Notes
The folded beam is composed of three short beam segments folded around in the
shape of a 'U' and attached to the corner of the central mass. Four such beams
are attached to the central mass. All the four beams are assumed to be
identical in design. This suspension is
designed to enable a translatory motion in the X axis or in an in-plane axis.
There is however a movement in the Z axis perpendicular to the plane of the
mass.
This design interface can be used to determine the natural vibration frequency of the folded beam suspension along the three axes. The order of resonance along these three axes will be determined by the beam design. There are other modes like the torsional mode along X axis, but it is not discussed here.
The plot shows how the resonant frequency in all the three axes vary with the length of the mid-section (lb2) of the folded beam while all other design parameters are as given in the design form. The X axis of the plot is lb2 as a percentage of lb1. Using the cross hair the resonance frequency in any of the three axes can be found out. It can be used to design the beam such that the resonant frequency for a particular axis is lesser or greater than the other axis.