Vibration analysis of cantilever beam in time domain and frequency domain using arduino platform

Abstract

In this paper, analysis is made in the field of mechanical vibrations using Arduino and MATLAB code. Test was conducted on a cantilever beam to extract the first three natural frequencies. Two specimens made of Aluminium and Mild Steel were considered for the analysis. The frequencies were first determined using experimental setup utilizing Arduino and MATLAB, later verified with the help of two methods: (1) Traditional “strike method” using 8-channel FFT analyser with Data Acquisition System (2) Analytical solutions available in Robert D Blevins for idealized continuous beam model. The results obtained for both specimens through these methods were compared with Arduino MATLAB code and found to be in very good agreement. Hence, in this work an attempt is made with the use of Arduino to extract few frequencies for simple structures which is less expensive, fast and provides reasonably good results and can be a substitute for FFT analyser, which is very expensive and time consuming.