Understanding Modal Analysis

Author(s): Stevan C. Walgrave and James M. Ehlbeck

Source: SAE Transactions , 1978, Vol. 87, Section 3: 780459–780870 (1978), pp. 2695-2705
Published by: SAE International

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44632576

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 780695

Understanding
Modal Analysis

Steven C. Walgrave and James M. Ehlbec

FreightlinerCorp.

THE MOTION OF STRUCTURES and systems can be vis-
ualized in many forms, such as the motion of cars
and trucks on one of our nation's busy highways.
Motion can also be thought of as relative motion
between various points in a structure or system,
such as the relative deflections which occur be-
tween the various points on a beam which is sup-
porting an applied load. Modal analysis can be
used as a means for visualizing, and thereby
increasing our understanding of, the motions
which occur when a structure or system vibrates.
The words "modal analysis" have several
different meanings, all of which originate from
tive or normalized amplitudes of the motion of
each point in a system for each mode of vibra-
tion. This relationship is known as a mode
shape since it describes the shape of the char-
acteristic deformation pattern exhibited by each
mode of vibration. Therefore, the amplitude of
the oscillatory motion of each mode of vibration
at any point in a system can be described as the
product of an amplitude function multiplied by a
mode shape coefficient, where the mode shape co-
efficient represents the relative amplitude of
the motion at the specific point in the particu-
lar mode of vibration.

the principle that the motions of a structure or
system can be described as a sum of motions, each
of which has a characteristic deformation pat-
tern. The motion of each of these characteris-
tic deformation patterns is known as a mode of
vibration, or simply, a mode.
The amplitude of the oscillatory motion of
each mode of vibration is determined by the mass,
stiffness and damping properties of the structure
or system and the time varying forces which
induce the motion. However, since each mode of
vibration exhibits a characteristic deformation
pattern, a relationship exists between the rela-
The amplitude functions which describe the
amplitude of the oscillatory motion of each mode
are similar to a frequency response function of
a single mass-spring-damper system. Therefore,
the first step in describing the motions of a
structure or system is to determine the response
of a single degree of freedom mass-spring-damper
system.
SINGLE DEGREE OF FREEDOM SYSTEMS
The classical single degree of freedom
mass-spring-damper system is shown in Figure 1:

This article reviews the fundamentals of
vibration theory and discusses how the concepts
used in describing the motion of single mass-
spring-damper system can be extended to describe
the motion of structures and systems via modal
analysis. The material presented progresses
from a discussion of a single mass-spring-damper
269j
0096-736X/79/8703-2695$02.50
Copyright © 1979 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
system to modal properties of multi degree of
freedom systems to frequency response and mode
superposition methods. Although these tech-
niques are not new, the intent is to present
the fundamentals of modal analysis for those
not already well acquainted with the theory
and techniques involved.

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 2696 S. C. WALGRAVE AND J. M. EHLBECK
/////////////Z//
Xi
x Aex- ,
± JL A"
k1Jc tļ Asin/3
J
STATIC
m EQUILIBRIUM
POSITION

Figure 3

ì F (t) Figure 1

The critical damping 'C^' is equal to:

From Newtons Laws, the equation which de-
scribes the motion of the system shown in Figure C = 2mu) = 2 vkm (4)
1 is: c n

mx + ex + kx = F(t) (1) The frequency 'w' at which the system shown in

Figure 1 oscillates when displaced from equil-
where the displacement x is measured from the ibrium and released is given by:
position of static equilibrium and the dot nota-
tion indicates differentiation with respect to a),
d n
= o) vT £ (3)
time .
The inertial force 'mx' , the damping force where is the frequency at which the system
'ex', and the spring force !kxf all act to resist would vibrate if the system was undamped, i.e.,
motion while the time varying driving force £ = 0. is known as the natural frequency
'F(t)1 acts to produce (or change) the motion of of the system and is equal to:
the system.
The solution to Eqn. (1) consists of the co = /k/m (6)
n
sum of the solution for the transient response
and the solution for the steady state response. The solution for the steady state response is
The solution for the transient response is given
dependent on the driving force F(t). If this
by Eqn. (2), which is illustrated in Figure 2: force is periodic in time, it can be represented
by the sum of a set of sine and cosine functions
as illustrated in Figure 4:

x = Ae sin(co^t + 3 ) (2)
/
x

~f Ax
A T~
I Asinß '
V'A7W / /

' I Asinß *

/
wvvvw .

mmmm
/

Figure 2

where the constants of integration A & 3 must be

evaluated from the initial conditions for the j - F(ř) (normalized)
problem. The damping ratio fÇ' is the ratio of
the actual damping 'c1 to the critical damping
'C 1 or:
c

£ = C/Cc (3) Figure 4

Or:
Critical damping is the value of damping which oo

provides the highest possible rate of decay with F (t) v =oA +n=l
E- (A. sin u.ti+ B. cos ut) (7)
v x i i
no oscillatory motion, as shown in Figure 3.

