Tutorial 3

AE433/AE715 Structural Dynamics and Vibration

Free and Forced vibration of MDOF system
Will not be graded
1. Find the natural frequencies of the MDOF shown in Figure 1. Natural frequencies
should be derived through eigenvalue analysis only. All the masses are equal to
m and all the spring constants are equal to k.
1
0
0
1
0
1
11111
00000
0
1
0
1
0
1
k1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

k4
k3

k2
m1

m3

m2

k5

Figure 1:
2. A railroad car of mass 1500 kg is to be coupled to an assembly of two pre-coupled
identical railroad cars as shown in Figure 2. The couplers are elastic connections
of stiffness 4.2 107 N/m. The single car is rolled toward the other cars with
a velocity 7 m/s. Determine the motion of the three railroad cars after coupling
is achieved.
v = 7 m/s

7
k = 4.2 X 10 N/m

1500 kg
k = 4.2 X 10 7N/m

1500 kg

1500 kg

Figure 2:
3. Consider a fixed-free rod supporting two point masses, m1 and m2 as shown in
Figure 3. The rod can undergo axial deformation only. The segments between
the support and the point masses are massless with Youngs modulus E and
cross-sectional area A. Derive the stiffness matrix.
4. Derive the equation of motion of the system shown in Figure 4.
5. Derive the equation of motions of the system shown in Figure 5.
6. The vibration in the vertical direction of an airplane and its wings can be modeled as a three-dof system as shown in Figure 6 with one mass corresponding to
1

1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

m1
E, A
E, A
massless
massless
L

m2

L
Figure 3:
u

11
00
00
11
00
11
00
11
00
11
00
11
00
11
00
11
00
11

1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

M
c

Figure 4:
the right wing, one mass for the left wing, and one mass for the fuselage. The
stiffness connecting the three masses corresponds to that of the wing and is a
function of the modulus E of the wing, where, E = 6.0 109 N/m2 , l = 2 m,
m = 3000 kg and I = 5.2 106 m4 .
(a) Calculate the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Plot the mode shapes.
(b) Solve for the free response of the system. Let the initial displacements
correspond to a gust of wind that causes an initial condition x(0)

= 0 and
T
x(0) = [0.2 0 0] m.
7. Our atmosphere is full of many different gasses-nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide
and water vapor. Water vapor and carbon dioxide are greenhouse gasses, whereas
nitrogen and oxygen are not. The following problem explains it in a simplified
way.
(a) Model the CO2 molecule shown in Figure 7 as a system made up of a central
mass m2 connected by equal springs of a spring constant k to two masses
m1 and m3 , with m1 = m3 . Supposing the masses only move horizontally,
write the equations of motion for the three coordinate x1 , x2 and x3 .
(b) We will suppose the center of mass of the molecule is initially at rest. Using
conservation of momentum, relate x2 to x1 and x3 .
2

111
000
000
111
000
111
000
111

11
00
00
11
00
11
00
11
00
11
k2

o
45 o 45
m

k1

k3

1111
0000
0000
1111

Figure 5:

Figure 6:
(c) Eliminate x2 and write two coupled equations for x1 and x3 .
(d) Take the sum and difference of the two equations to get equations for the
two normal mode coordinate q1 = x1 x3 and q2 = x1 +x3 . Find the normal
mode frequencies.
(e) Sketch the normal modes.
(f) Write the solutions of x1 and x3 , assuming that at t = 0, the system is at
rest, and x1 = X0 and x3 = 0.
(g) Visible light from the sun mostly passes through the atmosphere. What
isnt reflected by clouds or by the earth heats the earth, and warm earth
re-radiates the energy back into atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation. Infrared radiation, like all electromagnetic radiation, is a propagating
electromagnetic field. A molecule at a given point sees electromagnetic radiation as an oscillating electric field.Thus, a CO2 molecule in the atmosphere
sees an oscillating electric field E = E0 cos t. Electrons in a molecule are
not equally shared among the atoms for CO2 and H2 O, unlike N2 and O2 .
Using the fact that the electric force on a particle with charge q is qE, can
3

Figure 7:
you explain why infrared radiation can excite CO2 and H2 O molecules, but
not N2 or O2 .