Department of Civil Engineering

Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, PHILIPPINES

Telefax: (053) 565-0600 local 1020
Email: dce@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.civilengineering.vsu.edu.ph

CEnS 152
Earthquake Engineering

Learning Activity 2
Free Vibrations

Activity:
Create a program (Excel or Python) that simulates the free vibration response of a SDOF system.

Inputs:
𝑚 = mass
𝑐 = viscous damping coefficient
𝑘 = stiffness
𝑡𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 = time start for the graph
𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 = time end for the graph
𝑢(0) (initial displacement)
𝑢̇ (0) (initial velocity)

Assumptions:
𝑛 = 50 (number of points to be graphed from 𝑡𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 to 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 )

Program:
1. Determines the damping case based on the values of 𝑚, 𝑐, and 𝑘.
• Case 1 (Overdamped): 𝑢 = 𝑐1 𝑒 𝜆1 𝑡 + 𝑐2 𝑒 𝜆2 𝑡
𝑐 𝑡
−( )( )
• Case 2 (Critically Damped): 𝑢 = (𝑐1 + 𝑐2 𝑡)𝑒 𝑚 2

𝑐
−( )( )
𝑡
𝑘 1 𝑐 2
• Case 3 (Underdamped): 𝑢 = 𝑒 𝑚 2 (𝑐1 cos 𝜔𝑡 + 𝑐2 sin 𝜔𝑡), where 𝜔 = √𝑚 − 4 (𝑚)

𝑘
• Case 4 (Undamped, 𝑐 = 0): 𝑢 = 𝑐1 cos 𝜔𝑡 + 𝑐2 sin 𝜔𝑡, where 𝜔 = √𝑚

2. Based on the determined damping case, displays a graph of the expected response of the
system (using 𝑛 points) from 𝑡𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 to 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 .

Application:
Use the program to graph the response of the water tank in the example problem of Lesson 3.1 (Free
vibrations).

Short discussion paper:

Write a short discussion paper containing the following:
• Scanned or encoded pages of your derivations for the constants 𝑐1 and 𝑐2 for each case.
• Discussion of your solution for the application including the graph of the response. Include
screenshots of your program if necessary.

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Vision: A globally competitive university for science, technology, and environmental conservation.
Mission: Development of a highly competitive human resource, cutting-edge scientific knowledge
and innovative technologies for sustainable communities and environment.
 Submission:
Submit the following files through email (apdcortes@vsu.edu.ph):
• Program files/s (xlsx or python file/s)
• Discussion paper (pdf file)
Deadline: 10 working days after start.

Prepared by:

Andy Phil D. Cortes

Instructor, DCE

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Vision: A globally competitive university for science, technology, and environmental conservation.
Mission: Development of a highly competitive human resource, cutting-edge scientific knowledge
and innovative technologies for sustainable communities and environment.