Influence of Mechanical Properties on Natural Frequency and Mode Shapes of Multi-storey Storage Rack Used in Cargo Vehicles

The present paper reports the comparison of experimental and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) technique for the determination of natural frequency and mode shapes of vibration of a multi-storey storage rack made of different structural materials. Storage racks of three-storey height fabricated with five different materials viz., Aluminum, Mild Steel, Stainless Steel, Grey Cast Iron and Polyethylene were tested experimentally to determine the fundamental natural frequency. CAD model of the rack is created by using CATIA-V5 software and Modal analysis is carried out in finite element analysis software ANSYS. FEA results agree closely with experimental results. Polyethylene material yielded lowest fundamental natural frequency of 2.875Hz whereas structural steel yielded highest fundamental natural frequency of 11.81Hz. In case of steels fundamental natural frequency depends upon the Young’s modulus of the material. For materials having higher elasticity the value of fundamental natural frequency is higher.