KTH Mechanics 011 10 Calculational problems Rigid Body Dynamics, SG150 Solutions to Eam, 011 10 Problem 1: A slender homogeneous rod of mass m and length a can rotate in a vertical plane about a fied smooth horizontal ais through one endpoint. Find the equation of motion 1) using L = M and cylindrical coordinates and ) using Lagrange method. ) Find the angular frequency for small amplitude motion. R O a/ G mg a/ y Solution 1: 1) We have L = J O ϕ e z where J O = ma /. The moment of force comes from gravity alone since the reaction force in the rotation ais is at O. Thus M = OG mg e = (a/)e ρ (ϕ) mg e = (a/)mg sin ϕ e z. The equation of motion L = M thus gives, ma ϕ e z = mga sin ϕ e z. The z-component of this vector equation is (Answer 1): ϕ = g sin ϕ. a ) The kinetic energy is T = 1 J O ϕ and the potential energy is V = mg(a/) cos ϕ. The Lagrange function is therefore, L = T V = 1 ma ϕ + mga cos ϕ The Lagrange equation of motion, d L dt ϕ L ϕ = 0, becomes (Answer :) ϕ + g sin ϕ = 0, a i.e. the same as in 1). ) For small amplitude motion we have, sin ϕ ϕ, so that the equation of motion is ϕ = g a ϕ. This means that the angular frequency squared is ω = g a. Thus (Answer :) g ω = a.
Problem : A straight circular cylinder of mass m and radius R is at rest on a rough horizontal conveyor belt. The ais of the cylinder is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the belt. The conveyor belt is then given a constant acceleration a. Find the Lagrangian that determines the motion of the center of mass of the cylinder. Find its translational acceleration from the Lagrange equation of motion. y O R a Solution : The velocity of the conveyor belt surface is v = at, to the right in the figure. The lowest point on the cylinder must have this velocity, since the surface is rough. The connection formula for velocities in a rigid body then gives ẋ + R ϕ = at. We now find that the Lagrangian is given by, so we find that (Answer:) L = T V = T = 1 mẋ + 1 J G ϕ = 1 mẋ + 1 mr (at ẋ) R, L = 4 mẋ 1 matẋ + 1 4 ma t. The equation of motion is given by d L dt ẋ L = 0 and this gives us, ( d dt mẋ 1 ) mat = 0. From this one immediately finds the Answer: ẍ = a/.
Problem : Four slender homogeneous rods OA, BC, BD, and CE, constitute a planar mechanism. OA has length a and is light. It is fied to BC at a right angle so that A is at the midpoint of BC. BD and CE each have mass m and length a while BC has mass m and length a. There are smooth joints at B and C connecting the rods. Due to a smooth joint at O, OA can rotate about a fied horizontal ais. The mechanism moves in a vertical plane. Find the Lagrangian of the system. Find the approimation for small amplitude motion about the equilibrium and determine the M and the K-matri. Find at least one angular eigen frequency of the system. O C y B 1 G A G E D Solution : The kinetic energy is given by: T = 1 J O ϕ 1 + 1 m(v G + v G ) + 1 J G ( ϕ + ϕ ). Here J O is the moment of inertia of the body OBAC with respect to a z-ais through O. Since the mass of OA is negligible, and the mass of BC is m, we find J O = J A + ma from Steiner s theorem. This gives J O = 1 1 (m)(a) + ma = 8 ma. We also have that J G = J G = ma 1. The position vectors of the centers of mass of BD and CE are, respectively, r G = a e ρ (ϕ 1 π/4) + (a/)e ρ (ϕ ), r G = a e ρ (ϕ 1 + π/4) + (a/)e ρ (ϕ ). The velocities are then, v G = a ϕ 1 e ϕ (ϕ 1 π/4)+(a/) ϕ e ϕ (ϕ ), v G = a ϕ 1 e ϕ (ϕ 1 +π/4)+(a/) ϕ e ϕ (ϕ ). When squaring these velocity vectors we use the scalar product e ϕ (ϕ 1 π/4) e ϕ (ϕ ) = cos(ϕ ϕ 1 + π/4), and similarly for the other one. Algebra then gives (Answer:), { 10 T = ma ϕ 1 + 1 6 ( ϕ + ϕ ) + 1 } [ ϕ 1 ϕ cos(ϕ ϕ 1 + π/4) + ϕ 1 ϕ cos(ϕ ϕ 1 π/4)]. The potential energy is, V = mga cos ϕ 1 mga(cos ϕ 1 + sin ϕ 1 + 1 cos ϕ ) mga(cos ϕ 1 sin ϕ 1 + 1 cos ϕ ) That is, V = mga(4 cos ϕ 1 + 1 cos ϕ + 1 cos ϕ ), and the Lagrangian is L = T V. Assuming small amplitude motion we keep the quadratic terms in the Lagrangian and get (Answer:), L = ma [ 0 ϕ 1 + 1 ] ( ϕ + ϕ ) + ϕ 1 ϕ + ϕ 1 ϕ mga [ 4ϕ 1 + 1 ( ) ] ϕ + ϕ
