Redesign of FlexLab cantilever beam for reduced resonance frequencies and increased damping

Abstract

Hands-on learning remains a key aspect of the educational path through MIT. It provides the practical experience and real-world tie-in that theoretical study and analysis alone could not uphold. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that a lack of lab resources, space, and time do not present barriers to prospective students. As such, the portable FlexLab/LevLab module serves to bring laboratory teaching beyond the lab. This paper presents the results of efforts to redesign the FlexLab portion's cantilever beam to meet two design goals. First of all, that the frequency of the second natural mode of the beam fall below 100 Hz. Second, that the beam's damping is increased such that the first peak gain is within an order of magnitude of the surrounding gain. After testing, a new beam geometry and damping mechanism that satisfied both goals is proposed.