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 MODAL ANALYSIS 2697

This procedure is known as a Fourier series rep- And

resentation of the function F(t). Therefore,
the solution to Eqn. (1) for the case where the e = tan"1 w (14)
driving force is a sinusoidal function can be 1 - (go/go )*
n
used in conjunction with Eqn. (7) to determine
the steady state response of the system shown in
But since X0 = F0/k is the deflection of the
Figure 1.
system when the force F0 is applied statically,
i.e., at go = 0, Eqn. (13) can be rewritten in
If the driving force is sinusoidal, Eqn. (1) the form:
becomes :

mx + ex + kx
o
= F sin cot (8) X

~T0~ =
The steady state solution of Eqn. (8) is given
by: The term
AO
Ķ, called the magni
represents the ratio of the maximum deflection
X = X sin(o)t - 0) (9)
at any frequency to the static deflection under
the same applied forces.
where X, the amplitude of the oscillation, and
Plotting Eqn. (15) as a family of curves
0, the phase angle between the force and the
as shown in Figure 6 gives a graphical repre-
displacement, are determined by substituting
sentation of the response of a single mass-
Eqn. (9) into Eqn. (8), or:
spring-damper system to a sinusoidal driving
2 force .
-moo X sin(o)t - 0) + cu)X cos(o)t-0)
+ kX sin(mt-0) = Fq sin cat (10)
The sine and cosine functions represent
sinusoidal functions which are shifted by 90°,
or cos (cot - 0) = sin (oat - 0 4- 90°). Therefore, Xix M
the amplitude X and the phase angle 0 can be
obtained from Eqn. (10) by constructing the force s / i r - "4=0-15
polygon, shown in Figure 5: co 2 - I x-i I
§ / I H

c
O) 1 -

I ļ x'

Figure 5 0 12 3

Frequ
where the amplitude of the oscillatory motion X
is obtained from the relationship between the Figure 6
length of the sides of a right triangle
(a2 + ß2 = c2). Therefore, As shown in Figure 6, in the region where
the frequency of the driving force is close to
:: , F° the natural frequency, i.e., u)/con-l, the ampli-
y/(k-moj2) , 2 + (cca) 2 (11) tude of the motion is substantially greater than
would be obtained by static application of the
And driving force. The maximum magnification factor
occurs when the frequency of the driving force
û _ . -, ck> is :
û o _ tan . 1 -, T" o /i o'
k - mo>¿ o /i (12) o'
co = (A) Jl - (16)
n

Reducing these equations to nondimensional

form gives: and the maximum magnification factor is:

„ x=
= i-
„ x= XQ 2Ç (17)

