MECHANICAL SYSTEMS DYNAMICS 09.02.

2011
SURNAME ……………………………………… NAME …………………………………………… A

Lagrange’s equations – torsional oscillations

A massless elastic shaft of stiffness KT has two flywheels (polar moment of inertia I1 and I2) at its ends and is
loaded with two external torques C1 and C2 .

!# !"
Let:
θ1 : flywheel 1 rotation
θ 2 : flywheel 2 rotation !# !"
Δθ = θ2 − θ1 : relative rotation !"
!#

Determine in function of θ1 and Δθ :

€ • the potential elastic energy V
• the kinetic energy T
• the generalized forces Qk
• the equations of motion of the two flywheels

Rod axial vibrations

"#$%$& ! '$(

The elastic rod of length l, elastic modulus E, cross sectional area A and mass per unit length µ is free at the left end
(x = 0), while is attached to a spring of stiffness k at the right end (x = l).
Under the hypothesis that axial displacement u(x,t) can be obtained by variable separation technique from equation
∂2 u ∂2 u
AE 2 = µ 2 , derive:
∂x ∂t

• the boundary conditions of the differential eigenproblem (show the passages)

• the characteristic equation
€

Kinetic energy

A system has N lumped masses !! whose positions are given by vectors !! = !! (!! , … , !! ; !) dependent on the
lagrangian co-ordinate !! .
Derive the three terms of the kinetic energy ! = !! + !! + !! (show the passages)
 LAGRANGE’S EQUATIONS - TORSIONAL OSCILLATIONS

Potential elastic energy V

This term is due to the work of the internal conservative forces; conse-
quently the potential energy associated with the shaft elastic deformation
is
1
V = · kT · ✓ 2 (1)
2
where

• kT = shaft torsional sti↵ness

• ✓ = relative rotation of the flywheels

Kinetic energy T

Let ✓˙1 e (✓˙1 + ✓)

˙ be the angular velocities of flywheels 1 and 2 respec-
tively; since the motion consists of a rotation about the shaft main axis, the
kinetic energy is:
1 1
T = · I1 ✓˙12 + · I2 (✓˙1 + ✓)˙ 2 (2)
2 2

Generalised forces Qk

the generalised forces Qk are defined as

N
X @~ri
Qk = F~i · (3)
@qk
i=1

where

• F~i = active forces applied on flywheels 1 and 2

• ~ri = flywheel displacement

• qk = generalised co-ordinates, where subscript k corresponds to the

system number of degrees of freedom

1
 Since the equations must be derived in function of ✓1 e ✓, let

• q1 = ✓1

• q2 = ✓

Now compute the expressions of the active forces and displacements:

F~1 = C1 ~i ~r1 = ✓1 ~i
F~1 = C2 ~i ~r2 = ✓2 ~i = (✓1 + ✓)~i
inserting in eq.(3), it is possible to derive the generalized forces applied at
the flywheels:
Q1 = C1~i · ~i + C2~i · ✓ = C1 + C2 (4)
Q2 = C1~i · 0 + C2~i · ~i = C2 (5)

Equations of motion

Lagrange’s equation is given by

d dL dL
= Qk (6)
dt dq˙k dqk

substituting the Lagrangian L = T V in eq.(6), we get

d
(I1 ✓˙1 + I2 (✓˙1 + ˙
✓)) 0= C1 + C2
dt
d
(0 + I2 (✓˙1 + ✓))
˙ + kT ✓ = C2
dt
computing the derivatives we obtain the two equations of motion:

I1 ✓¨1 + I2 (✓¨1 + ¨ =
✓) C1 + C2 (7)

I2 (✓¨1 + ¨ + kT ✓ = C2
✓) (8)
which can be written in matrix form
    
I1 + I2 I2 ✓¨1 0 0 ✓1 C1 + C2
¨ + =
I2 I2 ✓ 0 kT ✓ C1

2
 ROD AXIAL VIBRATIONS

Boundary conditions and characteristic equation

The equation of motion is

@2u @2u
EA = µ . (9)
@x2 @t2
Let ⇢ be the rod density, with µ = A⇢; then the equation of motion becomes

