299

On the Graphical Solution of Transient Vibration

Problems
By R. E. D. Bishop, M.Sc. (Eng.), M.A., Ph.D. (Graduate)*
Phase-plane methods have been used with great success in the theory of non-linear mechanics. They
have also been applied to a different class of problems; uiz. to dynamical systems with transient
loading. The paper concerns this second use of the plane and some recent extensions of it.
A survey is made of the literature covering the twenty years since these constructions were intro-
duced. This relates to : (1) the transient disturbance of single-degree-of-freedom systems (which
may include damping, non-linearity, hysteresis, etc.) and of multi-degree-of-freedom systems ;
(2) the deflexions of beam columns in the theory of elastic stability; and (3)Jacobsen’s general method
of graphical integration.
Some new additions to the theory are given. These are: (1) a method of graphical differentiation;
(2) a simplified approach to multi-degree-of-freedom systems leading to the treatment of transient
loading of beams by moving and moving-and-varying loads (damping may be contemplated in these
beam problems and the method that is devised easily carries over to certain plate problems); and
(3) a demonstration that the graphical method can be used for deflexions-as well as bending moments
-in the theory of beam columns.
It is suggested that these constructions are of real importance, not only for practical engineering
problems, but also for teaching purposes.

INTRODUCTION they are not easily explained-certainly not at the undergraauate

When a vibration analysis of a mechanical system is made, it is
first necessary to simplify the problem before applying the rules
of mechanics to it. In this way it is very often possible to arrive
at a simple system of a single degree of freedom as in Fig. 1,
where a mass is attached to a linear (‘Hookeys Law’) spring and
S X
Fig. 1. Single-degree-of-freedom System
is subjected to some time-dependent applied force. T o be sure,
this process of idealization is often very difficult, requiring much
engineering skill and insight. However, the present work is not
concerned with this aspect, but rather with the already idealized
system.
Now, if the simple oscillator of Fig. 1is subjected to an applied
force that is sinusoidal the motion of the mass is easily found
from simple theory. This is also true if the force varies with time
in certain other simple ways; e.g. the motion x ( t ) (the ‘response’)
can easily be found if the force F is always zero except over some
finite interval when it has a constant finite value. Again, since the
system is linear, it is permissible to apply Fourier series to find
the response to a periodic force with any reasonable form.
However, if the force is of the nature of a pulse of arbitrary
shape, the analysis is not nearly so easy. While certain analytical
tools exist for this type of problem (e.g. the Fourier integral),
The MS.of this paper was originally received at the Institution on
11th November 1952, and in its revised form, as accepted by the
Council for publication, on 14th April 1953. For the report of the
meeting in London, on 22nd January 1954, at which this paper was
presented, see p. 322.
* Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.
level-and they require that it shall be possible for the force to
be described analytically as a function of time. These severe
limitations make it worthwhile to examine other methods of
approach.
The equation concerned is
mK+kx = F ( t ) . . . .
. (1)
where m represents the mass of the system shown in Fig. 1, K is
the stiffness of the massless spring, and F(t) is some arbitrary,
transient disturbing force. Dots over the displacement x indicate
differentiation with respect to time in the usual way. Apart from
analytical procedures, several numerical and graphical methods
have been proposed for solving equation (l)-e.g. Timoshenko
and Young (1948)t-so that it is necessary to select the one best
suited to the needs of any specific case.
It is clear that, when accuracy of working is important and a
computing machine is available, numerical methods have much
to recommend them. But graphical constructions are sometimes
more useful-at least to the inexperienced-because they give
information of a more general character than do.their numerical
counterparts. Thus they appear to be the more desirable for
giving instruction on the effects of transient forcing. The present
paper is devoted to a graphical method involving use of the
‘phase-plane’$, i.e. it is proposed to discuss the behaviour of
the simple oscillator by means of a plot of 2 against x (or, what is
dimensionally more desirable, k/2/(K/m)against x).
This phase-plane method has some distinct advantages over
comparable procedures, and some of these attractions are so
marked that it is thought that the subject might well be intro-
duced in undergraduate courses in vibration. One of its merits
is that complications can be added to the system of Fig. 1, such
as non-linearity or damping (or both), without detracting
materially from the simplicity of the procedure. Again, by a
simple extension, any number of degrees of freedom may be
contemplated. I n fact, this use of the phase-plane constitutes an
easy way of integrating many important differential equations.
The practical importance of being able to handle problems of
transient loading scarcely needs emphasis. Thus, once idealized
systems (comparable with that of Fig. 1) have been found, the
effects on structures of wind gusts and earthquakes can be
studied. Similarly, elastic response to blast waves may be treated
whether in connexion with structures or measuring instruments.
t An alphabetical list of references is given in Appendix 111.
$ The origin of this name is discussed in ‘Conclusions’.
300 ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
Again the motion of the chassis of a car caused by a small dip Taking the argument p t as a steadily increasing angle, t h i s result
of any shape in the road may be determined, and so on. I n view has a well-known graphical representation which is illustrated in
of the existence of electrical and acoustical analogues of Fig. 2a. The line OA rotates about 0 with an angular velocity p
the system shown in Fig. 1 and the intrinsic importance of the as shown and its length is R where
mechanical case, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the X*+(k/p)z = Xo2+(ko/p)2 = R2 . . , (6)
problem of transient loading holds as much technical interest
as that of steady sinusoidal forcing. Yet it seldom finds a place The ordinate and abscissa of A at any instant represent x and
in first courses in vibration. x/p respectively, so that curves of x and x / p plotted against time
Basically, the technique to be described is not new, for it was may be drawn by projection of the line OA (as shown for x ) .
introduced in the writings of Lamoen (1932 and 1935). But it
has only recently been given much attention, and several articles
in which it is used have appeared during the last five years in the
United States. It has also been rediscovered by Fuchs (1936),
Braun (1937), and Rojansky (1948). In addition, several authors
have adapted the original notion to their own needs so that the
literature has become somewhat diffuse. Since the practical value
of this method is great, it is worthwhile to try to give an up-to-
date, connected account of it together with a discussion of its
uses, shortcomings, attractions, and some new extensions of its
applicability.

Cross-sectional area of beam.

Constants.
Distance along beam. u Rotating line. b Projection of rotating line
Damping coefficient. giving displacement.
Force. Fig. 2. Graphical Representation of Free Vibration of a
Constant. Simple Oscillating System
Stiffness of spring.
Length of beam. The region shown in Fig. 2a is known as the ‘phase-plane’;
Length of pendulum. the point A (which at any instant describes the dynamical con-
Bendinn - moment. dition of the system) is the ‘representative point’ and its path
Mass. is called the ‘trajectory’. The free motion of the simple linear
Moment of a l l applied forces excluding end system, then, is described by a circular trajectory which is
thrust. traversed in the counter-clockwise direction with the angular
End thrust of beam. speed p.
Frequency of free vibration of single-degree- Instead of squaring and adding equations (3) and (4) in order
of-freedom system. to find the relation (6), an independent proof that the trajectory
Frequencies. is circular is of interest. Starting with equation (2),
Forces obtained from generalized forces.
Normal co-ordinates. mxx+ kxx = 0
Length of line. d d
Length of line. Therefore dj[nut2/2]+;r[kx2/2] = 0
Restoring force.
Time. so that
Shear force. nui~/2+kxz/2= E, a constant . . (7)
Transverse load applied to beam. This amounts to the statement that there is no dissipation during
Abutment displacement. the motion since t&/2 represents the kinetic and kx2/2 the
Displacement. strain energy. Thus,
Angle made by suspension with downward
vertical.
as before.
( i / p ) Z + x z = 2E/k = R2 . . . (8) .
Point load.
Deflexion.
Section modulus. (2) Transient Abutment Motion. Inquiry is now made as to
what the absolute motion x(t) of the mass in Fig. 3 would be if
X/P.
Frequency of damped, free oscillation.
Portion of time scale of response curve.
Ang‘e.
Denslty.
Maximum direct stress.
Known function.
constant.

