Multi d.o.f.

systems: approximate approach

Approximate solution
As seen, it is possible to conduct an exact modal analysis of a damped system.
In practice, except for cases dealing with dampers having known properties (such as in
automotive applications), including a damper in the mathematical model is just an
idealization of the energy dissipation process that may be due to multiple factors
(including friction, drag and hysteresis, in addition to viscous damping).
In these situations, one can resort to an approximate approach to deal with a damped
system that is based on the eigen-solution of the undamped system, expressed in the form
of the natural frequencies j and modal vectors Xj ( j = 1, 2,…, n ).
x t = Xq t
M x t + Cx t + K x t = F t
M q = XT MX
XT MXq t + XT CXq t + XT KXq t = XT F t where
K q = XT KX
Cq = XT CX
The modal damping matrix Cq is, in general, not diagonal Due to Cq, equations of the
damped motion are usually coupled, and cannot be solved independently of each other.
However, it is sometimes possible to neglect the off-diagonal terms in Cq, which leads to a
set of decoupled modal equations:
mq , j q j t + cq , j q j t + k q , j q j = Fq , j t for j = 1, 2,..., n
 Multi d.o.f. systems: approximate approach
Approximate solution
Mx t + Cx t + Kx t = F t → M q q t + Cq q t + K q q t = Fq t

It is sometimes possible to neglect the off-diagonal terms in Cq, which leads to the following
set of decoupled modal equations:
mq , j q j t + cq , j q j t + k q , j q j = Fq , j t for j = 1, 2,..., n

By introducing the modal damping factor j such that:

cq , j kq , j
j = where  j =
2mq , j j mq , j

The modal equations can be rewritten as:

F t
q j t + 2 j j q j t +  2j q j = q , j for j = 1, 2,..., n
mq , j

which, in case the Xj are normalized w.r.t. the mass matrix M (i.e. XTMX=1), also reads as:
q j t + 2 j j q j t +  2j q j = Fq , j t for j = 1, 2,..., n

In both forms, these equations can be solved independently.

 Multi d.o.f. systems: approximate approach
Approximate solution
Mx t + Cx t + Kx t = F t → M q q t + Cq q t + K q q t = Fq t

cq , j kq , j
q j t + 2 j j q j t +  2j q j = Fq , j t for j = 1, 2,..., n j = where  j =
2mq , j j mq , j
The response of each mode can then be obtained as that of a 1-d.o.f. system as:
− j j t  q j 0 +  j j q j 0 
qj t = e q j 0 cos d , jt + sin d , j t  +
 d , j 
1 t − j  j
+  F
j
t
0
−  e sin d , j d

where d,j is the damped natural frequency associated with the j-th mode, namely:
d , j =  j 1 −  j2

with the initial conditions:

q j 0 = XTj Mx 0

 q j 0 = X j Mv 0
T
 Multi d.o.f. systems: approximate approach
Approximate solution
The assumption of neglecting the off-diagonal terms in Cq, is reasonable under the
following circumstances:
• When damping is small, the contribution to the response of the [Cq]i,j terms when i  j is
less significant than that of the diagonal terms [Cq]j,j, even though the magnitudes of the
off-diagonal elements of Cq may be similar in magnitude to those of the diagonal terms.
• When assuming proportional damping (also called Rayleigh damping); that is
C = M +  K -> [Cq]i,j = 0 when i  j and [Cq]j,j, =  +  j2
in which  and  are constant coefficients. While this model is more of a mathematical
convenience, it occasionally represents a realistic model.
• When the energy dissipation characteristics are not accurately known, the error
associated with using an incorrect damping model is usually more significant than that
arising by ignoring the off-diagonal [Cq]i,j terms.
While by doing this we add another error to an already incorrect model, the cumulative
effect of the errors is usually not large, especially for low levels of damping.
 Multi d.o.f. systems: approximate approach
Approximate solution

When the aforementioned assumptions do not hold (thus, the off-diagonal terms of Cq
cannot be neglected), we need to use the exact solution for damped systems that was
described previously.

Note:
• An interesting property of damped systems is that, in general, the lower modes have
lower damping factors than the higher modes.
• Adding this property to the discussion on mode participation, we conclude that the
contribution of the lower modes to the overall motion becomes even more significant,
as the higher modes also damp out faster than the lower modes.