Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Higher Education

Umm Al-Qura University

College of Engineering & Islamic Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

Mechanical Vibrations
804 420 3
Review Questions ( I )

Dr. Mohammad S. Alsoufi

BSc, MSc PhD
Room No.: 1080
Tel.: 00966 (012) 5270000 Ext.: 1163
E-mail: mssoufi@uqu.edu.sa

4. Harmonic Motions

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Higher Education

Umm Al-Qura University

College of Engineering & Islamic Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

Section (1)
Q.1: Give brief answers to the following:
1. Give two examples each of the bad and the good effects of vibration?
2. What are the three elementary parts of a vibrating system?
3. Define the number of degrees of freedom of a vibrating system?
4. What is the difference between a discrete and a continuous system? Is it possible to solve
any vibration problem as a discrete one?
5. In vibration analysis, can damping always be disregarded?
6. What is the difference between deterministic and random vibration? Give two practical
examples of each?
7. How do you connect several springs to increase the overall stiffness?
8. Define spring stiffness and damping constant?
9. Define these terms: cycle, amplitude, phase angle, linear frequency, period, and natural
frequency?
10. How are
related to each other?
11. How do you add two harmonic motions having different frequencies?
12. What are beats?
13. Define the terms decibel and octave?
Section (2)
Q.2: Indicate whether each of the following statements is True or False:
(1) If energy is lost in any way during vibration, the system can be considered to
be damped.
(2) The superposition principle is valid for both linear and nonlinear systems.
(3) The frequency with which an initially disturbed system vibrates on its own is
known as natural frequency.
(4) Any periodic function can be expanded into a Fourier series.
(5) A harmonic motion is a periodic motion.
(6) The equivalent mass of several masses at different locations can be found
using the equivalence of kinetic energy.

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Section (3)
Q.3: Fill in the blank with the proper word:
Systems undergo dangerously large oscillations at .
Undamped vibration is characterized by no loss of .
A vibratory system consists of a spring, damper, and .
If a motion repeats after equal intervals of time, it is called a . motion.
When acceleration is proportional to the displacement and directed toward the mean
position, the motion is called . harmonic.
6. The time taken to complete one cycle of motion is called the . of vibration.
7. The number of cycles per unit time is called the . of vibration.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Higher Education

Umm Al-Qura University

College of Engineering & Islamic Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

8. Two harmonic motions having the same frequency are said to be .

9. If a system vibrates due to initial disturbance only, it is called . Vibration.
10. If a system vibrates due to an external excitation, it is called . vibration.
11. Continuous or distributed systems can be considered to have . number of degrees of
freedom.
12. Systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom are called . systems.
Section (4)
Q.4: Select the most appropriate answer from the multiple choices given:
1. The number of degrees of freedom of a simple pendulum is:
(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 2
2. The graphical representation of the amplitudes and phase angles of the various frequency
components of a periodic function is known as a
(a) spectral diagram
(b) frequency diagram
(c) harmonic diagram
3. When a system vibrates in a fluid medium, the damping is
(a) viscous
(b) Coulomb

(c) solid

4. When parts of a vibrating system slide on a dry surface, the damping is

(a) viscous
(b) Coulomb
(c) solid
5. When the stress-strain curve of the material of a vibrating system exhibits a hysteresis loop,
the damping is
(a) viscous
(b) Coulomb
(c) solid
6.

The equivalent spring constant of two parallel springs with stiffnesses k1 and k2 is
(b)
(c)

7.

The equivalent spring constant of two series springs with stiffnesses k1 and k2 is

(a)

(a)

(b)

8.
(a)

(c)

The spring constant of a cantilever beam with an end mass m is

(b)
(c)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Higher Education

Umm Al-Qura University

College of Engineering & Islamic Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

Section (5)
Q.5: Match the equivalent spring constants:
k1 = 20 N/m, k2 = 50 N/m, k3 = 100 N/m and k4 = 200 N/m
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

k1, k2, k3, and k4 are in parallel

k1, k2, k3, and k4 are in series
k1 and k2 are in parallel (keq = k12)
k3 and k4 are in parallel (keq = k34)
k1, k2 and k3, are in parallel (keq = k123)
k123 is in series with k4
k2, k3, and k4 are in parallel (keq = k234)
k1 and k234 are in series

