Elastodynamic analysis of vibratory bowl feeders: Modeling and experimental validation

This work addresses the elastodynamic modeling of vibratory bowl feeders and its experimental verification. The bowl feeder mainly consists of a bowl connected to a base by three or four inclined leaf springs. The springs constrain the bowl so that its vertical displacement causes a coupled rotation around its vertical symmetry axis. The feeder is actuated by electromagnets, while rubber mounts are positioned under the base for reducing the vibration transmission to the floor. The developed model is a linear lumped-parameter model for the prediction of the dynamic behavior of bowl feeders. The model has been experimentally verified by means of modal analyses and operational accelerations. Model parameters, such as the stiffness and damping of rubber mounts, leaf spring stiffness and time-varying excitation, have been experimentally estimated. The proposed model can be used for the analysis of feeder dynamics and for evaluating the effects of changes in design and operational parameters in terms of bowl and base vibration and dynamic forces transmitted to the floor.