U N D A M P E D V I B R A T I O N S OF SINGLE-DEGREE-OF-
FREEDOM SYSTEMS
( I ) Free Vibrations. The equation of the type of motion
under discussion is
mf+Kr=O . . . .
. . (2) Fig. 3. Simple System with Transient Abutment Motion
If xo and i oare the values of x and 2 when t = 0, its solution is
x = x o c o s p t + ( i o / p ) s i n p t . . . . . . (3) the abutment G were to execute some transient motion XCt). In
other words, the ‘response curve’ of x against t is wanted when
so that the ‘forcing curve’ of X (the ‘forcing function’) against t is
n / p = -xo sinpt+&/p) cospt . . . . . (4) given.
where Suppose that the system is at rest for the interval t<O and
p = 2/(k/m) . . . . . . . . . . (5) that, at the instant t = 0, the abutment suddenly moves a
 ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
distance XI to the right where it remains for all t > O (Fig. 4b).
For the interval t>O, the motion is given by
mf+kx = k x l . . . . . (9)
and, since xo = io= 0, the solution is
X = xi(1-COS P t ) --- [t>o1 - (10)
This is illustrated in Fig. 4b. That is, when the abrupt movement
- may be contemplated.
takes place, the equilibrium configuration about which the mass
oscillates is suddenly shifted a distance X1 and a circular trajec-
tory (with the corresponding centre) is commenced.
X X
a Trajectory. b Projection giving displacement.
Fig. 4. Representation of the Motion Caused by Single
Step of the Abutment
Had the system been in motion prior to the instant t = 0, so
that xo and iowere not zero, the solution of equation (9) would
have been
x = Xl(1 -cos pt)
+xocospt+(io/p) sinpt . . [t>O]
0 . . . (11)
instead of equation (10). It is easily verified that the same type of
graphical construction as that of Fig. 4a is valid except that the
initial point of the trajectory must now be taken as Po(io/p,xo),
instead of the origin 0. This is illustrated in Fig. 5a. As usual,
the response curve of x(t) is found by projection.
a Trajectory. b Projection giving displacement.
Fig. 5. Representation of the Motion Caused by a Single Step of
the Abutment when the System is not Initially at Rest
Next, let the abutment suddenly shift again to some dis-
placement X2 at time t l (Fig. 6b). Denoting the values of x
and i / p when t = t l by xI and i l / p , equation (11) gives
x1 = X1(1-cospt,)+x, cospt,+(io/p) sinpt,
xl/p = X1 sinpt,-xo sinptl+(io/p) cospt, . .
, (12)
That is, for t > t l , another application of (11) gives
# = X,[l-cosp(t-t,)]+x1 cosp(t-t,)
+(k~/P)sinp(t-tl) . . (13) .
30 1
Since equation (11) may be represented by the construction of
Fig. 5a, it is at once clear that Fig. 6a is valid for equation (13):
the time is merely taken as t - t 1 instead of t after the second
shift (so that PI replaces Po of the previous case and X2 replaces
XI). In ,this way, any number of steps in the forcing function X
If X varies continuously with time, the problem is treated as
if the abutment makes a large number of s m a l l steps. It can
readily be shown analytically (by the method used in deriving
equation (13)) that the smaller the approximating steps, the more
x X
a Trajectory. b Projection giving displacement.
Fig. 6. Representation of the Motion Caused by Two Steps of
the Abutment, the System not being Initially at Rest
nearly exact does the graphical method become. It is found in
practice, however, that quite crude step approximations give
good accuracy when the area beneath each step is made equal
to the area beneath the portion of the forcing curve that it
replaces. The first two steps of a typical case are shown in Fig. 7.
(3) Transient Forcing. The problem that has so far been
examined by the graphical method is governed by the differen-
tial equation
mf+kx=kX . . ... (14)
or
X+p2x =p2X . . . . . (15)
X X
I X
a Trajectory. b Projection giving displacement
Fig. 7. The First Two Steps of the Treatment of a Typical
Problem of Abutment Motion
I t has been shown how the right-hand term may be any arbitrary
function of time.
The differential equation is exactly analogous when the abut-
ment is stationary and there is an arbitrary forcing function
F ( t ) as in Fig. 1. Thus
f+p2x = pZ(F/k) . . . . . (16)
Hence, if F is divided by k and is plotted as a function of time,
the resulting forcing curve may be used exactly as before.
302 ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
The foregoing theory is, effectively, due to Lamoen (1932, temporarily (requiring a fresh cut-out sector). On the other
1935) and it can be applied to a great variety of problems. For hand, when the sector a x i s lies nearly parallel to that of i / p , it
instance, examples on the free and forced oscillations of a simple is easy to obtain good accuracy in placing the sector point.
spring-mass system with Coulomb damping can easily be Having projected the various steps of X across on to the space-
handled. time axes, the forcing curve of X may be obtained by joining
the mid-points Q of the steps with a smooth curve. Remembering
DIFFERENTIATION that
Suppose that the response curve x ( t ) is known and the X = F/k
constants m and k of the system are given (Fig. 1). The problem the function F(t) may be found.
is now to find the forcing function X(t) (or F(t)). The physical
importance of the problem lies in its application to measuring 20 CM IN ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION
instruments. For instance, a transient gas pressure might be 4 c
measured by means of a manometer (which has its own natural
period) and the response recorded in some way as a function of IX
time. Analytically, this calls for double differentiation of the
response curve and it is notoriously difficult to do this directly
with accuracy.
The phase-plane method to be described has been found by
the author to give quite accurate results provided that interest in
the motion is confined to the first couple of swings of the system.
Its accuracy also depends upon the shape of the forcing curve;
but fortunately ‘blast loading’ shapes, in which the forcing
curve rises sharply and then slowly falls, can be handled.
Let the time scale of the response curve be divided up into
equal portions 8 as shown in Fig. 8b. Having selected a con-

a b
Fig. 9. Typical Example of Differentiation Showing Initial
Forcing Curve A, its Trajectory By and the Response
Curve C
Starting with curve C the trajectory D was found from which the points
lying approximately on curve A were determined.

Fig. 9 gives some idea of the accuracy obtainable by this

method. The forcing function

a The method of constructing b The given response curve
the trajectory. showing the first point Q
of forcing curve.
Fig. 8. The Procedure for Differentiating a Response
Curve to Find the Forcing Curve
venient value of 8, a sector of polar graph paper is cut out
such that the angle at the pole is p6(= 8 d ( k / m ) ) . In order to
obtain the first step approximation of the curve of X,the point
of the sector is moved along the x-axis of the trajectory (which
is to be constructed) until the state of afFairs of Fig. 8a is reached.
That is, an arc is found on the graph paper which has one end at
the origin and the other at the same height as the response curve
at time 6 (i.e. at P). The height of the sector point is X I and it
represents the first step of the forcing curve. It may be projected
across on to the original axes as shown in Fig. 8b. The point P
lies on the required trajectory and is the starting point for the
next step ; i.e. keeping the point of the sector on the x-axis, X2
is sought in the same way as before using P as the starting point
of the arc instead of 0. And so the procedure goes on.
It has been assumed that the initial motion at time t = 0 was
zero. Clearly, any other known initial conditions could prevail,
the starting point being fixed accordingly.
When the axis of symmetry of the sector is nearly coincident
with the x-axis, it is difficult to find the proper position of the
point since many arcs can be found on the graph paper which
apparently fit the required conditions. A good way of ge
past this symmetricalposition is simply to adopt a new value of T
was plotted as curve A and, from it, the dotted trajectory B was
found for a system with p = 6.28 radians per sec. by Lamoen’s
method. Hence, the response Curve C was found by projection.
Now the process was reversed and the curve C was differentiated
by the method just described giving the trajectory D and thence
the points marked on the space-time axes which approximate to
the original curve A. Only one value of 8 was taken, wiz. 6 = 0.1
second, so that
p6 = 0.628 radian or 36 deg.
The scale of the original drawing is shown in Fig. 9. It is quite
apparent that this method is no better than more conventional
ones after about one-and-a-half convolutions of the trajectory.
Allowance has not been made for damping. If viscous damping
is present to a known degree, there is no reason why this method
should not be adapted to allow for it. A plain sector is then pre-
ferable and it may be used in conjunction with a logarithmic
spiral drawn on a sheet of transparent paper. The method will
become quite obvious once it is seen how viscous damping can
be dealt with in the process of integration.
DAMPING
( I ) General Remarks. Three distinct methods have been
proposed for including the effects of damping in the motion of
the spring-mass system-apart from that already mentioned*
for the case of Coulomb friction. The first is due to Lamoen
(1935)and concerns viscous damping only; while it is perfectly
valid, this suggestion will not be pursued here because the
others are more convenient.
See under Undamped Vibrations of Single-degree-of-freedom
Systems, (3)Transient Forcing.
 ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS 303
The second method is due to Fuchs (1936) also Braun (1937) the angular speed with which it is traversed by the representative
and it covers more general types of damping. This procedure is point being
a slightly restricted version of that used by Jacobsen (1951) in j3 = pd/(l-.*>
his general method of integration, which is discussed below*.
Although Jacobsen’s method embraces all forms of damping, Thus, if B is the angle turned through, the explicit equation of
a third procedure will now be discussed. This is due to Fliigge-the spiral is
Lotz and Hotter (1943) and it offers the most convenient S = Re-Wd(l-v2) = Re-Btmo . . .
(25)
approach to the particular case of viscous damping. Clearly, a separate spiral must be drawn (on tracing paper) for
each value of v.
(2) Orthodox Solution for Viscous Damping of Free Vibration. While the construction of these spirals presents no mathe-
The equation of motion is matical difficulty, it is a tedious undertaking requiring con-
m2+ci+kx= 0 . . . . . (17) siderable skill with French curves. To overcome this drawback,
Jacobsen (1951) has given an approximate method of construc-
where c is the damping coefficient. The value of c for critical tion whereby the curve is replaced by a series of circular arcs.
damping is cm = 2 d ( k m ) so that, if This is quite accurate enough for most practical purposes if
v = C/Ccr . . . . (18) v<05; the construction is described in Appendix 11.
2+2&92+p2x = 0 . . . . . (19)
Assuming that v < 1, the solution of this equation is (4) Viscous Damping of Forced Vibrations. The theory of
forced vibrations can now be derived in exactly the same way as
x = e-vPt [A cos Pt+B sin pt] . . . (20) for the undamped motion, i.e. in terms of steps of the abutment
where /3 = pd(l-v2) and A and B are constants. Letting motion X ( t ) (Fig. 11).
R = .\/(A2+B2) and 4 = tan-’ (B/A), this result may be
written
x = e-*tRcos@t-#) . . . . (21)
After differentiation and rearrangement, this gives
( i / p ) = --e-vt R sin (j3t-++u) . . . . (22)
where
sin u = v ; cos u = d(l-v*) .
. . . (23)
(3) Phase-plane Representation. Equations (21) and (22) can
be made to define a logarithmic spiral by the use of oblique co-
ordinates. Thus, letting S = Re-*[, the equations may be Fig. 11. Damped System Subjected to a Transient Abutment
written Motion
3c = scos q3t-4)
}
318 = -s sin @t-++u>/cos u . . . (24) I n Fig. 12, the first few steps of a typical case are shown, the
Adopting the axes shown in Fig. 10, these equations are seen to initial motion being taken as zero. For the given value of v, a
spiral may be drawn and the value of j3 can be computed from
m, k, and v. Now, at time t = 0, the equilibrium position shifts
suddenly to X = X Iand the representative point sets out along
the spiral whose centre is placed at Q (Fig. 12). After the

