ME3112-2 GYROSCOPIC EFFECTS

SEMESTER 5
SESSION 2015/2016

Department of Mechanical Engineering

National University of Singapore

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF TERMINOLOGY & SYMBOLS
GYROSCOPIC EFFECTS
1. Description of Equipment & Instrumentation
2. Principle and Theory of Operation
3. Experimental Procedure
4. Discussion
5. Tabular Working Sheet

REFERENCES

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1

Experimental Setup for Study of Gyroscopic Effects

Fig. 2:

Disc Spinning about OS Undergoing Precession About OP

Fig. 3:

Torque-Precession relations for a Spinning Disc Undergoing

GyroscopicMotion

Table 1:

Gyroscopic Effects

Table 2:

Regression Analysis for Results of Gyroscopic Effects' Experiment

ii

LIST OF TERMINOLOGY AND SYMBOLS USED

angular velocity or 'spin' of the disc

rad/s

angular velocity or 'precession' of the disc

rad/s

mass moment of inertial of the revolving disc

Nm2

gyroscopic torque or couple

Nm

angular momentum of the disc

gm2/s

iii

GYROSCOPIC EFFECTS
1.

Description of Equipment & Instrumentation

Fig 1: Experimental Setup for the Study of Gyroscopic Effects

Figure 1 shows a view of the gyroscopic model on which tests are to be conducted for
determining the rate of precession and its sense for a given spin magnitude and direction, and
an applied torque. This consists of a rotor-disc system supported on bearing pedestals and
driven by a variable speed D.C. motor through a pinion-gear mechanism. The motor can be
withdrawn through swinging it freely about a vertical axis with the help of a revolving
platform. The torque is applied to the disk by quickly removing one of the supports. The
precession rate is possible to give only one sense of direction for spin as well as torque. Hence
direction of precession is always the same.
2.

Principle and Theory of Operation

T

H'

B
H

A
S

Fig. 2: Disk Spinning About OS Undergoing Precession About OP

Refer to Fig. 2. It shows a disc spinning in a vertical plane with angular velocity and the axis
of spin is simultaneously rotating in a horizontal plane SOT with an angular velocity . For
r
the given direction of spin, the angular moment H ( = I) is represented by vector OA at one
r
instant and OB at some future time. As the angular momentum is a vector quantity, the
resultant moment is found by applying the right hand screw rule (RHSR). The change in H
1

(i.e. H) is only produced by the action of a couple or torque on the disc. Hence by Newton's
Law
T

But ( I ) H
in time t

( I )
t

AB OA

(1)
where is the angle through which the axis of spin rotates

d
T OA
I
dt

Where

(2)

d
= precession rate in radian per second.
dt

The vector AB liesin the plane SOT and in the limit when is very small, its direction is
perpendicular to OA and therefore to the plane SOP. The gyroscopic couple
thus acts in the

plane SOP, and its sense must be clockwise when viewed the direction AB , i.e. direction OT.
Following guideline can be used in determining the sense of gyroscopic torque.
S (spin)
CW
CW
ACW

P (precession)
CW
ACW
ACW

T (torque)
CW
ACW
CW

(CW - Clockwise; ACW - Anti-Clockwise)

To overcome this gyroscopic effect, a couple is applied on the bearings in a rotor-bearing

system (Fig. 3) in the opposite sense, which act as an additional load. Vectorially represented
the sense of torque may be determined by applying the RHSR to the following relation:

T ( I )

(cross product)

(3)

P (precession axis)
T (torque axis)

F
A
O

H'

H
l

B
S (spin axis)
F

Fig. 3: Torque-Precession Relations for a Spinning Disc Undergoing Gyroscopic Motion

TABLE 3
Knob Position
SpinSpeed(rpm)
Set-up

Rotor

Set-up Dimensions (mm)

G4

G5

G6

Dimension

G4

G5

G6

2793

3120

2598

L1

101.0

101.0

100.0

3858

4538

3803

L2

88.0

87.0

89.0

4919

6073

5077

L3

50.0

51.0

46.0

5976

7566

6306

D1

9.5

9.5

9.5

7057

8989

7528

D2

8.0

8.0

8.0

D3

69.0

70.0

70.0

D4

20.0

20.0

20.0

C1

21.0

20.0

20.0

Dimensions of Gear (mm)

C2

10.0

11.0

12.5

A = 10

T1

7.0

7.5

8.0

T2

7.0

8.0

8.0

5.0

5.0

5.0

Density of Steel : 7800 kg/m 3

Density of Gear : 1190 kg/m 3

B = 15

3.

C = 28
P.C.D = 35.5

Experimental Procedure

(a). Rotate the disc at some speed by adjusting the knob position and note the spin rate,
from Table 3.
(b). Apply the torque instantly by quickly withdrawing the removable support and record the
processional rate with a stop-watch.
(c). Repeat the above procedure for different spin rates by varying the knob position and
note the corresponding processional rates.
(d). Using the equation of moment, calculate the gyroscopic torque, T M rotor gl , where
Mrotor = total mass of spinning assembly
g
= acceleration due to gravity
l
= distance between center of gravity of spinning assembly to
the center of fixed support
Calculate the moment inertial, I from the given dimensions in Fig. 4 and Table 3 and thus
obtain ( T / I ) theo .
(e). Using the Least Square Method, plot against ' (=1/) determine the experimental
value of ( T / I ) expt from the slope of the line. (Equations apply in Least Square Method
can be found with Table 2).

Fig. 4
4.

Discussion

Compare the two values of ( T / I ) and comment on the errors involved in the experiments as
well as the model setup.
5.

Tabular Working Sheet

Table 1: Gyroscopic Effects
Spin Rate
S/No.

N i (rpm)

i rad/sec

Precession Rate

1
=

sec/rad

t i sec

(=

2
) rad/sec
ti

1
2
3
4
5
Results

Texpl (Nm)

(T / I) expt (= a)

T / I theo

Difference

(T / I) expt - T / I theo

Table 2: Regression analysis for results of gyroscopic effects experiment

i'

S/No.

i' i

i' 2

1
2
3
4
5
n=

'
i

'
2

'

'

Equations for Least Square Method:

T 1 T

' a 'b
I I

n 1 i ' i i ' i
n 1 i ' 2 i ' 2

' ' '

b
n 1 ' '
2

Note: Theoretically 'a' should correspond to (T/I)expl and 'b' should be zero.
REFERENCES
(1)

J.E. Shigley, 'Theory of Machines', McGraw-Hill

(2)

Ham, Crane, Rogers, 'Mechanics of Machinery', McGraw-Hill

(3)

Hannah & Rogers. 'Mechanics of Machines', Edward Arnold Press