Structural Dynamics

Single Degree of Freedom

(SDOF) System (3)
Lecture 4
M.E. in Earthquake Engineering
Khwopa Engineering College, Bhaktapur
2020
 Components of the Basic Dynamic
System
The essential physical properties of any linearly
elastic structural system subjected to an external
source of excitation or dynamic loading are its mass,
elastic properties, and energy-loss mechanism or
damping as shown in the figure below:

Idealized SDOF system

 Equation of Motion of the Basic
Dynamic System
 The equation of motion for the simple system shown
earlier is most easily formulated by directly expressing
the equilibrium of all forces acting on the mass using
d’Alembert’s principle.
 The forces acting in the direction of the displacement
degree of freedom are: applied load p(t) and the three
resisting forces resulted from the motion, i.e., the
inertia force fI(t), the damping force fD(t), and the
spring force fS(t).
 The equation of motion is merely an expression of the
equilibrium of these forces as given by
fI (t) + fD (t) + fs (t) = p (t) (1)
 Equation of Motion of the Basic
Dynamic System
 In accordance with d’Alembert’s principle, the inertia
force is the product of the mass and acceleration
f I t   mv(t )
(2 a)
 Assuming a viscous damping mechanism, the
damping force is the product of the damping
constant c and the velocity
D 
f t  cv(t ) (2 b)
 Finally, the elastic restoring force is the product of
the spring stiffness and the displacement

f S t   kv (t ) (2 c)
 Equation of Motion of the Basic
Dynamic System
 When Eqs. (2) are introduced into Eq. (1), the
equation of motion for this single-degree-of-freedom
system (SDOF) is found to be

mv( t )  cv( t )  kv ( t )  p( t ) (3)

Idealized SDOF system

 Influence of Gravitational Forces

 Consider the system

shown in the figure, which
is the earlier system
rotated through 90 degree
so that the forces of
gravity acts in the direction
of the displacement.
 The system of forces
acting in the direction of
the displacement degree
of freedom is that set
shown in the figure.
 Influence of Gravitational Forces
Using Eqs. (2), the equilibrium of these forces is
given by
mvt   cvt   kvt   pt   W (4)
where W is the weight of the rigid block. However, if
the total displacement v(t) is expressed as the sum
of the static displacement st
caused by the weight W
plus the additional
dynamic displacement v t 
as shown in the figure,
i.e.,

v t   st  v t  (5)
 Influence of Gravitational Forces
• The spring restoring force is given by
(6)
• Introducing Eq. (6) into Eq. (4) yields
(7)

• Noting that k st = W leads to

(8)
• Because st does not vary in time
 Influence of Gravitational Forces
So Eq. (8) can be written as Eq. (9)

(8)
(9)
(3)
• Comparison of Eqs. (9) and (3) shows
that the equation of motion expressed
with reference to the static equilibrium
position of the dynamic system is not
affected by gravity force.
• For this reason, displacements in all
future discussion will be referenced
from the static equilibrium position and
will be denoted v(t) without the overbar.
 Influence of Support Excitation
 Dynamic stresses and
deflection can be induced in a
structure not only by a time-
varying applied load, but also
by motions of its support
points.
 A simplified model of the
earthquake-excitation problem
is shown in the figure, in
which the horizontal ground
motion caused by the
earthquake is indicated by the
displacement vg(t) of the Influence of support excitation
structure’s base relative to the on SDOF equilibrium
fixed reference axis.
 Influence of Support Excitation

 The horizontal girder in this

frame is assumed to be rigid and
to include all the moving mass of
the structure.
 The vertical columns are
assumed to be weightless and
inextensible in the vertical (axial)
direction, and the resistance to
girder displacement provided by
each column is represented by
its spring constant k/2.
 The mass thus has a single
degree of freedom, v(t), which is Influence of support excitation
on SDOF equilibrium
associated with column flexure.
 Influence of Support Excitation

 The damper c provides a

velocity-proportional
resistance to the motion in
this coordinate.

Influence of support excitation

on SDOF equilibrium
 Influence of Support Excitation

 As shown in (b) of the figure, the

equilibrium of forces for this
system can be written as
(10)

where, (11)

 Note that vt(t) represents the total

displacement of the mass from the
fixed reference axis as
(12)
Influence of support excitation on
SDOF equilibrium
 Relative displacement, Absolute
displacement, and Ground displacement

ground displacement

ground velocity

ground acceleration

structural displacement
relative to the support (relative
displacement of the structure)
relative velocity of the
structure
relative acceleration of the
structure
Influence of Support Excitation

: total (absolute) displacement

of the structure
: total (absolute) velocity of
the structure
: total (absolute) acceleration
of the structure
 Influence of Support Excitation
 Note that fI(t) and fS(t) are
expressed as in Eq. (2), however
fI(t) is not
f I t   m vt 
 Substituting for the inertial,
damping and elastic forces in Eq.
(10) yields
(13)

 Substituting Eq. (12) into Eq.

(13) yields

(14)
 Influence of Support Excitation
•Since the ground acceleration represents the
specified dynamic input to the structure, the
equation of motion can more conveniently be
written

(15)
where, peff(t) denotes the effective support
excitation loading.
Influence of Support Excitation

(16)

•In Eq. (16), the effective loading shown on the

right hand side depends on the ground velocity
and ground displacement, and the response
obtained by solving Eq. (16) is the total
(absolute) displacement of the structure from a
fixed reference rather than the relative
displacement