Assignment 2:

Consists of the following problems and is due at the beginning of the class on September 11, 2014:






3.8 The maximum velocity attained by the mass in a simple spring-mass system is 20 in/sec, and the
natural period of free vibration is 1.5 sec. If the mass was released with an initial displacement of 3.0 in,
determine (a) the amplitude of the free vibration, (b) the maximum acceleration of the mass, (c) the
initial velocity, (d) the phase angle, and (e) plot the displacement, velocity, and acceleration responses
of the system for 5 periods.


3.17 For the systems shown below, determine (a) natural vibration frequency, and (b) the equation of
motion. Assume small oscillations.









Assignment 2 MATLAB Problem

Plot the free vibration displacement response of a structure with natural frequency fn Hz and damping
ratio zeta, with initial condition u(0)=1" and u'(0)=3 in/sec, for the following values of fn and zeta.
fn = 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 10 Hz
For each fn consider zeta = 0, 1%, 5%, 10% and 50%.

Draw all graphs of displacement response for the same fn but different damping ratios on the same
graph. Draw at least six periods for each case. Compare the plots to each other and make comments.
You should use MATLAB for this portion of the assignment.