Harmonic Loading

Recap:
Equation of Motion,

mü + cu̇ + ku = F (t) = kf (t) = kA cos ωt

ü + 2ξωn u̇ + ωn2 u = ωn2 A cos ωt (1)

The solution is of the form,

uT = uC + uP (2)
Transient response, h i
uC = C1 eıωd t + C2 e−ıωd t e−ξωn t (3)
Steady state response,
uP = X cos(ωt − φ) (4)
Thus, the applied load and the response has a difference of amplitude and also a phase
difference, but have the same frequency of vibration.
A
Amplitude X = "½ #1
³ ´ 2 ¾2 n o2 2
ω
1− ωn
+ 2ξ ωωn

ω
Substituting β = ωn
,

A
X= 1
[(1 − β 2 )2 + (2ξβ)2 ] 2

and,
" #
−1 2ξβ
Phase angle φ = tan
1 − β2

X 1
Magnification factor, H(ω) = = 1
A [(1 − β 2 )2 + (2ξβ)2 ] 2
Amplitude = AH(ω)

• It should be mentioned here, the above relations are not valid for ωωn = 1 for an
un-damped system. Under such condition, H(ω) is undefined. Thus, the solution
uP = X cos(ωt − φ) does not hold for the above special case.

Figure 1 shows the plot of |H(ω)| versus ωωn for different values of ξ. Similarly, Figure 2
shows the variation of the phase angle φ w.r.t ωωn for different values of ξ

1
Figure 1: Magnification factor H(ω)

2
 Figure 2: Phase angle φ

• Next, we try to obtain the maximum value of H(ω) for a given ξ. This is done
by differentiating H(ω) w.r.t ω and equating it to zero and this gives,
q
ω = ωn 1 − ξ 2
ω q
⇒ = 1 − ξ2 (5)
ωn
Thus from the above equation it can be seen that for ξ > 0, the peak does
not occur at the resonance point, i.e (ω = ωn ) but on the left hand side of the
resonance point. This can also be observed
√ from Figure 1. In addition, it can be
inferred from Equation 5 that for ξ > 1/ 2, there will be no maxima or peak.
Similar observation can be made from Figure 1.
• However, for smaller values of ξ, i.e, ξ < 0.05, the maximum magnification factor
occurs near the resonance point as can be seen from the Figure 1.
• The maximum value of |H(ω)| is referred as Quality Factor Q, or,
|H(ω)|max = Q
For small values of ξ,
1
Q≈
2ξ

3
 Figure 3: Response due harmonic loading for β = 1.0, 0.5 & 2.0 and ξ = 0.05
√
• The two points corresponding to Q/ 2 are called the half power points and the
frequency range between them is called the bandwidth.
Next, Figure 3 shows the response uT of a damped SDOF system due to harmonic
loading. The response has been plotted for three values of β = ωωn for ξ = 0.05.
In the same figure, the response at β = 1 for ξ = 0 is plotted. For β = 1 at
ξ = 0, the amplitude of the response diverges and becomes infinite with time. The
line joining the peak amplitude will form a straight line as shown in the figure.
Harmonic motion of support
Considering Fig. 4, the equation of motion of the system can be written as,
mü + c(u̇ − u˙g ) + k(u − ug ) = 0 (6)
This can be further written as,
ü + 2ξωn u̇ + ωn2 u = 2ξωn u˙g + ωn2 ug (7)
Assuming that the support undergoes harmonic motion given by ug = A cos ωt, Equa-
tion 7 can be written as,
ü + 2ξωn u̇ + ωn2 u = −2ξωn ω sin ωt − ωn2 cos ωt (8)

4
 ..
u
111
000
11
00 k
00
11 F(t)
00
11
00
11 m 11111
00000
.. 11
00
00
11
u g 11
00
00
11
00
11
00
11 c

Figure 4: SDOF subjected to support motion

The steady-state solution of u(t) is of the form X cos(ωt − φ) and substituting this in
Equation 8, we get,
( )1/2  Ã !2 
1 + (2ξω/ωn )2 2ξω
X=A = A 1 +  |H(ω)| (9)
[1 − (ω/ωn2 )]2 + (2ξω/ωn )2 ωn
" #
2ξ(ω/ωn )3
φ = tan−1 (10)
1 − (ω/ωn )2 + (2ξω/ωn )2
The term transmissibility is defined as,
 Ã !2 
X  2ξω  |H(ω)|
= 1+
A ωn