Visualization in mechanics: the dynamics of an unbalanced roller

Peter Stewart Cumber*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is well known that mechanical engineering students often find mechanics a difficult area to grasp. This article describes a system of equations describing the motion of a balanced and an unbalanced roller constrained by a pivot arm. A wide range of dynamics can be simulated with the model. The equations of motion are embedded in a graphical user interface for its numerical solution in MATLAB. This allows a student's focus to be on the influence of different parameters on the system dynamics. The simulation tool can be used as a dynamics demonstrator in a lecture or as an educational tool driven by the imagination of the student. By way of demonstration the simulation tool has been applied to a range of roller–pivot arm configurations. In addition, approximations to the equations of motion are explored and a second-order model is shown to be accurate for a limited range of parameters.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
JournalInternational Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
Early online date2 Nov 2016
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 2 Nov 2016

Keywords

  • animation
  • approximations to dynamic systems
  • GUI
  • Mechanics
  • unbalanced systems

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mathematics (miscellaneous)
  • Education
  • Applied Mathematics

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