B59EG. Tutorial 3.

Damped Systems
1) Derive the equation of motion for the following systems:

A. B.

3 3
(A. mx cx kx 0 ), (B. mx cx 2kx 0 )
2 2

2) A rigid uniform beam of mass m and length l pinned at one end, is restrained by a
spring and viscous damper. Find the natural frequency of the system. Find the
a k
equation of motion. ( n 3 )
l m

3) The simple pendulum is pivoted at point O as shown below. If the mass of the rod
is negligible, and for small oscillations, find the damped natural frequency of the
2
kL12 mgL cL22
pendulum. ( d )
mL2 2mL2
4) A system oscillates freely at a frequency of 150 Hz. It is found that, when a
viscous damper is introduced to the system, the amplitude of oscillation is halved
in 0.2 sec. Calculate the system damping ratio ζ (0.00367)

5) A critically damped system is disturbed from the equilibrium position with an

initial velocity V. Show that the maximum displacement in the subsequent
motion is V/ωne where ωn is the undamped natural frequency

6) The figure shows a compound lever weighing machine. The masses and
stiffnesses of the levers are negligible. The spring stiffness, k, is such that with
the damper rate, c, the natural frequency and damping ratio are 12 Hz and 0.3 in
free decay.

a. Determine the values of k and c (890 N/m, 113 Ns/m)

b. What would the corresponding natural frequency and damping ratio be if an
additional 100 kg is placed on the platform? (6.41 Hz, 0.16)

40 kg platform

1 4

c
k 4 1

7) A second order single degree of freedom system performs motion given by the
equation
nt 2
x (t ) Xe cos( n 1 t )
where = the system damping ratio. Show that the Logarithmic Decrement of the
system is given by
2 N
1 2
where N is the number of cycles between amplitude measurements. A mass of 25 kg
is supported on light rollers and is attached to a solid wall by means of a spring of
stiffness 40 kN/m in parallel with a damper of coefficient C N/(m/sec). Motion takes
place in a horizontal plane. Following a small disturbance the amplitude of motion
was observed to decay by 90% in five cycles. Determine the value of the damping
coefficient C (146.2 N sec/m)