Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Faculty of Engineering
Yaba, Lagos
Nigeria
November 2009
2
ABSTRACT
The spring mass damper can be built or represented on the computer instead of going to the
workshop to fabricate such system and its performance under various conditions can also be
observed without having to subject the real system to these conditions hence, you save materials
and money, since the system can be used countless times. Energy is also saved because such
system is more easily built on a computer than physically. Moreover, it may be very difficult to
measure some outputs of some systems such as displacement but such values can be measured
with ease through simulation.
With this project, we aim to investigate the performance of a spring mass damper system, under
various conditions, through modeling, without having to subject the real system to these
conditions. The results are obtained in visual forms so that they can be readily interpreted and
discussed.
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
ABSTRACT iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS v
LIST OF FIGURES viii
1 INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 Background
1.2 Mechanical Vibration
2
1.3 Simulation Tool – MATLAB®
3
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
4
3 METHODOLOGY
3.3 Simulation 27
4.1.1 SCENARIO 1
4.1.2 SCENARIO 2
4.1.3 SCENARIO 3
4.1.4 SCENARIO 4
4.1.5 SCENARIO 5
4.1.6 SCENARIO 6
5.1 Conclusion 44
5.2 Recommendations 44
REFERENCES 45
6
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES
CHAPTER 1
10 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Springs usually occur physically as a coil of metal, and their idealizations have pretty simple
behavior: compressing the spring will result in the spring pushing back, and stretching the spring
will have it trying to pull back towards the start position, so any displacement along the axis of
the spring will be countered by an opposite force that will tend to move the spring back to it's
original position (Beer and Johnston, 2002). The fundamental spring equation is given as:
F = -kx
Where k is the spring constant (how loose or springy the spring is), x is the difference between
the springs current length and its rest length, and F is the force on both endpoints of the spring.
Usually one endpoint is fixed, the other is the one that bounces around- which is usually what
happens: an initial impulse displaces the spring, the unfixed end of the spring acquires some
velocity moving back, but it passes through the zero-displacement point, is pulled back in the
other direction, and may bounce perpetually in the absence of any dampening forces. Physical
springs have more complex behavior(like the transverse vibration and accompanying sound
when they're bent away from their axis) and could be described by more complex models but
we'll start from the simplest model.
Dampers
10
Ideally, one could assume that all vibrating systems are free of damping. However, in actuality,
all vibrations are damped to some degree by friction forces. These forces can be caused by dry
friction, or Coulomb friction, between rigid bodies, by fluid friction when a rigid body moves in
a fluid, or by internal friction between the molecules of a seemingly elastic body. These all fall
under the category of free, damped vibrations. Hence, we have dampers of the viscous type,
Coulomb type or hysteresis type. The equation of motion (E.O.M) for viscously damped free
vibration is given by:
mx + cx + kx = 0
The equation of motion (E.O.M) for Coulomb damped free vibration is given by:
mx+kx+F=0
The area of concentration is on the area of dampers (forced damped vibration). If the system is
considered to be subjected to a periodic force P of magnitude P =Pm sinwft, the E.O.M becomes:
mx + cx + kx = Pm sinwft
A damper is kind of the opposite of a spring, except it operates on relative velocity rather than
displacement (Appleyard, M. and Wellstead, 1995). Spring endpoints moving away from each
other will have forces imparted from the damper that will act against that motion (only on the
spring axis, however), as well as endpoint moving towards each other. This will tend to return
the spring to a static position. Also endpoints moving in unison will not be affected (the damper
won't act as drag), and one endpoint unmoving and the other moving will average out to both
moving slower than the one endpoint.
Mechanical systems may undergo free vibrations or they may be subjected to forced vibrations.
The vibrations are damped when friction forces are present and un-damped otherwise. The
suspension system of an automobile, for example, consists essentially of a spring and a shock
absorber (damper), which will cause the body of the car to undergo damped forced vibrations
when the car is driven over an uneven road.
Most vibrations in machines and structures are undesirable because of the increased stresses and
energy losses which accompany them. They should therefore be eliminated or reduced as much
as possible by appropriate design.
