Calculate Force/Torque Power on Mechaniam

[Observables]

Hi all,

I need some help on this one. Some of you may laugh, but it's got me confused. I just can't solve it.

I've attached a jpg of the mechanism with some details about the mass and sizes of the thing.

I have six discs which are liked together by a flat bar, when a torque is applied to the first one, all of the discs rotate, I guess it's a bit like wheels on trains.

Assumptions:
The discs are fixed to a rod at their center's, they can only rotate 90 degrees
The Bars are fixed to the discs at a distance of 50mm from the center of the disc.


The Question is: How do I calculate the force or the torque that it would take to rotate the disc through 90 degrees and back again.

I'm trying to determine the power of a motor that I would need to do the job.

Yours

Obs.

 

[Achy47]

Dear Obs,

Thank you for reaching out for help with this problem. It sounds like you have a complex mechanism on your hands. Don't worry, with some basic principles of physics, we can help you solve this puzzle.

First, let's address the assumptions you have made. Based on the information provided, it seems like the discs are connected to the flat bar at their centers, which means they will rotate around that point. This also means that the distance between the center of the disc and the point of rotation for the flat bar is 50mm.

To calculate the force or torque needed to rotate the disc through 90 degrees, we need to consider the rotational motion and the forces acting on the system. The torque, or the rotational force, can be calculated using the equation: torque = force x distance. In this case, the distance is the radius of the disc, which is half of its diameter.

To calculate the force, we need to consider the moment of inertia of the system. The moment of inertia is a measure of how difficult it is to change the rotational motion of an object. It depends on the mass and the distribution of that mass around the axis of rotation. In this case, we have six discs with masses and distances from the center of rotation. We can use the equation: moment of inertia = mass x distance^2 to calculate the moment of inertia for each disc.

Once we have the moment of inertia for each disc, we can add them together to get the total moment of inertia for the system. Then, we can use the equation: torque = moment of inertia x angular acceleration to calculate the force or torque needed to rotate the disc through 90 degrees.

To determine the power of the motor needed, we also need to consider the speed at which the disc needs to rotate. Power is equal to torque multiplied by angular velocity. So, once we have calculated the torque, we can determine the power needed for the motor to rotate the disc at the desired speed.

I hope this helps you solve your problem. If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. Good luck!