@2u E @2u @2u

2
= 2
= c2 2 (10)
@t ⇢ @x @x

where the constant c (having the dimension of a speed) is defined as

s
E
c=
⇢

A solution u of the wawe equation eq.(10) can be computed supposing that

it is given by the product of a space function dependent on the space variable
x alone multiplied by a time t function (i.e., using the separation of variables
technique); consequently it follows

u = u(x, t) = (x) · (A cos !t + B sin !t) (11)

where
! !
(x) = a cos
x + b sin x
c c
Deriving twice eq.(11) and substituting in (10), it holds:
00
EA (A cos !t + B sin !t) + µ! 2 (A cos !t + B sin !t) = 0

which can be simplified as

00
EA + µ! 2 = 0

3
so that
! !
(x) = a cos x + b sin x
c c
Let now apply the boundary conditions; the left end is free, consquently
the axial force N is null for all times t:
✓ ◆
@u d
x=0 =) N = EA = EA (d cos !t + e sin !t) = 0
@x dx x=0

The right end is linked to the spring, so it is loaded with a force N

di↵erent from 0; isolating a rod element, it follows:

✓ ◆
d
x=l =) EA +k =0
dx x=l
Since the deformation is

0 d ! ! ! !
= = a sin x + b cos x = 0
dx c c c c
the boundary conditions become
8 8 0
< x=0 >
< =0 b=0
=) ⇣
: >
: EA ! ! ⌘ !
x=l a sin l + k a cos l = 0
c c c

It immediately follows that

! k
tan l = ⇣! ⌘ (12)
c EA
c
finally, let multiply and divide by l:
⇣! ⌘ kl 1
tan l = ⇣! ⌘ (13)
c EA l
c

4
 KINETIC ENERGY

Three terms of the kinetic energy T2 T1 e T0

The kinetic energy of a system of N masses mi is given by

N
X N
X
1 1
T = mi ṙi2 = mi~ṙi · ~ṙi
2 2
i=1 i=1

Let note that velocity ~ṙi can be written as

X @~ri n
~ṙi = d~ri = @~ri dq1 + . . . + @~ri dqn + @~ri = q̇k +
@~ri
(14)
dt @q1 dt @qn dt @t @qk @t
k=1

Now, it is possible to look for a formula dependent on the lagrangian co-

ordinates qk : using eq.(14), it follows:

N N n
! 0 n 1
X 1 ~ ~ X 1 X @~ri @~ri X @~ri @~
ri
T = mi ṙi · ṙi = mi q̇k + ·@ q̇j + A=
2 2 @qk @t @qj @t
i=1 i=1 k=1 j=1
n n N
! n N
!
X X X 1 @~ri @~ri X X @~ri @~ri
= mi · q̇k q̇j + mi · q̇k +
2 @qk @qj @qk @t
k=1 j=1 i=1 k=1 i=1
N
X 1 @~ri @~ri
+ mi · =
2 @t @t
i=1
Xn Xn X1 N 2
1 @~ri
= Mjk q̇k q̇j + Mk q̇k + mi = T2 + T1 + T0 (15)
2 2 @t
k,j=1 k=1 i=1

P
N @~ri @~ri PN @~ri @~ri
where Mjk = Mkj = mi · and Mk = mi · .
i=1 @qk @qj i=1 @qk @t
Consequently
n
X 1
T2 = Mjk q̇k q̇j
2
k,j=1
Xn
T1 = Mk q̇k
k=1
XN 2
1 @~ri
T0 = mi
2 @t
i=1

When T2 6= 0 and T1 = T0 = 0, ohe system is called natural

(subscripts 2,1,0 correspond to a quadratic, linear and null dependance on

5
generalised velocities q̇k )
Moreover, the quadratic component of the kinetic energy T2 can be written
in the form
n
1 X 1
T2 = Mjk q̇k q̇j = {q̇}T [M ] {q̇}
2 2
k,j=1

where the elements of matrix [M ] are masses Mjk and velocities {q̇}T =
{q̇1 . . . q̇k . . . qn }T .
Equation (15) states that kinetic energy is a function of the lagrangian
co-ordinates qk and of their time derivatives q̇k .