11
The analysis of vibrations has become increasingly important in recent years owing to the current
trend toward higher-speed machines and lighter structures.
The analysis of vibration is a very extensive subject. In this project we will briefly look at a
simple case of vibration –the spring mass damper system, a one degree freedom system of
bodies. After a brief overlook of the simple system, we will take a complex case study – A 3
degree of freedom sysytem
We need to see the performance of the system under various conditions without actually having
to subject the real system to these conditions, hence we simulate.
The name MATLAB® stands for matrix laboratory (The MathWorks Inc, 2007). MATLAB®
was originally written to provide easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and
EISPACK projects. Today, MATLAB® engines incorporate the LAPACK and BLAS libraries,
embedding the state of the art in software for matrix computation. It integrates computation,
visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are
expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Typical uses include:
• Algorithm development
• Data acquisition
i. MATLAB® is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array that does
not require dimensioning. This allows you to solve many technical computing
12
problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations, in a fraction of the
time it would take to write a program in a scalar non-interactive language such as C
or FORTRAN.
ii. MATLAB® provides extensive documentation, in both printed and online format, to
help one learn about and use all of its features. The MATLAB® online help provides
task-oriented and reference information about MATLAB® features.
iii. MATLAB® is easily available. Downloadable demo versions can be obtained from
their website or one can buy the full version with license key also through their online
website. This is not the same with MATHEMATICA® which is very similar to
MATLAB®.
iv. MATLAB® possesses a rich library of functions and data structure that mimic the
properties of systems and also easily provides analytical representation of such
systems.
v. MATLAB® is compatible with most operating systems and is based on open
standards, i.e. it can be used in conjunction with other programs such as Java, C,
Microsoft Excel, etc.
vi. MATLAB® is built with the ability to manipulate direct computer memory thereby
allowing it to run faster than most other renowned programs like Java, C, FORTRAN,
etc which have an indirect link to computer memory.
vii. MATLAB® has a feature, SIMULINK, which is visual and allows one to bypass
complex mathematical calculations by using its block symbols to represent such
calculations hence saving time. With SIMULINK, a system can be constructed and
tested easily by varying parameters with the output available graphically and
pictorially.
• Development Environment. This is the set of tools and facilities that facilitate
MATLAB® functions and files. Many of these tools are graphical user interfaces. It
13
The model must account for the four basic phenomena associated with the physical system,
namely, the elasticity, inertia, excitation or input energy, and damping or dissipation of energy.
14
The mathematical model should not be too complex and overly sophisticated to include more
details of the system than are necessary.
1.5 Objective
To investigate the performance of a spring mass damper system, under various conditions,
through modeling, without having to subject the real system to these conditions.
1.6 Justification
The spring mass damper can be built or represented on the computer instead of going to the
workshop to fabricate such system and its performance under various conditions can also be
observed without having to subject the real system to these conditions hence, you save materials
and money, since the system can be used countless times. Energy is also saved because such
system is more easily built on a computer than physically. Moreover, it may be very difficult to
measure some outputs of some systems such as displacement but such values can be measured
with ease through simulation.
Chapter 1 gives the background of the spring mass damper system and the objectives of the
project.
Chapter 2 discusses the literature review of the spring mass damper system.
Chapter 4 discusses the performance evaluation of the results by means of computer simulation
in MATLAB.
The summary of the results and future research based on this study will be presented in Chapter
5
15
CHAPTER 2
is not unique to a given system. A system may be represented in many different ways and,
therefore, may have many mathematical models, depending on one’s perspective.
The dynamics of many systems, whether they are mechanical, electrical, thermal, economic,
biological, and so on, may be described in terms of differential equations. Such differential
equations may be obtained by using physical laws governing a particular system, for example,
Newton’s laws for mechanical systems and Kirchhoff’s laws for electrical systems. It must be
kept in mind that deriving reasonable mathematical models is the most important part of the
entire analysis of control systems.
