Learning Forum

[rebecazafra]

Hello,

I am running a modal analysis to find the natural frequencies of a pod and have some questions about the simulation setup and the results obtained.

On one hand, the simulation has been configured as follows:

I used the main structure, with 2 point mass at the positions of main wheels as equivalent masses of the total sprung mass of the pod, that is around 128 kg. The structure is unconstrained and there is no damping.

The material was created with an ACP setup, due to it is a composite made of carbon fiber with a foam core.

On the other hand, regarding the results and if we look at the solution information tap, my main doubt is about participation factors values, as most of them are 0. What does it mean? Is it correct or normal to get this result?

Also, all values of effective mass are very low and the sum of them do not equal total mass of the structure. However, the ratio is 1. Is it wrong if the values do not sum the total mass? I understand that the total mass should equal the mass added with the point masses and not the one coming from the material properties. Is it right?

Would be really helpful if you could let us know your comments, as I am not sure if the configuration is the best to model the pod for this kind of simulations.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Wenlong]

Hi,

Your mode 3 takes the majority of effective mass 0.9629, so the sum of all the modes is 1. 

Bests,

Wenlong