Autonomous University of Queretaro

Engineering Faculty
Electromechanical Engineering

Subject:
Mechanical Vibrations

Teacher:
PhD. Juan Jose Saucedo Dorantes

Period: January-June 2019

 What are vibrations?

• Vibrations are oscillations of a mechanical

or structural system about an equilibrium
position

• Any repetitive motion is called vibration

or oscillation

• Vibration involves an alternating interchange of

potential energy to kinetic energy and vice versa

• A vibrating system must have components that store

potential and kinetic energy

• Elastic element stores potential energy and gives it up

to the inertia element as kinetic energy, and vice versa,
in each cycle of motion
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 How potential and kinetic energies are interchanged?

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 Importance of vibrations

• In engineering, the understanding of the

vibrations in mechanical systems is
important for the safe design,
construction, and operation of a variety
of machines

• The failure of most mechanical elements and

systems can be associated to the occurrence of
vibrations

• Vibration in machines leads to rapid wear of parts

such as gears and bearings, among others, and
excessive noise

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 Number of degrees of freedom
• The minimum number of independent coordinates required to determine completely
the positions of all parts of a system at any instant of time

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 Generalized coordinates
• The coordinates necessary to describe the motion of a system constitute a set of
generalized coordinates

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 Classification of vibration
• Free vibration: if a system, after an initial disturbance, is left to vibrate on its
own
• Forced vibration: if a system is subjected to an external force
Vibration

• Undamped vibration: if no energy is lost or dissipated in friction or other

resistance during oscillation
• Damped vibration: If any energy is lost in a system

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 Vibration analysis procedure

• Step 1: Mathematical Modeling

• Step 2: Derivation of Governing Equations

• Step 3: Solution of the Governing Equations

• Step 4: Interpretation of the Results

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 Spring elements
• A spring is a type of mechanical link 𝐹 = 𝑘𝑥
• Any elastic or deformable body can be considered as a spring

Compressive
force

Tensile
force

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 Spring elements

• Theoretically, most of the

springs are linear

• The work done (U) in springs

is stored as potential energy

1 2
𝑈 = 𝑘𝑥
2
• In practice, springs exhibit a
nonlinear force-deflection
relation

𝐹 = 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏𝑥 3

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 Spring elements

• Systems with two or more

springs, may exhibit a
nonlinear force-displacement
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 Mass or inertia elements
• A mass or inertia element is assumed to be a rigid body

• These elements gain or lose kinetic energy as the velocity of

the body changes
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
• The work done is stored as kinetic energy
1
𝑈 = 𝑚𝑣 2
2

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 Combination of masses
• Case 1: Translational Masses Connected by a Rigid Bar: the equivalent mass can be
located at any point along the bar

2 2
𝑙2 𝑙3
𝑚𝑒𝑞 = 𝑚1 + 𝑚2 + 𝑚3
𝑙1 𝑙1

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 Combination of masses
Case 2: Translational and Rotational Masses Coupled Together: let a mass m having
a translational velocity 𝒙ሶ be coupled to another mass (of mass moment of inertia 𝑱𝟎 )
having a rotational velocity 𝜽:ሶ

The equivalent translational mass and the equivalent rotational

mass are estimated by means of kinetic energy:

1 1
𝑇 = 𝑚𝑥ሶ + 𝐽0 𝜃ሶ 2
2
2 2
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 Example: find the equivalent mass
Find the equivalent mass of the system shown, where the rigid link 1 is attached to the
pulley and rotates with it.

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 Damping elements
Are the mechanism by which the vibrational energy is gradually converted
into heat or sound

Viscous damping is the most commonly used damping

mechanism in vibration analysis

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 Damping elements
• A damper is a type of mechanical link used to energy dissipation
𝐹 = 𝑐𝑣
• Viscous damping leads to an exponential decay in amplitude of free vibrations
𝑥
• The work done (U) in damper is always negative 𝑈 = − න 𝑐 𝑥𝑑𝑥 ሶ
0

Parallel:

Serie:

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 Harmonic motion
• The simplest type of periodic
motion is harmonic motion

• Oscillatory motion may

repeat itself regularly

𝑥 = 𝐴 sin 𝜃 = 𝐴 sin 𝜔𝑡

𝑑𝑥
= 𝜔𝐴 cos 𝜔𝑡
𝑑𝑡

𝑑2 𝑥
2
= −𝜔2 𝐴 sin 𝜔𝑡 = −𝜔2 𝑥
𝑑𝑡

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 Vectorial representation of harmonic motion

Complex-number
representation

𝑿 = 𝒂 + 𝒊𝒃

𝑿 = 𝑨 cos 𝜽 + 𝒊𝑨 sin 𝜽

𝑨= 𝒂𝟐 + 𝒃𝟐
𝒃
𝜽= tan−𝟏
𝒂

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 Time- and frequency-domain representations

• The time-domain representation

allows to plot the amplitude against
time

• The frequency-domain representation

allows to plot the distribution of the
amplitudes and phases of each
frequency component against
frequency

• The Fast Fourier Transform has

been the best well-known technique
used to compute frequency spectra

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 Example: find the equivalent mass
A cam-follower mechanism is used to convert the rotary motion of a shaft into the oscillating
or reciprocating motion of a valve. The follower system consists of a pushrod of mass 𝒎𝒑 a
rocker arm of mass 𝒎𝒓 and mass moment 𝑱𝒓 of inertia about its C.G., a valve of mass
𝒎𝒗 and a valve spring of negligible mass. Find the equivalent mass of this cam-follower
system by assuming the location of 𝒎𝒆𝒒 as (i) point A and (ii) point C.

