STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION, DISCRETIZATION, DAMPING

Introduction
In structural analysis we developed tools to determine the internal state of stress and strain in a
structure when it is subjected to loads (where we use the term loads to mean forces, or support
motions, or temperature changes or any other disturbance that causes a response). In a static
analysis loads are assumed to vary in time at a rate that is slow enough to allow inertia and
damping resistance to be neglected. When the rate at which loads vary is not sufficiently slow,
however, inertial and damping resistance develops and we enter into the realm of a dynamic
analysis. In a dynamic analysis our objective is to find the state of stress and strain as a function
of time. Note that the existence of forces that vary with time doesn’t necessarily indicate that a
‘dynamic analysis’ is needed to solve a problem. Dynamics are needed only when the loads are
such that inertia and damping forces are substantial. In this regard the natural question is what is
slow enough to be treated as static and, as we will see later in the class, the answer depends on the
‘reaction time’ of the system in question. Consider, for example, the case of a massless spring
subjected to a force P(t), as shown in the sketch,

k
P(t)

u(t)

The time history of the displacement is given by;

P( t )
u(t) = (1)
k

And we can see that this is not a “dynamic problem” but rather a succession of static problems
and that the foregoing is true independently of the details of the time history of P(t) since the
‘reaction time’ of the massless spring is zero. Consider now the situation where we attach a mass
at the end of the spring and subject the system to the load P(t). In this case the inertial of the
mass (unless P(t) is changing very slowly) contributes to the force in the spring and the response
is no longer given by eq.1.

k m mu
P(t) m P(t)
ku

u(t)

In fact, from inspection of the sketch one finds that;

 P( t ) − mu
u(t) = (2)
k

which shows that one can no longer solve for u directly from the load. One can, of course, write
eq.2 as

m u + k u = P ( t ) (3)

and proceed to solve it to obtain u(t). As you can see, in the static case you face an algebraic
problem while in the dynamic case differential equations have to be solved. In this class we
examine techniques to formulate the equations of motion as well as the methods used to solve
them.

The Partial Differential Equation Formulation for Dynamic Problems

Since the movement of any material point is a function of time and the mass of a structure is
distributed the structural dynamic problem is one of partial differential equations. The essential
features of the continuous formulation can be exemplified by considering the case of a rod
subjected to an arbitrary dynamic load at x = L.

P(t)
x
L

σ ( x, t )

∂ 2 u ( x, t ) ∂σ ( x, t )
ρA(dx) σ ( x, t ) + dx
∂t 2 ∂x

dx

Considering equilibrium of the differential element (in the horizontal direction) one gets;

∂ 2 u ( x, t ) ∂σ
(ρA dx ) + σ A − (σ + dx )A = 0 (4a)
∂t 2
∂x
or
∂ 2u ( x, t ) ∂σ
ρ − =0 (4b)
∂ t2 ∂x
The stress in eq.4b is a function of the strain and the simplest possibility is that it is related
linearly to it, in which case we can write

∂ u ( x, t )
σ=E (5a)
∂x

where E is the modulus of elasticity of the rod, E. Differentiating eq.5a and replacing the result
into 4b gives

∂ 2 u ( x, t ) E ∂ 2 u ( x, t )
− =0 (6)
∂t 2 ρ ∂x 2

which is a second order linear partial differential equation. The boundary conditions for the
sketch considered are

u(0,t) = 0 (7a)

P(t )
σ ( L, t ) = (7b)
A

or

∂ u ( L, t ) P ( t )
E = (7c)
∂x A

The boundary condition in eq.7a is simply a statement that the rod is held at x = 0 while that in 7b
indicates that the stress at the free is specified. We do not pursue the solution of the differential
equation at this point but note that consideration of the distributed nature of the mass leads to an
equation of motion in terms of partial derivatives.

Considerable simplification is realized, however, if the problem can be simplified in such a way
that one has to deal not with partial but with ordinary differential equations. The process that is
used to approximate the dynamics so the partial differential equations become ordinary
differential equations is known as spatial discretization. In this operation we come in contact with
the notion of degree-of-freedom (DOF).

A degree of freedom is a coordinate used to specify the configuration of a physical system.

Spatial discretization turns an infinitely dimensional problem into a finite dimensional one and is
always achieved by constraining the possible deformation modes. The deformation modes can be
made finite using two different schemes:

1) by replacing the physical domain with an approximation that has a finite number of
deformation modes – typically known as LUMPING, or

2) by specifying the set of deformation modes directly.

