Abstract
This study is conducted to determine the vibration or modal parameters namely natural frequencies and mode shapes of aluminum 6061 (AL6061). The work to inspect the parameters is done by conducting a free dynamic vibration analysis. Aluminum 6061 is chosen as the experimental specimen mainly because of its wide application in industries such as automotive, mainly in manufacturing of automobile frames. Theoretically and proven practically, if a component vibrates with a frequency that is coherent with the component's natural frequency, resonance frequency will occur and structural failure might emerged. Modal analysis study was conducted by both simulation and experimental approaches. Two sensors i.e. piezoelectric film and acelerometer were used in this study. The result obtained from accelerometer showed that the frequencies for mode shape 1, 2 and 3 for the square-shaped aluminum specimen were 195 Hz, 557Hz and 825Hz respectively. The result obtained from piezoelectric film on the other hand showed that the frequencies for mode shape 1, 2 and 3 for the square-shaped specimen were 205.33Hz, 609.33Hz and 904.33Hz respectively. Finally, the result captured from the simulation described that the frequencies for mode shape 1, 2 and 3 for the square-shaped were 191.89Hz, 542.34Hz and 766.18Hz respectively. Based on the result analysis, one could determine the natural frequency and mode shape of the aluminum. As a conclusion, structural failure due to resonance frequency can be avoided by investigating the natural frequency of the integrated components.