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 2698 S- c- WALGRAVE AND J. M. EHLBECK
The frequency where the magnification fac-
tor, or the amplitude response, of the system is
at its maximum is called the resonant frequency,
or simply resonance. Since damping ratios of
0.03 to 0.15 = 3 to 16) are typical for
mechanical systems and structures, the amplitude
of motion at or near resonance will be substan-
tially larger than obtained under static condi-
tions. These large amplitude motions may result
in misalignment, high noise levels or component
failures because of the high cyclic stress var-
iations resulting from the large amplitude oscil-
lations .
As shown by Eqn, (9), the steady state
response of a single degree of freedom system
to a sinusoidal driving force of frequency go,
is composed of an amplitude function, X, and a
sinusoidal function of frequency go, which is
shifted by the angle 6. However, Eqn. (9) can
be rewritten as:
X = H (go) Fq sin Got (18)
where the amplitude function H(oo) is a vector
with magnitude X/F and phase angle 0. The
amplitude function H(go) is known as the frequency
response function, or transfer function. Sche-
matically, Eqn. (18) can be represented as:
FREQUENCY w SYSTEM
SINUSOIDAL
INPUT FORCE
Figure 7
This procedure of using a frequency response
function to determine the steady state response
of a system to a sinusoidal input is known as
the frequency response method. The frequency
response method in conjunction with the Fourier
series representation of a periodic force F(t)
provides an extremely useful method for visual-
izing, and hence, understanding the motion of
both single and multiple degree of freedom
systems .
MULTIPLE DEGREE OF FREEDOM SYSTEMS
Few real systems can be characterized by
a single mass-spring-damper or single degree of
freedom system. Most structures or systems en-
ćountered in physical situations have distrib-
uted properties, such as mass and stiffness.
These systems are said to possess an infinite
number of degrees of freedom, because the system
is fully described only when the motion at every
point on the structure or system is known. How-
ever, an acceptable description of the motion
of a physical system may be made by considering
the system as being composed of a finite number
of masses which are interconnected by springs
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and dampers. Using this procedure, the motions
of actual structures or systems may be approx-
imated (modeled) using only a finite number of
degrees of freedom. This procedure is known as
the "lumped parameter" method.
For example, consider the response of the
lumped parameter representation of the simply
supported beam, shown in Figure 8, to a time
varying driving force F(t).
aXi Ax> Ax>
A ¡¡ * A
FW
Figure 8
Since the beam shown in Figure 8 is being
modeled using three coordinate variables Xļ,
X2> and X3, the system has three degrees of
freedom, and thus the response of the system
is limited to three modes of vibration* (one
mode for each degree of freedom) . The charac-
teristic deformation pattern for each of these
modes is shown in Figure 9, where the amplitudes
shown for each mode shape are normalized with
respect to the point of maximum amplitude in
the mode.
X- N
/ * ^ ^ m *
* ^ ^ m *
/ '
/ '
Figure 9
Each mode of vibration is associated with
a particular natural frequency of the system.
The first mode is associated with the lowest
natural frequency of the system. Similarly,
higher modes are associated with correspondingly
higher natural frequencies of the system.
In general, not all of the points in a
mode reach their maximum or minimum position
simultaneously. This "phase lag" between the
times when the various points in a mode reach
their maximum relative amplitudes can be vis-
* This lumped parameter approximation is accu-
rate provided that the maximum frequency of the
driving force does not exceed the natural fre-
quency of the highest mode. Additional degrees
of freedom can be included to increase the
natural frequency of the highest mode.
 MODAL
ualized by plotting the magnitude of the rela-
tive amplitude of each of the points in the
mode as rotating vectors separated by a phase
angle as shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10
The reason that not all of the points in
the system reach their maximum or minimum posi-
tions simultaneously is due to the presence of
damping forces in the system which are not dis-
tributed proportionally to the inertial and
elastic forces in the system. To illustrate
this concept, consider the steady state response
of the three systems shown in Figure 11.
////.////////////////////////////////////////////////////////s///
k^ Ppl Ci k ^ |- 1- I C2 k ^ |-ļ-| C3
mmm
o o [o cj(x3j [k31 k32 k33J^x3j
tpsincuf
Figure 1 1
The steady state response of each of the
mass-spring-damper systems is given by Eqn. (18).
But, as shown in Figure 5, if the damping factors
Ci, C2, and C3 are different for each system (not
proportional to either m or k) , the phase angle
between the input force and the motion of the
system will be different for each system. But
since the driving forces of the three illustra-
tive systems are in phase (maximum and minimum
values occur simultaneously) , the maximum and
minimum values of the motions of the three sys-
tems will occur at slightly different instants
of time. However, for most lightly damped sys-
tems, the forces associated with damping are
small as compared to the inertial and elastic
forces. Therefore, the "phase lag" between all
points in a mode is small and can be omitted
for most engineering analysis.
To illustrate the response of a multiple
degree of freedom system, consider the system
shown in Figure 12.
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ANALYSIS 2699
nFC>
i ^ i ^ i ^ i
r£h ^ ^ "m ^
4J li L1J
ccc
/777 /777 /777
Figure 12
This is the same system as shown in Figure
8 with the addition of viscous damping to approx-
imate the effects of energy dissipation present
in all physical systems. The equations which
describe the motion of the system shown in Figure
12 are given by Eqn. (19). These equations can
be derived using Newton's Laws of Motion and
summing forces at each of the three points used
to describe the system.
m^i + cx1 + kļļX;ļ + k"12X2 + ^3*3 = ^
mx2 + cx2 + k2ixi + k22X2 + K23X3 =
mx^ + cx^ + + k32x2 + k33X3 = 0
Or, in matrix form, these equations are:
m ° if1) P if1) P11 kl2 kl3l(Xl)
omo /xj+ oco <¿2/+ k21 k22 k23 ' 2/V
(20)
where the stiffness influence coefficients, k^j ,
are the constants of proportionality which relate
the force at the ith position due to a deflection
at the J*1*1 position, i.e., ^ = Fi
ij
Equation 20 can be generalized to represent
a system of any size in which the mass matrix
[m] and the damping matrix [c] may be fully
populated as is the case in the stiffness matrix
[k] . Using matrix shorthand notation, Eqn. (20)
can be generalized and written as:
[m]{x} + [c]{x> + [k]{x} = (Q(t) } (21)
where {x}, (x) and (xj- are single column matrices
(vectors) which represent the acceleration,
velocity and displacement at each point in the
system. Similarly, {Q (t) } represents the exter-
nal forces which act at each point in the system
As can be seen in Eqn. (19), the differen-
tial equations which describe the motion of the
system shown in Figure 12 are coupled since each
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 2700 S.C. WALGRAVE AND J. M. EHLBECK

