Mechanical Vibrations

LEARNING GUIDE

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Topic 1: Introduction to Vibration

Any motion that repeats itself after an interval of time is called vibration or oscillation.
The swinging of a pendulum and the motion of a plucked string are typical examples of
vibration. The theory of vibration deals with the study of oscillatory motions of bodies
and the forces associated with them.
A vibratory system includes a means for storing potential energy (spring or elasticity), a
means for storing kinetic energy (mass or inertia) and a means by which energy is
gradually lost or dissipated (damper).
The vibration of a system involves the transfer of its potential energy to kinetic energy
and kinetic energy to potential energy, alternately. If the system is damped, some energy
is dissipated in each cycle of vibration and must be replaced by an external source if a
state of steady vibration is to be maintained.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic, you should be able to:
· classify real world examples of dynamic systems
· recognise situations in mechanical systems where vibration may occur
· identify the mass, spring and damper elements in a vibratory system
· determine the spring force/torque and damping force/torque
· distinguish between free and forced vibration, elastic and gravitational forces
· determine the natural frequency and period of systems due to elastic and
gravitational forces
· distinguish examples of vibration where damping is occurring and damping is not
occurring
· use Newton’s second law to obtain the equation of motion describing the free
vibration response of simple one-degree-of-freedom systems
· obtain the kinetic energy and potential energy of a conservative single-degree-of-
freedom vibrating system
· use energy method to derive the equation of motion of a conservative single-
degree-of-freedom vibrating system
· obtain the natural frequency and period of oscillation of single-degree-of-freedom
vibrating systems
· solve the equation of motion to obtain the free vibration response of single-degree-
of-freedom vibrating systems.

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Background Skills and Knowledge Required

You will require the understanding and knowledge of:
· free body diagram
· Newton’s second law
· solution of ordinary differential equation
· matrices.

Session 1.1: Fundamentals of Mechanical Vibrations

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic, you should be able to:
· classify real world examples of dynamic systems
· recognise situations in mechanical systems where vibration may occur
· identify the mass, spring and damper elements in a vibratory system
· determine the spring force/torque and damping force/torque
· distinguish between free and forced vibration, elastic and gravitational forces.

Elementary Parts of Vibratory Systems

The key elements in a vibratory system include
· Mass or inertia: to store kinetic energy
· Spring: a mechanical link having negligible mass or inertia to store potential
energy.
· Damper: a device or mechanism by which mechanical energy is converted into or
dissipated in the form of heat or sound (damping effect).
The response, such as the displacement of the system with damping effect, gradually
decreases due to the reduction in the energy.
A typical example of damped vibration is the automobile shock absorber.
An example of a situation where vibration is undamped is an instrumental setup on coil
springs.

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Classification of Vibratory Systems

Free vibration
Free vibration is vibration which occurs without any external force that influences the
vibration motion acting on the system. Such vibration occurs as a result of elastic or
gravitational restoring forces. An example of free vibration is a pendulum swinging.
Where free vibration is occurring, the frequency of oscillation is determined by the
system itself.

Forced vibration
Forced vibration is vibration which relies on energy being supplied. The vibrating system
is subjected to external force that may change the motion of the system. This force may
often be of a repeating type. If the frequency of the force coincides with one of the
natural frequencies of the system, a condition known as resonance will occur. The
oscillation arising in machines such as diesel engines is an example of forced vibration.

Undamped and damped vibration

If no energy is lost or dissipated by friction or other resistance during oscillation, the
vibration is known as undamped vibration. If any energy is lost or dissipated in this way
it is called damped vibration. In many physical systems, the amount of damping is so
small it can be disregarded for most engineering purposes. However, damping becomes
very important in analysing vibratory systems near resonance.

Linear and non-linear vibration

If all the basic components of a vibratory system – the spring, the mass and the damper –
behave linearly, the resulting vibration is known as linear vibration. If any of the basic
components behave nonlinearly, the vibration is called nonlinear vibration. The
differential equations that govern the behaviour of linear and nonlinear vibratory
systems are linear and nonlinear respectively.

Deterministic and random vibration

If the value of magnitude of the excitation (force or motion) acting on a vibratory system
is known at any given time, the excitation is called deterministic. The resulting vibration
is known as deterministic vibration.
In some cases the excitation is non-deterministic or random – the value of the excitation
at a given time cannot be predicted. Examples of random excitations are wind velocity,
road roughness and ground motion during earthquakes. If the excitation is random, the
resulting vibration is called random vibration.

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In order to recognise situations in mechanical systems where vibration may occur,

examples of vibration in different situations and their causes are given in the following
table:

Example Cause of vibration

Washing machine Unbalanced load

Turbo prop aircraft engine Unbalanced blades

Stationary engine Unbalanced rotating and reciprocating masses

Stamping and forging press Unbalanced rotating and reciprocating masses

Further Classification of Vibratory Systems

Vibratory systems are further classified on the basis of equation of motion. This is
important, because for analysing vibrations, we use the equation of motion of the
vibrating system.

