STRUCTURES AND TALL BUILDINGS (CON4337)

CHAPTER 3
Introduction to Structural Dynamics

Learning Objectives
Application of lumped mass idealization.
Identification of simple and multi-degree of freedom
systems of vibration.
Comparison of free and forced vibrations, resonance and
damping effects.
Approximation of fundamental frequencies and mode
shape of simple structures for seismic design.

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3. Introduction to Structural Dynamics

3.1

Introduction

Dynamic analysis is similar to static analysis except that there is the extra
dimension of time to take into account. Dynamic analysis also involves the
solution of equilibrium equations but with variation in time. The equations
have additional terms proportional to velocity and acceleration.

Figure 1 Lumped Mass Model for Dynamic Analysis

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Fortunately, in many design problems, it is not necessary to obtain the member

forces and stresses at all instants of time. When structures vibrate, they tend to
adopt smoother deflected shapes than under static loads and the corresponding
stresses are more evenly distributed. These considerations make it possible to
model structures in less fine detail than for static analysis and still obtain
accurate results.

Figure 2 Earthquake-Induced Motions in a Mutli-storey Building

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Source of Excitation
The most common types of dynamic loading on structures are: wind,
earthquakes, human forces, moving vehicles, industrial machinery, blasting and
pile driving. It is standard practice to use equivalent static horizontal forces
when designing buildings for wind and earthquake resistance. This is the
simplest way of obtaining the dimensions of the structural members. Dynamic
calculations may follow to check and perhaps modify the design.
Human forces, in the form of crowd loading, are almost always treated as static
distributed loads. But observations at a pop concert or football ground can
demonstrate the highly dynamic nature of the loading. Moving vehicles can be
designed for by adding an allowance for impact to their static weight. This has
proved satisfactory for the design of highway and railway bridges. But the
procedures may not be justified for load moving at very high speeds.
Effects of structural vibrations
Vibration of structures is undesirable for the following reasons:
i) Structural damage,
ii) Cracking and other damage to non-structural elements
iii) Effect on equipment
iv) Human discomfort
v) Fatigue fracture.
With modern forms of construction, it is feasible to design buildings to resist the
forces arising from major earthquakes. The essential requirement is to prevent
total collapse and consequent loss of life. For economic reasons, however, it is
the usual practice to accept some level of damage which may be repaired. For
an important structure such as a nuclear plant, there are considerations other
than structural effects damage to nuclear equipment can cause dangerous
consequences, not to mention major financial losses due to down-time. Some
industrial plants with delicate manufacturing processes, e.g. microchip
production, also require special vibration control.
Vibrations in a building may also cause significant human discomfort. The
human body is quite sensitive to vibration and amplitudes as low as 0.05 m
may be detected by the fingertips. In an industrial plant, it may be necessary to
check whether the vibrations caused by industrial machinery exceed human
tolerance limits. Design of tall buildings for wind effects may also have to
consider whether the wind-excited vibrations disturb the occupants to an
unacceptable degree.

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Vibration Control in the Design of Structures

There are three steps necessary in the design of structures that are susceptible to
vibration:
a) Identifying the frequency and amplitude of the dynamic loads,
b) Analyzing the structural response to obtain frequencies, dynamic
deflections and stresses,
c) Checking calculated performance against specified criteria to ensure that
there are no adverse effects.
Control over the natural frequency of a structure is possible by increasing the
stiffnesses and/ or reducing the mass and hence keep the frequency of the
structure above the predominant loading frequency.
There are many applications where vibration isolation is required. Delicate
equipment may require mounting on suspensions for protection against
vibrations. Machines are also sometimes mounted on springs to isolate them
from their supports.
3.2

Systems with single degree and multi-degrees of freedom

The most basic vibration system consists of a single lumped mass and a spring.
This is said to have one degree of freedom. That is to say, there is only one
possible direction of movement of the lumped mass.
It may seem that such as a crude approximation could produce little in the way
of practical information. In fact, they can be very useful for two reasons.
Firstly, skilled engineers can make good predictions of the behavior of real
structures by intelligent choice of the parameters of simple systems. Secondly,
the complicated motions of a real structure can often be resolved into simpler
motions of a number of mass spring systems and dealt with by superposition.
A sound understanding of the vibration of single degree of freedom (SDOF)
systems is also essential groundwork for understanding the dynamic behavior of
more complicated systems.

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Figure 3 Modeling of Structures for Dynamic Analysis

In many cases, it is impractical to include all the features of a structure in a

dynamic analysis. One method of idealizing a structure is to concentrate the
mass at various discrete points around the system. This type of representation
is termed lumped mass idealization.