Mathematical models may assume many different forms. Depending on the particular system and
the particular circumstances, one mathematical model may be better suited than other models
(Ogata, 2002). For example, in optimal control problems, it is advantageous to use state-space
representations. On the other hand, for the transient-response or frequency-response analysis of
single-input-single-output, linear, time-invariant systems, the transfer function representation
may be more convenient than any other. Once a mathematical model of as system is obtained,
various analytical and computer tools (e.g. MATLAB) can be used for analysis and synthesis
purposes.
respectively. A point mass can have three translational degrees of freedom while a rigid body can
have three translational and three rotational degrees of freedom. Many mechanical and structural
components and systems such as bars, beams, plates, and shells have distributed mass, elasticity,
and damping. The equation of motion of a continuous system is in the form of a partial
differential equation. A continuous system can be modeled either as a discrete- or
lumpedparameter system with varying number of degrees of freedom or as a continuous system
with infinite number of degrees of freedom, as illustrated for a cantilever beam in Fig. 2.4.
If the nonperiodic motion can be described either by an equation or by a set of tabulated values,
the motion is considered to be deterministic. On the other hand, if the motion cannot be
described by any equation or tabulated values, it is said to be random or probabilistic.
When an external force or excitation is applied to a mechanical or structural system, the
amplitude of the resulting vibration can become very large when a frequency component of the
applied force or excitation approaches one of the natural frequencies of the system, particularly
the fundamental one. Such a condition, known as resonance, and the attendant stresses and
strains might cause a failure of the system. Because of this, designers should have a means of
determining the natural frequencies of mechanical and structural systems using analytical or
experimental approaches.
mx +cx+kx=F(t) (2.1)
where the dots above x denote first and second derivatives respectively
20
Table 2.1 Significance of m, c, and k in Different Systems (John Wiley & Sons, 2006)
Vibrating System m c k Variable x
1. Translatory Mass (kg) Viscous damping Spring stiffness Linear
spring-mass-damper constant (N.s/m) (N/m) displacement (m)
system, Fig. 2.1a
2. Rotational spring- Mass Torsional damping Torsional spring Angular
mass-damper system, moment of constant (m.N.s/rad) stiffness (m.N/rad) displacement
Fig. 2.1c inertia (rad)
(kg.m2)
3. Swinging Moment of Damping constant of Angular stiffness Angular
pendulum, Fig. 2.1b inertia of bob surrounding medium constant due to displacement
(kg.m2) (m.N.s/rad) gravity (N.m/rad) (rad)
Most mechanical and structural systems have distributed mass, elasticity, and damping (John
Wiley & Sons, 2006). These systems are modeled as multi- (n-) degree-of-freedom systems to
facilitate analysis of their vibration behavior. Several methods are available to construct an n-
degree-of-freedom model from a continuous system. These include the physical lumping or
modeling method, finite element method, finite difference method, modal analysis method,
Rayleigh–Ritz method, Galerkin method, and many others (Karnopp, 1994). In most cases, the
number of degrees of freedom (n) to be used in the model depends on the frequency range. If the
system is expected to undergo significant deformations at higher frequencies, the model should
include enough number of degrees of freedom to cover all the important frequencies. Most
21
These include:
• Automobile suspension system
• Quarter car model
• Tuned mass damper
• Muscles and tendons in the human body
The suspension system can be categorized into passive, semi-active and active suspension
system according to external power input to the system and/or a control bandwidth (Appleyard
and Wellstead, 1995). A passive suspension system is a conventional suspension system consists
of a non-controlled spring and shock-absorbing damper as shown in figure 2.1. The semi-active
suspension as shown in figure 2.2 has the same elements but the damper has two or more
selectable damping rate. An active suspension is one in which the passive components are
augmented by actuators that supply additional force. Besides these three types of suspension
systems, a skyhook type damper has been considered in the early design of the active suspension
system. In the skyhook damper suspension system, an imaginary damper is placed between the
sprung mass and the sky. The imaginary damper provides a force on the vehicle body
proportional to the sprung mass absolute velocity
22
In early semi-active suspension system, the regulating of the damping force can be achieved by
utilizing the controlled dampers under closed loop control, and such is only capable of
dissipating energy (Williams, 1994). Two types of dampers are used in the semi- active
suspension namely the two state dampers and the continuous variable dampers. The two state
dampers switched rapidly between states under closed-loop control. The disadvantage of this
system is that while it controls the body frequencies effectively, the rapid switching, particularly
when there are high velocities across the dampers, generates high-frequency harmonics which
makes the suspension feel harsh, and leads to the generation of unacceptable noise.