To illustrate assume that you have a simple beam and that you want to formulate a model to
approximate the response that uses 3 DOF. Assuming only transverse displacements u(t) are of
interest the direct specification of the deformation field (option 2 before) is

u ( t ) = q 1 ( t ) φ1 + q 2 ( t ) φ 2 + q 3 ( t ) φ 3 (8)

where the q i 's are the DOF. The shape functions shown are arbitrary but it is evident that
accuracy is optimized by choosing functions that satisfy as many of the (geometric and force
related) boundary conditions as possible. You should be aware that at this point we’re not trying
to develop expertise on the actual process of discretization but the point is to simply give you an
idea of the general concepts that will be looked at in detail later on in the course. The next figure
shows 3 possible shapes for the simple beam example

φ1

φ2

φ3
In general, discretization based on assumed shapes approximates the displacement field as;

N
u ( x , y, z , t ) = ∑ q n ( t ) φ n ( x , y, z ) (9)
n =1

where N = number of assumed shapes.

The first alternative noted, i.e., LUMPING is the process of arriving at a finite dimensional
system by replacing the real structure with a model for which the dynamics can be exactly
described by a finite set of coordinates. For example, asimplified model of the simple beam based
on lumping the mass at 5 points is

x(1) x(2) x(3) x(4) x(5)

Technical Note1: For the beam in the above model to be a 5DOF system it is necessary not only
to lump the masses but also to assume also that the dissipation can be exactly described in terms
of the 5 coordinates selected. This aspect is seldom given adequate attention in the literature and
is somethimes the source of some confusion.

Finite Element Method

The FEM is a particular form of discretization where the assumed shapes do not cover the
complete structure but are restricted to small portions of it (the FE).

Temporal Discretization
If time is treated as a discrete variable then the ordinary differential equations obtained as a result
of the spatial discretization become difference equations that can be solved with algebraic
techniques. Discussion of various numerical techniques where time is treated as a discrete
variable are presented in latter sections.

SUMMARY:

• All physical systems have distributed mass. Partial differential equations (PDE) are needed to
describe the dynamics exactly.
• One can arrive at a problem in terms of ODE by the process of spatial discretization. This is
always done by restricting the number of deformation modes – either indirectly, by lumping,
or by directly prescribing them.
• Spatial discretization reduces the dynamics problem from being infinitely dimensional to
finite dimensional.

System (Model) Classification.

The models that we make to study the response of physical systems can be classified in a number
of ways.

Clasification based on the Spatial Extention

a) Systems where the spatial domain is finite (a building on a rigid foundation).

b) Systems where the spatial domain is semi-infinite (a dam with a long reservoir or a building on
a compliant foundation).

∞
or

soil

∞
c) Models where the domain is infinite (an example where one may wish to solve a problem by
considering a model defined up to infinity is that of finding the stresses in the earth due to
explosions in a deep mine or the computation of the vibrations of the earth from deep
earthquakes)

Classification based on Properties of the Equations

Here we focus on a classification based on two very important properties, linearity and time
invariance.

Linearity
To discuss the issue of linearity it is convenient to write the differential equation of motion in
operator form as;

R ( u) = f ( t ) (1)

where R is an operator. For example, in the case of a system with the equation of motion

 + cu + ku = f ( t )
mu (2)
the operator R is;

d2 d
R=m 2
+c +k (3)
dt dt

We can now define linearity in a concise way. Namely, say R(u 1 (t)) = f1 (t) and
R(u 2 (t)) = f 2 (t) then the system is linear if

R(α u 1 (t) + β u 2 (t)) = α f1 (t) + βf 2 (t) (4)

if eq.4 is not satisfied we say the system is nonlinear. Linearity always requires that the response
be maintained within certain limits. Further discussion of sources of nonlinearity is presented
latter.

