LECTURE 1

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

m = 2 kg, ℓ = 25 cm,

c = 0.25 N/(m/s), k = 50 N/m,

find the angular displacement of the bar

θ(t) for the following initial conditions:

θ(0) = 0, θ˙ (0) = 10 rad/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 equilibrium 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:

An appropriate free-body diagram is shown

to the right. Applying linear momentum
balance on the block yields

Likewise, angular momentum balance on the bar provides

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Combining these equations and eliminating the tension, the equation of motion
can be written as

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

and the natural frequency and damping ratio are

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2. The block shown to the right rests on a frictionless

surface. Find the response of the system if the block
is displaced from its static equilibrium position 15
cm to the right and released from rest.
m = 4.0 kg, b = 0.25 N/(m/s),
k1 = 0.25 N/(m/s), k2 = 0.50 N/(m/s),

Solution:

An appropriate free-body diagram is shown to the right.

Notice that the two springs are effectively in parallel, as the
displacement across each spring is identical. Linear
momentum balance on this block provides

or, writing this in standard form,

Further, the system is released from rest so that the initial conditions are
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3. Find the response of the system shown to the right if the

block is pulled down by 15 cm and released form rest.

m = 2.0 kg, b = 0.5 N/(m/s),

k1 = 0.5 N/m, k2 = 0.25 N/(m/s),

Solution:

For this system, the two springs in series may be replaced by an equivalent spring, with
constant:

Therefore, the free-body diagram is shown to the right. Applying

linear momentum balance to the block yields:

which can finally be written as:

With the numerical values given above, this becomes:

With this, the damping ratio and natural frequency are

Therefore, the system is underdamped and the general

response can be written as:

Using the initial conditions to solve for A and B, we find:

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4. In the system shown to the right, the pulley has mass m and radius r, so that the moment
of inertia about the mass center is

a) Find the governing equations of motion;

b) Find the frequency of oscillation for free vibrations of the
system;
c) For what value of the damping constant is the system
critically damped?

Solution:

a) We choose coordinates (x1, x2, θ), where x1 measures

the displacement of the first mass in the -ˆj direction, x2
measures the displacement of the second mass in the ˆj
direction, and θ measures the angular rotation of the
wheel in the ˆk direction. The kinetic and potential
energies for this system are:

However, these three coordinates are dependent through the transformations:

Therefore, the Lagrangian reduces to:

Further, the generalized force resulting

from the viscous damper becomes:

so that the equation of motion for this system can be reduced to:

b) For this system the natural frequency and damping ratio are:

Therefore, the damped natural frequency

becomes:
c) For a critically damped system, so
that we may solve for
to yield:
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5. In the figure, the disk has mass m and radius r, and moment of inertia IG about the mass
center, and the applied moment has a constant magnitude M ˆk. If the disk rolls without
slip (µ is sufficiently large):
a) determine the governing equations of motion;
b) what are the equivalent mass, stiffness, and damping of the system;
c) what is the stretch in the spring when the system is in equilibrium?

Solution:

a) The governing equations of motion are:

b) The equivalent mass, damping, and stiffness are:

c) When the system is in equilibrium, the displacement of the disk is: