Rotational Mechanical Systems

Unit 2: Modeling in the Frequency Domain

Part 6: Modeling Rotational Mechanical Systems
Engineering 5821:
Control Systems I
Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science
Memorial University of Newfoundland

January 22, 2010

ENGI 5821

Unit 2, Part 6: Modeling Rotation Mechanical Systems

Rotational Mechanical Systems

Rotational mechanical systems are modelled in almost the same
way as translational systems except that...
We replace displacement, x(t) with angular displacement
(t); Angular velocity is (t)
We replace force with torque
For a force F acting on a body at point P, torque is defined as,
T = FR sin
where R is the distance from P to the bodys axis of rotation and
is the angle the force makes to the ray from the axis of rotation to
P. Hence, if the force is perpendicular to the axis of rotation then,
T = FR

Rotational Mechanical Systems

Gears

A rotating body can be considered a system of particles with

masses m1 , m2 , m3 , . . .. The moment of inertia is defined as,
J = m1 R12 + m2 R22 + m3 R32 +
The total kinetic energy is,
1
K = J 2
2
Recall that the kinetic energy for a translational system is 12 mv 2 .
So J is analagous to mass in translational motion. Also, similar to
the equation F = ma in translational systems, we can relate torque
and angular acceleration,
T (t) = J

d
d 2
=J 2
dt
dt

We define the components of our rotational system as springs,

viscous dampers, and rotating masses.
ENGI 5821

Unit 2, Part 6: Modeling Rotation Mechanical Systems

e.g. Find the transfer function 2 (s)/T (s) for the following system:

We model the system in (a) as consisting of two sections joined by

a spring. We draw a free-body diagram of J1 :

(a) J1 rotating, J2 held still (b) J2 rotating, J1 held still (c) All
torques on J1

Sum the torques in (c)

(J1 s 2 + D1 s + K )1 (s) K 2 (s) = T (s)
Now consider J2 and apply the same analysis...



K 1 (s) + J2 s 2 + D2 s + K 2 (s) = 0
We can easily solve these two linear equations for the transfer
function 2 (s)/T (s).

Rotational Mechanical Systems

Gears

Gears

Rarely do we see mechanical systems without gear trains. Gears

allow us to trade-off speed for torque.
We will assume that connected gears fit perfectly together.
However, in reality gears exhibit backlash where one gear will move
through a small angle before its teeth meet those of the other gear.
This is a non-linear effect that we will not model analytically.

ENGI 5821

Unit 2, Part 6: Modeling Rotation Mechanical Systems

The input gear on the left has radius r1 and N1 teeth. It is rotated
by 1 (t) due to a torque T1 (t). What is the relationship between
the rotation of the input gear and that of the output gear, 2 (t)?
Although, the angles will differ, the arc length through which both
gears turn will be the same:
r1 1 = r2 2
Therefore the relation between angles is as follows,
r1
2 = 1
r2
Since the number of teeth is proportional to the radius, then the
following also holds,
N1
2 =
1
N2

We can relate T1 and T2 through energy considerations. The

amount of work done by the rotation of gear 1 is T . We are
assuming that no energy is lost, therefore
T1 1 = T2 2

T2
N2
=
T1
N1

The relationships between gears are pictured as transfer functions

below:

Reflecting Impedances
Consider the following system:

Assume that we are interested in the relationship between the

imposed torque T1 and 2 .
The two rotating members are not linearly independent. So there
is really only one rotating member to consider. We can reflect
the imposed torque T1 to the rotating member J so that the gears
are removed from the schematic:

This is valid since T2 =

N2
N1 T1 .

Now assume we are interested in the relation between T1 and 1 .

The torque due to each of the impedances on shaft 2 can be

reflected to an equivalent torque on shaft 1. Consider the torque
due to the damper on shaft 2:
TD2 = Ds2 (s)
N1
= Ds 1 (s)
N2
The relationship between the torques due to the damper is,
TD1 =
= TD1 =

N1
TD2
N2
 2
N1
N1 N1
Ds1 (s)
Ds 1 (s) =
N2 N2
N2

The general pattern for the reflectance of impedances is as follows:


Tdest =

Ndest
Nsrc

2
ZM dest

In this manner we can reflect all impedances on shaft 2 to shaft 1:

This system can be modelled as follows,

Js 2

N1
N2

2


+ Ds

N1
N2

2


+K

N1
N2

2 !
1 (s) = T1 (s)

Rotational Mechanical Systems

Gears

e.g. Find the transfer function 2 (s)/T1 (s) for the following
system,

Since the output is defined as 2 (s) we should reflect the

impedances from shaft 1 onto shaft 2:

ENGI 5821

Unit 2, Part 6: Modeling Rotation Mechanical Systems

Rotational Mechanical Systems

Gears

We can now write the equation of motion:

(Je + De + K2 ) 2 (s) = T1 (s)

N2
N1

where,

N2 2
+ J2
= J1
N1
 2
N2
= D1
+ D2
N1


Je
De
Therefore
G (s) =

2 (s)
N2 /N1
=
T1 (s)
Je s 2 + De s + K2
ENGI 5821

Unit 2, Part 6: Modeling Rotation Mechanical Systems

Rotational Mechanical Systems

Gears

If we allow our gears to be large enough we can obtain any desired

gear ratio. However, it is usually impractical to allow gears with
large radii. Instead, gear trains are employed.

The equivalent gear ratio is the product of gear ratios for pairs of
meshed gears.

ENGI 5821

Unit 2, Part 6: Modeling Rotation Mechanical Systems

e.g. Reflect all impedances in the abbreviated schematic below

onto the input shaft:

Solution:

Notice that we are assuming the rotations of all other shafts are
directly tied through the gear train to 1 .