Engineering Dynamics Mud Bike Assignment

Bas Nederkoorn - 4215702

Thomas Soek - 4541928
14 November 2017

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Contents
1 Introduction 3

2 Kinematics,Energies and Equations of Motion 4

2.1 Constraints & Degrees Of Freedom (DoF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Kinetic & Potential Energy of the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 Equilibrium, Linearization and

Stability 7
3.1 Equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Linearization & Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 Vibrations 9
4.1 Mass Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2 Undamped Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.3 Mode Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.4 Decoupling EoM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.5 Generalized Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.6 Step Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5 Conclusion 15

6 Reference 16

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1 Introduction
Vibration dynamics of Multi-Degree-of-Freedom (MDOF) systems are charac-
terised by what is known as ride comfort. Knowing that the human body is
sensitive to particular types of frequencies, amplitudes and duration of these
vibrations. Understanding the behaviour of such MDOFS is therefore critical
when trying to optimise the riders comfort.

The purpose of this assignment is to look into the dynamics of a Single-Track

ground vehicle (i.e A Mud Bike). These Bikes are frequently used on irregular
terrains where damping and handling components are of crucial importance,
when it comes to ensuring a certain level of ride comfort.

The assignment will be split up into 3 parts. The goal of the first is the build
the energies and find the equations of motion. Secondly, finding the equilibrium
points and linearizing around these points to evaluate stability of the system.
Thirdly, analysing natural frequencies, mode shapes and specifically looking at
damped motion.

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2 Kinematics,Energies and Equations of Motion

Figure 1: Bike model

For the mapping of different variables with respect to the frame, the center
of mass of the frame xf , yf was used. The points 1 to 4 where then converted
using a rotation matrix.
 0      
x xf cos(θ) −sin(θ) x
= + ∗ (1)
y0 yf sin(θ) cos(θ) y

2.1 Constraints & Degrees Of Freedom (DoF)

To find the equations of motion the first thing to do is to define the system in
terms of generalized coordinates q. Originally the system has 18 Dof plus 1 Dof
due to the suspension of the front axle. However, 8 holonomic constraints were
found which also happen to all be scleronomic:

xF = x1 − s ∗ sin(asus − θf ); (2)

yF = y1 − s ∗ cos(asus − θf ) (3)
Equation 2 and Equation 3 appear from the fact that the front axle can only
move in the direction of the suspension

xB = x4 (4)
yB = y4 (5)
Equation 4 and Equation 5 reduce the DoF since they are both rigidly at-
tached to the frame of the bike.

ẋtF = −rtire ∗ θtF (6)

ẋtB = −rtire ∗ θtB (7)

Equation 6 and Equation 7 arise from the assumption that both wheels
cannot role without slipping.

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 xb = x3 − lb ∗ sin(β) (8)

yb = y3 + lb ∗ cos(β) (9)
Equation 8 and Equation 9 eliminate two DoF due to the fact that the bike
rider is assumed to be fixed onto the saddle.

This leaves us with 11 generalized coordinates to describe the system. The

following coordinates were chosen:
 
θB
 θf 
 
θtF 
 
θtB 
 
 xf 
 
q=  yf  (10)

 β 
 
 s 
 
 θF 
 
 yt 
ytB

2.2 Kinetic & Potential Energy of the System

In order to find the equations of motion in Equation 2.3, we made use of the
Lagrange theorem. The kinetic and potential energy are calculated for every
relevant part of the mud bike (i.e. 6 K.E equations and 13 P.E equations).The
potential energy of the springs and gravitational energy are calculated using
conventional methods (see Equation 11,12 below).
1 1
T = mv 2 + Iω 2 (11)
2 2
1
V = mgh + ku2 (12)
2

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 Figure 2: Tire spring calculation

However for the elastic potential energy of the tires a different approach was
needed. The length of the springs were calculated as the difference between the
rims and tires for every point, as shown in Figure 2, provided with the assign-
ment. Through integration the total elastic energy of a tire was found. The
initial length was estimated to be zero, because an inflated tire is prestressed.
Z 2π
1
∗ ktire ∗ (L − L0 ) dφ (13)
2 0

2.3 Equations of Motion

For obtaining the undamped equations of motion Lagrange principle is used.
d ∂T ∂T ∂V
− + =0 (14)
dt ∂ q̇ ∂q ∂q