P I / s

Fig. 10. Oblique Axes for the Treatment of Damped

Vibration

represent a line of length S which rotates with a constant angular

speed j3 in the counter-clockwise direction. While the first of
equations (24) is obviously satisfied, the second may be written
- i / p = s sin (fit-+)+. tan u
which is also given by Fig. 10. Since S decreases exponentially
with time, it follows that the trajectory is a logarithmic spiral.
Given an initial point in the oblique phase-plane, the trajec-
tory may quickly be found by placing the centre of an appropriate
spiral, drawn on transparent paper or cloth, at the origin and
turning it round until the line passes over the given point. This
spiral is given by
S = Re-W
* See under The General Phase-plane Method of Integration.
Fig. 12. The First Three Steps of a Typical Case of a Damped
System with a Transient Abutment Motion
angle p t l has been completed with the centre X I , the abutment
moves to X2 and so on.
A transient force F(t) applied to the vibrating mass (as opposed
to an abutment motion) is treated in exactly the same way as
before. That is, F/k is plotted against time and is used in place
of x.
304 ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N O F TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
N O N - L I N E A R R E S T O R I N G FORCE
Lamoen (1935) has given the procedure for adapting the
phase-plane method to the forcing of a single-degree-of-freedom
system having a non-linear restoring force characteristic. Use
has since been made of this in the writings of Evaldson, Ayre, and
Jacobsen (1949), Bruce (1951),and Jacobsen, Ayre, and Aisawa
(1951).
( I ) Free Vibration of a Bi-lineur System*. As a first step, the
bi-linear system of Fig. 13a is considered where the forcing
function X(t) is now taken as zero. The restoring force s is
u The idealized system
’I kt
b The curve of restoring force s
plotted against deflexion.
Fig. 13. A Bi-linear System with One Degree of Freedom
plotted against displacement x in Fig. 13b and the diagram shows
abrupt changes of slope when x = fa. These slopes are given
by the relevant total spring stiffnesses as indicated in the two
diagrams.
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the motion is started
with the initial conditions x = xo(>a) and alp = 0 when t = 0
so that the start is at point 1 of Fig. 14b. Now, Fig. 14a is the
lx IX IX
u The curve of b The trajectory. c The projection show-
restoring force. ing the displacement.
Fig. 14. Free Vibration of the Bi-linear System
same as Fig. 13b except that it has been rotated counter-clock-
wise through 90 deg. It shows the representative point moving, at
first, along a circular arc about the apparent position of equili-
brium 0,, the angular velocity of the radius vector being
p 2 = d ( k 2 / m ) .This goes on until x = a when the position of
equilibrium is suddenly transferred to the origin 0 and the
angular velocity becomes p1 = d ( k , / m ) .The abscissa of point 2
must now be measured and multiplied by p 2 / p l in order to give
the starting point 3 for the next arc because x / p shows a dis-
continuity (although, of course, x does not).
Clearly the trajectory is symmetrical about the x- and x/p-
axes so that a closed curve is eventually arrived at in Fig. 14b. force-displacement characteristic of a system may have negative
The response curve of x ( t ) is obtained by projection in the usual slope indicating a region of instability. The ‘swinging boom’
way as in Fig. 14c.
* The problem of free and forced vibration of a bi-linear system is
treated in detail by Evaldson, Ayre, and Jacobsen (1949) both the phase-plane method.
theoretically (by this method) and experimentally.
(2) Forced Vibration of a Bi-linear System. Let the system
start from rest in its position of static equilibrium and suppose
that the steps in Fig. 1% represent the approximation to the
forcing function X . When t = 0, the abutment of Fig. 13a
jumps to XI and the equilibrium position of the springs moves
with it. That is, the curve of Fig. 1% moves into the position (ii)
as shown. Since X1<a, the first stage is 01 executed with
angular speed p1 as shown in Fig. 1%.
I X
9 The curve of restoring b The first few arcs c The forcing curve
force which moves of the trajectory.
when the abutment
moves.
and the projected
response curve.
Fig. 15. Forced Vibration of the Bi-linear System
At the instant tl, the abutment moves to X 2 and the curve in
Fig. 1% takes up position (iii). Since point 1 lies ‘outside’ the
discontinuity of curve (iii), the new motion starts with angular
velocity p 2 (necessitatingthe change-over from point 1to point 2
before setting out) about the apparent equilibrium position Q.
When the arc reaches the level of the discontinuity (i.e. point 3),
there is an abrupt change of angular velocity from p 2 to p1 so
that point 4 is reached and the process continues about R as
centre. I n this way the process goes on, the response curve being
obtained in the usual way by projection as in Fig. 1%.
(3) Non-linear Restm‘rg Forces in General. Had the restoring
force characteristic (of Fig. 13b) been broken into more than
three straight lines, the procedure would have been analogous
..
to that described. Angular velocities pl, p 2 , p 3 . would have
been introduced with a corresponding increase in the number of
horizontal discontinuities in the trajectory for a particular forcing
function X. As no appeal has been made to any symmetry of the
restoring-force-displacement diagram, the procedure that has
been outlined applies to any system with a broken line restoring-
force characteristic.
The extension of the phase-plane method to cover transient
forcing of any single-degree-of-freedom system with a non-
linear spring is based upon the notion that any spring charac-
teristic can be approximated by a series of straight lines. The
greater the accuracy that is required, the shorter must the lines
be taken.
If viscous damping obtains, oblique axes may be used with the
obvious simple modifications to the construction. Alternatively,
the general method of integration may be employedt.
When a transient force acts upon the mass (instead of the
occurrence of an abutment motion), it is usually best to use the
general method of integration rather than the construction just
described. This is because of the complications which arise in
plotting the function F / k on account of the variation of k with
displacement.
(4) Negative Spring Constants. A portion of the restoring-
type of seismograph affords an example of this and the motion
of such an instrument has been examined by Bruce (1951)using
t See under The General Phase-plane Method of Integration.
 ON T H E GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS 305
The equation of motion for free vibrations is now is exhibited. By means of the phase-plane method, they have
f-fh = 0 . . . . . (26) investigated the effects of varying the various parameters of such
systems.
where p2 = -k/m>O. The solution is
x = A cosh ( p t + $ )} or {
x=Asinh(Pt+$) T R A N S I E N T D I S T U R B A N C E OF A L I N E A R S Y S T E M O F n
X/p = A sinh (pt+ $) X/p = A cosh ( p t + $) DEGREES OF FREEDOM
...(27) Let the normal co-ordinates q l , q2, q3 ...
q n be used to define
where A and $ are constants fixed by the initial conditions. the configuration of an undamped, linear system of n degrees of
Equations (27) are the parametric representation of the hyper- freedom. The motion is then governed by the equations
bolae shown in Fig. 16 so that, instead of circular arcs in the 8i+Pi2qi = P i 2 Q i
phase-plane, hyperbolic segments must now be used.
&+Pz242 = $z2Q2
.................... (28)
..............
...............
8n + Pn2qn = Pn2Qn
where pi, p2, p 3 ... P n are the frequencies of free vibration in
the n normal modes which may be determined by the usual well-
known methods. The quantities Q l ( t ) , Q z ( t ) , Q3(t> ... Qn(t) are
found from the generalized forces (correspondmg to ql, q2,
473... q n ) which, in turn, may be found by standard means from
the actual applied forces*.
Each of equations (28) has the same form as equation (15)
which governs single-degree-of-freedom systems, and a separate
phase-plane construction may be made for each giving the
...
quantities q l , q2, q3 q n as functions of time. It is now a routine
procedure to find any other set of co-ordinates as functions of
time by linear transformation.
Ayre (1952) has discussed this type of problem and shown the
applicability of the phase-plane method. However, although he
mentions normal co-ordinates and states that the essence of the
procedure is to treat each normal mode independently, he does
Fig. 16. Hyperbolae in the Phase-plane Associated with not use normal co-ordinates in his derivation so that, as a
Unstable Motion Due to a Negative Spring Characteristic consequence, the development of his theory is a little more com-
plicated. T o be sure, even the use of normal co-ordinates does
If the motion is forced, the usual procedure may be followed. not remove the need for tedious algebra especially for cases of
Thus, in any interval in which the abutment is stationary, the more than two degrees of freedom.
corresponding arc of the trajectory is a hyperbola the origin of In general, it is not possible to introduce damping terms into
which lies at the temporary position of equilibrium. For further equations (28) without encountering ‘cross’ terms bringing
details of the technique, reference should be made to Bruce more than one co-ordinate into each equation.
(1951).
As already mentioned, the value of k will be negative only over S Y S T E M S W I T H A N I N F I N I T E N U M B E R OF DEGREES
a certain range of displacements in any oscillating system since, OF FREEDOM
otherwise, the motion would be completely unstable. The (1) Beam with Transient Loading. It has already been shown
trajectory will therefore be composed of arcs of circles and of by Ayre (1952) that the phase-plane construction is applicable to
hyperbolic arcs (assuming that there is no damping). systems having an infinite number of degrees of freedom. The
standpoint which will be adopted here leads to a slinht simplifi-
(5) Hysteresis. Suppose that the restoring-force-displace- cation of his theory and easily leads to further applications.
ment diagram of a single-degree-of-freedom system is a closed
curve so that the motion is hysteretic. Lamoen (1935) has
investigated the free and forced motion of such systems by the
phase-plane method. The procedure introduces no new con-
cepts and is illustrated by the simple problem (of free vibration)
I
of Fig. 17 in which the initial conditions are taken as those of
point 1.
The problem of the response of a simpIe bi-linear system to a x
‘rectangular’ type of disturbance has been treated in detail by
Jacobsen, Ayre, and Aisawa (1951) for the case where hysteresis