Character of differential equations

· Linear differential equations: principle of superposition holds. Techniques of analysis
are well developed.
· Non-linear differential equations: superposition principle is not valid, techniques of
analysis are less well known.
· Approximated linear systems: non-linear systems can be linearised using
approximations and then analysed as linear systems.

Degrees of Freedom (DOF)

The degree of freedom (DOF) refers to the number of independent coordinates that
define completely the position of all elements in a vibratory system.
· Single-degree of freedom systems: There is only one degree of freedom per
independent coordinate. A typical example is a single swinging pendulum.
· Multi-degree of freedom systems: for a multi-degree of freedom system there are
more than one independent co-ordinate. A typical example is a swinging
pendulum with multiple masses.
· Continuous versus lumped mass systems: vibration of beams, shafts etc are
considered as continuous systems. A beam with rotors or pulleys is considered as
a lumped system.
For a continuous system there are infinite degrees of freedom.

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Originating Mechanisms for Vibration

Natural (free) No external force acts on system
vibration Vibration occurs due to elastic or gravitational restoring
forces
No energy supply
Frequency of oscillation determined by system itself

Forced vibration Energy supplied

System subjected to external force (often repeating)
Resonance if frequency of external force coincides with one of
the natural frequencies of the system

Coupled vibrations Two or more vibratory systems interact and influence each
other

Self-excited Differential equation is non-linear

vibrations Input of energy into the system
Most prolific sources are hydro-dynamic and aero-dynamic
forces eg oil whip in rotating shafts caused by hydro-dynamic
forces in film

Undamped and No energy lost in friction or other resistance during

damped vibration oscillation, undamped vibration
Energy lost in this way, damped vibration

Deterministic and If value or magnitude of force or motion (excitation) acting on

random vibration the vibratory system is known resulting vibration is
deterministic vibration
If excitation is non-deterministic or random the resulting
vibration is random vibration.

A number of different dynamic phenomena that have been observed in real engineering
systems in service are described below. They relate to the following classifications:
· free, damped or undamped vibration
· forced vibration
· coupled vibration
· self-excited vibration
· deterministic and random vibration.

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Activity 1A Classification of Examples of Vibration

Read:
· Sections 1.2 - 1.5 from Rao, 2011
View:
· Lecture - vibration classification3 (10 minutes)
Prepare solutions:
Study the given examples and classify the resulting vibration into one of the
categories described above.
1. A four-stroke engine driven centrifugal water pump has been in operation
for about two years. The pump and engine are directly coupled via a
flexible coupling. To smooth the uneven torque output of the diesel, a
flywheel is fitted to the output end of the engine crankshaft. Several times
the keyed pump impeller has been shaken loose on its shaft requiring
each time a plant shutdown and major repairs to the pump.
Measurements were made subsequently on the system in operation and
revealed a torsional oscillation of the pump shaft having a frequency that
would remain practically constant over the full speed range of the engine
(600-1500 RPM). In fact, the frequency of oscillation was found to
decrease slightly as the engine speed went up. The amplitude of torsional
oscillation was found to increase approximately in proportion to the
square of the speed of the engine.
2. A rotor assembly operates over a wide speed range. If controlled to run at
one particular speed in this range, the whole assembly experiences violent
vibration. The frequency of this vibration was measured and found to be
the same as that of one of the critical speeds of the rotor.
3. A horizontal rotating shaft has a circular cross section with a single deep
keyway cut in it. When started up it is found that the shaft runs very
rough when it reaches ½ critical speed for the shaft.
4. A bridge vibrates under the random action of traffic flow
5. Some long distance road haulage transport comprises a truck (engine)
unit to which are connected two articulated trailers. Due to road
corrugations the trailers exert a variable pull on the truck when in motion.
At certain speeds the whole system may set itself into axial push-pull
oscillation.
Feedback will be provided in tutorials and via Blackboard.

3 https://echo.lcs.rmit.edu.au:8443/ess/echo/presentation/b4eb9c44-512f-452d-b03c-e73476586629

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Session 1.2: Undamped Free Vibration of Single

Degree of Freedom Systems

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this session, you should be able to:
· use Newton’s second law to obtain the equation of motion describing the free
vibration response of simple one-degree-of-freedom systems
· obtain the kinetic energy and potential energy of a conservative single-degree-of-
freedom vibrating system
· use energy method to derive the equation of motion of a conservative single-
degree-of-freedom vibrating system
· obtain the natural frequency and period of oscillation of single-degree-of-freedom
vibrating systems
· solve the equation of motion to obtain the free vibration response of single-degree-
of-freedom vibrating systems.
· recognise situations in mechanical systems where vibration may occur
· distinguish between free and forced vibration
· distinguish between vibration occurring as a result of elastic and gravitational
forces
· distinguish between examples of vibration where damping is occurring and
damping is not occurring.