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3 Equilibrium, Linearization and
Stability
3.1 Equilibrium
To find equilibrium positions we only have to look at the potential energy terms
since it is a scleronomic system. Also note that for now damping shall be
ignored. Therefore relevant the equation becomes:
∂V 
 = fv (qe ) = 0 (15)
∂q qe
Now that we have found the 11 equations of motions, we want to find the
equilibrium points of the system under the assumption that the rotation of the
front tire is fixed (i.e. θtF = 0).
The nonlinear set equations will be solved using the Newton-Raphson al-
gorithm. This method requires an educated guess of the initial conditions q0 ,
which leads to a unbalance in the generalised forces we define as residual r0 .

fv (q0 ) = r0 6= 0 (16)
This unbalance is evaluated in terms of a tangential stiffness matrix as:

∂fv (q0 )
K(q0 ) = (17)
∂q
As we want the residue to ultimately reach zero, one can solve for the cor-
rection

∆q = −K(q)−1 r0 (18)
Furthermore, this correction was updated after every iteration until a desired
convergence criterion was reached. We chose our maximum number of iterations
to be 30 and the tolerance sufficiently small to get accurate equilibrium points.
The initial conditions (left-side of Equation 19) and equilibrium positions
(rightside of Equation 19), which converged after 13 iterations.

       
θB −(q0 (4) + X4 )/(rtire ) θB −3.3994
 θf   0   θf   0.0645 
       
θtF   0  θtF   0 
       
θtB   (q0 (4) + X4 )/(rtire )  θtB  −3.3994
       
 xf  −X1 + Lsus ∗ sin(asus )  xf   0.4346 
       
 yf  = 
q0 =  Y1 qeq  yf  =  0.2073  (19)
=
     

 β   αf b   β   0.5385 
       
 s   Lsus   s   0.4958 
       
 θF   0   θF   0 
       
 yt   −rtire   yt  −0.0060
ytB −rtire ytB −0.0054

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3.2 Linearization & Stability
After calculating our equilibrium positions we need to find out whether they
are stable or not. In order to find out we plug qeq into the linearized stiffness
matrix (Equation 20). The eigenvalues of K have to be positive for the system
to be around a stable equilibrium point.
 
−8.299e − 12
 

 636.4 

 2364.0 
 
 3554.0 
∂2V
 
 3788.0 
K= Keigenvalues =
  (20)
∂q∂q  42399.0 

 46799.0 
 
 73566.0 
 
 1.296e5 
 
 2.119e5 
2.562e5
The column vector above shows that indeed all eigenvalues are positive. Note
that the first eigenvalue should just be zero, as this is a numerical rounding off
error.

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4 Vibrations
4.1 Mass Matrix
The linearized Mass Matrix was found using Equation 21

∂ 2 T 
M= (21)
∂ q̇∂ q̇ q=qeq


4.2 Undamped Frequencies

To find the undamped eigenfrequencies of the mudbike Equation 22 was solved.
Once the eigenvalues were found in radians/sec, the last thing to do was simply
divide by 2π and take the square root to obtain the frequencies in Hertz.

det K − ω 2 M = 0


(22)
The eigenfrequencies of the system are:
 
0
 3.0216 
 
 4.1565 
 
14.4483
 
16.9708
 
ω= 20.2984 [Hz] (23)

32.3214
 
40.2382
 
41.4703
 
72.0986
77.9561

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4.3 Mode Shapes
The first six modeshapes are plotted and displayed in Figures (3–6).

Figure 3: Eigenmode 1 (f = 0 Hz) Figure 4: Eigenmode 2 (f = 3.0216 Hz)

Figure 5: Eigenmode 3 (f = 4.1565 Hz) Figure 6: Eigenmode 4 (f = 14.4483 Hz)

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 Figure 7: Eigenmode 5 (f = 16.9708 Hz) Figure 8: Eigenmode 6 (f = 20.2984 Hz)

Low resonance frequencies are causing most of the discomfort when riding
the bike. As we only consider the lower frequencies, the first 6 eigenmodes have
been plotted for a visual inspection.
Eigenmode 1:
The first eigenmode seems to be a rigid body mode (ω=0) meaning that there
is no elastic deformation. The body vibrates only in the x-direction.
Eigenmode 2:
The first elastic mode in Figure 4 clearly shows a compression of the back wheel,
while the front wheel does the opposite and extends.
Eigenmode 3:
The third mode is to some extend a mirror image of the 2nd eigenmode. Here
there is compression of the front wheel while extension of the back.
Eigenmode 4:
Shaking of the entire structure where there also seems to be some deformation
in the arms of biker. This also is the first mode where there is significant dis-
placement in the front tire.
Eigenmode 5:
The front & back -tires are experiencing deformation in opposite direction. This
might mean they are vibrating in anti-phase, and they might cancel out. The
bike is leaning forward.
Eigenmode 6:
The sixth modeshape shows us that the frame of the bike is leaning backwards,
while both wheels experience deformation in the same direction.