3’ Fig. 18. Point-loading of a Simple Beam

The simple theory of beam vibration gives rise to the equation
of motion

where A is the cross-sectional area of the beam, p the density, y

the deflexion, f ( x , t the applied load, EZ the flexural rigidity,
u The curve of
restoring force
b Trajectory. c Projection giving displace-
ment.
h
and a* = EZ/Ap. T e derivation is given by Timoshenko (1937,
954). For the sake of definiteness, consider the problem of
showing hy st e- Fig. 18 in which the point load Y varies in some way with time.
resis loops.
* It is, of course, assumed that the externally applied forces are
Fig. 17. Hysteretic Motion of a Simple Oscillator independent of the co-ordinates q1,qz ...
4n.
306 ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION O F TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
Employing the normal functions of a simply supported beam, for this is that the series solution (31) represents the deflexion of
the load may be represented by the trigonometric series an infinite beam with zero deflexion at intervals L . Consequently,
if the load is finite outside the span, some continuous beam
problem will be solved precluding all modes not covered by the
sine series. With this proviso, Y and a may be any given functions
m
of time.
and the deflexion is taken to be of the form Again there is no special significance in the fact that a simply
. . . . (31)
supported beam has been considered, beyond that of simplicity.
y = x q m ( t ) smxx
in~
m (3) Plates With TranFient Loading. Starting with the elemen-
O n substituting the two series into the equation of motion (29), tary equation for the flexural motion of a thin p1ate-e.g.
it is found that Timoshenko (1937, §70)-it is easy to extend the theory just
2Y(t) mxa given to certain problems of transient loading of plates. A simple
gm+-
a2m4r4
~4 4 m =- sin^ . . . . (32) case is that of a uniformly distributed load the intensity of which
LAP varies in some way with time acting upon a simply supported
and writing rectangular plate. It is now necessary to employ double series.

this becomes USE OF PHASE-PLANES I N THEORY O F ELASTIC

STABILITY
(1) Introductoty Theoty. I t has been shown how the
equation
= pm2xm (say) . . . . . (34) x+p% = p 2 X .. . . . (38)
where m = 1, 2, 3. . .. can be handled by the phase-plane method when the form of
Comparison of equations (15) and (34) reveals that the phase- X(t ) and initial conditions are known. A problem which is
plane method is applicable once a value of m has been selected. governed by the same differential equation but which introduces
For the fundamental mode, m = 1 , so that p 1 2 can be calculated. boundary conditions rather than initial conditions will now be
Since Y is a given function oft, can be plotted as a function of examined. For equation (38) occurs in the theory of the laterally
t and thence a trajectory drawnjor q l . As for the single-degree- loaded beam subjected to an axial force.
of-freedom case, the initial motion may or may not be nil. The
next mode is that of m = 2 and it is at once clear that the forcing
function x 2 is much smaller than x I and that the representative
point traverses its trajectory with 22 times its. previous angular
speed. And so the method proceeds until a sufficient degree of
accuracy is obtained. Of course, the number of phase-planes
which must be drawn depends upon the frequency content of the
forcing function; t h i s can be strikingly illustrated by the con-
struction.
As pointed out by Ayre (1952), the phase-plane method may
equally well be used to determine the variation of the maximum
direct stress u with time. For,
1
Y
V

where Z is the section modulus. Therefore Fig. 19. An Isolated Portion of a Beam Column
EZx2 mLx
u = - m x q n , m 2 sin . . . . (36) Fig. 19 shows a portion of a beam which has an end thrust P
m and an applied lateral load w per unit run. Assuming that all
loads and deflexions are associated with a principal plane of the
beam, the deflexion equation may be found. The bending
m moment M which exists at a vertical cross-section is given by
Since qm must satisfy (34), rm is governed by M=Py+m ...... (39)
where m now represents the moment of all applied forces and
couples excluding the moment due to P,and y is the deflexion.
and the same method as before may be applied. Since
A simply supported beam has been discussed for the sake of
simplicity and there is clearly no reason why the method should
not be applied to other types of beam (e.g. clamped-clamped or it follows that
clamped-free). Again, damping in a visco-elastic beam may be
contemplated since a viscous damping term then appears in the m
..... (40)
equation of motion for each separate mode*. *d w+2 c EI
Y=-m
By considering the vertical and rotational equilibrium of a slice
(2) Travelling Load Problems. Once more taking the point of the beam bounded by vertical faces, it is found that
load as a special case, equation (30) is obtained as representing
the load. But now Y is a constant and a is a known function oft.
Thus, for the simply supported beam, the quantity within the dx
c=
-w; dM
-
dx
= V+P;i;dY . . .
(41)
brackets of equation (34) can once again be plotted against t where V is the shear force as shown in Fig. 19. It follows by
once m is fixed. The procedure can then be followed exactly as
before. elimination of V that
The distance a may be any function of time. But, if a<O or
a> L , the forcing functionxmmust be taken as zero. The reason
d2M P
-+-M=
dx2 E l
-W . -
. (42) -
* The relevant equations and certain modifications may be found Equations (40) and (42) are mathematically similar to (38) and
in a paper by Mindlin, Stubner, and Cooper (1948). the phase-plane method can be applied to both.
 ON T H E GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANS I E N T VIBRATION P R 0 B L E i M S 307
(2) The Phase-plane for Defixions. In order to treat A W B
equation (40)by the phase-plane method, it is written in the 4 c A A c i b c i 4 c c A 4 L
form P P
*X
m
y"+pZu = p 2 [ - p ] . . . . (43)
where primes represent differentiation with respect to x and a The loaded beam.
p2 = P/EI. The phase-plane co-ordinates will now be y and
y'/p and, to find the solution of a given problem, it is only neces-
sary to follow the same procedure as for the undamped motion
of the simple spring-mass system. But there are two differences :
(a) the forcing function [-m/P] is defined only for the range
O < x< L where L is the length of the beam, and (b) the trajectory
has a finite length, both end conditions now being assigned.
This construction lends itself best to strut problems in which
m = 0; p then assumes eigenvalues.