23
The continuous variable dampers have a characteristic that can be rapidly varied over a wide
range. When the body velocity and damper velocity are in the same direction, the damper force is
controlled to emulate the skyhook damper. When they are in the opposite directions, the damper
is switched to its lower rate, this being the closest it can get to the ideal skyhook force. The
disadvantage of the continuous variable damper is that it is difficult to find devices that are
capable in generating a high force at low velocities and a low force at high velocities, and be able
to move rapidly between the two.
A quarter car model is a well-known model for simulating one-dimensional vehicle suspension
performance. In its simplified form, the suspension consists of a spring of stiffness K and a
damper with damping coefficient C. The spring performs the role of supporting the static weight
of the vehicle while the damper helps in dissipating the vibrational energy and limiting the input
from the road that is transmitted to the vehicle(Ahmet Naci Mete, Sandip D Kulkarni, Michael
Gerbracht, Noah Fehrenbacher).
The values for the stiffness and damping coefficient have to be chosen to optimize vehicle
performance under a certain range of vehicle load and road conditions. For a passive system with
a highly uneven input, there is an inherent conflict between system stability and passenger
comfort. For an extremely stiff suspension, the system will be highly stable, but acceleration of
the sprung mass will be high, and the passenger comfort will be low. For a non-stiff suspension,
passenger comfort will increase, but the vehicle becomes unstable.
From past research, active damper systems have proved to be very effective in improving the
comfort and handling. However, when the vehicle is moving over a rough terrain the active
systems do not have the reliability of a passive damper system. A failed active system can
become dangerous if not coupled with a passive system. Hence, semi active dampers are used for
off-road vehicle suspensions. A semiactive system gives fail-safe damping control, better
performance than passive systems and requires lesser power than active systems.
26
where m1=(m1+∆m1) represents the real mass of the quarter car, composed by a nominal
parameter m1 and an uncertain one ∆m1.
The use of tuned mass dampers (TMD) is another widely used passive vibration damping
treatment. These devices are viscously damped 2nd order systems appended to a vibrating
structure. Proper selection of the parameters of these appendages, tunes the TMD to one of the
natural frequencies of the underdamped flexible structure, resulting in the addition of damping to
that resonance (R. Kashani, Ph.D. 2007).
Unlike dashpot which is most effective in adding damping to the first mode, TMD can target any
mode, including the first, and add considerable amount of damping to it. Another distinction
between TMD and dashpot is that TMD is a single point device and can simply be attached to a
structure at one end with its other end being free.
TMD consists of mass, which moves relatively to the structure and is attached to it by a spring
and a viscous damper in parallel as shown in figure 2.10. The structural vibration generates the
excitation of the TMD. As a result, the kinetic energy is transferred from the structure to the
TMD and is absorbed by the damping component of the device. The MD usually experience
large displacements.
TMD incorporated into a structure where the first mode of the structural response dominates, it is
expected to be very effective. The optimum tuning and damping ratios that result in the
maximum absorbed energy have been studied by several investigators. TMDs have been found
effective in reducing the response of structures to winds and harmonic loads and have been
installed in a number of buildings.
28
Figure 2.10 A cantilever beam with a tuned mass damper at the tip
29
Figure 2.11 Taipei-101’s tuned mass damper (top) and its placement in the building
(bottom)
30
CHAPTER 3
3.0 METHODOLOGY
If we take an ordinary spring that resists compression as well as extension and suspend it
vertically from a fixed support and at the end of the lower spring, we attach a body of mass m
(assume m to be so large that we may disregard the mass of the spring), when we pull the body
down a certain distance and then release it, it undergoes motion. We assume that the body moves
strictly vertically. The motion of this mechanical system is to be determined. This motion is
governed by Newton’s second law
Where “Force” is the resultant of all the forces acting on the body. Here, x = d2x/dt2, where x(t)
is the displacement of the body and t is time.
