LECTURE MODULE

MECHANICAL
VIBRATION
HARMONIC EXCITATION
OF SDOF SYSTEMS

Faculty Major Chapter Code Compiled by

Engineering Mechanical W13170001 Dedik Romahadi, ST., M.Sc
Engineering
06 6

Abstract Competence
Studying of Harmonic Able to understand the
Excitation of SDOF Systems. Harmonic Excitation of SDOF
Systems.
INTRODUCTION
Forced vibrations of a single degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system occur when work is being
done on the system while the vibrations occur. Examples of forced vibration include the
ground motion during an earthquake, the motion caused by unbalanced reciprocating
machinery, or the ground motion imparted to a vehicle as its wheel traverses the road
contour. Figure 4.1 illustrates an equivalent systems model for the forced vibrations of a
SDOF system when a linear displacement is chosen as the generalized coordinate. The
governing differential equation is
meq x  ceq x  keq x  Feq (t )
(4.1)
Although, the derivations that follow use a linear displacement as a generalized coordinate
they are also valid if an angular displacement is used as a generalized coordinate. The form
of the differential equation, Equation (4.1) is used as a model equation.
Dividing Equation (4.1) by meq leads to
1
x  2n x  n2 x  Feq (t )
meq
(4.2)
Equation (4.2) is the standard form of the differential equation governing linear forced
vibrations of a SDOF system with viscous damping.

The general solution of Equation (4.2) is

where xh(t) is the homogeneous solution, the solution obtained if Feq(t) = 0, and xp(t) the
particular solution, a solution that is specific to Feq(t). The homogeneous solution is in terms
of two constants of integration. However the initial conditions are not imposed until the
general solution of Equation (4.3) is developed. For an underdamped system

Many ways exist to solve the particular solution. These include the method of undetermined
coefficients, variation of parameters, annihilator methods, Laplace transform methods, and
numerical methods.

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 This chapter is concerned with the solution of Equation (4.2) subject to periodic
excitations. An excitation is periodic of period T if

for all t. Figure 4.2 periodic shows examples of periodic excitations. A single-frequency
periodic excitation is defined as

2

where F0 is the amplitude of the excitation, ω is its frequency such that T and  is its

phase. Note that ω is independent of

n , the natural frequency which is a function of the

stiffness and mass properties of the system. They are independent, but the frequencies may
coincide.
The steady-state response for a periodic excitation is defined as

which for systems with viscous damping becomes

Beginning with Section 4.3, the “steady-state” will be dropped from steady-state response,
and it will be understood that a response refers to a steady-state response.
For an undamped system, the limit of the homogenous solution as t approaches
infinity is not zero. The homogeneous response is important if the frequency of excitation
coincides or is close to the natural frequency. Otherwise it is assumed that some form of
damping really occurs and the free response does decay leaving only the forced response as
the long-term response.

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 When the system is undamped and the frequency of the excitation coincides with the
natural frequency a condition of resonance exists. When the system is undamped and the
excitation frequency is close, but not equal to, the natural frequency a phenomena called
beating occurs.
When the system is undamped with the excitation frequency far enough away from
the natural frequency or the system has viscous damping the particular solution of Equation
(4.2) subject to the excitation of Equation (4.6) is determined in terms of terms of system
parameters. The solution is characterized in term of a steady-state amplitude and a
steadystate phase. The relations for these terms are non-dimensionalized resulting in a
nondimensional magnification factor as a function of the damping ratio and the non-
dimensional frequency ratio. The phase is written as a function of the frequency ratio and the
damping ratio. The concept of frequency response involves studying the behavior of these
functions with the frequency ratio for different values of the damping ratio. The frequency
response is studied from the equations defining the functions and their graphs.
A special case of a frequency squared excitation, when the amplitude of excitation is
proportional to the square of its frequency, is considered. A new non-dimensional function
representing the frequency response of such systems is introduced. The general theory is
applied to a variety of physical problems including vibrations of reciprocating machines with
an unbalanced rotating component and vibrations induced by vortex shedding from a circular
cylinder.
Two important quantities in studying the response of a system due to harmonic
motion of its base are the absolute acceleration of the system and the displacement of the
system relative to its base. The latter is shown to be an application of the theory of frequency
squared excitations while the former is an application of vibration isolation theory.
Vibration isolation is the insertion of an elastic member between an object, say a
machine, and its foundation to protect either the foundation from large forces generated
during operation of the machine or to protect the machine from large accelerations generated
through motion of the foundation. A suspension system provides vibration isolation to a
vehicle as it protects the vehicle from the accelerations generated by the wheels. Vibration
isolation theory is developed for a SDOF system subject to harmonic input.
A Fourier series is a representation of a periodic function by an infinite series of sine
and cosine terms. The series converges to the periodic function pointwise at every point
where function is continuous. The Fourier series representation and the method of linear

