Structural Dynamics: Introduction

Dr. Hongwei Huang

Department of Bridge Engineering
Tongji University

We make our living in dynamics, structural health monitoring

and vibration control
 DYNAMICS OF STRUCTURES
∆ Theory and methods for analyzing response of structures
under dynamic loads
∆ Structures: beam, frame building, bridge, etc.
∆ Response:
∆ Deformation
∆ Stress
∆ Acceleration
∆ WHY/ HOW

Output
displacement
u
k u
M p(t)
Input force M

k c c

Math modeling

p0
if p(t )  p0 u mu  cu  ku  p(t )
p0 k
p(t )  p0 sinωt u (1  cosωt)
k
1. Essential characteristics of a dynamic problem

1.1 Typical dynamical problems:

 Structural vibration under seismic excitation;

 Vibration of large span bridge and high-rise building under turbulent wind
loads;

 Vehicle vibration due to road roughness;

 Bomb blast pressure on civil engineering structures.

1.2 Differences between static and dynamic loads:

 Static loads: magnitude, direction and position remains constant or varies

slowly with time, such as structural self weight, snow loads and etc..

 Dynamic loads: magnitude, direction and position varies rapidly with time or
the loads are suddenly applied to or removed from the structure.

1.3 Essential characteristics：

∆ Time varying nature: a succession of solutions has to be established

corresponding to all times of interest in the response history.

∆ Inertial forces: represent a significant component of the total loads, the

dynamic characteristics of the problem are reflected in its solution.
2. Dynamic loads and analyzing methods

2.1 Prescribed dynamic loading:

 The time varying characteristics of the loading is fully prescribed, even

though it may be highly oscillatory or irregular in form.

 Deterministic analysis: a direct structural time history responses computation

corresponding to the prescribed loading history.

P(t )

t
2.2 Random dynamic loading:

 The time varying characteristics is not completely prescribed but can be

defined in a statistical sense.

 Nondeterministic analysis: provides only statistical information about the

structural response from the statistically defined loading.

2.3 Prescribed dynamic loading can be categorized as periodic loadings and

nonperiodic loadings:

 Periodic loading
(1) harmonic loading
loading in the form of sinusoidal variation
e.g. loading due to rotating machinery
(2) Other periodic loadings
Complex periodic loading which can not be represented by a harmonic
function but by the sum of a series of simple harmonic components
e.g. hydrodynamic pressures generated by a propeller at the stern of a ship
∆ Nonperiodic loading

(1) Impulsive loading

short-duration high intensity loading which is generally described by
sine-wave, triangular or rectangular function
e.g. blast or explosion loadings

(2) General forms of loading

Represented by any function or just some data sets
e.g. earthquake excitations
3. Formulation of Equation of Motion

Equation of motion (EOM): the mathematical expressions defining the dynamic

displacements. Its solution provides the required displacement time histories.

3.1 Basic dynamic system

 SDOF (Single-Degree-of-Freedom-System): structural vibration state can be
determined by only one generalized coordinates
 Some system which can be simplified to be a SDOF system:
∆ Two Typical SDOF Systems

 Essential physical properties:

lumped mass m; damping c;
stiffness k

(a) A one-floor shear type frame  Two systems are the equivalent
and thus their vibration responses
can be described by the same
EOM

(b) Mass-spring-damper system

(1) Inertial Force
Inertial force：the force which keep the original state of the system. It equals
to the product of the mass and acceleration and its direction is opposite to the
direction of acceleration
f I  m u
I – Inertial;
m – Mass;
ü – Acceleration of the mass.

(2) Spring Resisting Force

Spring resisting force. It equals to the product of the spring stiffness and
displacement and its direction is opposite to the direction of displacement

f s  ku
s — Spring
k — Spring Stiffness
u — Displacement of the mass
(3) Damping Force
Damping force: the force which induces the energy loss of the system. It
equals to the product of the damping coefficient and velocity of mass.
f D  cu
D — Damping
c — Damping coefficient
ù — Velocity of mass

∆ Determination of the damping coefficient c

It cannot be obtained directly from the geometry of the structure. It is
generally obtained via structural vibration tests.
∆ Viscous (velocity proportional) damping is the most generally used
damping mechanism.
∆ Other general damping mechanism:
∆ Friction damping: the damping due to friction, generally is a constant;
∆ Hysteretic damping: a damping mechanism proportional to the displacement
amplitude but in phase with the velocity;
∆ Liquid damping: the damping force is proportional to the square of
velocity of the mass.
3.2 Formulation of EOM