We choose the downward direction as positive thus regarding downward forces positive and
upward forces negative.
The spring is first un-stretched. When we attach the body, the latter stretches the spring by an
amount s0. This causes an upward force F0 in the spring given as
This force balances the weight of the body, i.e. W + F0 = mg -ks0= 0. This is called static
equilibrium.
If the body is pulled downward, it further stretches the spring by some amount x > 0 (the
distance we pull it down). By Hooke’s law, this causes an (additional) upward force F1 in the
spring such that
31
F1= -kx
F1 is a restoring force. It has the tendency to restore the system, that is, to pull the body back to x
= 0.
If we connect the mass to a dashpot, we have to take the corresponding viscous damping into
account. The corresponding damping force has the direction opposite to the instantaneous
motion. We assume that it is proportional to the velocity x'= dx/dt of the body. This is generally
a good approximation, at least for small velocities. Thus, the damping force is of the form
c is called the damping constant. The resultant forces acting on the body now is
This shows that the motion of the damped mechanical system is governed by the linear
differential equation with constant coefficients
mx+kx+cx'=0 (6)
32
mx=inertia force
cx'=damping force
kx=spring force
x+cmx+kmx=0 (7a)
Or [D2+cmD+km]x=0 (7b)
Equation (7b) is an ordinary differential equation of the second order. Its characteristic equation
is
D2+cmD+km=0 (8)
D1,2=-c2m±c2m2-km (9)
For critical damping, the term under the square root sign is equal to zero, and the damping
coefficient is called the critical damping coefficient (cc). Thus,
Cc2m2-km=0
ωn2=km
Cc=2mωn=2km (11)
c2m=ccc×cc2m=ℶωn (12)
cm=2ℶωn (13)
Thus D1,2=-ωn±ℶωn2-ωn2
= -ℶωn±ωnℶ2-1 (14)
33
x+2ℶωnx+ωn2x=0 (15)
s2Xs-sx0--x'X(0-)+2ℶωnsXs-x0-+ωn2Xs=0 (16)
s2Xs-sx0+2ℶωnsXs-x0+ωn2Xs=0 (17)
xt=x0e-ℶωnt1-ℶ2sin(ωn1-ℶ2t+θ) (18)
This is the system’s response, i.e. displacement at any point in time, t. The system is
underdamped when ℶ<1, overdamped when ℶ>1 and critically damped when ℶ=1.
We now consider the three-degree-of-freedom system consisting of three masses m1, m2, and
m3(kg); three forces F1, F2 and F3(N) acting on the masses; four springs with stiffnesses k1, k2,
k3 and k4(N/m); and four viscous dampers with damping constants c1, c2, c3 and c4(Ns/m) as
shown in Fig. 3.2. The mass mi subjected to the force Fi(t) undergoes a displacement xi (t), i = 1,
2, 3.
Assumptions made
We are assuming that there is negligible friction between the surfaces of the masses and the
surface of the ground. Therefore, there will be no considerations for friction in our mathematical
modeling and simulation.
34
m
F3213214
K
C
X
k2x1-x2
m1x1
k1x1
c1x1
c2x1-x2
m, 1x1, x1
x1
m
m2x2
k2x1-x2
c2x3-x1
c3x2-x3
k3x2-x3
x22, x2, x2
m3x3
m
k3x3-x2
c3x3-x2
c4x3
k4x3
x3,
3 x3, x3
mx +cx+kx=F is the general equation governing the system. When we isolate each mass, we
obtain the following E.O.M.
36
m1x1+k1x1+k2x1-x2+c1x1+c2x1-x2=F1
m2x2+k2x2-x1+k3x2-x1+c2x2-x1+c3x2-x3=F2
m3x3+k3x3-x2+k4x3+c3x3-x2+c4x3=F3
3.3 Simulation
We must remember that computer language is garbage in, garbage out (GIGO), hence what we
input into the program needs to be readable and intrepreted in the right manner by the program.