equation involves more than one unknown variable. Substituting Eqn. (25) into Eqn. (21) and
In general, the differential equations which premultiplying by the transpose of the
describe the motion of a system will be coupled matrix of the normalized mode shape coefficients,
and must be solved simultaneously unless they gives the decoupled differential equations 'in
can be decoupled. To decouple these equations, terms of the coordinates (t) .
a coordinate transformation employing a set of
generalized coordinates can be used. But since
[<f>]T[m][<t>]{¡i(t)} + [<t>]T[c][<ļ>]{f|(t)}
each mode of vibration is independent of all
other modes, the specific set of coordinates
T T (26)
+ [<f>] [k][<t>]{ri(t)} = [$] (Q(t) }
which will decouple the equations of motion is
a set of independent coordinates { r) ( t) } , where
each coordinate represents input amplitude from But since the matrix triple products decouple
one of the modes of vibration. Since each mode the differential equations of motion, Eqn. (26)
now has the form:
of vibration is characterized by a characteris-
tic deformation pattern, the amplitude of the
oscillatory motion in each mode of vibration at
each point in the structure or system is given
Ml 0 0 (^(Oļ) Cļ 0 0
, by the product of the amplitude function for 0 m2 0 <n(t)2' + 0 C2 o <ń(t
each mode, n(t), and the mode shape coefficient
at the specific point, <(>.., where (p.. is the 0 0 M3 (^(Od 0 0 c3
normalized displacement oí the i ^ system loca-
tion in the jth mode of vibration.
But since the overall motion of any point
on a structure or system is composed of the sum
K3 0 oļ Lít)^
of the motions of that point in each mode of
+ o k2 o <n(t)2ļ - |n2>
o o K3J (>13)
vibration, the relation between the coordinates
used to describe the motion of the system Xļ ,
x2> • • ,xn anc* t^ie coordinates which decouple
the differential equations of motion is:
where the diagonal matrices are given by:

xi = 4>iln(t)1 + <t>i2n(t)2 + . . . 4>inn(t)n (22) M = [<J>]T[m] [ <f> ] (28

M = [^]T[c][<f] (29)
where n is the number of modes of vibration
(degrees of freedom) of the system. W = [<(»]TCk][«ļ'] (30)
Therefore, for the lumped mass representa-
tion of the simply supported beam shown in Figure Since the mode shape coefficients are dimen-
12, the relation between the coordinates x]_, sionless (normalized) , the elements in these
X2, and X3, and the coordinates n(t) which de- three matrices retain the units of mass, damping
couple the differential equations is: and stiffness, respectively. Similarly, the
single column matrix, {N}, has units of force
since it is given by:
X1 = *lln^l + *12n^2 + *13n^3
{N} = [<t>]T{Q(t) } (31)
x2 = + <f)22r|^t^2 + *23ri^t^3 ^23^
Increased physical significance can be given to
x3 = + *32^ (O2 + *33n^3 Eqn. (31) if the location of the driving .forces ,
{ Q ( ü ) } , are fixed on the structure or system,
i.e., force application locations do not vary
Or, in matrix form, these equations are: with time. For this condition, which is typical
in many physical systems, the forces (Q(t)} may
be expressed as the product of a time varying
force function, F(t), and a function, P(x^),
which describes the relative amplitude and phase
of the force F(t) at each location X. on the
structure or system. For these conditions, the

