Innovative experimental model and simulation method for structural dynamic concepts

ABSTRACT In this study, different methods to teach and visualize the motion of a single degree of freedom system for engineering undergraduate and graduate students and professionals are described. The examined concepts include the P‐Δ effect in a single degree of freedom system. First, the theoretical background is given. Then, an experimental setup was used to verify the theory. The experimental setup consists of a steel saw with a height, h and stiffness k. An additional mass is put on top of steel saw. A new simple method to find period of a Single Degree of Freedom model is introduced. Using an acoustic method in a new way, period of the oscillating saw is determined. By digitally processing the captured acoustic waves, the period characteristics of the system are calculated. A simulation tool is also developed using Mathematica® software. The simulation provided the users a way to visualize the motion of the system in time along with simple animations. These simple experimental setup and simulation tool provided convenient and useful approaches to demonstrate the concepts including the P‐Δ effect in a single degree of freedom system. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:421–427, 2016; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21720