IY
L n b The phase-plane for bending c The projected curve of bending
moments. moments.
Fig. 21. Simple Beam-column Problem

with the corresponding dynamical problem) and the extremities

T
\
j. I

\ . I '
u The configuration. b The phase-plane for deflexions.
Fig. 20. A Built-in Strut
of the arc must lie on the M / p axis (because M vanishes at each
end of the beam), the trajectory in Fig. 21b may be drawn. The
curve of M against x in Fig. 21c is obtained by projection in the
usual way.
(6) Example Involving End-moment. Suppose that a couple
Ma is applied to the left-hand end of the beam column as in
Fig. 22a. The line AA may now be drawn in the phase-plane

(3) Example. Consider the built-in strut depicted in Fig. 20a,

taking axes as shown. Since m = 0, the trajectory is an arc
whose centre lies at the origin and whose extremities must lie
on the axes-as in Fig. 20b-because y = 0 when x = 0, and
y' = 0 when x = L. Therefore the line OQ must be turned u The loaded beam.
through the angles 7712, 3 ~ 1 2 57712.
, . .in describing the trajec-
tory. That is M
pL = v/2, 3 ~ 1 2 57712
, ... I

or P = P,, = n2EI/4LZa9 d E I / 4 L 2 ,25~2EI/4L2 , ..

which is a well-known result. I t is to be noted that the magnitude
of the deflexion-evidenced by the length of the line OQ-is
immaterial.
Several of the results of the elementarytheory of elasticstability
may be illustrated in this way. If m is not zero over the range
O < X < La a modified form of the usual phase-plane construction
may be used. But it will usually be found more convenient, then,
to turn to the type of construction which is discussed next.
(4) The Phase-plane for Bending Moments. I n the usual
notation, equation (42) may be written as
and a phase-plane construction is again possible, the axes being
those of M and M'lp. The counterpart of the forcing function X
of the dynamical problem is -w/p2. This line of attack is only
useful whenp is known (i.e. when the value of the end thrust can
be assigned) and so is unsuitable for eigenvalue problems.
However, it is readily applicable to laterally loaded, axially com-
pressed beams (so-called beam columns) and several problems
of t h i s type have been considered by Rojansky and Beth (1947)
who have treated this type of construction under the name of
'camptogram'. In addition, Coates (1950) has used this method
in the analysis of a beam column resting upon three hinged
supports, and extensions of his work are quite obvious.
(5) Example. Consider the simply supported beam column
of Fig. 21a for which P, EI, and w are known. The function
-w/p2 can clearly be plotted since p can be computed from the
relation p2 = P/EI (Fig. 21c). Since the angle subtended by
the trajectory at its centre of curvature must be pL (by analogy
\
a\
I
b The phase-plane for bending The projected curve of bending
c
moments. moments.
Fig. 22. The Inclusion of an End-moment in a Beam-
column Problem
at the height Ma and the following requirements must be placed
upon the trajectory. It must (a) start on the line AA, (b) have its
centre of curvature at C (as shown in Fig. 22b), (c) finish on the
M / p axis, and ( d ) subtend an angle p L at C. These demands are
met if the following device is adopted.
Swing the line AA in the counter-clockwise direction through
the anglepL about C to aa so that it intersects the M / p axis at E.
The point E lies at one end of the trajectory which may be drawn
as indicated. The validity of this can be seen from the congruence
of triangles CEG and CDF.
(7) General Remarks on the Phase-plane Method for Bending
Moments. Two simple examples have been treated by means
of the phase-plane method (plotting M against M / p ) . They serve
as an introduction to this method. In order to develop the
308 ON T H E GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
construction to cover a wide variety of beam-column problems, no However, since x can be computed for given values of x, 2,
new concepts need to be introduced. But the following points and t, the formulation of a step-by-step process of integration is
must be remembered. possible.
(a) A discontinuity in the beam section means that p changes Suppose that x = x1 and X/p = k l / p when t = t l . This may
at the point concerned. This is comparable with a sudden change be represented by point 1 in the phase-plane (Fig. 23) and
of spring stiffness K in the dynamical case and may be handled the corresponding value of x (= x l , say) calculated. Now let the
in the same way. A beam of continuously varying section may be parameter t increase by a small amount to t2 = tl+dt so that x
treated by means of a step approximation. and 3 / p increase to x2 and k2/p (represented by point 2). This
(b) A point load on the beam gives rise to a horizontal dis- transition may be made in the usual way by moving the repre-
continuity in the trajectory that is proportional to the magnitude sentative point along an arc subtending an angle pdt at A, the
of the load. That this is so can be seen by reference to the second point on the x-axis fixed by the quantity x , as shown in the
of equations (41); since dy/dx is continuous along the span, it diagram. x2 may now be computed and the step to point 3 made,
follows that the discontinuity is confined to dM/dx. and so on. The underlying theory is precisely that which was
Cc) Similarly, a concentrated couple acting at some point along given when the trajectory was discussed for the simple spring-
the span will give rise to a vertical discontinuity in the trajectory mass system subjected to a transient abutment disturbance.
of the appropriate amount. Then, x depended only upon t and was written as X.
(d) Where there is a finite bending moment at both ends of I t is thus seen that, given initial conditions to fix some starting
the beam column, the method of the last problem is still point 1, the original equation (45) may be integrated.
applicable. This is also true when the trajectory is known to
contain discontinuities. For concrete examples, reference should Example. In order to illustrate t h i s method of integration,
be made to the original paper by Rojansky and Beth (1947). the problem of large swings of a simple pendulum will be solved
(e) If the sign of the axial force is changed, the stiffening effect graphically. If L is the length of the pendulum, the differential
of an axial tension may be studied. It is then necessary to use equation is
hyperbolic instead of circular arcs as in the case of negative
spring constants in dynamical problems. x = -(g/L)sinx . . . . (49)
where x is the angle made by the suspension with the downward
vertical*. Selecting p2 = g/L,this may be written
THE GENERAL PH A S E-P LANE METH O D O F I NTEG R A T I O N x + p x = p2x
A straightforward, general method of solving second order where x = x-sinx
ordinary differential equations by a phase-plane method has been
given by Jacobsen (1951). It is quite Merent from the method of A graphical method may be started as shown in Fig. 24.
solution by isoclines in the p1ane-e.g. Andronow and Chaikin
(1937pand represents a generalization of what has already been
discussed in the present paper.
The sole restriction that is placed upon the differential
- 10 CM. IN ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION
c