!xi} x2/!xi}
x3' x3' = pnx2/
*21 *31 *12=*22*32
*31 *21 *22 *23
*32 *33 'n(t)2/
'n^3' (24) right side of Eqn. 31 can be written as:

{N} = [<(>] T{ P (x±) }F(t) (3

which, in matrix shorthand notation, reduces to:
which when expanded as shown in Eqn. (33) gives
W = [<ř]{Ti(t)} the driving force for the r*-*1 mode of vibration,

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 MODAL
Nr, in terms of the mode shape coefficients and
the values of force distribution function P(X¿).
n ponent is given by Eqn. (2), subject to the
Nr = F (t) E 6 P(x.) = rrF(t) (33)
i=l
where n is the number of degrees of freedom and
hence the number of modes of vibration of the
system. The summation term £<ļ)-j_rP (x¿) isMrn(t)r
known
as the participation factor Tr of the force F(t)
in the rth mode of vibration. Since both the
mode shape coefficients, and the values of
the force distribution function, P(xi), are
constants which are normalized, the participation
factor is a constant with magnitude between zero
and one. In addition, the participation factor
is independent of the amplitude of the force
F(t). The participation factor T can be viewed
as the extent to which the driving force parti-
cipates in exciting each mode of vibration.
This participation factor concept can be
visualized by considering the pendulum shown in
Figure 13.
////////////////
//////////////// (t> F'
Figure 13
The force Fļ, applied at the pivot point,
causes no motion of the pendulum mass and thus
has a participation factor of zero (T = 0) . The
force F2> applied directly on the mass, will have
the fullest effect on the motion of the mass, and
thus has a participation factor of one (T = 1) .
Returning to Eqn. (27), as can be seen by
inspection, each of the decoupled differential
equations is of the form:
Mrn(t)r + crň(t)r + Krn(t) = Nr = rrF(t) (34)
where Mr, Cr and Kr are properties of the
mode of vibration, known as modal mass, modal
damping and modal stiffness, respectively .
As shown by Eqn. (34), each of the decoupled
differential equations are of the same form as
Eqn. (1), the differential equation which de-
scribes the motion of a single mass-spring-damper
(single degree of freedom) system. Hence, the
response of each individual mode of vibration
is, in essence, identical to the response of a
single degree of freedom system.
The solution to Eqn. (34) is identical to
the solution for the single mass-spring-damper
system shown in Figure 1. The solution consists
of the sum of a transient component, which decays
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ANALYSIS 2701
and disappears with time, and a steady state
component. The solution for the transient com-
appropriate initial conditions. The solution
for the steady state component is dependent on
the driving force F(t). If the driving force
F(t) is sinusoidal, then Eqn. (34) becomes:*
+ crn(t) + Krn(t) = r. fq sinwt
The steady state solution to Eqn. (35) is
identical to the solution of the differential
equation of motion for the single degree of
freedom system, i.e.,
n(t)r = Xr sin(wt - 0r) (36)
where Xr, the amplitude, and 0r, the phase angle
for the rth mode of vibration, are given by:
Ir Fp/Ky
Xr =/[1 - (u)
and
0 = tan-1 tan 2^r(M/"r)
r = tan 1 - (w/wr)2 (38)
where is the damping ration and u)r is the
natural frequency for the rt^1 mode of vi
Using the frequency response function H(u))
developed to describe the response of a single
degree of freedom system to a sinusoidal driving
force, Eqn. (36) can be rewritten as:
n(t)r= r
r H(cj) F sincot (39)
ro
Substituting Eqn. (39) into the equation
for the coordinate transformation, Eqn. (25)
gives the steady state response of the system to
a sinusoidal driving force in terms of the ori-
ginal coordinate:
(x) = [<1>]{n (t) } = [<ł> ] { TH (co) }Fq sinwt
or
xi = + <f>i2r2H(ü))2 +
+ <ļ>^nrnH(w)n]F0 sinwt (41)
As can be seen from Eqn. (41), the steady
state motion at any point, x¿, is the sum of the
responses of that point in each of the modes of
vibration. The amplitude of a single mode con-
tribution is determined from the product of
several factors, namely: the mode shape co-
* A more general solution can be obtained if
F (t) is represented as a Fourier series.
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 2702 S. C. WALGRAVE AND J. M. EHLBECK

efficients, the frequency response function, the of the beam. Therefore, the normalized force
participation factor, and the magnitude of the distribution function, P(Xi), is:
driving force. The phenomena described by Eqn.
(41) can be illustrated as follows:

