Shell Intensive Training Programme Engineering Mathematics

Analysis of Vibrational Systems

Section 10: Unforced and Forced Oscillations and Resonance
Unforced Oscillation
The movement of a mass m on a spring with spring modulus k satisfies the equation of motion
d2y
m + ky = 0 (1)
dt 2
where yÝtÞ represents the vertical displacement below the equilibrium position. This is the basic
mode with no other forces acting and no damping.

y = yÝtÞ is the distance below equilibrium position

Solving equation (1) we obtain the general solution

yÝtÞ = A cos g0 t + B sin g0 t (2)

where g0 = k
m and the constants A and B are determined by initial conditions.

A = yÝ0Þ
g0 B = y vÝ0Þ
g0
This is unforced oscillation. The quantity 2^
is called the frequency of the vibration. Rewriting (2)
as
yÝtÞ = C cosÝg0 t ? j Þ
where

C= A2 + B2
tan j = B
A
we can see that the mass executes g2^0 cycles per second.
Now we suppose that the system is subject to some damping. The motion is now governed by
the equation
d2y dy
m + c + ky = 0 (3)
dt 2 dt
where c is the damping constant which physics tells us is positive. We solve this equation using the
classical method. The corresponding characteristic equation is
c V+ k = 0
V2 + m m

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and this has roots

?c ± c 2 ? 4mk
V=
2m
?4mk2
We discover three cases. Let J = 2mc
and let K = c 2m
Case 1. c 2 > 4mk. In this case K is real so there are two real roots. The solution of (3) is then
yÝtÞ = c 1 e ?ÝJ?KÞt + c 2 e ?ÝJ+ KÞt
So there is no oscillation and we say that the system is overdamped.
4mk?c 2
Case 2. c 2 < 4mk. In this case we have K to be imaginary, and if we put g1 = jK = 2m
we find the solution to (3) is then
yÝtÞ = e ?Jt ÝA cos g1 t + B sin g1 tÞ
or again we can write
yÝtÞ = e ?Jt C cosÝg1 t + j Þ
and the frequency is g2^1 cycles per second. The smaller the damping constant c, the greater the
frequency.
Case 3. c 2 = 4mk. In this case we have repeated roots and the solution to (3) is then
yÝtÞ = e ?Jt Ýc 1 + c 2 tÞ
There can be at most one further pass through the equilibrium position.
Forced Oscillation
Now we extend our consideration to include a variable force uÝtÞ acting on the system; uÝtÞ is
called the driving force or the input force. The motion of the system is now governed by the
equation
d2y dy
m + c + ky = uÝtÞ (4)
dt 2 dt
A solution yÝtÞ to equation (4) is called the output of the system or the system response. The
resulting motion is called forced oscillation. This is in contrast to the free motion of equation (1) or
(3).
Of particular interest are periodic inputs. To start with we consider sinusoidal inputs of the
form
uÝtÞ = F cos gt
We know the solution to the homogenous equation (3) so we seek a particular solution to (4). Try
y p ÝtÞ = a cos gt + b sin gt.
Differentiating twice gives
y vp ÝtÞ = ?agsin gt + bgcos gt
y vpvÝtÞ = ?ag2 cos gt ? bg2 sin gt.
Substitute into equation (4) and comparing coefficients of sin and cos gives
ak ? amg2 + bgc = F
? gca + Ýk ? mg2 Þb = 0,

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so

a=F k ? mg2
Ýk ? mg2 Þ2 + g2 c 2
b=F gc
Ýk ? mg2 Þ2 + g2 c 2
So the general solution of (4) is
yÝtÞ = y h ÝtÞ + y p ÝtÞ
where y h ÝtÞ is the solution of the homogenous equation (3).
Consider firstly the situation where there is no damping So c = 0 and

4mk ? c 2 k
g1 = = m = g0
2m
We write
y h ÝtÞ = C cosÝg0 t ? j Þ
Assuming that the input F cos gt has period g ® g0 we can write the solution to (4) as

yÝtÞ = C cosÝg0 t ? j Þ + F cos gt (5)