Example #1
Test linearity for the differential equation shown

y + a(t)y = f(t) (5)

we have;

y 1 + a(t)y1 = f1 (t)
(6a,b)
y 2 + a(t)y 2 = f 2 (t)

summing eqs (6a) and (6b) one gets;

( y1 + y 2 ) + a(t )( y1 + y 2 ) = f1 (t ) + f 2 (t ) (7)

then if we define the sum of the response as

y 3 = y1 + y 2 (8)

and the sum of the loads as

f 3 = f1 + f 2 (9)
we get;

y 3 + a ( t ) y 3 = f 3 (10)

which shows the equation is linear. Note that the equation satisfies linearity even though the term
a(t) is arbitrary.
Example #2
Test linearity for the differential equation shown

y + a (t ) y 3 = f (t ) (11)

Following the approach illustrated in the previous example we write;

3
y1 + a (t ) y1 = f1 (t )
3
(12a,b)
y 2 + a (t ) y 2 = f 2 (t )
and

3 3
( y 1 + y 2 ) + a (t )( y1 + y 2 ) = f 1 (t ) + f 2 (t ) (13)

taking

y1 + y 2 = y 3 (14)

and

f1 + f 2 = f 3 (15)
one gets

3
y 3 + a(t )[ y 3 + other terms] = f 3 (16)
so

3
y 3 + a(t ) y3 ≠ f 3 (17)

and we conclude the system represent by the equation is nonlinear.

Time Invariance
When the coefficients of the differential equation depend on time the system is time varying.
When they do not depend on time, the system is said to be time invariant. Time invariant systems
have the desirable characteristic that a shift in the input produces an equal shift in the output, i.e.,

If
R (u (t )) = f (t ) (18)
then

R (u (t − τ )) = f (t − τ ) (19)

Superposition
When a system is linear the response can be built by treating the excitation as the sum of
components and invoking the principle of superposition. This possibility simplifies the treatment
of complex loading cases. In the literature it is common to refer to systems that are linear and
time invariant as LTI systems. All the structural systems that we consider in detail in this class are
LTI systems.

Sources of nonlinearity (revisited):

Virtually all systems behave nonlinearly if driven by excitations that are sufficiently large. In
practice we often operate under the assumption of linearity but this assumes that the range of the
response of interest is limited. The range may be limited by the fact that nonlinearity ensues if the
geometry of the system changes substantially (geometric nonlinearity) or because the material
stress-strain characteristics cease to be linear after some stress level (material nonlinearity).

SUMMARY:

• Systems may be classified depending on the spatial extent of the model into finite, semi-
infinite or infinite.
• A very important property that is displayed by many systems in a certain range of response is
linearity. When a system is linear superposition holds.
• Time invariance indicates that the parameters of the system are not functions of time.

Damping
If a structural system is excited by some external source it generally vibrates and if the source of
the external excitation ceases the vibration eventually decays to zero. The collection of all the
mechanisms that contribute to removing energy from the system (usually not including inelastic
behavior at the global level) is referred to as damping. For analysis, the true damping mechanism
(which is unknown) is replaced by an idealized mathematical model that is capable of
approximating the rate of energy dissipation observed to occur in practice. In this section we
discuss some models commonly used to represent damping in the analysis of structures.

Consider the situation where a SDOF system is subjected to a certain imposed displacement u(t).
Assume that we monitor the force f(t) - the resistance that derives from damping can then be
computed as

fD (t) = f(t) - inertia - elastic restoring force (20)

In general the damping force may be an instantaneous function of the displacement and its
derivatives or it may be a function of the past history of these quantities in some time window. To
discuss various damping models let’s first take a look at the work that the damping force does.
By definition we have that this work, which is equal to the energy dissipated is

dW = f D (t ).du
du
dW = f D (t ) dt (21a,b,c)
dt
dW = f D (t ) u dt

so the energy dissipated between times t1 and t2 is

 t2

W = ∫ f D ( t ) u dt (22)
t1

Viscous Damping
The most widely used model takes the damping force as proportional to the velocity, namely;

f D (t ) = cu (t ) (23)

where c is the viscous damping constant.

We can examine the implication of the assumption of viscosity on the dissipated energy by
substituting eq.23 into eq.22. One gets;

t2

W = c ∫ u 2 dt (24)
t1

which shows, as expected, that the dissipated energy is a monotonically increasing function of
time. It is now instructive to consider the situation where the imposed displacement is harmonic,
i.e

u (t ) = A sin Ωt
(25a,b)
u (t ) = AΩ cos Ωt

substituting eqs25 into eq.24 and integrating over one cycle one gets;

2π / Ω
W = ∫ cA Ω (cos Ωt ) 2 dt
2 2

0
2π / Ω
(26)
W = cA 2 Ω 2 ∫ (cos Ωt )
2
dt
0
or

W = π c A2 Ω (27)

which shows that when the damping model is viscous the energy dissipated per cycle is
proportional to the frequency and proportional to the square of the amplitude of the imposed
displacement.