=<1> n =<1> (43)'

P(X±)
PAfactors0^ I-AIIUHS
I-AIIUHS FUNCTIONS Ä
COEFFICIENTS lo)
i - I r i ļ - *-{H(č0)Tļ - H <t>¡, 1 -
and the participation factor, as defined in Eqn.
- r2 I-HHM2HH *¡2 1 - ,
SINUSOIDAL RESPONSE (33), is given by:
'NPUT ^ AT/th
F0RCE POSITION

~ 0.706 1 0.706~l/0' /l'

Figure 14
{T} =1 0 -1 <1> = < 0 > (44)

If the structure or system is being driven

by more than one driving force, such as in the
-0.720 1 -0 . 720J
case of a Fourier series representation of a
periodic force, F(t), the motion at any point
As Shown in Eqn. (44), the participation
Xi, is composed of the sum of the motion result- factor for the second mode is zero, i.e., the
ing from each individual sinusoidal driving second mode of vibration does not contribute to
force.
the deformation of the system. This fact would
USING MODAL INFORMATION
reasonably be expected because, with the force
applied at the system centerline, only symmetri-
cal deformation patterns (for a symmetrical sys-
To illustrate the concept that the response
tem) will be excited. The second mode, being
of a structure of system is composed of the sum
antisymmetric, is therefore not excited, and
of the responses in all of the modes of vibra-
thus does not contribute to the forced system
tion, as shown by Eqn. (41) , consider the re-
response.
sponse of the system shown in Figure 12. For
Applying the above information to Eqn. (41),
this system, the normalized mode shape coeffi-
the steady state system response will result as
cients are:
follows :

0.706 1 -0.720"

[<(.]= 1 0 1 (42)

!x±' x2>= 1 0 1 < 0 >Fq sincot

0.706 -1 -0.720

!x±' x3)
x2>= x3)0.706
[0.706 0.7-1
06 1 -1-0.720
1 0 -0 -0.7IH(Ü>)3) (45)IH(Ü>)3) 0
20 . 1 72Õ1 < /H(cj)
where the first column represents the normalized
shape of the characteristic deformation pattern Or:
associated with the first mode of vibration as
shown in Figure 9. Similarly, for the second X = [0.706H(co)1-0.720H(o))3] F0 sincot
and third columns. Each column in Eqn. (42)
represents the normalized shape of one of the x2 = [H(u>)ļ + H(u>) ] F0 sincot (46)
systems modes.
These mode shape coefficients are deter- x3 = [0. 706H(oo)ļ-0.720H(oo)3] F0 sincot
mined from the solution of the differential
equations which describe the motion of the
system, Eqn. (21). The solution can be obtained The magnitude and phase of each of the
through the use of any of the solution techniques frequency response functions, H(co)r, is deter-
for eigenvalue or characteristic value problems. mined by the modal mass, modal damping and modal
For the system shown in Figure 12, these tech- stiffness properties of the system in accordance
niques can be carried out by hand. However, for with the definition established for the single
more complicated systems, the solution is best mass-spring-damper system.
handled by computerized methods since the volume To illustrate the contribution of each mode
of calculations required can become exceedingly of vibration to the overall system response,
large. Figure 15 shows the magnitude of the steady state
For the system shown in Figure 12, the response for coordinate Xļ as a function of th
driving force, F(t), is applied at the center frequency (co) of the sinusoidal driving force.