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Figure 4 Lumped Mass Model for Dynamic Analysis

The complexity of a structure may be defined by the number of dynamic degrees

of freedom describing its motion. When the number of degrees of freedom is
more than one, the system is called a multi-degree of freedom system.

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3.3

Damping ratio

The effect of energy dissipating forces that resists the vibratory motion of a
structure is called damping. Damping forces include internal friction and other
effects, which are complex in nature and difficult to determine exactly.

Figure 5 Effects of Damping on Vibration

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In engineering practice, the energy loss mechanism in a structure is usually

modeled by a viscous damper (in the form of a dashpot), in which the damping
force is a linear function of velocity.
Damping causes decay in the vibratory motion. As damping is increased, the
vibrations decay exponentially. In fact, at a certain level of damping, the
vibratory motion ceases altogether at which the system is called critically
damped.
In most practical structures, damping is very light and is only a small fraction of
the critical damping value. It is convenient to express the damping in a
structure by a dimensionless value called the damping ratio , which is the ratio
of the damping constant for the structure to the corresponding critical damping
value:
Damping constant for the system
Damping ratio =
Critical damping constant
Typical damping ratios for structures
Type of construction
Steel frame, welded, with all walls of flexible
construction
Steel frame, welded or bolted, with stiff cladding
and all internal wall flexible
Steel frame, welded or bolted, with concrete shear
walls
Concrete frame, with all walls of flexible
construction
Concrete frame, with stiff cladding and all
internal wall flexible
Concrete frame, with concrete or masonry shear
walls
Concrete and/ or masonry shear wall buildings
Timber shear wall construction

Damping , percent of critical

2
5
7
5
7
10
10
15

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3.4

Dynamic properties of a single degree of freedom system

The properties of a single degree of freedom system that directly affects its
dynamic response are its mass m, stiffness k and damping ratio .
Free Vibration (No damping)
The free vibration response of a SDOF system is shown below. Free vibration
takes place when a structure vibrates on its own after being imparted an initial
displacement and velocity at time zero.

Figure 6 Free Vibration of Structural System1

The portion a-b-c-d-e of the displacement-time curve is a typical cycle of free

vibration of the system. From its static equilibrium (or undeformed) position at
a, the mass moves to the right, reaching its maximum positive displacement u0
at b, at which time the velocity is zero and the displacement begins to decrease.

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The mass returns to its equilibrium position c, continues moving to the left,
reaching its minimum displacement -u0 at d, and then the displacement
decreases again, returning to the equilibrium position at e.
The time required for the undamped system to complete one cycle of free
vibration is called the natural period of vibration T (seconds) of the structure.
It is related to the natural circular frequency of vibration (in units of radians
per seconds) and the natural cyclic frequency of vibration f (cycles/sec or Hertz
or Hz) as follows:
Natural Period of vibration
Natural Cyclic Frequency

(sec)

T 2

(cps or Hz)

The natural circular frequency is a function of the mass and stiffness of the
structure:
k
Natural Circular Frequency

(rad/sec)
m
Thus the free vibration properties , T and f depend only on the mass and
stiffness of the structure.
For two structures with the same mass, the one with greater stiffness will have a
higher vibration frequency and a shorter vibration period. Similarly, for two
structures with the same stiffness, the one with greater mass will have a lower
vibration frequency.
Damped Vibration
For a damped system under free vibration, the vibration amplitude decreases
with every cycle of vibration.
The period of vibration TD, circular frequency D and cyclic frequency fD of the
damped structure are interrelated in the same way as for the undamped structure:
2
Damped Period of vibration
TD
(sec)

Damped Cyclic Frequency

fD

1 D

TD 2

(cps or Hz)

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Figure 7 Damped Vibration1

The circular frequency D and the vibration period TD are related to the
corresponding undamped values by:
Damped Circular Frequency
Damped Period of vibration

D 1 2
T
TD
1 2

(rad/sec)
(rad/sec)

where = damping ratio of the structure

Damping has the effect of lowering the natural circular frequency from to D
and increasing the natural period from T to TD. For most structures, the
damped values D and TD are approximately equal to the undamped values
and T respectively.
3.5 Types of Dynamic Loading
Almost any type of structural system may be subjected to one form or another of
dynamic loading during its lifetime. From an analytical standpoint, it is
convenient to divide dynamic loading into two basic categories, periodic and
non-periodic.

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A periodic loading repeats the same variation over a large number of cycles.
The simplest periodic loading has a sinusoidal or simple harmonic variation.
An example of periodic type loading is the effect of rotating machinery.
Periodic loading can be more complex, e.g. the forces generated by a ship
propeller. However, any periodic loading can be resolved into a series of
simple harmonic components by means of Fourier Analysis.