How does the result in eq.27 compare to what is found experimentally in actual structures? Tests
have repeatedly indicated that while the energy dissipated per cycle is typically correlated to the
square of the amplitude of imposed harmonic motion, proportionality with frequency is usually
not satisfied. In fact, for a wide class of structures results show that the dissipated energy is not
significantly affected by frequency (at least in a certain limited frequency range). The viscous
model, therefore, is in most cases not a realistic approximation of the true dissipation mechanism.
As we shall see, however, the model is used because of its mathematical convenience.
Hysteretic Damping
When energy dissipation is assumed to be frequency independent the damping model is referred
to as hysteretic. For the viscous model we postulated how the damping force is related to the
response and then concluded that the dissipation is proportional to frequency. If we start by
stating that the dissipation should be proportional to the square of the amplitude but independent
of frequency - what is the expression for the damping force fD(t)? To answer this question
consider the equation of equilibrium for a SDOF system and assume the damping force is simply
given by fD(t), namely;

mu + f D (t ) + ku = p(t ) (28)

taking a Fourier transform of both sides of eq.28 one can write;

m (iω ) 2 u (iω ) + F ( f D (t )) + k u (iω ) = p (iω ) (29)

we now define the damping term as;

F ( f D (t )) = η u (iω ) sign(ω ) i (30)

Note that this expression is equal to that of the viscous model divided by the frequency. A
fundamental theorem in Fourier analysis shows that the Fourier transform of the convolution of
two time functions is the product of their Fourier transforms; that is, if:

∞
q (t ) = ∫ g1 (τ ) g 2 (t − τ )dτ (31)
−∞
then

F (q(t )) = g1 (iω ) ⋅ g 2 (iω ) (32)

Comparing eqs. 30 and 32 we see that we can take

g 1 (iω ) = u (iω ) (33)

g 2 (iω ) = sign(ω )i (34)

And taking inverse Fourier transforms of eq.33 and 34 one finds that;

g 1 (t ) = u (t ) (35)
1
g 2 (t ) = − (36)
πt

Therefore, substituting eq.35and 36 into eq.31 one finds that the damping force is given by

∞
η u (τ )
f D (t ) = −
π ∫ t − τ dτ
−∞
(37)
Recognizing that the Hilbert transform of a function f(t) is defined by

∞
1 f (τ )
H ( f (t ) ) =
π
⋅ ∫ t − τ dτ
−∞
(38)

we can write

f D ( t ) = −η ⋅ H (u (t )) (39)

To show that the energy dissipated per cycle in the hysteretic model is independent of the
frequency of the imposed displacement consider u (t ) = A sin Ωt . Noting that the Hilbert transform
of the sine is the negative of the cosine one gets from eq.21a

2π / Ω 2π / Ω
du
W =− ∫ η H (u )du = − ∫ η H (u )
dt
dt
0 0
(40a,b)
2 2π / Ω
ηA
W=
Ω ∫ (cos Ωt ) 2 dt = η A2π
0

which is, in fact, independent of the excitation frequency. Note that the viscous and the hysteretic
models dissipate the same energy if

η = cΩ (40c)

an equivalence that can be established only in the harmonic case at a single frequency of
excitation.

Examination of eq.39 shows that the damping force associated with frequency independent
dissipation is non-causal, i.e., the force at time (t) depends not only on the past of the
displacements but also on the future!. It follows, therefore, that strict frequency independence
cannot be the exact mathematical form of the dissipating mechanism. The equation of motion of a
SDOF with hysteretic damping in the time domain is;

mu − ηH (u (t )) + ku (t ) = p (t ) (40d)

Note that eq.40d can be solved by iterations only due to the lack of causality of the damping
force. In practice hysteretic damping has been used fundamentally in the frequency domain
because in this domain the lack of causality does no introduce analytical complications (see
Appendix I for a discussion on difficulties that arise with the iterative solution in the time
domain).