(1) The Newton’s second law of motion

F  ma
a  u
f s  ku
f D  cu

F  p(t)  fD  fs
The EOM of a SDOF system
ma f D  f s  p(t)
mu  cu  ku  p(t )
(2) Direct Equilibrium using d’Alembert Principle
D’Alembert’s principle: a mass develops an inertial force proportional to its
acceleration and opposing it. It permits the equation of motion to be
expressed as equations of dynamic equilibrium.

f I  mu
f s  ku
f D  cu

p (t )  f I  f D  f s  0

The EOM of a SDOF system

mu  cu  ku  p(t )

(3) Principle of Virtual Displacements
Principle of virtual displacements: if a system, which is in equilibrium
under the action of a set of externally applied forces, is subjected to a
virtual displacement, the total work done by the set of forces will be zero.
Here, the virtual displacement is a displacement pattern compatible with the
system’s constraints.

f I  mu
f s  ku
f D  cu
Assuming a virtual displacement δu of the system, the virtual work done by
the set of forces is:

p(t )u  f I u  f Du  f su  0 The EOM of a SDOF system

p(t)  fI  fD  fs  0 mu  cu  ku  p(t )
(4) Variational approach (Hamilton’s principle)
Hamilton‘s principle is an “integral principle”, which means that it
considers the entire motion of a system between time t1 and t2. In each
time duration [t1, t2], the variation of system kinetic energy, potential
energy and work done by nonconservation force equals to 0.
t2 t2
t1
 (T  V ) dt  
t1
 W nc dt  0

Wnc  P
j
ncj u j

where,
T —— Kinetic energy of the system；
V —— Potential energy of a system；
Wnc—— Work done by the system due to all nonconservation force
δ —— variation with time.
 1 2 1
Kinetic energy： T  mu Potential energy：V  ku2
2 2
Variation of energy  (T  V )  muu  kuu

Variation of the work done by nonconservation force

Wnc  p(t)u  cuu
Substitute them into Hamilton Pinciple:
t2 t2
t1
 (T V )dt  
t1
Wncdt  0
t2
 [muu  cuu  kuu  p(t)u]dt  0
t1
t2 t2 d t2 d
 mu udt
   
mu( u)dt   mu ( u)dt
t1 t1 dt t1 dt
t2 t2 t2
t2
 ( u)  mu u   mu udt   mu udt
  mud t1
t1 t1 t1

t2
 [mu  cu  ku  p(t)]udt  0
t1
mu  cu  ku  p(t)
(5) Lagrange equation of motion
d T T V
( )   Pncj(t) , j  1, 2, , N
dt u j uj uj
1
Kinetic energy： T  mu 2
2
1
Potential Energy：V  ku2
2
Work done by non-conservation force：
Pnc   c u  p (t )
So， d T d T V
( ) ( m u )  m u 0  ku
dt  u dt u u
Substitute them into Lagrange equation：

d T T V The EOM of a SDOF system

( )   Pnc ( t )
dt  u u u
mu  cu  ku  p(t )
4. Dynamic Analysis of SDOF Structure

4.1 EOM and problem statement

Equation of motion: mu  cu  ku  p(t )

Problem statement:
Structural dynamic response analysis is to find the solution in closed form or
in numerical form to this second order ordinary differential equation under
initial disturbance or/and external dynamical forces.
4.2 Free vibration of undamped SDOF system

Free vibration: motions caused by initial disturbance and with no applied forces.

Undamped: the energy loss mechanism is not considered.

No damping：c = 0

Free vibration：p(t) = 0

EOM：
mu  ku  0
Initial disturbance：

u t 0  u(0), u t 0  u(0)
Assuming the solution to the ODE is of the following form
u (t )  Ae st
where s is a coefficient; A is an arbitrary complex constant

m u  ku  0

(ms2  k ) Aest  0

s can be determined according to：

ms2  k  0
The solutions of the above equation are：

s1  iwn , s2  iwn
k
i  1， wn 
m
Therefore, the total response includes two terms as follows：
u (t )  A1e s1t  A2 e s2t  A1e iwnt  A2 e  iwnt
Considering the following relationship：
eix  cos x  i sin x; eix  cos x  i sin x
The solution to the EOM is：
u (t )  A cos w n t  B sin w n t
where A, B are constant determined by initial conditions.

