Mechanical Vibrations: 4600-431 Example Problems

March 1, 2010

Contents
1 Free Vibration of Single Degree-of-freedom Systems 2
1.1 Solved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Unsolved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2 Forced Single Degree-of-freedom Systems 36

2.1 Solved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2 Unsolved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

3 Frictionally Damped Systems 64

3.1 Solved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.2 Unsolved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4 Multi Degree-of-freedom Systems 76

4.1 Solved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.2 Unsolved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

1
1 Free Vibration of Single Degree-of-freedom Systems
1.1 Solved Problems

Problem 1:
For the mechanical system shown to the
right, the uniform rigid bar has mass m and ̂
pinned at point O. For this system:
k
a) find the equations of motion;
ı̂
b) Identify the damping ratio and natural
frequency in terms of the parameters m
m, c, k, and ℓ.
ℓ
2 y
c) For: ℓ
θ 2

m = 1.50kg, ℓ = 45cm,
O
c = 0.125N/(m/s), k = 250N/m,
2m
find the angular displacement of the bar x
θ(t) for the following initial conditions:
k c
θ(0) = 0, θ̇(0) = 10rad/s.

Assume that in the horizontal position the

system is in static equilibrium and that all
angles remain small.
Solution:
a) In addition to the coordinate θ identified in
the original figure, we also define x and y as −k y ̂
the displacment of the block and end of the
bar respecively. The directions ı̂ and ̂ are
defined as shown in the figure.
A free body diagram for this system is
shown to the right. Note that the tension in −T ̂
the cable between the bar and the block is
unknown and represented with T while the FR T ̂
reaction force F R is included, although both
its magnitude and direction are unspecified.
In terms of the identifed coordinates, the
angular acceleration of the bar αβ and the
linear acceleration of the block aG are
−k x ̂ −c ẋ ̂
αβ = θ̈ k̂, aG = ẍ ̂.

We can also relate the identified coordinates as

ℓ
x= θ, y = ℓ θ.
2

The equations of motion for this system can be obtained with linear momentum balance
applied to the block and angular momentum balance aout O on the bar. These can be

2
 written as
X  
F = m aG −→ T − k x − c ẋ ̂ = 2 m ẍ ̂,
m ℓ2
 
X
O ℓ
MO = I αβ −→ − T − k y ℓ k̂ = θ̈ k̂.
2 3

Solving the first equation for T and substituting into the second equation yields

ℓ m ℓ2
− (2 m ẍ + k x + c ẋ) −kyℓ = θ̈.
2 3

Using the coordinate relations we can obtain the equation of motion as

5 m ℓ2 c ℓ2 5 k ℓ2
θ̈ + θ̇ + θ = 0.
6 4 4

b) In the above equation the equivalent mass, damping, and stiffness are

5 m ℓ2 c ℓ2 5 k ℓ2
meq = , beq = , keq = .
6 4 4

From these the damping ratio and natural frequency are

c ℓ2
√
beq 4 3c
ζ= p = q = √ ,
2 keq meq 2 5 k ℓ 2 5 m ℓ2 2 50 k m
4 6
s s
5 k ℓ2
r
keq 4 3k
ωn = = 5 m ℓ2
=
meq 6
2 m

c) Evaluating the damping ratio and natural frequency we find that for the given values
of the parameters
ωn = 15.8rad/s, ζ = 7.91 × 10−4 .

Therefore the system is underdamped and the general solution can be written as
  p   p 
θ(t) = e−ζ ωn t a sin ωn 1 − ζ 2 t + b cos ωn 1 − ζ 2 t ,

where a and b are arbitrary constants used to fit the initial conditions. Evaluating θ(t)
and θ̇(t) at t = 0 yields
p
θ(0) = b = 0, θ̇(0) = −ζ ωn b + ωn 1 − ζ 2 a = 10rad/s,

so that the general solution becomes

 
θ(t) = 0.632 e−0.0125 t sin 15.8 t .

3
Problem 2:
For the mechanical system shown to the
right, the uniform rigid bar has mass m and
pinned at point O. For this system: ℓ
k 2
a) find the equations of motion;
m θ
b) Identify the damping ratio and natural z
frequency in terms of the parameters
ℓ
m, c, k, and ℓ. 2 m
c) For: ̂
x
k c
m = 2kg, ℓ = 25cm,
c = 0.25N/(m/s), k = 50N/m,
ı̂

find the angular displacement of the bar

θ(t) for the following initial conditions:

θ(0) = 0, θ̇(0) = 10rad/s.

d) for this motion, find the tension in the

cable connecting the rod and the block
as a function of time.

Assume that the system is in static equilib-

rium at θ = 0, and that all angles remain
small.
Solution:
a) We identify the coordinates x and z as shown above, which are related to the angular
displacement θ as:
ℓ ℓ
x = θ, z = θ.
2 2

An appropriate free-body diagram is

k z ̂
shown to the right. Applying linear mo-
mentum balance on the block yields
−T ̂
X
F = m aG ,
T ̂
(T − k x − c ẋ) ̂ = m ẍ ̂. FR
Likewise, angular momentum balance on
the bar provides
X
M O = I O αβ ,
−k x ̂ −c ẋ ̂
m ℓ2
 
ℓ ℓ
−T − k z k̂ = θ̈ k̂.
2 2 12

Combining these equations and eliminating the tension, the equation of motion can be
written as
7m
θ̈ + c θ̇ + 2 k θ = 0.
6

4
 b) For the above equation the equivalent mass, damping, and stiffness are
7m
meq = , beq = b, keq = 2 k,
6

and the natural frequency and damping ratio are

s r √
keq 12 k beq 3b
ωn = = , ζ= p =√ .
meq 7m 2 keq meq 28k m

Problem 3: ̂
The block shown to the right rests on a fric-
tionless surface. Find the response of the sys-
tem if the block is displaced from its static x
equilibrium position 15cm to the right and k1 ı̂
released from rest. k2
m
m = 4.0kg, b = 0.25N/(m/s),
b
k1 = 1.5N/m, k2 = 0.50N/(m/s).

Solution:
An appropriate free-body diagram is shown to the
right. Notice that the two springs are effectively in −k1 x ı̂
parallel, as the displacement across each spring is
−k2 x ı̂
identical. Linear momentum balance on this block
provides
X −b ẋ ı̂
F = m aG ,
(−k1 x − k2 x − b ẋ) ı̂ = m ẍ ı̂,

or, writing this in standard form

m ẍ + b ẋ + (k1 + k2 ) x = 0.

Further, the system is released from rest so that the initial conditions are

x(0) = x0 = 15cm, ẋ(0) = 0cm/s.