Figure 8 Different Types of Dynamic Loads3

Non-periodic loadings may be either short duration impulsive loadings, e.g. an

explosion or long duration such as earthquake forces.

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3.6 Response to Periodic Loading

For structural design purposes, we are especially interested in the maximum
values of response (over time) of a system under dynamic loading since those
values determine the maximum forces in the structure. For periodic type
loading, the maximum displacements of single degree of freedom systems can
be assessed directly from response charts.
Consider the SDOF system shown below, which is subject to a periodic type
loading of P sin(p t). The maximum displacements of the structure, umax,
under vibration may be determined by obtaining the corresponding Dynamic
Magnification Factor from the chart below.

Figure 9 Dynamic Amplification Factor for Different Damping Ratios

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u max
u static
= maximum displacement under vibration
= displacement produced by a static force P
= frequency of the applied force
= natural frequency of the structure
= damping ratio of the structure

where Dynamic Magnification Factor D =

and

umax
ustatic
p

Note that the Dynamic Magnification Factor depends only on the frequency
ratio and the damping factor.
It can be observed that as the frequency ratio approaches 1.0, the dynamic
magnification factor becomes very large especially when damping is low (which
is true for most structures). When the applied force frequency and the natural
frequency of the structure almost coincide, the structure is said to resonate and it
will undergo maximum dynamic displacement. When an undamped structure
resonates, the displacement tends to infinity. It is therefore important to ensure,
as far as possible, that the applied force frequency does not approach the natural
frequency of the structure.
For buildings of low to medium height, the structural frequency is generally
different enough from that of wind loading such that the dynamic magnification
factor is practically 1.0. In the design of such structures, wind load can be
treated as equivalent static loading.

Units in dynamic analysis

In dynamic analysis, it is common to express the mass of the structure in terms
of kg. The unit of force is a derived unit and is known as a Newton.
A Newton (N) is defined as a force that will produce an acceleration of 1 m/s2 on
a mass of 1 kg. Since, according to the Newtons law of motion, force is equal
to the product of mass and acceleration, we have
kg m
N=
s2
The above equation relating N and kg is often used in dynamic analysis.

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Example 1
The structural frame shown in Figure 10 is rigid jointed and fixed to its supports.
The mass of the structure of 5000 kg is concentrated on the beam which is
assumed to be rigid. The columns are assumed weightless and each has
flexural stiffness (EI) of 4.5 x 106 Nm2 in the plane of the structure. If the
structure is assumed to have a viscous damping ratio of 4%, calculate the
damped and undamped natural frequencies.

Figure 10
Solution
The mass of the equivalent one degree of freedom system is
m = 5000 kg
Note that when the frame is displaced, each column is deflected as shown in
Figure 10 (b) with zero rotations at top and bottom. The forces corresponding to
a unit lateral displacement can be calculated from elementary bending theory and
are as shown. Hence the effective spring stiffness of the structure is twice the
lateral stiffness of each column and is therefore
12 EI
k=2x
= 2 x 12 x 4.5 x 106 / 33 = 4.0 x 106 N/m
3
h
Hence, the undamped natural frequency is
1
1

f
T 2 2
= 4.502 Hz

The damped natural frequency

1
k

m 2

4 x106
5000

fD f 1 2 = 4.502 x
= 4.498 Hz

1 0.042

which is practically the same.

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Example 2
For portal frame ABCD shown in Figure 11, it may be assumed that the
horizontal member is infinitely stiff and that the vertical members have
negligible mass compared with that of the horizontal member. If there is no
damping, determine the natural frequency f and the natural period T.

Figure 11
Solution
The stiffnesses of the members AB and CD are:
12 EI
12 E (3I )
EI
kAB =
N/mm
kCD =
= 4.5 3 N/mm
3
3
L
( 2 L)
L
Hence
EI
EI
k = kAB + kCD = 16.5 3 N/mm = 16500 3 N/m
L
L
k

(where k is in newtons per metre and m in kilograms)
m
16500 EI
EI
radians per second

128
ML3
ML3
2 ML3
T=
=
seconds

128 EI
128 EI
1

f
cycles per second
2 ML3
T 2
2

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3.7 Dynamic Properties of a multi-degree of freedom system

The natural frequencies and vibration modes of a structure play a central role in
the analysis of its response to dynamic loading. The frequencies and mode
shapes are determined by the mass matrix M and the stiffness matrix K of the
system.

