In our earlier posts, we discussed about the free gyro, Gyroscope conversion and its damped/undamped oscillations. In this post, we will discuss about Settling period of Gyro. When the compass is settled, the spin axis has a constant tilt. The delaying action of the damping arrangement will therefore have no effect as there is no flow of liquid. The damping element is then acting merely as an additional control element, but as the damping torque is produced by a top heavy effect whereas the control precession is produced by a bottom heavy effect, the damping precession will just reduce the effect of the control precession. The compass will settle with a tilt of its spin axis such that the combined effect of the control and damping torques exactly balances the drifting. There is no precession in the vertical plane so that the tilting must also be zero to produce equilibrium. The settling position must be therefore with the spin axis in the meridian. There is no latitude error.

Settling Period of Gyro 1For a compass in north latitude the drifting will be clockwise. The precession which equals and opposes the drifting must be north end to the west and this will require an upwards tilt of the north end.

In south latitude the drifting will be anticlockwise or north end to the west. A downwards tilt of the north end is therefore required to give a control precession of opposite direction.

A compass damped in azimuth therefore will settle with the spin axis aligned with the meridian but with a small upwards tilt of the north end in the northern hemisphere, and a small downwards tilt of that end in the southern hemisphere. Such a compass is not subject to the latitude error.

some important facts about the settling period of Gyro:

  • The time consumed in completing a single damped oscillation 1 hour 50 minutes (or you can say 110 mints)
  • The consumption of time in Damped oscillation greater in comparison to the undamped oscillation.
  • “2.5” is the Damping factor of a normal Gyroscope.
  • Gyro’s settling time =   (Damping factor) X (time required for single oscillation)

 It is therefore, Gyro’s settling time will be

= (2.5 x 110) mints

= 275 mints

= 04 hrs 35 mints.