Fly Wheel: B.I.T., Mesra Engg - Mechanics Lab

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 6

B.I.T., MESRA ENGG.

MECHANICS LAB

FLY WHEEL

AIM :-
To determine the moment of inertia of a flywheel by falling weight method and to
determine the frictional moment in the bearings.

APPARATUS REQUIRED :-
A complete set of flywheel, pan attached with a rope, standard weights and stop
watch.

THEORY :-

The flywheel A is mounted on an axle supported in bearings at B and C as shown in the


figure. A weight W is Tied to a string, the other end of which goes around the axle and is
loosely inserted in a lug at D on the axle.
The weight W is released from rest, at a height H above the ground. The time t1 taken by the
weight to reach the ground and the total time T = t1 + t2 .
Taken by the flywheel to finally come to rest are noted. The effective diameter of the axle, d,
is also noted. This includes the thickness of the string. Assuming the friction moment in the
bearing Mf to be constant, the value of the moment of inertia of the flywheel ‘I’ can be
calculated from the above observations. Similarly, Mf can also be calculated. It may be noted
that the above gives the combined moment of inertia of the flywheel and the axle, but the fly
wheel moment of inertia is 99.95 % to 99.98 % of the total ‘I’ and hence the moment of
inertia of the axle is neglected.
We consider the motion in two phases. The first phase is from t=0 to t = t1, during
which the weight ‘w’ is falling downward, i.e., the phase in which the flywheel is being
accelerated. The angular acceleration of the flywheel ‘α1’ and the linear acceleration ‘a1’ of
weight ‘W’ are constant. If ω1 is the angular velocity of the flywheel at the end of this phase,
i.e , when W just touches the ground, then ω1 = α1. t1.

FLYWHEEL

1
B.I.T., MESRA ENGG.MECHANICS LAB

B C

d
D

Fig-1 h

The second phase is that of decelerated motion of the fly wheel, which is due to friction in the
bearings. During this phase, the angular velocity of the flywheel decreases from the initial
value of ω1.
If α2 is the angular retardation of this phase, then ω1 = α2 . t2 = α1. t1 ………..(1)
Since, this retardation is due to Mf, we have α2 = Mf / I …………………(2)

For Phase 1

F.B.D of weight ‘W’ gives


α1
W – T = (W/ g) a1 ……..(3)
Where ‘T’ is the tension in the string.
F.B.D of the Flywheel gives
T.(d/2) – Mf = I. α1 ………(4)
Also,
α1 = 2a1 / d …..(5)
W
From the linear motion of W, we get,
H = ½ a1. t12 ………….(6)
Fig - 2 h

FLYWHEEL

2
B.I.T., MESRA ENGG.MECHANICS LAB

Since Phase – I is started from rest. In the above six equations, there are six unknowns
namely α1, α2, Mf, I, T, a1 and hence these can be evaluated.
For example,
From equation ( 6) , α1 = 2h/t12 ……..(A)
From equation (5) , α1 = 2a1 / d …….(B)
From equation (1) , α2 = (t1 / t2) α1 ….. ( C )
From equation (3) , T = W1 (1- a1 /g) ……( D)
From equation (2) , I = Mf / α2

From equation (4) , Mf = ( (T.d/2) - I . α1 ) = (T.d/2 - (α1 / α2 ) Mf )

Or Mf .( 1+ (α1 / α2 )) = T. d/2

Or Mf = (T.d/2). (α2 / (α1 +α2 )) ……….(E)

And from equation (2)

I = Mf / α2 ……..( F )

Hence, we can calculate the various unknowns step by step as above and determine the

unknowns in terms of the experimentally determined values of d, W, h, t1 , and t2 as follows :

From (A)

a1 = 2h/t12 ….…( A’)

From (B) and (A’)

α1 = 4h / (t12 .d) ……..(B’)

From ( c) and ( B’)

α2 = 4h / (t1 .t2 .d) ……( C’)

From ( D) and ( A’)

T = W ( 1- (2h/ t12..g) ) = W ( g t12 - 2h) / g.t12 …( D’)

From ( E) , ( D’) , ( C’) and ( B’) :

Mf = ( W ( g. t12 - 2h) / g t12 ) (d/2) (4h / (t1.t2 .d) / (4h / (t1.t2 d) (t1 + t2))
= (( g t12 - 2h) / g t1 (t1 + t2)) (W.d / 2) ……….(E’)

FLYWHEEL

3
B.I.T., MESRA ENGG.MECHANICS LAB

From ( F) , ( E’) and ( c’) ;


(g t12 - 2h) / h (t2 / (t1 + t2)) (W.d2 / 8g) ……..( F’)

PROCEDURE:-

1. The absolute diameter of an axle (da) and the string (ds) is measured and effective
diameter (d) is calculated.
2. The weight of the load pan (Wp) is measured, noted and then added with the standard
load to get an effective load (W).
3. Three set of weights are selected, which to be put on the pan. Take ‘W’ = 1.0, 2.0,
and 3 kgf. Calculate the effective load ‘W’ and then tabulate after converting it into
Newton.
4. For each set of weight ‘W’, select 3 set of values of height ‘h’ ; say, h =1.0 m; h = 0.8
m and h = 0.6 m.
5. For each set of selected ‘W’ and ‘h’ , determine the time t1 taken for W to reach the
ground and the total time T = t1 + t2 , for the flywheel to finally come to rest.
Determine, t2 = T- t1 . Take two readings and use the average of the two.
6. Calculate the value of ‘Mf’ and ‘I’ for each set. (There are 9 set in all ) and then
calculate the average values of ‘Mf’ and ‘I’ (If some of the value are widely divergent,
these should be rejected).

CALCULATIONS :-

Absolute diameter of an axle, da =

Diameter of the string wound on the drum, ds =

Effective diameter of an axle, d= da + ds =

Weight of the load pan, Wp =

Effective Load on the Pan, W = Wp + Wstandard =

FLYWHEEL

4
B.I.T., MESRA ENGG.MECHANICS LAB

OBSERVATION TABLE:-

TABLE – I

Sr. LOAD HEIGHT TIME


No. W h t1 T t2 = T - t1
(N) (m) (sec) (sec) (sec)
I II Avg. I II Avg.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

TABLE – II

Sr. LINEAR ANGULAR ANGULAR TENSION FRICTIONAL MOMENT OF


ACCELERATION ACCELERATION ACCELERATION T MOMENT INERTIA
No. a1 α1 α2 MF I
(N)
(m.s-2) (rad.s-2) (rad.s-2) (N-m) (N-m s-2)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

FLYWHEEL

5
B.I.T., MESRA ENGG.MECHANICS LAB

SKETCHES :-

PRECAUTIONS:-

1. Measure the height very carefully.


2. Time measurement should be taken with good accuracy.
3. The set-up shouldn’t be disturbed while the flywheel is in rotation.

ENGINEERING UTILITY:-

RESULTS:-

FLYWHEEL

You might also like