect the displacement transducer (Linear Potentiometer) to the HP power supply and adjust the supplied voltage to approximately 5 volts. The connections should be made as shown in Figure 2 with the power supply across the ends of the potentiometer and the slide wire connection to the data acquisition channel #1. Observe channel #1 on the VirtualBench-Scope. As you move the system/potentiometer shaft back and forth, you should see the Scope trace move over a range of roughly one volt somewhere between zero and five volts. Make sure that you have the scale for channel #1 set to one volt per division and that the "zero" is at about the middle of the display screen.

2. Connect the strain gage force transducer to its amplifier/conditioning unit with the output of the strain gage conditioner wired to channel #2 of the VirtualBench-Scope as indicated in Figure 3. The strain gage conditioner provides an excitation signal to the strain gage bridge in the transducer and converts the change in strain gage resistance into an instrument level voltage. Of course, the force transducer is converting applied force to strain gage resistance changes. Adjust the balance of the conditioner so that the output voltage is zero when no force is applied to the system. Now slide the system/potentiometer shaft back and forth by holding the coupling point indicated in Figure 1. The force output voltage on channel #2 should now vary over about a hundred millivolts as you stroke the system. Span adjustments of the conditioner may be necessary to achieve this.

CALIBRATION

If you have completed items 1 and 2 above successfully, the system instrumentation is functioning more-or-less normally. The calibration steps below are intended to put the details in order so that you can obtain useful experimental data. 1. Calibrate the position measurement signal by using a scale (i.e. a ruler) to make a known movement of the potentiometer shaft of about two centimeters. Obtain the potentiometer voltage before and after your known movement (you can obtain numerical values on the VirtualBench-Scope display or switch to the VirtualBenchDMM display if you find it useful). The position calibration factor is the change in position divided by the resulting change in voltage. 2. Remove the force transducer from the setup. Use the allen wrenches available in the lab and ask your TA for assistance if needed. Calibrate the force transducer by using the 300 gram deadweights available in the laboratory. Take measurements of the strain gage conditioner output voltage (channel #2) with no load and with one or two of the deadweights. Determine the force calibration factor by dividing the change in force by the change in voltage. Remember, of course, that force is measured in newtons, not grams, with force (in newtons) = mass (in kilograms) X 9.81 (meters/sec/sec). DETERMINATION OF SPRING RATE The VirtualBench-Scope can be used as discussed below to take the spring stiffness data. The results can be saved to a file and manipulated with the spreadsheet program Excel to plot the force-displacement characteristic of the spring and to determine the spring stiffness. Return to the VirtualBench-Scope with the potentiometer signal monitored by channel #1 and the force signal monitored by channel #2. Choose appropriate Scope sensitivities for each. With the Scope free running (click on "Run") and the full scale time axis set at about two seconds, move the potentiometer/system shaft back and forth slowly holding the shaft as shown in Figure 1. Clicking on the "Single" button will store the data on the screen. When you see the screen filled with clean traces over an up and down stroke - press the "Single" button to store the data. This data can then be placed in a file for Excel processing (your TA can show you how). For a preview of the force-displacement plot, place your Scope back in "Run" and press the "Mode" button. This will switch into x-y plotting mode and allow you to see force vs. stiffness on the Scope. After processing with Excel and using your calibration factors to multiply the recorded voltages, you should be able to obtain a direct force-position plot for your

movements of the system shaft in units of newtons and centimeters (This is required Plot #1). You should also be able to use Excel to shift the axes appropriately to obtain a force-displacement plot which is relative to equilibrium conditions and similar to the one shown in Figure 4 below (This is your required Plot #2). A characteriistic of this plot is that it ideally will pass through the zero-zero point since "zero force" corresponds to "zero displacement". Determine the spring stiffness in units of newtons/centimeter.

DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF THE SPRING-MASS SYSTEM The next part of the experiment is to study a system transient response by treating the translation apparatus as a Spring-Mass dynamic system. The transient will be monitored by collecting channel #1 position data only. Unplug the electrical force transducer connection from the system to minimize wear-and-tear. Place the Scope in free running mode with a two second full time scale. Move the potentiometer shaft to an initial position and suddenly release it. The system will respond with a somewhat oscillatory response back to its initial equilibrium position. When you see a nice clean transient on the screen, click "Single" to hold it. Your transient should show at least one substantial overshoot. Some adjustment may be necessary to keep friction to a minimum and show some oscillation. When you have a suitable transient save it to a file for processing with Excel. By using Excel to adjust the zeros, and scaling the initial displacement condition (i.e. divide by Xo), you should be able to obtain a plot similar to the one in Figure 5 below (This is required Plot #3). Notice that the normalized displacement starts at unity at the instant where the transient begins (zero time).

Standardized graphs are readily available showing the traditional unit step response of a second order system (e.g. p. 94 of the Shearer textbook). Comparing your transient system response (similar to Figure 5) to a standard graph of second order step response, estimate the natural frequency and damping ratio for your system. Notice that the size of the first overshoot in the response can be used to define the damping ratio. Similarly the time where the first response peak is found then defines the natural frequency.