Below we skip the common factor ma of L. From this we can read off the M- and K-matrices: 0 1 1 4 0 0 1 1 1 M = a 0, K = g 0 0. 1 1 1 0 0 0 Putting ω = we now find the secular equation, a 0 + g4 a 1 a 1 det( M + K) = a 1 a 1 + g 1 0 a 1 0 a 1 + g 1 = 0, which gives, ( a 0 ) ( a + g4 1 + g 1 ) ( a 1 ) ( a 1 + g 1 ) ( a 1 ) ( a 1 + g 1 ) = 0. It is obvious that one root is (Answer:) ω = 1 = g a. Note that this is the same as in Problem 1 and corresponds to the two rods BD and CE oscillating in opposite directions, while OBAC is at rest. The other two roots are, = 6 1 (7 ± ) g a, i.e. approimately, =.176 g a, and = 0.54 g a.
Idea problems: Problem 4: Si identical slender homogeneous rods, each of mass m and length a are welded together at the endpoints so that they constitute the edges of a regular tetrahedron. Find the moment of inertia of this body with respect to an ais through the midpoint. b a c a h c b a/ a/ Solution 4: The figure above shows the tetrahedron as seen from above at rest on a horizontal surface. Now imagine the lines projected to the plane of the base (horizontal) triangle. We see that the height of the base triangle is h = b + c so Pythagoras gives that h + (a/) = a. This gives h = ( /)a. Since the center of mass of the triangle is (1/)h above the base we find that c = h/ = a/( ) and that b = h/ = a/. The moment of inertia with respect to a vertical ais through the midpoint is now, ( J = m 1 ) 1 a + mc + (m 1 ) b. Here the first parenthesis gives the contribution from one of the edge bars in the base triangle. The second parenthesis is due to a bar that goes from the top of the tetrahedron to a corner in the base triangle. The contribution from such a bar is the same as for a bar perpendicular to the vertical ais but of length b. Algebra now gives the Answer: J = 5 6 ma. Since the tetrahedron is symmetric all moments of inertia for aes through the midpoint are the same.
Problem 5: Use the equation L = M to find a simple approimation for the precession angular velocity (Ω = ψ) of the heavy fast symmetric top. Hint: use ė = Ω e and assume L parallel to the ais of the top. Solution 5: See Section 5.., pages 8-8, in Dynamics of Bodies. Equations (5.6) to (5.65) constitute a derivation. Here is a slightly simplified derivation. From L = M one finds L h e B z ( mg e O z ) = mgh e O z e B z. But for the fast top we have L Jω e B z where ω = ϕ constant. This means that L Jω ė B z. Combining we get, which means that We see that the result is, Answer: Jω ė B z mgh e O z e B z, ė B z = Ω = Ω e O z ( ) mgh Jω eo z e B z. = mgh Jω eo z. This is thus the angular velocity of precession of the fast heavy symmetric top. (Here h is the distance from the point in contact with the table to the center of mass, m is the mass, J is the moment of inertia with respect to the symmetry ais.) Problem 6: Find the motion of the free symmetric top in terms of suitable Euler angles. Discuss the difference between prolate and oblate bodies. Solution 6: This is done in Section 5..1, pages 78-79, in Dynamics of Bodies. Each problem gives maimum points, so that the total maimum is 18. Grading: 1-, F; 4-5, FX; 6, E; 7-9, D; 10-1, C; 1-15, B; 16-18; A. Allowed equipment: Handbooks of mathematics and physics. One A4 size page with your own compilation of formulas. HE 011 10