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

18.9189 N/m
370.0 N/m
11.7647 N/m
300.0 N/m
70.0 N/m
170.0 N/m
350.0 N/m
91.8919 N/m

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Section (6)
Q.6: Give brief answers to the following:
1. Can the energy method be used to find the differential equation of motion of all singledegree-of-freedom systems?
2. What assumptions are made in finding the natural frequency of a single-degree-of-freedom
system using the energy method?
3. State the parameters corresponding to m, c, k, and x for a torsional system?
4. What effect does a decrease in mass have on the frequency of a system?
5. What effect does a decrease in the stiffness of the system have on the natural period?
6. Why does the amplitude of free vibration gradually diminish in practical systems?
7. Why is it important to find the natural frequency of a vibrating system?
8. Is the frequency of a damped free vibration smaller or greater than the natural frequency of
the system?
9. What is the use of the logarithmic decrement?
10. What is critical damping, and what is its importance?
11. What happens to the energy dissipated by damping?
12. What is the reason for studying the vibration of a single-degree-of-freedom system?
13. How can you find the natural frequency of a system by measuring its static deflection?
14. What is the significance of c < 0?
Section (7)
Q.7: Indicate whether each of the following statements is True or False:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

The amplitude of an undamped system will not change with time.

A system vibrating in air can be considered a damped system.
The equation of motion of a single-degree-of-freedom system will be the
same whether the mass moves in a horizontal plane or an inclined plane.
When a mass vibrates in a vertical direction, its weight can always be
ignored in deriving the equation of motion.
The principle of conservation of energy can be used to derive the equation

True
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False
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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Higher Education

Umm Al-Qura University

College of Engineering & Islamic Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

(6)
(7)
(8)

of motion of both damped and undamped systems.

The damped frequency can in some cases be larger than the undamped
natural frequency of the system.
The damped frequency can be zero in some cases.
The natural frequency of vibration of a torsional system is given by

where k and m denote the torsional spring constant and the polar mass
moment of inertia, respectively.
(9) Rayleighs method is based on the principle of conservation of energy.
(10) For an undamped system, the velocity leads the displacement by
(11) For an undamped system, the velocity leads the acceleration by
(12) The motion diminishes to zero in both underdamped and overdamped cases.
(13) The logarithmic decrement can be used to find the damping ratio.
(14) The characteristic equation of a single-degree-of-freedom system can have
one real root and one complex root.

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Section (8)
Q.8: Fill in the blank with the proper word:
1. The logarithmic decrement denotes the rate at which the . of a free damped vibration
decreases.
2. The free vibration of an undamped system represents interchange of . and .
energies.
3. A system undergoing simple harmonic motion is called a . oscillator.
4. The mechanical clock represents a . pendulum.
5. Rayleighs method can be used to find the . frequency of a system directly
6. Any two successive displacements of the system, separated by a cycle, can be used to find
the . decrement.
7. The damped natural frequency
can be expressed in terms of the undamped natural
frequency
as .
Section (9)
Q.9: Select the most appropriate answer from the multiple choices given:
1. The natural frequency of a system with mass m and stiffness k is given by:
(a)

(b)

(c)

2. The amplitude of an undamped system subject to an initial displacement 0 and initial

velocity is given by:
(a)
(b)
(c)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Higher Education

Umm Al-Qura University

College of Engineering & Islamic Architecture

Mechanical Engineering Department

(a)

3. For a viscous damper with damping constant c, the damping force is

(b)
(c)

4. In torsional vibration, the displacement is measured in terms of a:

(a) linear coordinate
(b) angular coordinate
(c) force coordinate
5. The damping ratio, in terms of the damping constant c and critical damping constant cc is
given by
(a)
(b)
(c)

6. For a critically damping system, the motion will be:

(a) periodic
(b) aperiodic

(c) harmonic

7. If the characteristic roots have positive real values, the system response will be:
(a) stable
(b) unstable
(c) asymptotically stable

8. The frequency of oscillation of the response of a system will be higher if the imaginary part
of the roots is:
(a) smaller
(b) zero
(c) larger
9. If the characteristic roots have a zero imaginary part, the response of the system will be:
(a) oscillatory
(b) nonoscillatory
(c) steady

Section (10)
Q.10: Match the following for a single-degree-of-freedom system with m = 1, k = 2, and c = 0.5
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Natural frequency,
Linear frequency,
Natural time period,
Damped frequency,
Critical damping constant,
Damping ratio,
Logarithmic decrement,

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

1.3919
2.8284
2.2571
0.2251
0.1768
4.4429
1.4142

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See all the PROBLEMS at each lecture and make sure that YOU can solve them.