Figure 12 Structural Model for Multi-Degree of Freedom System

m1

M=

m2
.
.

mN

k2
(k1 k 2 )
k
( k 2 k3 ) k3
2

k3
.
K=

.
.
kN

kN

kN

Several properties of the above matrices are useful to bear in mind. First, both
M and K are symmetric matrices. Second, M is a diagonal matrix for a
lumped mass system. Third, the diagonal elements of the K matrix are always
positive.

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Computation of Natural Frequencies and Modes of Vibration

Computation of the vibration properties of a multi-degree of freedom system
requires solution of the following matrix equation (which in mathematically
terminology is called an eigen problem):
K 2 M X 0

where X is a column vector of displacements that corresponds to a particular

mode of vibration and is called an eigenvector.
The frequencies can be computed from the following relationship, i.e. the
determinant of the eigen problem equals zero:
K 2 M 0

For a N-DOF system, the mass and stiffness matrices are of order N. Solution
of the eigen problem leads to the N natural frequencies and eigen vectors: n, Xn
(n=1 to N).
It is usual to represent the smallest frequency by 1. This frequency is called
the fundamental frequency of the system and corresponds to the first mode of
vibration. The remaining frequencies correspond to the second and higher
modes of vibration. The eigen vectors Xn are often re-expressed in
dimensionless form by dividing all the components by one reference component
(usually the largest), a procedure called normalization. The resulting vector is
called the n-th mode shape n:
1n

2n
.
1
n = =
X max
.
.

Nn

X 1n
X
2n
.

.
.

X Nn

in which Xmax is the largest value in Xn.

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Many methods have been developed for numerical solution of the eigen problem
and are available in many textbooks. Usually just the first few vibration modes,
and sometimes just the fundamental mode is sufficient for most dynamic
analysis.
Idealization of multi-storey buildings for horizontal dynamic loading
For the analysis of the response of a multi-storey building to horizontal dynamic
loading (e.g. wind or earthquake), a useful idealization is the shear building or
shear frame model:
i) The mass of the structure is assumed to be lumped at the floor levels.
ii) The floors (i.e. horizontal members) are assumed to be rigid.
iii)Axial deformations in the columns are ignored.
iv) The lateral stiffness of the building is due entirely to the stiffness of the
columns in bending.
In a shear building, rotation of joints is assumed not to occur and the floors can
only move horizontally. Accordingly an N-storey frame will have N degrees of
freedom.
m1 0
M = mass matrix = 0 m2

0
0

0
0

m3

k2
0
(k1 k 2 )

k2
( k 2 k3 ) k3
K = stiffness matrix =

0
k3
k3

The lateral storey stiffness kj of the j-th storey is the storey shear force required
to cause a unit horizontal displacement for that storey. The values of the lateral
storey stiffnesses k1, k2, kN can be calculated from the bending stiffness of the
columns. The contribution of each column to the lateral storey stiffness is
12 EI
given by 3 .
L

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Figure 13 Lateral Stiffness of Column in a Frame

Figure 14 Idealized Multi-Storey Building

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m1

Mass Matrix M =

m2
.
mj
.
.

m N

k2
(k1 k 2 )
k
( k 2 k3 )
k3
2

k3
( k3 k 4 ) k 4
Stiffness Matrix K =
.

.
kN

kN

kN

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Example 3
Find the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the three-storey building shown
in Figure 15. Assume that the building is undamped.

Figure 15
Solution
The building can be idealized as a three-degree of freedom lumped mass system
with the mass matrix given by
4 0 0
M = 105 0 4 0 kg

0 0 4
The stiffness matrix can be obtained by assuming unit displacements at each storey
and then calculating the forces in the structure. Hence
K = 120 x 10

6 2 0
2 3 1 N/m

0 1 1

The natural frequencies can be obtained from the determinant of

K 2 M 0

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K M = 120 x 10

2
0
( 6 )
2
(3 )
1

0
1
(1 )

where =

300

The determinant of the matrix is

(6 ) [(3 ) (1 ) 1 x 1] (-2) x [- 2 x(1 ) + 0] = 0
(6 ) [3 4 + 2 1] + 2 [ 2 2 ] = 0
3 102 + 22 8 = 0
Solutions of this equation are
1 = 0.45
2 = 2.52
thus giving
135
2
= 756

2110

1
and = 2 =

3

3 = 7.034
11.62
27.50 rad/s

45.94

The mode shapes can now be calculated. Assuming a normalized shape for each
mode, i.e. 3n = 1, gives

1n

n = 2 n
1
Thus

K 2 M X 0

120 x 106

becomes

2
0
( 6 )
2
(3 )
1

0
1
(1 )

1n 0

2 n = 0
1 0

The mode shapes for the three natural frequencies are

0.198

1 = 0.55 ;
1

0.874

2 = 1.52 ;
1

11.67

3 = 6.03
1

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Example 4
An idealized 2-storey shear building is shown below, with mass lumped at the
floor levels and individual storey stiffnesses. Determine the vibration mode
shapes and the natural circular frequencies of the building.