It also interesting to note that modeshape number 6 has a frequency of

about 20 Hz. This frequency range may cause resonance in the head-neck and
shoulder areas of the human body, and can be described as very uncomfortable.
The dynamics of the system should therefore be designed to not vibrate near
this resonance peak.

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4.4 Decoupling EoM
To further simplify the system, the equations of motion have been decoupled to
Equation 24 which is found in the course lecture notes.

xT
(r) Kx(r) = γr (24)

xT
(r) Mx(r) = µr (25)
The values found for µr and γr are:
   
1 0
1 0.0036
   
1 0.0068
   
1 0.0824
   
1 0.1137
   
1
γr =  0.1627
µr =  (26)
 
1 0.4124
   
1 0.6392
   
1 0.6789
   
1 2.0522
1 2.3992

These Values can be inserted in Equation 27 to get the uncoupled equations of

motion.
γr
η̈r (t) + ωr2 ηr (t) = φr (t) r = 1, ...n, ωr2 = (27)
µr

4.5 Generalized Forces

The generalized forces corresponding to the dampingforces also have to be con-
sidered and added to the equations of motion. In the form of the damping
matrix C. To construct this matrix, Equation 28 was used. Where x are the
parameters relevant to damping: larm , ytF , ytB , s
∂x
Qx = cx ∗ ẋ (28)
∂q

Qctot = Qarm + QtF + QtB + Qsus (29)

∂Qctot
C= (30)
∂ q̇
From the vibration & superposition slides of Engineering Dynamics, it is
concluded that if C/K = 0.1 there is proportional damping. In the case of the
mudbike this is much smaller than 0.1, thus proportional damping is assumed.

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4.6 Step Response
Finally the step response of the first 4 modes was analysed. The first equation
needed was the uncoupled equations of motion.

η̈r (t) + 2r η̇s (t) + ωr2 ηr (t) = φr (t) (31)

After applying Laplace transform and rewriting the equation to ηr (s) this
becomes:
φr + sηr (0) + η̇r (0)
ηr (s) = (32)
s2 + 2ωr s + ωr2
With:

βr
= (33)
2ωr µr
xTr Mq0 xTr Mq̇0
ηr (0) = η̇r (0) = (34)
µr µr
Due to no external forces φr = 0. The initial conditions given in the assignment
are longitudinal(xf ) velocities of 1, 5, 10 m/s and a step of 0.1 at t=0 for ytF
and at t = t0 for yt B. These conditions can be inserted into ηr (0) and η̇r (0)
First only the impulse at the front wheel is considered.
   
0 0
0 0
   
0 0
   
0 0
   
0 1
   
q0 =  0  q̇0 = 
 
0

0 0
   
0 0
   
0 0
   
0.1 0
0 0

(35)

In Figures 9-12 the responses of the first four eigenmodes are displayed. Re-
sponse mode 1 has no oscillations in it because it is a rigid bode mode. In the
other responses there is clearly some damping because eventually they all go to
zero. However it seems that there is a mistake somewhere in the responses, the
damping takes long. There also should be a second peak since there is a lagged
time response of the back tire. Vibrations of the front and back tire also should
have some effect on each other.

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Figure 9: Response Mode 1 Figure 10: Response Mode 2

Figure 11: Response Mode 3 Figure 12: Resonse Mode 4

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5 Conclusion
The main goal of analysing the Mud-bike was to be able to say something
about the ride comfort. In order to do this we first derived the equations of
motion. Through linearizing these equations, finding equilibriumpoints and
calculating eigenfrequencies, it was possible to plot the different eigenmodes.It
was discovered that the bike has one rigid body mode, the rest of the modes are
elastic. With the plots in subsection 4.3 it can be predicted how vibrations will
act on the bike and rider.

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6 Reference
picture front cover - Geldeford, Caj.”Android Images of Honda Dirt Bike”.
http://goldwallpapers.com/main/3441-honda-dirt-bike.html.

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