Equivalent Viscous Damping

Although hysteretic damping often provides a closer approximation to the actual dissipation
mechanism than the viscous model, the viscous assumption is much more mathematically
convenient and is thus widely used in practice. The basic question then is, how should one select
the viscous damping coefficient? Clearly, if the excitation is harmonic at frequency Ω then the
structure will operate under steady state conditions at a frequency Ω and the variation of the
damping with frequency becomes irrelevant. The damping can then be modeled as viscous using

(Wcycle ) experimental
c= (41)
π A 2Ω

Note that while the instantaneous rate of dissipation is not correct, the constant in eq.41 provides
the correct dissipation in a full cycle. When the excitation contains many frequencies the usual
approximation is based on the fact that damping is most important for resonant conditions and so
the damping constant c is selected such that the energy dissipation in the mathematical model is
correct when the excitation frequency Ω equals the natural frequency of the structure. The sketch
shown below illustrates the general idea stated.

Wcycle/πA2 Slope of line gives the equivalent “c”

Real dissipation

Natural frequency of the structure

If the analysis is to be carried out using the hysteretic model the constant η can be computed from
the dissipated energy in a cycle as

(Wcycle )experimental
η= (42)
π A2

In practice, of course, we often do not carry out any tests and must work on the assumption that
the damping has a certain magnitude estimated from experience with similar structures. In this
case we normally specify the damping as a fraction of critical damping ξ, which, as we recall
from elementary analysis, is related to the damping constant by

c = 2 mω 0 ξ (43)

Finally, it’s worth noting that in the literature the constant η is often defined as

η = kξ h (44)

Substituting eq.43 and 44 into 40c one finds that

ξ h = 2ξ (45)
SUMMARY:

• The nature of the mechanism that dissipates energy is typically unknown (with the possible
exception of mechanical devices)
• The viscous model assumes that the damping forces are proportional to velocity.
• The viscous model leads to dissipation that is proportional to the frequency (for harmonic
excitation)
• The actual dissipation in structures is not strongly dependent on frequency
• A model where the dissipation is frequency independent is known as hysteretic
• The hysteretic model is, however, non-causal and thus difficult to handle in the time domain.

Classification of the Excitation

The excitation can be classified in a number of different ways. Depending on the type of
information that is available it is either:

Deterministic - Excitation is known as a function of time or Stochastic – if the excitation is

described in statistical terms.

A random process is the term used to refer to the underlying mechanism that generates the signals
that we refer to as stochastic. A sample from a random process is called a realization. A random
process is Stationary when the statistics are not a function of the window used to compute them.
The process is non-stationary when the statistics depend on time.

The computation of the response of structures to stochastic excitations is a specialized branch of

structural dynamics known as Random Vibration Analysis. A classification that depends on
whether the excitation is a function of the response or not is that of Parametric or Non-
Parametric. Namely;

Parametric Excitation- The excitation is parametric when it appears as a coefficient in the

differential equation of motion. In the example illustrated in the sketch the vertical excitation P(t)
proves to be parametric.

P(t)
F(t) mθ h

h Ft
Kr
Kr θ

Assuming the rotation is small and summing moments about the base we get
 ∑ M = 0 → F (t )h + P(t )θ h − mθ h 2
− Kr θ = 0 (46)

m θ h 2 + ( K − P(t ) h) θ = F (t ) h (47)

Parametric Excitation

Types Of Problems In Structural Dynamics

The various problems in structural dynamics can be conveniently discussed by referring to the
equation of motion in operator form, in particular;

R (u(t)) = f(t) (48)

We have the following cases:

• R and f(t) are known and we wish to compute u(t) Æ Analysis

• R and u(t) are known – we wish to obtain f (t) Æ Identification of the Excitation
(used for example in the design of accelerometers)

• u(t) and f(t) are known and we want R Æ System Identification

In addition to the previous types we may wish to control the response. If the control is attempted
by changing the system properties (without external energy) we have Passive Control. If external
energy is used to affect the response the control is known as active.

The basic equation in active control is;

R (u(t) ) = f(t) + G u(t) (49)

where G is known as the gain. The objective is typically to select G to minimize some norm of
u(t)).

SUMMARY:

• The excitation may be deterministic or stochastic

• If the excitation is multiplied by the response it modifies the left hand side of the equation of
equilibrium and is known as parametric
• The problems of structural dynamics can be classified depending on what is assumed known
and what one wants to compute. The cases are: Analysis, Identification of the excitation and
System Identification.
• There are also the related issues of passive and active control.