4000 kg/m

G
3000 kg/m

D
For all columns
EI = 7.68*108 N/m2

3000 kg/m

H
3m
F
4m

7m

7m

Solution
The stiffness matrix can be obtained by assuming unit displacements at each storey
and then calculating the forces in the structure.
3 * EI
=0.04688 EI
43
12 * EI
kCF =12EI/L3 =
=0.1875 EI
43
12 * EI
kEG = kFH = 12EI/L3 =
=0.4444 EI
33

kAD = kBE = 3EI/L3 =

Total stiffness at level 1 = kAD + kBE + kCF

= (0.04688*2 + 0.1875) EI
= 0.2813 EI

Total stiffness at level 2 = kEG + kFH = (2*0.4444) EI = 0.8888 EI

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1.1701 0.8888
K = EI

0.8888 0.8888
1.1701 0.8888
= 7.68 x 108

0.8888 0.8888
1.3165 1
= 6.826 x 108
N/m
1
1

Mass Matrix:
4.2 0
4 1.5 0
M = 104
kg
=
2.8*10
*

0 1
0 2.8
K 2 M 0

1.3165 1.5 1
K 2 M = 6.826*108
1
1

2.8 *10 4 2
where =
6.826 *108

[(1.3165 1.5) (1 ) (-1) * (-1)] = 0

1.3165 -2.8165 + 1.52 -1= 0
1.52 2.8165 + 0.3165 = 0
Solutions of this equation are
1 = 0.1200
2 = 1.7576
thus giving
2925.4
2 =
and =
42848

1 54.09
= 207.0 rad/s

For 1 = 0.1200
1 1 0
1.3165 1.5 * 0.12

6.826*108
1
1 0.12 X 21 0

1 1
X 1.1365

21
0.8799
Hence 11

1 1

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For 2 = 1.7576
1 1 0
1.3165 1.5 *1.7576
6.826*108

1
1 1.7576 X 22 0

1 1
X 1.3199

22
0.7576
Hence 12

1 1

Revision
Read reference 1 on P.39 65, P.401 - 443.
Read reference 2 on P.3 33, P.201 226.
Main Reference
1. Dynamics of Structures, Theory and Applications to Earthquake Engineering,
3rd Edition, Anil K. Chopra, Prentice Hall.
2. Structural Dynamics, Theory and Computation, 3rd Edition, Mario Paz,
Chapman & Hall.
3. Dynamics of Structures, 2nd Edition, Ray W. Clough & Joseph Penzien,
McGraw Hill.

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TUTORIAL 3

Q1. An idealized 3-storey shear building is shown below, with mass lumped at the floor levels and
individual storey stiffnesses.

Determine the vibration mode shapes and the natural circular frequencies of the building.

Ans:

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TUTORIAL 3

Q2.

Compute the natural angular frequency of vibration in sidesway for the frame shown below and
calculate the natural period of vibration. Idealize the frame as one degree of freedom system.
Neglect axial and shear deformations and the weight of the columns.

(Ans:

= 7.103 rad/sec,

T = 0.885 sec)

If the system has a damping coefficient = 0.1, what are the damped natural circular frequency d
and the natural period of damped vibration Td ?
(Ans:

d = 7.067 rad/sec, Td = 0.889 sec)

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TUTORIAL 3
Q.3 A two-storey undamped building frame is shown in the following figure. By using the lumped mass
idealization and neglecting the axial and shear deformation and self-weight of columns, calculate:
(a) Mass (M) and stiffness (K) matrix of the system;
(b) Natural cyclic frequencies (f) of the building; and
(c) Corresponding mode shapes of vibration.
G

2000 kg/m

H
A
4m

For all columns

EI = 6.0*108 Nm2

2000 kg/m E
A

2000 kg/m

F
5m

C
6m

Q.4

3m

8m

The structural frame of an idealised two-storey shear building is shown as follows. The lumped
masses at floor levels and the relative values of flexural rigidities of the individual columns are
given as shown. Determine:
(a) The mass matrix M of the building.
(b) The stiffness matrix K of the building.
(c) The natural periods and natural cyclic frequencies of the building.
(d) The corresponding mode shapes of vibration normalized with respect to the components of the
second storey.

3 * 105 kg

E
F
EI

2EI

3m

EI
H

D
5

4 * 10 kg
EI

2EI
A

3.5m

EI = 2 * 109 Nm2
for all columns

B
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