TRIZ - Mechanical Vibration
I popped in the VHS tape and flopped on the couch next to Barbara.
"OK. Now watch how easily the wings come off."
An older couple, probably in their late 60s, was removing the wings from the Pulsar with the greatest of ease, all the while smiling happily at the camera. The test data, we saw that the SRBs generated a vibration that registered exactly in this range. We were watching a promotional video for a new experimental airplane called the Pulsar XP. I had recently gotten my pilot's license and like most people, could not afford to buy an airplane of my own. Not being mechanically-inclined was certainly a drawback, but I was strongly considering buying an experimental airplane kit and building one myself. Building the craft myself was the only plausible economic answer to my desire for a plane of my own.
"See how easily the wings come off? Those two blue hairs can do it; no problem. If the wings can come off that easily, then I won't even need a hangar for the airplane. I can just store it in the garage."
Barbara wasn't really buying the whole dog and pony show, but she finally gave me the OK to buy the kit.
About 1,300 beers later, tail number N96MF finally went wheels up.
Even with my first flight jitters, I managed to survive; yours truly, crash helmet, and plane all intact.
The wing removal was another story. The manufacturer recommends that you remove the wings several times during flight testing for inspection to make sure everything is A.OK, so I had to perform this act of hell several times.
I am not sure what magical powers the couple on the video possessed, but those wings took many days, lots of friends, and lots of blood to get them to turn loose. The tightness of the pins that held them in place made them nearly impossible to remove. The airplane designer could have taken a lesson from ship hinge pins.
It took months before I found the right shake.
I spent many hours on the tip of the wing trying to vibrate it at various shakes, rattles and rolls, while a friend pulled on the connection pins. Finally, I learned the right dance with the wing tip that allows the pins to be removed without any blood.
To this day I cannot explain my special moves well enough to tell someone else how to remove the wings with ease, but I found the magic. The problem was fixed with the perfect vibration.
Technically speaking, mechanical vibration is usually applied as follows:
1. Cause an object to oscillate or vibrate.
a. i.e. An electric carving knife with vibrating blades
2. Increase the object's frequency, even up to the ultrasonic.
a. i.e. Distribute powder with vibration
3. Use an object's resonant frequency
a. i.e. Destroy gall or kidney stones using ultrasonic resonance
4. Use piezoelectric vibrators in place of mechanical ones
a. i.e. Quartz crystal oscillations drive high accuracy clocks
5. Use combined ultrasonic and electromagnetic field oscillations.
a. i.e. Mixing alloys in an induction furnace
Shake Things Up
Everything vibrates and has its own unique natural frequency. Vibration can often be the solution to your problem. Change the frequency, amplitude, period, or cycle, experiment, and see what happens.
Washing machines vibrate during the wash cycle to help break up the dirt on fabrics. Cell phones vibrate to silently (in theory) notify the owner of an incoming call.
Mechanical Vibration does not always require literal physical movement. For instance, an organization might "shake things up" and change the company's management, systems, and processes to achieve better productivity and profit.
Eyeballs and Astronauts
Sometimes your goal is to remove the vibration. Upon the landing of the first Space Shuttle launch, the astronauts went through an extensive debriefing. One of their complaints was particularly odd.
They said during the first two minutes of the ascent, they had a very hard time seeing; everything was blurred. Then, as soon as the Solid Rocket Boosters separated, everything was OK. How could the SRBs cause the pilots' vision to blur?
Upon investigation we found that the human eye has a natural frequency between one and two hertz. Sure enough, when we looked at earlier r
We had to make a modification to the boosters to minimize this frequency in this range.
Everything vibrates.
Have you ever been driving down the road and rolled the windows down only to suddenly notice a very awkward feeling in your inner ear? The wind and pressure swirling around that exact configuration has stimulated the natural frequency of your ear drum.
Can you shake up your product, system, or service to improve efficiency?