- #1
George Zucas
- 47
- 0
Dear friends,
I have an application where a cart of some sort travels on a circular path. The circular direction is assured by guide wheels on the structure. Please see the attached photo which is pretty much the same as in my case.
My problem is the forces on these guide wheels during circular motion.
First, I thought this is simply a case of circular motion. The force that holds a swinging rock connected to a rope on the path is the centripetal force which is the tension in the rope. In my case this is the force applied by the guide wheels.
Calculating this results a pretty much infinitesimal force with respect to the other forces involved.
mV^2/R= (100000kg)(0.5m/s)^2/25m= 1000 N
Which I think cannot be true. For carts along a linear path, the skewing force is generally taken as 10-15% of the gravitational force which would be in this case (100000 kg)* (9.81m/s^2)*0.1=981000 N. IF the above were true, then this would be a huge overestimation. The force in this case should be even higher since on a linear path the force only makes a correction to ensure linearity, while this force rotates the cart completely.
My second thought is simply drawing a free body diagram, there is no force on the tangential direction since it is a constant speed motion. The net force is the centripetal force which is 1000 N, then the forces on the guide wheels should also be 1000 N. Same result since I did the same thing I have realized.
Any guidance? I think I'm looking at it completely wrong but cannot think of any other solution.
I have an application where a cart of some sort travels on a circular path. The circular direction is assured by guide wheels on the structure. Please see the attached photo which is pretty much the same as in my case.
My problem is the forces on these guide wheels during circular motion.
First, I thought this is simply a case of circular motion. The force that holds a swinging rock connected to a rope on the path is the centripetal force which is the tension in the rope. In my case this is the force applied by the guide wheels.
Calculating this results a pretty much infinitesimal force with respect to the other forces involved.
mV^2/R= (100000kg)(0.5m/s)^2/25m= 1000 N
Which I think cannot be true. For carts along a linear path, the skewing force is generally taken as 10-15% of the gravitational force which would be in this case (100000 kg)* (9.81m/s^2)*0.1=981000 N. IF the above were true, then this would be a huge overestimation. The force in this case should be even higher since on a linear path the force only makes a correction to ensure linearity, while this force rotates the cart completely.
My second thought is simply drawing a free body diagram, there is no force on the tangential direction since it is a constant speed motion. The net force is the centripetal force which is 1000 N, then the forces on the guide wheels should also be 1000 N. Same result since I did the same thing I have realized.
Any guidance? I think I'm looking at it completely wrong but cannot think of any other solution.
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