Rotating a pendulum with an electromechanical excitation

• We present an alternative means of electromagnetic excitation of pendulum.
• The proposed apparatus can elicit rotations, beating and oscillations of pendulum.
• We develop a mathematical model for the experimental setup.
• The system parameters and their values are identified accordingly for the model.
• Numerical results show correlation with experiment observations.

The objective of this paper is showing investigation of pendulum rotations via vertical, non-linear electromechanical excitation generated using a RLC-circuit-powered solenoid, which is originally built for an electro-vibro-impact mechanism. Various non-linear phenomena of pendulum dynamics, namely period-1 rotation, period-1 oscillation and period-2 oscillation, have been observed experimentally from the proposed apparatus. A mathematical model has been developed for the experimental rig and the system parameters have also been identified for the mathematical model. Finally, numerical results have been generated using the developed mathematical model and identified parameters, and their correlations with experimental observations have been discussed.