Velocity can be obtained by taking one step derivatives on u(t)

u (t )  w n A sin w n t  w n B cos w n t
Concerning the initial conditions
u t 0  u ( 0)  A A  u (0),
u (0)
u t 0  u (0)  w n B B
wn
Dynamic response of free vibration of an undamped SDOF system is
u (0)
u (t )  u (0) cos w n t  sin w n t
wn
where k
wn 
m
is called the natural frequency or resonant frequency depending on the material
and the structure
Response is a simple harmonic motion..

2p
Period: Tn 
wn

Maximum response:
u(0) 2
um  [u(0)]2  [ ]
ωn
4.3 Free vibration of damped SDOF system

Free vibration：p(t) = 0

EOM： mu  cu  ku  0

Initial disturbance：
u t 0  u(0), u t 0  u (0)
Assuming that the solution is in the following form
u (t )  Ae st
where s is a coefficient; A is an arbitrary complex constant.

s can be determined according to：

ms 2  cs  k  0
c c 2
s1,2   ( )  wn2
2m 2m
 c
If ( )2 wn2  0 , the SDOF system will not vibrate.
2m
c
If ( )2  wn 2  0 , the system will vibrate.
2m

c 2 2
The c satisfying ( )  wn  0 is called the critical damping, denoted as
2m
ccr  2mwn  2 km
Damping ratio: the ratio between the damping coefficient c and the critical
damping coefficient ccr, denoted as ζ:
c c
z  
ccr 2mw n
(1) if ζ＜1, under damped;
imaginary oscillation
(2) if ζ＝1, critically damped;
no vibration
(3) if ζ＞1, over damped.
no vibration

For steel structure, z  0.01

z  0.03 lowmagnitude vibration
For RC structure, 
z  0.05 strong vibration
Underdamped Systems: most of civil engineering structures are underdamped
system.
c c 2 2
s
For underdamped system, substituting c  2mzwn into 1,2    ( )  wn
2m 2m
we obtain s1,2  zwn  iwn 1 z 2

Subsequently, the free vibration response under initial disturbance can be

obtained as
zwn t u(0)  zwnu(0)
u(t )  e [u(0) coswDt  ( ) sinwDt ]
wD
where ωD is the damped natural frequency of the system.
2 2p
wD  wn 1 z TD 
wD
2p Tn
TD  
2
wn 1 z 1 z 2
Measurement of damping ratio:
The damping ratio of an underdamped system affects greatly the structure
free vibration response, and therefore, has to be evaluated either theoretically or
experimentally.
Observing the free vibration response curve of a SDOF system,
ui u (t i ) 2pz
  exp(zw nTD )  exp( )
ui 1 u (t i  TD ) 1z 2
ui 2pz
Logarithmic decrement of damping is   ln 
u i 1 1z 2
 2p
and thus the damping ratio can be determined as z 
1  ( 2 p ) 2

If the damping level is relatively low,

it can also be approximated as

z 
2p
4.4 Forced vibration under harmonic excitations

EOM： mu  ku  p0 sinwt

where p0 —magnitude of the loading；
ω —circular frequency of the loading。

Initial conditions: u t 0  u(0) , u t 0  u(0)

The EOM is a second order ODE, and the solution is as follows:

u(t )  uc (t )  u p (t )
p0 1
 A coswnt  B sinwnt  2
sinwt
k 1  (w / wn )
Taking into account the initial conditions
 u(0) p0 w / wn 
u(t )  u(0) coswnt    2
sinwnt
 wn k 1 (w / wn ) 
p0 1
 2
sinwt
k 1 (w / wn )
4.5 Forced vibration under periodic excitations

Any periodical loading p(t) can be expanded using Fourier series as follows:
 
p(t)  a0  a cosw t  b sinw t
j1
j j
j 1
j j

Tp— period of the loading

2p
wj  jw1  j
Tp
1 Tp
a0 
Tp 0 
p(t)dt

2 Tp
aj   p(t)cos(wjt)dt n 1,2 ,3 ,
Tp 0

2 Tp
bj   p(t)sin(wjt)dt n 1,2 ,3 ,
Tp 0
4.6 Harmonic excitation of damped system

  cu(t)
mu(t)   ku(t)  p 0 cos w t
   w 2n u(t)  p 0 cos w t
u(t)  2 zw n u(t)
u p (t)  U cos ( w t   ) Displacement
 
now includes a phase shift u
k
p=p0coswt
Let up have the form: M
u p (t)  A s cos w t  B s sin w t c
2 2  Bs  1
U  A s  B s ,   tan  
A
 s
u p  w A s sin w t  w B s cos w t
u p  w 2 A s cos w t  w 2 B s sin w t