This was a big challenge in solving this problem.
After vigorous efforts, search and study through MATLAB’s various commands, we obtained a
solution by programming using the equivalent state space model of the system.
The state space modeling is a modern control theory. The modern trend in engineering systems is
toward greater complexity, due mainly to the requirements of complex tasks and good accuracy.
Complex systems may have multiple inputs and multiple outputs and may be time varying.
Because of the necessity of meeting increasingly stringent requirements on the performance of
control systems, the increase in system complexity, and easy access to large scale computers,
modern control theory, which is a new approach to the analysis and design of complex control
systems, has been developed since around 1960 (Ogata, 2002). This new approach is based on
the concept of state. The concept of state by itself is not new since it has been in existence for a
long time in the field of classical dynamics and other fields.
So, we obtained equations for y1, y2, y3, y4, y5, y6in our three degree of freedom system
using state space model theory where y1=x1, y2= x1, y3=x2, y4=x2, y5=x3, y6=x3
as follows:
y1= y2
y2= -k1+k2m1y1-c1+c2m1y2+(k2/m1)y3+(c2/m1)y4+F1/m1
y3= y4
y5= y6
y6= (k3/m3)y3+(c3/m3)y4-k3+k4m3y5-c3+c4m3y6+F3/m3
m1 = 6;
38
m2 = 9;
m3 = 5;
k1 = 6;
k2 = 7;
k3 = 4;
k4 = 1;
c1 = 1;
c2 = 0.2;
c3 = 0.1;
c4 = 2;
F1 = 3;
F2 = 9;
F3 = 12;
dydt = [ y(2)
-(((k1+k2)/m1)*y(1))- (((c1+c2)/m1)*y(2))+(((k2)/m1)*y(3))+(((c2)/m1)*y(4))+ (F1/m1)
y(4)
(((k2)/m2)*y(1))+ (((c2)/m2)*y(2))- (((k2+k3)/m2)*y(3))- (((c2+c3)/m2)*y(4))+
(((k3)/m2)*y(5))+ (((c3)/m2)*y(6))+ (F2/m2)
y(6)
(((k3)/m3)*y(3))+ (((c3)/m3)*y(4))- (((k3+k4)/m3)*y(5))- (((c3+c4)/m3)*y(6))+
(F3/m3)];
Then, we wrote another program on a new page, invoking the first program in this new one.
% TO SOLVE THE SYSTEM OF NON-LINEAR ODE's FOR THE SPRING MASS DAMPER
clc;
[t,y] = ode45(@massspring,[0:1: 200],[6;0;7;0;8;0]);
figure(1)
plot (t,y(:,1))
39
figure(2)
plot (t,y(:,3))
figure(3)
plot (t,y(:,5))
We then varied some of the inputs while keeping the others constant and generated different
displacement-time graphs in order to observe the system’s performance.
40
CHAPTER 4
After the mathematical model had been inputted into and solved by MATLAB, we went put our
simulation to use by testing various conditions of the system. As was incorporated into our
programming commands, MATLAB provided us with visual representations (plotted graphs) of
these various conditions of the system which we went on to interpret.
Below are the results we obtained and our discussions.
Here inputted values for c1, c2, c3 and c4 (dampers) and MATLAB produced the
graph shown below. It is observed that the body (mass 1) is displaced to and fro
its original position for the first 40 – 50 seconds before the damping starts to take full
effect, and it comes to rest (stabilizes) at 80 seconds. This could be described as a
‘damped’ vibration.
For this scenario, both masses 2 and 3 have similar displacement-time graphs as mass 1.
All the masses are both affected by their own individual damping and that of the
whole system.