equations which are contemplated is that they must be of the

general form
X = G(x, X , t ) .
. . . (45) .
The known function G(x, 3, t) may be split up into parts such
that
G(x,X , t ) = H(x,3, t ) - p 2 ~. . . (46)
where the quantity p2x is either immediately separable o;where,
if not, it can be introduced arbitrarily. In either case, the function
H(x, 3, t) is clearly a known one. Again, letting
.
H(x, 2, t ) = p2x(x, 2, t ) .
. . (47)
so that x is a known function, equation (45) becomes
X+p% = p2x .. . .
. (48)
Comparison of equations (15) and (48) reveals that x is of the
nature of an abutment motion comparable with the quantity X.
But, while X depended only upon t, x depends upon x, 3, and t.
For this reason, equation (48) must not be regarded as merely a Trajectory for the case where b x plotted as a function of x.
that of the motion of a simple spring-mass system subjected to the pendulum is released from
transient forcing. Thus, the graphical procedure illustrated in rest in the horizontal position
covering the first quarter
Fig. 7 no longer applies. period.
Fig. 24. Graphical Treatment of Large Swings of a Simple
IX Pendulum
B
Curves of x and sin x are plotted in Fig. 24b so that x is given
by the distance between them. If some instrument were devised
3 which would draw a continuous curve (through an assigned
initial point) whose centre of curvature w a s always located on the
x-axis at a height x, an exact solution of the problem would be
obtained. As it is, the step-by-step procedure must be used.
The construction of Fig. 24a is for the initial conditions
x = 7r/2, x = 0 when t = 0 ‘so that the pendulum is released
from rest in the horizontal position. The trajectory is drawn for
the first quarter cycle in which x decreases from 90 deg. to zero
and, to do this, eight steps are used. In each step except the last,
* This equation is considered by Jacobsen (1951) (with different
initial conditions). He gives solutions of twenty-four equations
Fig. 23. Construction Illustrating the General Phase-plane including those of Bessel (of zero order), Hennite, Weber, Matbieu,
Method of Integration and van der Pol.
 ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
x varies by the amount dx = 10 deg., allowing a little extra
accuracy to be obtained by a simple averaging process. Thus, the
first arc is for the range 90 deg. >x >80 deg. and the value of x
correspondingto x = 85 deg. is used for it. Comparable methods
can usually be devised for other equations.
It will be seen that, in making the construction, no great effort
has been made towards accuracy since the steps are somewhat
large and the scale is small. It is of interest then, to compare the
results with the exact solution of this problem. The results taken
from Fig. 24 are:-
(1) total angle swept out by radius = ZpAt = 33.3+13.6
+11.0+9-4+8.5+7.6+7-5+14-5 = 105.4 deg. or 1.84
radians*.
(2) intercept of trajectory with alp axis = - 1.415.
The calculated values are 1.854 radians and -1.414 respec-
tively so that no apology need be made for the accuracy of the
graphical construction.
An interesting observation may be made at this point.
Suppose that this problem were to involve the initial condition
x = T (the pendulum vertical) when r = 0. If the other con-
dition is not x/p = 0, no difficulty will arise. But, if the initial
value of i is s m a l l so that the pendulum slowly leaves its upright
position of unstable equilibrium, the radius of the first arc of
the construction is s m a l l so that the graphical method becomes
difficult. If x / p = 0 when t = 0, the pendulum is in equilibrium
and the first arc degenerates to the point on the x-axis at the
height T . This is a ‘saddle point’ in the phase-plane (a familiar
term in the theory of non-linear mechanics) and it is seen
that the accuracy obtainable in its neighbourhood is poor.
EVALUATION O F PHASE-PLANE METHODS
In developing the theory of the phase-plane method of
integration, only simple mathematics has been used, but
problems of the response of systems to transient loading have
been treated, some of which would require exceedingly heavy
mathematics for their analytical solution. It is therefore apparent
that a graphical method of this type can be of great value.
However, the phase-plane does not offer the only method of
tackling such questions (Timoshenko and Young (1948)), and
so an effort must be made to assess its value relative to alternative
procedures. This will now be done under various headings.
(1) Comparison with Other Graphical Methods. Historically,
the theory given above has been developed independently of
the well-known phase-plane theory of non-linear mechanics
(e.g. Andronow and Chaikin (1937)). It is convenient, at this
stage, to show why this is so; for it can then, perhaps, be seen
why much of the effort expended on research in graphical non-
linear mechanics is of littIe value in treating problems of
transient loading.
A single-degree-of-freedom system which gives rise, to an
equation of the form
$+py(x,k) = 0 . . . . . (50)
is known as an ‘autonomous’ system, i.e. it is governed by an
equation which does not contain t explicitly but only in the
form dt. Noting that X = i ( d i / d x ) and letting z = x/p, one can
convert equation (50) into the form
Thus the slope of a trajectory at any point in the x, z plane (or
phase-plane) is known from the original differential equation
(50). This fact has allowed considerable progress to be made in
the study of non-linear equations of this form and a considerable
literature exists as a consequence. For instance, a graphical
construction due to Lienard (1928) (Stoker (1950)) can be used
to solve a s p e d form of equation (50), oiz.
X+g(i)+p2x = 0 . . . . , (52)
Phase-plane methods, then, are well suited to autonomous
systems. But the discussion has been of Droblems of transient callv difficult Droblem to differentiate a given curve aCCUmtelY.
* Some progress can be made by the phase-plane method, whereas
the predicted periodic lime is 1’84/por 7’36d(L/g) the direct measurement of slopes is usually a hopeless task. The
whereas the usual theory of small oscillations gives 2 4 ( L / g ) or
6‘28d/(L/g).
309
forcing where time must occur explicitly in the equation of
motion simply because the applied force is time-dependent. That
is, the problems have been non-autonomous leading to a relation
of the form
instead of equation (51). Now slopes in the x , z plane are
time-dependent, and this difficulty detracts very materially from
the powerful phase-plane technique as it is developed for auto-
nomous systems.
It has been shown that Jacobsen’s general methodt can be used
for either autonomous or non-autonomous systems. In essence,
the procedure for non-autonomous systems is to distort the
problem by taking ‘steps’ in the time t during which the system
is treated as if it were autonomous. This, in fact, is the funda-
mental contribution that was first made by Lamoen (1932).
Apart from the constructions that are applicable only to
autonomous systems, others have been devised to handle
equations containing time explicitly. Perhaps the best known of
these is that due to Meissner (1932)-e.g. Timoshenko and
Young (1948). Another was proposed by Kelvin (1892) for
astronomical calculations, while a survey of the field is given by
Runge (1932). However, the author has been unable to find a
method which is both as convenient and as general as the one
described.
(2) Accuracy. I n free vibration problems and problems
involving certain discontinuous parameters, the position of the
centre of curvature of the trajectory remains stationary for finite
lengths of time (e.g. the free vibration of the bi-linear system
of Fig. 13 or the motion of a system with a step-wise forcing
function as in Fig. 6). In these cases, the phase-plane method
gives an exact representation subject only to draughting errors.
If, on the contrary, the position of the centre varies con-
tinuously, the method becomes a step-by-step process with
questions of accuracy arising as a consequence; and probably the
the greatest weakness of the method lies in the fact that accuracy
can only be estimated on an empirical basis. Theoretically, the
smaller the steps made in drawing a trajectory the more nearly is
exactitude approached, but this is limited by accuracy of
draughting. I n addition, because of this, the degree of accuracy
obtainable varies from problem to problem. The best that can
be done is to check the accuracy when analytical solutions are
available (as, for instance, in the pendulum problem under
The General Phase-plane Method of Integration) and to rely
upon the indications so found. Checks of this sort have been
made by Evaldson, Ayre, and Jacobsen (1949), Jacobsen (1951),
and Bruce (1951), and they indicate that comparatively crude
step approximations lead to good results. When the accuracy is
likely to be poor, the fact is made quite plain by the nature of the
construction. For instance, it was shown that accuracy would be
dficult to obtain near the saddle point of the pendulum problem.
It seems safe to predict that, for almost any engineering
problem of transient loading, the accuracy of the method will be
better than that with which the mechanical constants of the
system can be stated provided that the number of convolutions of
the trajectory is not large. Thus, in a particular case of pulse
loading, Evaldson, Ayre, and Jacobsen (1949) found 97 per cent
accuracy easy to obtain, while 99 per cent was by no means
difficult; they were interested in the maximum value of dis-
placement x in the first convolution.
For dynamical problems of transient forcing, angular steps of
about 40 deg. will usually be found satisfactory; and, unless it is
necessary to maintain great accuracy for many convolutions of
the trajectory, it will usually be found that taking smaller angles
hardly affects the resulting response curve.
As might be expected, accuracy improves slightly as experience’
is gained with the method. This is most likely in the matter of
choosing the steps for approximating a given forcing function.
(3) Method of Differentiation. It appears to be an intrinsi-
j- See under The General Phase-plane Method of Integration.
310 ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
accuracy which can be obtained depends upon the nature of the (7) Transient Disturbance of Undamped, Multi-&pee-of-
given curve, and while it may be good at the beginning of the jreedom Systems. With the aid of specific examples, it has been
process it deteriorates as the construction progresses at a much shown how the transient loading of certain undamped, linear
greater rate than in the reverse process of integration. systems of many degrees of freedom may be handled. While
problems of this sort may be extremely cumbersome from the
(4) General Method of Integration. For some purposes, the purely analytical standpoint, the phase-plane method offers a
general method of integration given above* may be sufficiently simple means of solution which does not require any great
accurate. If not, it gives a quick, useful check on numerical mathematical ability on the part of the user. Here a+, the
integration performed with a computing machine. The ‘picture’ method is particularly useful for the solution of practical
that it gives can be relied upon to give warning of the approach problems.
of danger in numerical work (in the form of singular points).
This pictorial aspect can be useful in other ways. For, as CONCLUSIONS
Lamoen (1935) has shown, it sometimes simplifies the calcula- The concept of ‘phase-space’ is perhaps better known to
tion of periodic times of free vibration of systems with various physicists than to engineers. For a dynamid system having the
types of non-linearity. This has also been demonstrated strikingly generalized co-ordinates ql, q2, .. .qn (i.e. having n degrees of
by Weiss (1946) who uses phase-plane constructions for analysing freedom), it may be thought of as a an-dimensional space in
servo-mechanisms. ..
which ql, 42, . qn, q ~ q2, , ... qn are plotted as variables. A
representative point moving along a trajectory in this space
(5) Use for Teaching Purposes. One of the main short- defines the state of the system as time goes on. When associated
comings of many first courses in mechanical vibrations is that with the motion of a simple spring-mass system, the phase-
little or no attention is paid to any but steady forcing problems. space degenerates to a phase-plane since two co-ordinates (x
While it is true that the solution of the differential equation and 2) then serve to define the state of the system at any instant.
x+2**+p*x = Focoswt . . . (54) The use of a phase-plane for problems in non-linear mechanics
is now well-established. It is concerned chiefly with autonomous
can be used to furnish solutions of transient forcing Problems systems (i.e. systems whose equations of motion do not involve
(Fo being a constant), the theory is Usually well beyond the time explicitly), and detailed accounts of this aspect may be
mathematical capability of the engineering undergraduate. The found in h d r o n o w and Ch* (1937), ~ i n ~ (1947),
~ ~ kandy
phase-plane COnStNdOn, however, can easily be described In Stoker (1950). A second use of the phase-plane is not as well-
simple terms, and it has been shown that it need not be restricted known and has been treated in the present workj it concerns
to simple physical systems involving O d Y Viscous damphi3 and systems that are subjected to transient loading.
linear springs. A survey has been made covering the twenty years since these
All students of mechanical en@eeMg in Stanford university, constructions were introduced. This relates to (1) the transient
California, study vibration under Professor L. s* disturbance of single-degree-of-freedom systems (which may
Jacobsen. I n his course, Professor Jacobsen discusses the use of include viscous damping, non-hearity, hysteresis, etc.) and
the phase-plane for linear systems with a Single degree offreedom multi-degree-of-freedom systems, (2) the deflexions of beam
(induding the use of oblique axes for -Ping). The author columns h the theory of elastic stability, and (3) Jacobsen’s
attended t h i s course of lectures, and found that Professor generd method of graphical integration.
Jacobsen’s treatment of transients was very interesting and some new extensions of the theory have been siven. These are
thoroughly worthy of its Place in the undergraduate Syllabus- (1) a method of graphical differentiation,(2) a simplified approach
In the academic year 1952-53, the author e v e a Course on to multi-degree-of-freedom systems leading to the transient
mechanics in Cambridge University t O undergraduates who loading of beams by moving and m o * g - v e g loads (it is
were to take Part I of the Mechanical Sciences TriPos in June pointed out that damping may be contemplated in these beam
1953. The Phase-Plane method for simp1e undamped systems problems and also that the method devised for beams easily
was introduced (together with suitable drawing-officeProblems) carries Over to certain plate problems), and (3) a demonstration
into that portion of the course which covered vibration analysis. that the method can be used for deflexions (as well as
It was found that little difficulty was experienced with the bending moments) in the theory of beam columns.
concepts. I t also seemed Worth W h k to discuss Jacobsen’s ina ally, it is suggested that the elements of the method
method in lectures on non-linear mechanics for Part I1 of the described might well be given in first on mechanical
Mechanical Sciences Tripos as it has wider application than vibration. B~ this a way is opened up of treating problems
Liknard’s construction (which has already been mentioned). of impulsive loading which are of very great practical importance
and yet which usually receive little attention in universities and
(6) Elustic Stability Calculations. Two ways of using the technical colleges.
phase-plane for problems of elastic stability have been described.
The first involves the use of axes of y and y‘/p (or, effectively,
deflexion and slope) and is suitable for the eigenvalue problems ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
of struts. However, its utility seems to be somewhat restricted The author wishes to acknowledge the help given him by
and it cannot easily be applied to more difficult problems (such Dr. G. D. S. MacLellan in reading the manuscript and in
as those of continuous beams under axial thrust). making some thoughtful suggestions.
The second method requires the use of M and M / p axes;
i.e. in effect, bending moment and shear force axes. This con-
struction, which is due to Rojansky and Beth (1947), is very
useful in a wide variety of beam-column problems. While the APPENDIX I
introduction of boundary conditions (instead of the initial con-
ditions of the dynamical case) means a little extra labour, the ALTERNATIVE DERIVATION OF THEORY
procedure is still simple and quick. If the transverse load is a
uniform one and the beam is uniform, the representation is An approach to the PhaSe-Plane method has been used by
exact; if, on the other hand, it varies along the length, the step- Braun (1937) and Jacobsen (1951) which differs somewhat from
by-step procedure must be adopted. the one adopted in this work. Consider the general problem of
An alternative method is that of Howard (1928) involving integrating equations of the WPe
‘circle diagrams’, and for simple problems it appears to be f = G(x, 2, t ) . . . . . (55)
superior. However, Gates (1950) has pointed Out that added has h e a d y been discussed, hi^ may be
complications are more easily handled by phase-planes. The
phase-plane method can probably be more fully exploited in this x+p2x = p 2 x . . . . . (56)
direction, and until this is done no proper comparison can be and, letting z = i / p , it gives on rearrangement
made. p-&+x--y
1 dz =0
* Sce under T h e General Phase-plane Method of Integration.
 ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS 311
dz Selecting some value of S for 0 = 0 (= So, say), S1may be
or z -+x-x
dx
=0 calculated (Fig. 26) as shown above*. Thus,
Therefore, S1 = SOe-m/2d(1-y’) . .. . . (59)
The centre of curvature of the spiral arc joining points A and B
follows another spiral in the f i s t quadrant while the radius of
curvature also varies continuously. In this approximate con-
Also, struction, a fixed centre of curvature and a fixed radius of
dx
pdt=-. . . . . . curvature are used for the arc AB. Suppose that this centre is
z (58) taken arbitrarily as that point U on the 45 deg. line in the first
The phase-plane construction depends for its validity upon the quadrant about which an arc may be drawn to pass through A and
geometric properties implied by equations (57) and (58). B (the construction to f k d this point is shown in Fig. 26). This
arc is the approximation to the logarithmic spiral.

