Developing Experiments for the Vibration Course with Minimal Expenditure

B. S. Sridhara; Daryl Hunter White

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Topics Related to Electrical Engineering Technology
Tagged Division: Engineering Technology
Page Count: 15
Page Numbers: 25.430.1 - 25.430.15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21188
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21188
Download Count: 441

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Paper Authors

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B. S. Sridhara Middle Tennessee State University

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B. S. Sridhara is a professor in the Department of Engineering Technology at Middle Tennessee State University. He received his B.S.M.E. and M.S.M.E. degrees from Bangalore University and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He received his M.S.M.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, and Auburn University, Alabama. Sridhara has published several peer-reviewed articles in the areas of acoustics, vibration, finite element methods, and engineering education.

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Daryl Hunter White Middle Tennessee State University

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Daryl White is a graduate student in the Department of Engineering Technology at Middle Tennessee State University. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering technology from Middle Tennessee State University.

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Abstract

Developing Experiments for the Vibration Course with Minimal ExpenditureAbstractThe Engineering Technology (ET) program at XXXX University has approximately 450students. Our Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) concentration was started in2004 fall and currently it has 200 majors. All MET students are required to takeVibration along with several other senior level courses. Vibration is a lecture/lab courseand currently we do not have a formal lab due to severe budget cuts. The authordeveloped the Helmholtz resonator project in which student teams are required to design,build and test a Helmholtz resonator. A Helmholtz resonator, which can be modeled as aspring-mass system, consists of a body (cavity) and a neck whose dimensions can beselected to tune the resonator to respond at a desired natural frequency. A localautomotive muffler manufacturing company donated us a shaker and a couple ofaccelerometers. But we could not develop any laboratory experiments with the donateditems because the shaker was very bulky and the accelerometers did not functionproperly. Luckily the author was able to identify an MET senior/advisee who owned avibration measurement related business. He wanted to pursue MET studies full time andtherefore, donated us several items including a sound and vibration analyzer, a digitalsound level meter, a microphone preamp, microphones, accelerometers, and cables andconnectors for use in our Vibration course. The author wanted to best utilize the senior’swork experience and therefore, persuaded him to develop some table top experiments forthe Vibration course utilizing the donated items. In consultation with the author hedeveloped five experiments that can be run in a classroom or lab, and received credittowards his capstone project. In the first experiment the students will familiarizethemselves with the instrumentation and the frequency analysis software, Audacity andSpectraPlus. In the second experiment they will learn to record time domain data andperform frequency analysis. In the third experiment they will learn to use theaccelerometer in vibration measurement. In the fourth experiment the students will learnto perform noise analysis of an internal combustion engine exhaust system. In the fifthexperiment they will learn to perform spectrum analysis for different noise and vibrationsignals. The donated equipment and instrumentation are slightly old but are functionaland meet the lab requirements of our Vibration course. The experiments meet the studentlearning outcomes c and g of the ABET a-k criteria. This fall our Vibration students willrun these experiments and gives us their feedback. The MET senior who developed theexperiments is currently pursuing his Engineering Technology master’s degree in ourdepartment and will be available to help the students in the lab and revise the experimentsbased on their feedback.

Citation
Format

Sridhara, B. S., & White, D. H. (2012, June), Developing Experiments for the Vibration Course with Minimal Expenditure Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21188

TY - CPAPER
AB - Developing Experiments for the Vibration Course with Minimal ExpenditureAbstractThe Engineering Technology (ET) program at XXXX University has approximately 450students. Our Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) concentration was started in2004 fall and currently it has 200 majors. All MET students are required to takeVibration along with several other senior level courses. Vibration is a lecture/lab courseand currently we do not have a formal lab due to severe budget cuts. The authordeveloped the Helmholtz resonator project in which student teams are required to design,build and test a Helmholtz resonator. A Helmholtz resonator, which can be modeled as aspring-mass system, consists of a body (cavity) and a neck whose dimensions can beselected to tune the resonator to respond at a desired natural frequency. A localautomotive muffler manufacturing company donated us a shaker and a couple ofaccelerometers. But we could not develop any laboratory experiments with the donateditems because the shaker was very bulky and the accelerometers did not functionproperly. Luckily the author was able to identify an MET senior/advisee who owned avibration measurement related business. He wanted to pursue MET studies full time andtherefore, donated us several items including a sound and vibration analyzer, a digitalsound level meter, a microphone preamp, microphones, accelerometers, and cables andconnectors for use in our Vibration course. The author wanted to best utilize the senior’swork experience and therefore, persuaded him to develop some table top experiments forthe Vibration course utilizing the donated items. In consultation with the author hedeveloped five experiments that can be run in a classroom or lab, and received credittowards his capstone project. In the first experiment the students will familiarizethemselves with the instrumentation and the frequency analysis software, Audacity andSpectraPlus. In the second experiment they will learn to record time domain data andperform frequency analysis. In the third experiment they will learn to use theaccelerometer in vibration measurement. In the fourth experiment the students will learnto perform noise analysis of an internal combustion engine exhaust system. In the fifthexperiment they will learn to perform spectrum analysis for different noise and vibrationsignals. The donated equipment and instrumentation are slightly old but are functionaland meet the lab requirements of our Vibration course. The experiments meet the studentlearning outcomes c and g of the ABET a-k criteria. This fall our Vibration students willrun these experiments and gives us their feedback. The MET senior who developed theexperiments is currently pursuing his Engineering Technology master’s degree in ourdepartment and will be available to help the students in the lab and revise the experimentsbased on their feedback.
AU - B. S. Sridhara
AU - Daryl Hunter White
CY - San Antonio, Texas
DA - 2012/06/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Developing Experiments for the Vibration Course with Minimal Expenditure
UR - https://peer.asee.org/21188
DO - 10.18260/1-2--21188
ER -