mÝg20 ? g2 Þ
Note that c = 0 so b = 0 and then a simplifies. The output is the superposition of two harmonic
oscillations. The frequency g2^0 is called the natural frequency; it is the frequency of the free
g
undamped system. The frequency 2^ is the frequency of the input. Observe that the amplitude of
the particular solution is
F
mÝg20 ? g2 Þ
If we allow g ¸ g0 it is clear that the amplitude tends to infinity. This means that allowing the
input frequency to match the natural frequency will lead to very large oscillations. This is the
phenomenon called resonance. A system with very little damping may undergo very large
vibrations which can even destroy it.
Now we consider a forced damped oscillation. So suppose that the system is damped with
damping constant c < 4mk . Put g1 = 2m 1
4mk ? c 2 and the general solution to the unforced
system is
y h ÝtÞ = e ?Jt ÝA cos g1 t + B sin g1 tÞ
where J = 2m c
> 0. As t ¸ K we see that y h ÝtÞ ¸ 0 and so after sufficiently long time the output
will be the steady state solution given by the particular solution
yÝtÞ ¸ y p ÝtÞ = a cos gt + b sin gt.
This is practically a harmonic oscillation whose frequency is that of the input. In practice this is
what happens since no system is completely undamped. In the damped case the amplitude of y p ÝtÞ
is always bounded, but it may attain a maximum value for some frequency input depending on the
damping constant c. This phenomenon is called practical resonance and again it is important
because some inputs may excite oscillations with such a large amplitude that the system can be
destroyed. We calculate the amplitude of y p ÝtÞ.

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y p ÝtÞ = a cos gt + b sin gt

= C cosÝgt ? dÞ

where C = a 2 + b 2 . Working this algebra out we finally get

C= F (6)
m 2
Ýg20 ? g2 Þ2 + g2 c 2

Regarding C = CÝgÞ as a function of g we can differentiate C with respect to g to find out for
which frequency g the maximum amplitude is attained.

/C = ?F 2c g ? 2m Ýg0 ? g Þ2g
2 2 2 2

/g 2
Ým 2 Ýg20 ? g2 Þ2 + g2 c 2 Þ
3

/C
C is a maximum when /g
= 0, which is to say when the numerator of this fraction is zero, so

2c 2 g ? 2m 2 Ýg20 ? g2 Þ2g = 0
After cancelling 2g and rearranging this gives
c 2 = 2m 2 Ýg20 ? g2 Þ
which, if c 2 > 2mk, has no solutions. (Remember that g20 = k
m ). But if c 2 < 2mk then we find that
2m 2 g20 ? c 2
g2 =
2m 2
This value for g2 we substitute into equation (6) to find that

C= 2mF . (7)
c 4m 2 g20 ? c 2

Appendix: Using the Laplace transform

2
The equation m ddt 2y + c dy
dt
+ ky = 0 can be solved by applying the Laplace transform. We have:
mÝ?y Ý0Þ ? syÝ0Þ + s YÝsÞÞ + cÝ?yÝ0Þ + sYÝsÞÞ + kYÝsÞ = 0. This gives
v 2

y vÝ0Þ + syÝ0Þ + c
yÝ0Þ
YÝsÞ = m
s 2 + mc s + k
m

Now decompose into partial fractions the right hand side of the above equation. Recall that
2 ?4mk
J = 2mc
and let b = c 4m 2 . The denominator of the equation above is s 2 + 2Js + J 2 + mk ? J 2 .
This is simply Ýs + JÞ2 ? b, so everything depends on the sign of b. We have:
y vÝ0Þ + syÝ0Þ + mc yÝ0Þ
YÝsÞ =
Ýs + JÞ2 ? b
Case 1: b > 0. This is the same as the case c 2 > 4mk, considered earlier. Since in this case we
can set K = b , we have Ýs + JÞ2 ? b = Ýs + J + KÞÝs + J ? KÞ, so

YÝsÞ = c1 + c2
s+ J?K s+ J+ K
for some real constants c 1 and c 2 . By taking the inverse Laplace transform we find that
yÝtÞ = c 1 e ?ÝJ?KÞt + c 2 e ?ÝJ+ KÞt

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as required.
Case 2: b < 0. This corresponds to c 2 < 4mk. Now
y vÝ0Þ + syÝ0Þ + mc yÝ0Þ |K| s+ J
YÝsÞ = =B + A
Ýs + JÞ + |K|
2 2
Ýs + JÞ + |K|
2 2
Ýs + JÞ2 + |K| 2
for appropriate constants A and B. Taking inverse Laplace transforms we get
yÝtÞ = e ?Jt ÝA cos g1 t + B sin g1 tÞ
2
where g1 = |K| = 4mk?c
2m
.
Case 3: b = 0. In other words, c 2 = 4mk. We have b = K = 0, so
y vÝ0Þ + syÝ0Þ + c
yÝ0Þ
YÝsÞ = m
= s c+ 1 J + c2
Ýs + JÞ2 Ýs + JÞ2
for appropriate constants c 1 and c 2 . The inverse Laplace transform then yields
yÝtÞ = e ?Jt Ýc 1 + c 2 tÞ

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