.a

I i I
1x1 I !

Fig. 25. Construction Illustrating an Alternative Derivation

of the Phase-plane Theory

The significance of equations (57) and (58) is shown in Fig. 25.

The first indicates that the slope of the trajectory at any point
in the plane is perpendicular to the line joining that point to the
point x = x because the two angles marked ‘a’tend to equality
as the increments dx, dz, and dr are made smaller. That is,
dzzx= -cots= -- X-X
z
Secondly, equation (58) concerns the angular velocity with which
the radius AB rotates about the instantaneous centre A. Thus, in
the limit,
z d x
2= zs= sin a
so that _ - _ds-
dx
- - pdt
z (without axes) in order to facilitate the construction of trajectories
showing that the angular velocity is p, a constant.
In using the graphical construction, steps are taken in x rather
than a continuous variation and it is usually possible to find an
average value of y for each step.
While this denvation is concise, the physical notion of an
abutment motion is not used. This is a point worthy of some
consideration when evaluating the method for teaching purposes.
A P P E N D I X I1
A P P R O X I M A T E L O G A R I T H M I C SP IRAL S C O M P O S E D OF
CIRCULAR ARCS
The graphical construction to be presented is due to Jacobsen
(1951) who has given a detailed discussion of its analytical
geometry. He has shown that the errors involved in this approxi-
mation are small provided that v is less than 0.5. Errors of the
order of 2 per cent appear when v = 0.45 rising to 6-5 per cent
when v = 0.7 and infinity when v = 1.
Fig. 26. The Construction of Approximate Logarithmic
spirals using circular Arcs
It may be shown that the arc coincides with the spiral, not
only at A and Bybut also at C on the 45 deg. line in the second
quadrant. Between these the error is small (if v<05). Having
drawn the approximating arc for the second quadrant, clearly the
same procedure can be applied to the third and so on.
When a convenient length SOhas been selected, it is only
necessary to calculate S,since the succeeding lengths Sz,S3 . ..
are found graphically. Thus, the intersection of the lme UB
with OC (i.e. point E) can be shown to be the appropriate centre
for the third quadrant.
As shown above*, this spiral is best drawn on tracing cloth
for systems with viscous damping.
A P P E N D I X I11
REFERENCES
ANDRONOW, A. A., and CHAIKIN, C. E. 1937 ‘Theory of
Oscillations’ (Princeton University Press, Princeton,
New Jersey, U.S.A., translated from Russian 1949).
A m , R. S. 1952 Jl. Franklin Inst., vol. 253, No. 2, p. 153,
‘Transient Vibration of Linear Multi-degree-of-freedom
Systems by the Phase-plane Method’.
BRAUN,E. 1937 Ingenieur-Archiv, vol. 8, No. 3, p. 198,
‘ m e r die graphische Liisung der Differentialgleichung
der erzwungenen Schwingungen bei beliebigen Gesetz
fiir Diimpfung, Ruckstellkraft und Antriebskraft’.
BRUCE,V. 1951 Bulletin Seismological SOC. Am., vol. 41,
No. 2, p. 101, ‘A Graphical Method for Solving Vibra-
tion Problems of a Single Degree of Freedom’.
* See under Damping.
312 ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION P R O B L E M S
COATES,R. C. 1950 Engineering, vol. 169, p. 720, ‘Graphical LAMOEN, J. 1935 Revue Universelle des Mines, series 8,vol. 11,
Solution of hially-loaded Beams’. No. 7, p. 213, ‘Etude graphique des Vibrations de
EVALDSON, R. L., A m , R. S., and JACOBSEN, L. S. 1949 J1. Systkmes A un Seul Degrt de Libertt’.
Franklin Inst., vol. 248, No. 6, p. 473, ‘Response of an LIBNARD, A. 1928 Revue G b h a l e de l’Electricite, vol. 23,
Elastically Non-linear System to Transient Disturb- Nos. 21 and 28,pp. 701 and 946,‘Etude des Oscillations
ances’. entrttenues’.
FLUGGE-LOTZ, I., and &OTTER, K. 1943 See National MEISSNER,E. 1932 ‘Graphische Analysis vermittelst des
Advisory Committee Aeronautics Tech. Memoranda Linienbildes einer Funktion’ (Verlag der Schweizerischen
1237,November 1949, ‘On the Motions of an Oscillating Bauzeitung, Zurich).
System under the Influence of Flip-Flop Controls’. MINDLIN,R. D., STUBNER,F. W., and COOPER,H. L. 1948
FUCHS,H. 0. 1936 Product Engineering, vol. 7, No. 8, p. 294, Proc. Am. SOC.Experimental Stress Analysis, vol. 5,
‘Spiral Diagrams to Solve Vibration Damplng No. 2, p. 69, ‘Response of Damped Elastic Systems to
Problems’. Transient Disturbances’.
HOWARD,H. B. 1928 Aeronautical Research Committee (now MINORSKY, N. 1947 ‘Introduction to Non-linear Mechanics’
Council) Reports and Memoranda 1233,‘The Graphical (Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.).
and Analytical Determination of Stresses in Single Span ROJANSKY, V. 1948 Jl. Applied Phys., vof. 19, No. 3, p. 297,
and Continuous Beams under End Compression and ‘Gyrograms for Simple Harmonic Systems Subjected to
Lateral Load with Variations in Shear, Distributed Load External Forces’.
and Moment of Inertia’. ROJANSKY, V., and BETH,R. A. 1947 31. Applied Mechanics,
JACOBSEN,L. S. 1951 Structural Dynamics Technical Report, vol. 14,No. 3, p. 202, ‘Camptograms for Beams in Com-
Stanford University, No. 13, ‘On a General Method of pression’.
Solving Second Order, Ordinary Differential Equations RUNGE,K. 1932 ‘Graphische Methoden’ (Teubner, Leipzig).
by Phase-Plane Displacements’. (See also 1952 Jl. STOKER, J. J. 1950 ‘Nonlinear Vibrations in Mechanical and
Applied Mechanics, vol. 19, No. 4, p. 543.) Electrical Systems’ (Interscience Publishers, New York
JACOBSEN,L. S., A m , R. S., and ArsAWA, S. 1951 Structural and London).
Dynamics Technical Report, Stanford University, No. TIMOSHENKO, S. P. 1937 ‘Vibration Problems in Engineer-
11. ing’, second edition (D. Van Nostrand, New York, and
KBLvM, Lord 1892 Phil. Mug.,vol. 34, p. 443, ‘On Graphic Constable, London).
Solution of Dynamical Problems’. TIMOSHENKO, S. P., and YOUNG, D. H. 1948 ‘Advanced
LAMOEN, J. 1932 Mkmoire Acadtmie Royale de Belgique, Dynamics’ (McGraw-Hill, New York and London).
Classe des Sciences, vol. 12, No. 1437, p. 5, ‘Sur la WEISS,H. K. 1946 Jl. Aeronautical Sciences, vol. 13, No. 7,
SoUiatation dynamique des fidifices tlancts par le Vent”. p. 364, ‘Analysis of Relay Servomechanisms’.