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superposition are used to solve for the steady-state response of a system due to a general
periodic excitation.
Seismic vibration measurement instruments use the vibrations of a seismic mass to
measure the vibrations of a body. Because the seismic mass is attached to the instrument
which is rigidly attached to the body whose vibrations are being measured the vibrations of
the seismic mass relative to the body is actually measured. A seismometer measures this
relative motion and requires a large frequency ratio for accuracy. An accelerometer converts
the output so that it measures the acceleration and requires a small frequency ratio for
accuracy.
The response of a system with Coulomb damping due to harmonic forcing is
complicated by the possibility of stick-slip in which the motion ceases during a period when
the spring force and the input force are insufficient to overcome the friction force. This makes
the response of the system highly nonlinear. It is possible under certain assumptions to
assume a steady-state response at the same frequency as the input and use the methods of
Chapter 4 to determine an equivalent viscous damping coefficient. The frequency response
is then studied. The same method is used to approximate the frequency response for a
system with hysteretic damping.

FORCED RESPONSE OF AN UNDAMPED

SYSTEM DUE TO A SINGLE-FREQUENCY
EXCITATION
The differential equation for undamped forced vibrations of a SDOF system subject to a
single-frequency harmonic excitation of the form of Equation (4.2) is

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and

where the amplitude of the particular solution is positive and

The response is in phase with the excitation if

n   and 180 degrees out of phase if

n  
The general solution is formed by adding the homogeneous solution to the particular
solution. Then the initial conditions are applied yielding

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The response, plotted in Figure 4.3, is the sum of two trigonometric terms of different
frequencies.

The case when

  n is special. The nonhomogeneous term in Equation (4.9) and

the homogeneous solution are not linearly independent. Thus, when the method of
undetermined coefficients is used to determine the particular solution, Equation (4.12) is

identically satisfied and Equation (4.13) cannot be satisfied unless V   . A particular

solution is assumed in this case as

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Application of initial conditions to the sum of the homogeneous and particular solution
yields

The response of a system in for which the excitation frequency equals the natural
frequency is illustrated in Figure 4.4. Since the amplitude of the response is proportional to t
it grows without bound producing a condition called resonance. The resonance leads to an
amplitude increase to a value where the assumptions used in modeling the physical system
are no longer valid. For example in a system with a helical coil spring the proportional limit of
the spring’s material is exceeded as the amplitude increases. After this time the motion is
governed by a nonlinear differential equation.
Resonance is a dangerous condition in a mechanical or structural system and will
produce unwanted large displacements or lead to failure. Resonant torsional oscillations
were partially the cause of the famous Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster. It is suspected that
the frequency at which vortices were shed from the bridge co-incided with a torsional natural
frequency, leading to oscillations that grew without bound.
When vibrations of a conservative system are initiated, the motion is sustained at the
system’s natural frequency without additional energy input. Thus, when the frequency of
excitation is the same as the natural frequency, the work done by the external force is not
needed to sustain motion. The total energy increases because of the work input and leads to
a continual increase in amplitude. When the frequency of excitation is different from the
natural frequency, the work done by the external force is necessary to sustain motion at the
excitation frequency. When the excitation frequency is close, but not exactly equal, to the

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natural frequency, an interesting phenomenon called beating occurs. Beating is a continuous


buildup and decrease of amplitude as shown in Figure 4.5. When  is very close to n and

and   0, Equation (4.18) can be written as

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REFERENCES
Benaroya, H., Nagurka, M., & Han, S. (2017). Mechanical Vibration: Analysis, Uncertainties,
and Control, Fourth Edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Kelly, S. G. (2012). Mechanical Vibrations: Theory and Applications, SI. USA: Global
Engineering: Christopher M. Shortt.

Lalanne, C. (2013). Mechanical Vibration and Shock Analysis, Random Vibration. Wiley.

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