Substitute into the equations of motion

( w 2 A s  2 zw n w B s  w n2 A s  p 0 ) cos w t
  w 2 B s  2 zw n w A s  w 2n B s  sin w t  0
for all time. 
( w 2n  w 2 )A s  (2zw n w)B s  p 0
(  2 zw n w)A s  ( w 2n  w 2 )B s  0

Using matrix representation

(w2n  w2 ) 2zwn w   As   p0 
 2zwn w (wn2  w2 )   Bs    0 

Solving for As and Bs, and substitute the values of As and Bs into up:
p0  2zw w 
u p (t)  cos(wt  tan 1  2 n 2 )
(w2n  w2 ) 2  (2zwn w) 2 wn  w 
 
   
X 
Things to notice about damped forced response

 If z = 0, undamped equations result

 Steady state solution prevails for large t

 Often we ignore the transient term (how large is z, how long is t?)

 Coefficients of transient terms (constants of integration) are effected by the initial

conditions AND the forcing function
 Characterization of the response

p0
Magnitude: U
(w2n  w2 ) 2  (2zwn w) 2

w
Frequency ratio: r 
wn
2
Dynamic magnification U Uw n 1
 
Factor (DMF): p0 / k p0 (1  r 2 ) 2  (2zr) 2

Phase: 
  tan  2
1z r 
2
 1 r 
 Magnitude plot
1
Rd 
(1  r 2 ) 2  (2zr) 2
40
 Resonance is close to r = 1 z =0.01
30 z =0.1
 For z = 0, r =1 defines z =0.3
resonance 20 z =0.5
 As z grows resonance moves z =1

X (dB)
r <1 10

 The exact value of r, can be 0

found from differentiating
the magnitude -10

-20
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
r
 Phase plot

  tan  2z r  1
2
 1  r 

3.5
 Resonance occurs at  =
z =0.01
p2 3
z =0.1
 The phase changes more 2.5 z =0.3
z =0.5

Phase (rad)
rapidly when the damping z =1
2
is small
1.5
 From low to high values
of r the phase always 1
changes by 1800 or p 0.5
radians
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
r
Compute max peak by differentiating:

d d 1 
 R d    0

dr dr (1  r 2 )2  (2zr) 2
 
rpeak  1  2z 2  1  z  1/ 2
1
 R d max 
2z 1  z 2
Experimental evaluation of damping using half-power bandwidth:

Rd 1 1
  
2 2 2 2
2 2 2z 1  z (1  r )  (2zr)
r 2  (1  2z 2 )  2z 1  z 2

for small z, z2 = 0

r 2  1  2z  r  1  2z

Expand r  1  2z using Taylor expansion

r  1  z  higher terms
 ra  1  z , rb  1  z , rb  ra  2z
4.7 Response to general dynamic loading

EOM： mu  cu  ku  P

(1) Response to impulse

Newton’s second law
du 1
P ( )  mu  m  du  P ( ) d
d m
at t  ：
u ( )  0, u ( )  0
t    d , u (  d )  du
 d  0
P( )
 u (  d )  u ( )  d
m
Introduce initial velocity, then response is free vibration with initial velocity.
(2) Response to general dynamic loading
For a linear undamped system：
u ( )
u (t )  A cos w n t  B sin w n  sin w n (t   ) for t >
wn
P ( ) d
du  sin wn (t   )
mwn
P ( ) d 1 t
u   du   sin wn (t   ) d  0 P( ) sin wn (t   )d
mwn mwn
Duhamel’s integral (only valid for linear system).

