Engineering Mechanics 2

MMAN2300 T2 2024

Coriolis Laboratory Assignment

Assignment Due: 5 PM (Sydney time) Friday, 12 July 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this lab activity is to help you have a good understanding of the Coriolis
concept and demonstrate your understanding by completing the tasks and your individual report.

Skills: The purpose of this lab exercise is to help you practice the following skills that are important
in achieving the learning outcomes of the course. In this exercise you will:

 Apply the knowledge learned on the topic of acceleration analysis of rigid bodies to complete
the required tasks
 Compose a clear and concise report/assignment using the provided template

Knowledge: This lab exercise will also help you become familiar with the following important
knowledge in the course.

 Planar motion of rigid bodies, in particular, Coriolis component

 Analysis of the motion using a fixed and/or rotating reference frame

General instructions

Use this template to complete the Coriolis Lab Assignment, which has three parts. Part 1 of the
assignment can be completed by handwriting or typing. Part 2 and Part 3 MUST be completed by
typing, unless otherwise specified. Any handwritten text in Part 2 and Part 3 will not be
marked. All parts must be completed correctly to achieve full marks. Use the space provided in the
boxes of this document to report your answers.

Students repeating the course must redo all activities using the newly assigned values and submit a
new report. Re-submitting the assignment/report submitted in a previous term will be treated as self-
plagiarism.

It is recommended to use 11-point Times New Roman font.

You must use your zID to run the simulation.

Student details

Enter your details below

First Name: Zhiheng

Family Name: Hu

zID: z 5520126

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Situation description

You work for a consulting firm that provides solutions to machinery problems. A client has requested
for your assistance to solve some issues with a mechanism of their machine. The following is the
email you have received from the client.

Email from client

Hi,

As mentioned on the phone earlier, we need your assistance in troubleshooting a mechanism of our
machine. I have included some information regarding the mechanism and its issues in this email. The
following is a diagram of the mechanism.

A slider is constrained to move radially along the groove while the disc rotates about its own centre
of mass (fixed). This mechanism is however faulty and requires maintenance before it can operate
properly. The problems are:

1) The speed indicator of the rotating disc is not accurate and requires calibration.
2) The speed of the slider relative to the groove is unknown.
3) Due to problem (2), it is difficult to estimate the exact time to stop the mechanism before the
slider reaches the end of the groove (and collides with the wall of the groove).
To help with the investigation of the problems, we have mounted sophisticated motion sensors on the
slider. The motion sensors are capable of measuring (i) the position of the slider with respect to
(w.r.t.) the centre of the disc, (ii) the absolute velocity of the slider, and (iii) the absolute acceleration
of the slider.

Note that the slider can be treated as a particle and the measured distance from the centre of the disc
to the end of the groove is 900 mm. We have also mounted two cameras – Camera 1 on the stationary
fixed support and Camera 2 on the rotating disc (i.e., rotating with the disc), as we thought some
video recordings from the two cameras might be of interest for your analysis. Finally, I have attached
a form below and we would appreciate it if you can report the results of your analysis and your
suggestions using the form.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,

Client

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Part 1. Velocity and acceleration analysis

Part 1 Ref. Report a screenshot of the ‘photo’ you have obtained from the program, showing the
given instant of motion and the parameters provided. Note that this step is just for reference and no
mark is awarded.

Part 1A. Based on the position and motion of the mechanism at the particular instant shown in Part
1 Ref, find:
(i) the angular velocity (magnitude and direction) of the rotating disc (note that the
angular velocity provided by the speed indicator in Part 1 Ref is inaccurate and you are
required to find its accurate value using the data obtained from the motion sensors),
(ii) the velocity (magnitude and direction) of the slider relative to the rotating disc,
(iii) the Coriolis acceleration (magnitude and direction),
(iv) the angular acceleration (magnitude and direction) of the rotating disc, and
(v) the acceleration (magnitude and direction) of the slider relative to the rotating disc.
For (iv) and (v), note that the angular velocity of the disc and the velocity of the slider relative to
the disc are not constant in Part 1.

Final answer for (i): Final answer for (ii):

0.5 rad/s CCW 0.7444 m/s in direction of the groove

Final answer for (iii): Final answer for (iv):

2
0.7444 m/ s CCW 0.4645 rad/ s2 CCW

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Final answer for (v):
0.110 m/ s2 22.2 degrees CW

Place your calculations here

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Part 1B. Compare your result in Part 1A(i) and the value from the speed indicator of the rotating
disc (from ‘photo’) by calculating the percentage error between the angular speed obtained from
Part 1A(i) and the one from the speed indicator.
Actual value is the value found by the sensor which is 0.4167 rad/s while the expected value is the
calculated value which is 0.5 rad/s.