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 Example: find the equivalent mass

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 Example: find the equivalent mass

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 Modeling of SDOF systems
• FREE-BODY DIAGRAM METHOD: Newton’s laws, are applied to free-body
diagrams of vibrating systems to derive the governing differential equation

1. A generalized coordinate is chosen

2. Free-body diagrams are drawn showing the system at an arbitrary instant of time

3. The appropriate form of Newton’s law is applied to the FBD

σ 𝑭 = 𝒎𝒂 σ 𝑴𝑮 = 𝑰𝜶 σ 𝑭𝒆𝒙𝒕 = σ 𝑭𝒆𝒇𝒇

Dampers
Spring in tension

Spring in compression

External force

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 Examples:
1. Derive the differential equation governing the
motion of the system using x as the displacement of
the system from its equilibrium position and as the
generalized coordinate.

2. The system of lies in a horizontal plane on a

frictionless surface. Derive the differential equation
governing the displacement of the mass.

𝟏
3. A thin disk of mass m and radius r, ത𝑰 = 𝟐 𝒎𝒓𝟐 , has
a spring of stiffness k, and has a viscous damper of
damping coefficient c attached at its mass center.
The disk rolls without slipping. Derive a differential
equation governing the displacement of the mass
center.
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 Equivalent systems method
1. The potential energy for a linear SDOF system can be expressed as:

1
𝑉 = 𝑘𝑒𝑞 𝑥 2 + 𝑉0
2
2. The kinetic energy is expressed as:

1
𝑇 = 𝑚𝑒𝑞 𝑥ሶ 2
2
3. The work done by viscous-damping forces can be written as:
𝑥2
𝑈1→2 = − න 𝑐𝑒𝑞 𝑥𝑑𝑥
ሶ
𝑥1
4. The work done by all other external forces may be expressed as:

𝑡2
𝑈1→2 = න 𝐹𝑒𝑞 𝑥𝑑𝑡
ሶ
𝑡1

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 Equivalent systems method
• Thus, by applying the principle of work and energy:

𝑇1 + 𝑉1 + 𝑈1→2 = 𝑇 + 𝑉 + 𝑉0
• Then, substituting the given expression:
𝑥2 𝑡2
1 1
𝑇1 + 𝑉1 − න 𝑐𝑒𝑞 𝑥𝑑𝑥 ሶ = 𝑚𝑒𝑞 𝑥ሶ + 𝑘𝑒𝑞 𝑥 2 + 𝑉0
ሶ + න 𝐹𝑒𝑞 𝑥𝑑𝑡 2
𝑥1 𝑡1 2 2

** Noting that 𝑇1 , 𝑉1 and 𝑉0 are constants:

• The differentiation of previous equation with respect to time gives:

𝑥2 𝑡2
𝑑 𝑑 1 𝑑 2 1 𝑑 2
− න 𝑐𝑒𝑞 𝑥𝑑𝑥
ሶ + න 𝐹𝑒𝑞 𝑥𝑑𝑡
ሶ = 𝑚𝑒𝑞 𝑥ሶ + 𝑘𝑒𝑞 𝑥
𝑑𝑡 𝑥1 𝑑𝑡 𝑡1 2 𝑑𝑡 2 𝑑𝑡

𝑚𝑒𝑞 𝑥ሷ + 𝑐𝑒𝑞 𝑥ሶ + 𝑘𝑒𝑞 𝑥 = 𝐹𝑒𝑞

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 Examples:
1. Find the differential equation governing the motion of the
system using θ as generalized coordinate.

2. Find the differential equation governing the free vibrations of

the system. Use x, the displacement of the mass center of the
disk, as generalized coordinate. The disk and pulley rolls
without slipping.

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 Examples:
3. The slender rod of will be subject only to small displacements from
equilibrium. Find the differential equation governing the motion of
the rod using , the counterclockwise angular displacement of the rod
from its equilibrium position, as the generalized coordinate.

4. A simplified model of a rack-and-pinion steering system is shown. A gear of radius r

and polar moment of inertia J is attached to a shaft of torsional stiffness kt. The gear
rolls without slip on the rack of mass m. The rack is attached to a spring of stiffness k.
Derive the differential equation governing the motion of the system using x, the
horizontal displacement of the rack from the system’s equilibrium position, as the
generalized coordinate.

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