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 MODAL
Xi I Fo
ļ SYSTEM
^"RESPONSE
/ j ' J RESPONSE
I X^^Í^OR MODE1
RESPONSE /' ! '
FOR MODE^ 3 X j
G01 CO 3
Figure 15
The dotted lines in Figure 15 are plots of
the frequency response functions for each indi-
vidual mode of vibration and the solid line is
the system frequency response function. The
system frequency response function is composed
of the sum of the response functions of the
individual modes of vibration. Similar plots
can be drawn for the response of coordinates
X2 and X3. As can be seen from Eqn. (46), these
plots will exhibit similar characteristics except
that their amplitudes will be modified due to
the difference in mode shape coefficients.
The system response shown in Figure 15
exhibits multiple peak, i.e., frequencies where
the response amplitude exhibits a local maximum.
The frequencies at which this occurs are the
resonant frequencies of the system. As can be
seen, the response of the system at or near a
resonant frequency is dominated by the response
to that particular mode. If the driving force
is composed of more than one dominant frequency
or if two or more of the resonant frequencies
are closely spaced, then the response is more
complicated. However, the response of the system
can be analysed for each of the driving frequen-
cies and each of the modes separately, and the
total response then obtained by summing the
individual responses. In this manner, the
forces, frequencies and modes which produce
offending vibration levels can be identified
and analysed. In turn, this information can be
used to determine and implement means for reduc-
ing offensive vibration levels.
In addition to identifying the source (s)
of offending vibrations, modal analysis can also
be used to identify locations of high cyclic
stress, since stresses are proportional to the
relative deformations between two points. There-
fore, high stress areas can be determined from
the characteristic deformation patterns asso-
ciated with each mode of vibration (mode shape) .
For example, bending stresses are proportional
to the curvatures of the member. For the sys-
tems shown in Figure 12, the location of the
point of maximum bending stress for the first
mode is at the center. But for the second mode,
the location of the points of maximum stress is
at points 1 and 3.
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ANALYSIS 2703
REDUCING VIBRATION LEVELS
The response of a structure or system to a
steady state driving force is analogous to the
response of a single mass-spring-damper single
degree of freedom system. Thus, changes which
affect a single degree of freedom system will
have a similar effect on a multiple degree of
freedom system. Vibration levels in multiple
degree of freedom systems can be reduced by
changing modal mass, stiffness, or damping of
the system and thereby changing the resonant
frequencies of the system.
Vibration attenuation can also be achieved
by changing the frequency of the driving force
or reducing the amplitude of the driving force.
The particular means used will, of course, de-
pend upon the particular application. However,
the methods may in general be grouped according
to which of the three regions in the frequency
response function (Figure 16) the frequency of
the driving force occurs.
x/F
• i
! 2 :
I I
I
I
I
I
REGIO
1/K I
I
Figure 16
Relative to the three response regions, vi-
bration attenuation can be achieved as shown in
Table I.
Table I
Region
1 Increase modal stiffness
2 Increase modal damping
Move resonant frequency
3 Decrease resonant frequency
Increase modal mass
In addition, the response levels in all
three regions can be reduced by decreasing the
modal driving force. This can be accomplished
by either reducing the magnitude of the actual
driving force, or by reducing the participation
factor of the driving force in the offending
mode; i.e., by moving the location of the force
input towards a node point (point of zero modal
response). Other more complex techniques, such
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 2704 S.C. WALGRAVE AND J. M. EHLBECK
as increasing mode separation and splitting
A F(i) = Fosincoř
single modes into two or more separate modes
through redesign, can also be employed.
Excluding changes in modal damping, all of I I I ļ I
the attenuation methods listed in Table I deal A m mj A
with changes in modal mass or stiffness. The
position on a structure or system where these
changes will have the greatest effect on the
cļ cļ cļ
/777 /777 /777

response of a specific mode is the location(s)

where the change will most significantly alter
the modal mass or stiffness of the offending
mode. This location (s) can be determined by
expanding the equation for the modal mass, Eqn.
(28), and modal stiffness, Eqn. (30). The equa-
tional expansion yields a numeric determination
of the contribution of each single element,
either mass or stiffness, which, in total, deter-
mine the system modal properties. For example,
expanded Eqn. (28) to obtain the modal mass for
the first mode of the system shown in Figure 12
gives:
Figure 17
Since this is the same system as shown in
Figure 12, except that the driving force has
been moved to position 3, the mode shapes, modal
mass, modal damping and modal stiffness will be
the same as for the previous example. However,
since the location of the force is different,
the force distribution factors P(xi) and hence
the participation factors for the two examples
are different. The participation factors for
this example are:

M1 = m<^ll2 + m<'>212 + ""^l.2

" 0.706 1 0.7061/ 0' / 0.706'
Substituting the numeric values for the mode {r} = i o 1 14» 1 4 (50)
shape coefficients for the first mode gives: -0.720 1 -0.720 U/ V-0.7207

M.. = m(0.7062 + l2 + 0.7062)

1 (48) Using Eqn. (41), the steady state response
= m(0.50 + 1 + 0.50) of the system shown in Figure 17 to the sinu-
soidal driving force applied at position 3 is
given by:

As shown by Eqn. (48), altering the mass at

the center of the beam is twice as effective as
altering either of the other two masses. How- x± jO. 706 -1 -0. 7201/ 0. 706 H1(o))'
ever, altering the mass at the center of the
beam will not have an effect on the second mode x2 = 1 0 1 <J H2(w) > F sin oat
of vibration of the system as shown by Eqn. (49),
which is the modal mass expansion for the second x3 0.706 1 -0.720|(r0.720 H3(a>)J (51)
mode .