41
5.5
5
Displacement, y1(t)(m)
4.5
3.5
2.5
1.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
7.5
6.5
Displacement, y2(t)(m)
5.5
4.5
3.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
8.5
7.5
Displacement, y3(t)(m)
6.5
5.5
4.5
4
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
In this scenario, we set c1, c2 and c3=0 (no damping or negligible), while leaving c4 as equal to
2NS/m. As can be observed from the graphs for masses 1, 2 and 3 below, because there is
little or no damping, the masses seem to never come to rest even at a time of 200
seconds. In fact, the only reason why the displacement of the masses subsides when it
approaches time 40 seconds (more clearly observed in the case of mass 3) is because of
the overall damping effect of c4 on the whole system.
43
5.5
5
Displacement, y1(t)(m)
4.5
3.5
2.5
1.5
1
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
7.5
6.5
Displacement, y2(t)(m)
5.5
4.5
3.5
3
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
8.5
7.5
Displacement, y3(t)(m)
6.5
5.5
4.5
4
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
In this third case, we tried to see the effect of over-damping by raising the values of c1, c2, and
c3 to very high values. As can be observed from the graphs below, the masses achieve
high displacement, and then a state of rest almost immediately after, reflecting how
heavily damped the system is. This is clearly a state of stiff spring coefficient,
usually the case in devices that require early damping of the vibration (e.g.
measuring instruments, racing cars etc.)
45
5.5
5
Displacement, y1(t)(m)
4.5
3.5
2.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
6.5
Displacement, y2(t)(m)
5.5
4.5
0 20 40 6
0 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
T
ime,t(sec)
46
7.5
Displacement, y3(t)(m)
6.5
5.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
In this case, we tried to see the effect of reducing the spring stiffness’s. As can be observed from
the graphs below, the masses 1 and 2 move to and fro and do not still come to a steady
state after 200 seconds. However, the third mass becomes steady not long after the process
begins since k3=0 and k4=1.
47
5
.5
Displacement, y1(t)(m)
4
.5
3
.5
2
.5
2
0 2
0 4
0 6
0 8
0 10
0 1
20 1
40 1
60 1
80 2
00
T
ime
,t(se
c)
9.5
9
Displacement, y2(t)(m)
8.5
7.5
7
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
13
12.5
12
11.5
Displacement, y3(t)(m)
11
10.5
10
9.5
8.5
8
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
In this case, we tried to see the effect of reducing the masses. As can be observed from the graphs
below, the system comes to rest faster than that of scenario 1 where the values of the
masses are higher, so obviously, the less heavy the masses, the easier it is to control
the vibrations.
49
5.5
5
Displacement, y1(t)(m)
4.5
3.5
2.5
2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
6.5
Displacement, y2(t)(m)
5.5
4.5
3.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
T
ime, t(sec)
50
7.5
Displacement, y3(t)(m)
6.5
5.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
The effect of reducing the forces acting on the masses is observed in this sixth and final case. The
system here also stabilizes faster than that of scenario 1 which implies that the lesser the
force on a system, the faster it stabilizes, i.e. lesser vibration on the system.
51
4
Displacement, y1(t)(m)
-1
-2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
5
Displacement, y2(t)(m)
-1
-2
-3
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time, t(sec)
52
5
Displacement, y3(t)(m)
-1
-2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Tim e , t(s e c )
So, in like manner as above, we can change the values of our input parameters and see the effect
on the system.
53
CHAPTER 5
5.1 Conclusion
From the results achieved above in chapter 4, we conclude that a spring mass damper system,
which is widely used in mechanical applications, can be well represented and simulated on a
computer to reproduce real-life situations and accurately predict different conditions and outputs
desired.
Thus it can be used to design systems which have not been manufactured for testing.
5.2 Recommendation
I. A mathematical model of the system, considering the friction forces (i.e. a more complex
system).
II. The use of SIMULINK which is a circuit-like representation of systems and VIRTUAL
REALITY (both incorporated into MATLAB) for more visual representation of the
system, so that even a layman (as in the case of VIRTUAL REALITY) can easily
interpret.
54
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Pgs. 1172 – 1174.
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Allen S. Hall, Alfred R. Holowenko, Herman G. Laughlin (2002). Schaum’s Outlines Machine
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John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Edited by Myer Kutz (2006). Mechanical Engineers’ Handbook:
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