Dynamic Analysis Fundamentals

A ‘degree of freedom’ is identified as a particular local coordinate along which the
motion of the centroid of an object can be described.
Single degree of freedom systems represent the simplest dynamic systems. They are
important because most of the dynamic systems can be approximated to single degree of
freedom systems.
Certain engineering problems can be analysed as SDOF systems; for example, problems
concerned with isolating vibration.
A thorough understanding of SDOF systems is needed to develop methods of analysing
multiple degrees of freedom (MDOF) systems.
The simplest single degree of freedom dynamic system is a mass-spring system without
damping and with no external forces acting upon it. Such a system is represented
diagrammatically as in Figure 1.1, where m is the mass and k is the spring stiffness and
x(t) is the local coordinate that defines the motion of the system. Such a system is
conservative; i.e. all the forces generated as a result of the motion are conservative.

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Figure 1.1 Mass-spring system without damping (reference Rao, 20114 )

Activity 1B Elements in a vibratory system

View:
· Lecture - elements in a vibratory system5 (18 minutes)

Equations of Motion
There are several ways for obtaining the equations of motion of dynamic systems, and
we will deal with two of these. The first method is the direct application of Newton’s
second law. This is a straightforward task, requiring the skills you have developed in
previous study. The second method is based on energy methods, which you have also
dealt with previously.

Newton’s Second Law

Newton’s second law is an important and basic law to derive the equation of motion of a
body undergoing movement under external forces or torques.
For a body undergoing translational movement (e.g., the mass in Figure 1.1),
mx = Fnet
For a body undergoing rotational movement (e.g., the pulley in Figure 1.8),
Iq = Tnet
where m and I are the mass and rotary inertia of the body, Fnet and Tnet are the net force
and net torques acting on the body, x and θ are the translational and rotational
displacements , respectively. An over-dot denotes the differentiation with respect to
time.

4 https://equella.rmit.edu.au/rmit/items/985bb855-3727-4b12-a25c-c3f84c8a422a/1/131205_3_016.jpg?.vi=fancy
5 https://echo.lcs.rmit.edu.au:8443/ess/echo/presentation/e6c152b0-dc0c-45c9-9b40-71a11b009c73

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Principle of Conservation of Energy

A system is considered to be conservative if there is no energy loss or dissipitation in the
form of heat, sound, etc., during the movement.
A typical example of a conservative system is the one without damping or friction.
A typical example of a non-conservative system is the damped system where part of the
energy is absorbed or dissipitated by damper.
For a conservative system, the principle of conservation of energy can be expressed as:
T + V = constant
This indicates that the total energy (kinetic energy + potential energy) of a conservative
system at any time remains constant.
Corresponding to the type of the movement, the kinetic energy of a body can be
calculated by
ì1 2
ï 2 mx (translational)
ï
ï1
T = í Iq 2 (rotational)
ï2
ï1 1
ï mx 2 + Iq 2 (translational+rotational)
î2 2
The potential energy of a system includes:
· Spring potential energy:
1
V = kd 2 (d : spring deformation)
2
· Potential energy due to gravitational force mg:
V = mgh (h : vertical position change of the mass center)
Note that h is the vertical distance of the mass center above a reference position at which
the gravitational potential energy is considered to be zero. h is positive if the mass center
is above the reference point and is negative if it is below the reference point.

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Derivation of Equation of Motion

Newton’s Second Law Method
The equation of motion can be derived by considering all forces acting on a free body
diagram of the system, and applying Newton’s second law.
For this translational system:

Figure 1.2 Free body diagram of spring-mass system (reference Rao, 20116)

By applying Newton’s second law, the equation of motion of this system can be stated as
mx ( t ) + kx
k (t ) = 0 (1)
which is a second order, linear, ordinary differential equation (ode). It is usual to define
the natural frequency
wn = k /m (2)
By dividing equation (1) through by m, we can obtain
x ( t ) + wn2 x ( t ) = 0 (3)
Note that in representation of ordinary differential equations the “(t)” is often left out.

Energy method
Since T + V = constant, differentiating the equation of conservation of energy with respect
to time once:
d
(T + V ) = 0
dt
yields the equation of motion of the system.
As a typical example, examine the same system described above.
Let the motion of the system after a finite time t be described by x, x and x .
The kinetic energy of the system at the time instant t is:
1
T = x2
mx
2

6 https://equella.rmit.edu.au/rmit/items/985bb855-3727-4b12-a25c-c3f84c8a422a/1/131205_3_016.jpg?.vi=fancy

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