Department of Mechanical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Madras

ME 5281 Mechanical Design Laboratory
Measuring Mass Moments of Inertia Using a Trifilar Pendulum

Introduction
The trifilar pendulum, also called a three-string torsional pendulum, is a flat disk of mass
m, suspended by three wires of equal length (L) from above, as shown in Figure 1 below.
The angle between the points of suspension of the disk must be 120◦ . When displaced by
some angle, it rotates to and fro along the axis perpendicular to the plate, isochronously.
Trifilar pendulums have various applications across industries. The typical application
of a trifilar pendulum is to measure to moments of inertia of irregular, or geometrically
complex objects, for which analytical calculation of moments of inertia are difficult. The
moment of inertia of any given object can be calculated using the experimental value of
the time period and the moment of inertia of the disk. Trifilar pendulums are an easy
and cheap method of performing such measurements, with the alternative being expensive
and time consuming Computer Aided Design (CAD) simulations. Each cable is attached
to the platform at a radius R from the centre of mass. This will be used to find the mass
moment of inertia of any complex object. The object is placed on the platform ensuring
that it centre of mass is vertically above the centre of mass of the platform. Next, the
platform plus the object is given a small initial rotation and then released leading to
oscillation of the platform (including the object). The measurement of time period τ can
help find the mass moment of inertia of the object from the total inertia Jt = Jp + Jobj
and total mass mt = m + mobj .

Analysis
In Figure 1 the unit vectors i, j and k of a Cartesian co-ordinate system with origin at the
centre of mass of the platform is shown. If the pendulum is given a small rotation about
the Z axis then the platform will move up and down by a small distance while rotating
about the vertical axis with the lowest position being when the cables are vertical. Let
the vertical displacement be s. By writing the position vector ~rD of point D of the first
cable at the rigid support and the position vector, ~ra of point a of the same cable at
the platform after a twist by angle θ as shown in Figure 2 one can arrive at the general
relation below:
2R2 (1 − cos θ) + s(s − 2L) = 0 (1)

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Figure 1: Trifilar pendulum schematic; Courtesy: EN 40 Dynamics & Vibration Notes of
Brown University USA

If one were to assume that θ as well as s is small, then 1 − cos θ can be replaced by θ2
2 2
in equation 1, leading to s ≈ R2Lθ . Next if we neglect the acceleration s̈ along the vertical
direction then one has from the static equilibrium the following equation:

s
3T (1 − ) = mt g (2)
L

Now if we look at the rotational motion of the system one has the following equation:

d2 θ T
Jt 2
= {~ra × (~rD − ~ra ) + ~rb × (~rE − ~rb ) + ~rc × (~rF − ~rc )} (3)
dt L

This can be simplified based on the equations derived earlier to yield a final form for small
θ as:
d2 θ mt gR2
Jt 2 + θ=0 (4)
dt L
q
From this the time period τ can be obtained as τ = 2π × mJttgR L
2 . The experiment will

yield the value for τ and from the expression one can observe that the only unknown is
Jt . Once Jt is obtained subtract the platform inertia Jp to get Jobj = Jt − Jp .

Experimental Procedure
The objective of the lab work to be done, is to use two different trifilar pendulums,
with different radii, lengths and mass properties, for determining the mass moment of
inertia of three objects (two of regular geometry and one which is a complex shape).
After completing the measurements a comparison has to be made between the two sets to

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Figure 2: Trifilar pendulum platform twisted by angle θ; Courtesy: EN 40 Dynamics &
Vibration Notes of Brown University USA

analyse the accuracy of the measurements. You also need to comment on the effect of the
trifilar pendulum geometry and mass measurements, on the error in your calculations.
Follow the procedure outlined below to carry out the experiment in the laboratory.

1. Locate the center of gravity of the platform.

2. Measure the length L of the wires and the distance R from the center of platform
to any wire attachment on the platform.

3. Make the platform to vibrate in a horizontal plane keeping the amplitude small.

4. Note the time taken for at least 40 oscillations. Note the difference in results if one
uses 20 or 30 instead of 40 oscillations.

5. Repeat the experiment at least three times and calculate the average time period
and hence frequency.

6. Calculate the moment of inertia of the platform Jp .

7. Measure the weight of the given object (Ask yourself the question if this is neces-
sary?).

8. Place the given regular object on the platform so that the center of gravity of the
object coincides with that of the platform.

9. Repeat the experiment and find the combined moment of inertia Jt

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 10. Subtract the moment of inertia of the platform from the combined moment of inertia
to obtain the moment of inertia of the given object (Jobj = Jt − Jp )

11. Verify the results obtained using analytical expressions for the regular object.

12. Finally, find the moment of inertia for the given irregular object, using the procedure
described above.

General Instructions
The instructions below are for in-class experiments; for the online lab we
will have a Moodle based quiz after you complete seeing the instruction/ lab
demonstration videos

ˆ Be present on time. Students coming late will not be permitted to do the experiment.

ˆ Bring the required materials (paper, graph sheet, calculator etc.) as you will have
to complete the laboratory report before you leave.

ˆ Confine yourself only to your experimental set-up. Do not meddle with the other
set-ups in the laboratory.

ˆ Submit individual reports in standard A4 sheets (group reports are not acceptable).
Delay in submission will mean loss of marks.

ˆ For the sessional work, 50% is for conducting the experiment and 50% is for the
report.

ˆ A student who fails to conduct a given experiment even in the repeat class will
be awarded zero marks in sessional as well as in the written test meant for the
experiment.