For a linear damped system：

u (t )  e zwn (t  ) [ A cos w D (t   )  B sin w D (t   )]

1 t
u 0 P ( )e zwn (t  ) sin w D (t   ) d
mw D
5. Multi-Degree of Freedom System

Two Degrees of Freedom

m1 x1 (t )  k1 x1 (t )  k2  x2 (t )  x1 (t )  x1 x2
m2 x2 (t )  k2  x2 (t )  x1 (t )  m1 m2
Rearranging : k1 k2
m1 x1 ( t )  ( k1  k2 ) x1 (t )  k2 x2 (t )  0
m2 x2 (t )  k2 x1 (t )  k2 x2 (t )  0
Initial conditions:

 Two coupled, second -order, ordinary differential equations with

constant coefficients
 Needs 4 constants of integration to solve
 Thus 4 initial conditions on positions and velocities
 Solution by Matrix Methods

 x1(t)   x1(t)   
x1(t) 
x(t)    , x (t)    , 
x(t)   
x (t)
 2  
x
 2 (t) 
x
 2 (t)

 m1 0   k1  k2 k2 
M  ,K  
 0 m2   k2 k2 

  Kx  0
Mx m1 x1 (t )  (k1  k 2 ) x1 (t )  k 2 x 2 (t )  0
m2 x2 (t )  k 2 x1 (t )  k 2 x 2 (t )  0
 x x
Initial Conditions: x(0)   10  , x (0)    10 
 x 20   x 20 
Solution: Let x(t )  ue jwt
j  1, u  0, w unknown

 
 -w 2 M  K ue jwt  0

 
 -w 2M  K u  0
Changes ode into algebraic  M  Ku  0 
-w 2

equation:
two algebraic equation in 3 uknowns
 u1 
u =   , and w
u2 
Condition for Solution:  
inv -w 2M  K exists  u  0

Require u  0   1 does not exist

or 
det -w 2M  K  0 
One equation in one unknown w
 Back to our specific system: the characteristic equation

 
det -w 2M  K  0 

 w 2 m1  k1  k2  k2 
det   0
 2
 k2 w m2  k2 
m1m2w 4  (m1k2  m2 k1  m2 k2 )w 2  k1k2  0

Calculating the corresponding vectors u1 and u2

A vector equation for each square frequency

(w12M  K )u1  0
and:

(w22M  K )u 2  0
 Return now to the time response:

We have four solutions:

x ( t )  u1e  jw1t , u1e jw1t , u 2 e  jw2 t , u 2 e jw2t 

Since linear we can combine as:
x ( t )  a u1e  jw1t  b u1e jw1t  c u 2 e  jw2 t  d u 2 e jw2t
 x ( t )  ae  jw1t  be jw1t u1  ce  jw2t  de jw2 t u 2
 A1 sin( w1t  1 ) u1  A2 sin( w 2 t  2 ) u 2

where A1 , A2 , 1 , and 2 are constants of integratio n

determined by initial conditions

 Physical interpretation of all the math

 Each of the TWO masses is oscillating at TWO natural frequencies w1 and w2

 The relative magnitude of each sine term, and hence of the magnitude of
oscillation of m1 and m2 is determined by the value of A1 and A2
 The vectors u1 and u2 are called mode shapes

What is a mode shape?

 First note that A1,A2, 1 and 2 are determined by the initial conditions
 Choose them so that A2 = 1 = 2 =0
 Then:
x(t)  A1 sin(w1t  1 )u1
 Thus each mass oscillates at (one) frequency w1 with magnitudes
proportional to u1 the 1st mode shape
 Mode shapes:

x1 x2
k1 k2  13 
Mode 1: m1 m2 u1   
1
x1=A/3 x2=A

x1 x2
k1 k2
m1 m2
 1 3 
Mode 2: u2   
1
x1=-A/3 x2=A
 Solution as a sum of modes
x(t)  u1 cos w1t  u 2 cos w 2 t

Determines how the second

frequency contributes to the
Determines how the first response
frequency contributes to the
response

Things to note

 Two degrees of freedom implies two natural frequencies

 Each mass oscillates at with these two frequencies present in
the response
Orthogonality property of mode shapes

U  u1 u2 . . un  ,
 m1 
 m 
 2 
T
U MU   . 
 
 . 
 mn 
 k1 
 k 
 2 
T
U KU   . 
 
 . 
 k n 
 Normalization of mode shapes

uij
ij 
uTj Mu j
uij
When M is diagonal matrix (shear building) ij 
n

The orthogonal property becomes

 mk ukj
k 1

ΦT MΦ  I
w12 
 
 w 22 
ΦT KΦ   .


 . 
 
 w n2 
Thank you!

Questions?