Or:
2 2 2'
M2 ~ m 12 + m 22
, o o (49) X]L = [0.50 H^co) - H2(w) + 0.52 H3(w)] t sin
= m(r + 0 + 1 )
x2 = [0.706 ^ (to) -0.720 H3(co)] F sin cot
x3 = [0.50 H^co) + H2(oo) + 0.52 H3(co)] F sin
Similarly, Eqn. (30) can be expanded to
(52)
determine the most effective location(s) for
alteration of the modal stiffness for each mode
of vibration. A plot of the magnitude of the steady state
The effect which the participation factor response at xļ as a function or the frequency (oa)
has upoiļ the response of a system can be illus- of the driving force is shown in Figure 18, where
trated by considering the response of the system the dotted lines and solid lines are the same as
shown in Figure 17. shown in Figure 15 .

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 MODAL ANALYSIS
X,/F
1 TOTAL
A I r
/j' ' RESPONSE
/ 1 ' 1 ^ RESPONSE
>/ I N-/ÍI V FOR MODE 1
^FORMODE2 | |
'response vŅNn
CÜ1 CO 2 CO 3
Figure 18
Overlaying the plots of system responses
for the two examples, Figure 19, provides a
means to visually evaluate the difference due
to the change in participation factors.
Xi / F
ļ i'/ K
C01 CO 2 CO 3
Figure 19
As can be seen in Figure 19, the magnitude
of the response for the system shown in Figure
17 (dotted line in figure) is less than the
magnitude of the response for the system shown
in Figure 12 (solid line in figure), except in
the region of
As illustrated by these two examples, the
location at which a driving force is applied to
a structure or system can significantly effect
the response of the system. If vibration levels
are to be minimized, driving forces should be
minimized and their input locations should be as
close as possible to a node point for the mode
which is most troublesome or for the mode which
the driving forces will most significantly excite.
When investigating changes to a structure
of system which will alter the distribution of
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2705
the mass or stiffness of the system, the effect
which these changes will have on the other modes
of vibration of the system must not be overlooked.
Any system change which affects one mode of vi-
bration will also affect the resonant frequen-
cies, mode shapes and participation factors for
all of the other modes of the system. A complete
understanding of the resultant affects of a
change can only be obtained through a complete
re-evaluation of the revised system.
SUMMARY
From an investigation of the single degree
of freedom system, an appreciation can be gained
for the physical significance of the parameters
involved in determining a system's dynamic re-
sponse. This is particularly true around the
frequency regime where resonance occurs and the
magnification factors can become excessively
large.
The insight gained from the single degree
of freedom can be extended and shown applicable
to the more realistic multi degree of freedom
systems, where the total system response is the
sum of the responses of the system in each of
the individual modes of vibration. The import-
ance of participation factors, modal mass and
modal stiffness in determining resonant fre-
quencies and their associated response ampli-
tudes can allow a more accurate interpretation
of problem causes and effects.
With a sufficient understanding of prin-
cipals involved, appropriate measures can be
implemented which will alleviate vibration
problems at particular frequencies, or possibly
over the entire frequency range of interest.
REFERENCES
1. L. Meirovitch, "Elements of Vibration
Analysis." McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1975
2. W. T. Thompson, "Theory of Vibrations
With Applications." Prentice-Hall, Inc., Engle-
wood Cliffs, N.M., 1972.
3. R. A. Anderson, Fundamentals of Vibra-
tions." The MacMillan Co., New York, 1967.
4. W. C. Hurty and M. F. Rubinstein,
"Dynamics of Structures." Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1964.
5. L. Meirovitch, Analytical Methods in
Vibrations." The MacMillan Co., New York, 1967.
6. J. M. Gere and W. Weaver, Jr., Matrix
Algebra for Engineers." Van Nostrand Reinhold
Co., New York, 1965.