Final answer for percentage error: 16.66%

Place your calculations here

Part 1C. Based on the results calculated from previous parts, determine
(i) When the mechanism should be stopped before the slider collides at the end of the
groove, i.e., how long it takes for the slider to reach (right before touching) the end of
the groove from the instant of motion shown in the ‘photo’? The slider can be treated
as a particle by neglecting the dimensions of the slider.
(ii) The angular displacement of the rotating disc just when the slider reaches the end of
the groove.
Assume that the magnitude of the disc’s angular acceleration and the magnitude of the slider’s
acceleration relative to the disc obtained in Part 1A are constant.

Final answer for (i): Final answer for (ii):

0.682 s 0.449 rad CCW

Place your calculations here

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Part 2: Investigation of Coriolis effect (with zero angular acceleration of the disc and zero
acceleration of the slider relative to the disc)

Study the ‘short videos’ using the program (a) under different combinations of operating conditions
by changing the angular velocity (magnitude and direction) of the rotating disc and/or the velocity of
the slider relative to the disc, and (b) from different reference frames, that is, a fixed frame to ground
and a rotating frame fixed to the disc.

Part 2A. Draw qualitatively the trajectory of the slider when it moves from
the initial position (given in the program*) to the position where the slider
reaches the other end of the groove, for the two cases requested, viewed
from Camera 1 (fixed to ground). Note that the initial position of the disc
is shown in Figure 2A, where the groove is horizontal rightward. Also,
briefly justify the reasons for the trajectories you draw.
(*Once you run the program, click the third button ‘What do I need to
predict?’ to obtain further information regarding the two cases.)
Figure 2A. The initial position of
the disc for the activities in Part
2A
Case 1 Write the conditions of your case here Case 2 Write the conditions of your case here

Angular Velocity of disc: Low speed, CW Angular Velocity of disc: Low speed, CCW

Velocity of slider relative to disc: Low Speed, Velocity of slider relative to disc: Low speed,
away from disc centre towards the disc centre

Initial position of slider: At the inner end of the Initial position of slider: At the outer end of the
groove groove

Place your drawing for Case 1 here Place your drawing for Case 2 here
(hand-drawing is allowed as long as it’s (hand-drawing is allowed as long as it’s
legible) legible)

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Briefly justify your drawing for Case 1 here Briefly justify your drawing for Case 2 here

The trajectory has a clockwise rotation due to The trajectory has a counterclockwise rotation
the clockwise angular velocity of the disc. It has due to the counterclockwise angular velocity of
two velocity components, namely, the normal the disc. Similar to case 1, it has two velocity
component and the tangential component. These component as well such as the normal and
causes the slider to move away from the initial tangential component. These causes the slider
centre position to the edge. Therefore, the final from the edge of the disc to move towards the
position of the slider is at the edge of the disc centre of the disc. Therefore, the final position
due to the relative velocity away from the centre of the slider is at the centre of the disc due to the
of the disc. relative velocity towards the centre of the disc.

The normal component is away from the centre The normal component it moving towards the
of the disk while the tangential component is centre of the disc while the tangential
perpendicular to the radius of the disc, and it is component is point upwards by using the right
pointing downwards by using the right hand rule hand rule. Therefore, the Coriolis acceleration is
and thus creating a clockwise rotation. acting downwards.

The Coriolis acceleration is perpendicular to the Similar to case 1, since the angular velocity and
relative velocity and pointing upwards. the relative velocity are relatively slow, the
Therefore, the trajectory of the slider is a degree of the concave path is low too, due to the
concave upwards path. Since both the angular direct proportional relationship between the
velocity and the relative velocity are relatively Coriolis acceleration and the velocity of the
slow, the degree of the concave path is low too, angular velocity and the relative velocity.
due to the direct proportional relationship
between the Coriolis acceleration and the
velocity of the angular velocity and the relative
velocity.

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Part 2B. Based on your observations in Part 2A and your understanding of Coriolis effect, briefly
discuss:
(i) the effect of the magnitude of the disc’s angular velocity on Coriolis acceleration, and
draw a graph* that shows the trend of |acor| vs |ω|.
(ii) the effect of the direction of the disc’s angular velocity on Coriolis acceleration.
(iii) the effect of the magnitude of the slider’s velocity relative to the disc on Coriolis
acceleration, and draw a graph* that shows the trend of |acor| vs |v rel|.
(iv) the effect of the direction of the slider’s velocity relative to the disc on Coriolis
acceleration.
(v) the difference between trajectories of the slider viewed from the fixed and rotating
reference frames.
*Note: the requested graphs are just qualitative sketches of trends.
Place your discussion here

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Part 3: A conceptual problem
The groove of the rotating disc is now open near the edge of
the disc to allow the slider to leave the disc. In the diagram
shown, the slider is about to leave the disc with a relative
velocity vrel to the rotating disc. Considering only motion in
the x-y plane and given that the magnitude of ω of the
rotating disc is constant and the direction is
counterclockwise, predict the trajectory of the motion of the
slider observed from the fixed reference after it leaves the
disc and briefly discuss the main reasons (e.g., based on the
slider’s velocity/acceleration etc) behind your predicted
trajectory. Neglect air resistance.

Place your discussion here

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