Discussion
Professor D. G. CHRISTOPHERSON, O.B.E., Ph.D., B.A. (Associate
Member), who opened the discussion, said that there was no
doubt that what the author had said about the difficulties of the
teaching of questions of transient vibrations to undergraduates
was something with which all might agree. The mathematical
standard required was quite high-higher than could normally
be expected; and there were many fields of mechanical engi-
neering and electrical engineering in which a simple method of
dealing with those things in a way that might be understood in a
practical manner would be very valuable.
In regard to one or two points of detail which arose from some
of the examples in the paper, first, there w a s the example given
of the use of the method in differentiation. I n Fig. 9 the author
had given a curve of displacement on the right, and was doing
the process backwards by starting from the curve of displace-
ment and constructing by the graphical method described in the
paper the trajectory which appeared on the left, and then going
back to deduce from that the force. The example related to a
measuring instrument, which gave the sinusoidal record shown
on the right (Fig. 9b). The natural frequency of the instrument
was known and it was desired to know the disturbing force
whatever it was, that had produced the oscillation. The author
had shown that the graphical technique which he had described
produced a very good solution to that problem for the first
portion of the motion. In the diagram, all went well until about
t = 0.7,or so; after that a kind of instability developed, and it
was difficult to continue the differentiation process so as to give
the force curve further.
That question of graphical differentiation was, of course, one
that exercised a lot of people in many ways, and he was very
much impressed with the accuracy that had been obtained in the
early stages of that process. It had therefore occurred to him that
it might be possible to do something which would avoid the
development of the instability in the later stages, by making use
of the known comparative accuracy of the process of graphical
integration.
At every stage in the motion, in order to proceed to the next
stage, it was necessary, when doing it the differential way round,
to know the displacement at the beginning of the stage, the dis-
placement at the end of the stage, and the initial velocity of that
stage. Those were essentially the three quantities that were
required. From the given displacement curve, both displace-
ments that were wanted were available, and only the initial
velocity was needed. The governing equation might be divided
through by p and integrated as it stood. That would give
:+PI: xdt = p I t Xdt
0
The basis of his idea was that it was possible to evaluate those
two integrals by ordinary graphical means, by finding the area
under the curve, more accurately than it was possible to know
the velocity at the moment when instability was about to develop.
It therefore seemed to him that an improvement might be
effected by carrying on with the author’s procedure until the
points showed signs of becoming scattered, then stopping and
working out the area under the curves, thus obtaining a new
estimate of x / p (which it was to be hoped would be a better
estimate). That new estimate could be transferred back on to the
trajectory on the left of the diagram and the author’s method
could then proceed for another stage. He had tried that with the
particular problem which the author had tackled and Fig. 27
showed the result. He had not taken any great care over drafting,
and the result was that the instability had developed more
rapidly than it had done in the author’s case. Corrections by the
procedure described had been made twice at points A and Byand
in each instance the original accuracy seemed to have been
restored.
H e was bound to say that he was not at all sure about the
logical basis for such a method. Obviously it would not work if
the force contained a high-frequency component because it
wodd not then be known whether what was being obtained was
the instability of the drafting procedure or the true fact that the
 DISCUSSION ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION O F TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
force had high-frequency oscillation in it ; but it might be that
the method would have an application if, for some other reason,
it was known that the force had no high-frequency component
and that its variations were relatively slow.
Secondly, in regard to the question whether it would be
possible (as he considered it was) to use the method for the
special case of differentiating a curve when the equation was
that in which p = 0 ; i.e. there was simply the motion of a free
mass-in effect, a graphical differentiation of a simple curve. He
might have misunderstood that, but it seemed to him that it was
perfectly practicable to do so. An arbitrary value might be taken
instead of the deltas in Fig. 8.An interval of time A t ought to be
taken and, instead of f ~ in
8 Fig. 8a, the same interval of time had
to be taken; then the process would work as before. He would
like to have the author’s confirmation of whether that was SO.
1-53 * 1.51
-0.5-
-pd
0 b
Fig. 27
The final point that he wished to raise dealt with the question
of the introduction of that method in university courses for
educational purposes. He could very well see how valuable the
method must be in the advanced courses on non-linear vibrations
which were given’for Part I1 of the Tripos at Cambridge to
relatively small numbers of very advanced students. It was clear
from the paper that in the United States the method was given
to much more elementary students, and was, no doubt,
assimilated by them without difficulty. The doubt that he had
was not because the average undergraduate would not be able
to absorb the method quite easily, but whether or not, in view of
the great amount of material of every kind which was brought
into the university course in mechanical engineering, there was
really time to give any attention to the problem of transient
vibrations on an extended scale. There was reference to it in his
own course; there was a good deal of talk about forced vibrations
of the kind the author had mentioned in his introduction; but he
was bound to say that in his own course at that time not much
was said about transient vibrations, and he did not know how
much it would be necessary to talk about the importance and
general basis of the subject of transient vibrations before the
undergraduate could be got to understand what was the real
purpose of the graphical method that was being taught him.
Professor A. N. BLACK,M.A. (Southampton), observed that
most of the remarks that he intended to make would follow very
closely those which Professor Christopherson had already made.
He had found the paper a most stimulating one, and in his
opinion the phase-plane methods were very valuable in introduc-
ing the elementary ideas. He had used the methods in a minor
way in lectures to undergraduates, and found that they did get
the idea across.
There was one application which the author had not mentioned
which showed how powerful the methods were. It was an appli-
cation which was perhaps of more interest to horologists, but it
showed how the timekeeping possibilities might be assessed of
different ways of giving the pendulum the necessary impetus to
keep it going. If one ploned x (the displacement of the pendulum)
313
and its velocity, 3 / p , there came a time when the escapement
mechanism had to impart an impetus to the pendulum. If the
impulse was given at the centre of the swing, it merely increased
the velocity and did not affect the phase angle; but if it
increased the velocity at an extreme position, it displaced the
point on the trajectory in the direction of increasing velocity,
without displacement, and produced a phase shift, and any error
in the maintaining mechanism would alter the phase shift. Thus
any clock where there was interference with the pendulum at the
end of its stroke was bound to be a less good timekeeper than
one in which the interference was at the middle of the stroke.
The one point that he wished to criticize was that which
Professor Christopherson had already mentioned-the point
about differentiation, which had been dealt with on p. 302. He
did not agree with the author’s statement on p. 309 that the direct
measurement of slopes was a hopeless task. He had once thought
that that was so, but eventually he had made some trials and had
found that, so far from that being the case, it was in fact possible,
provided that one had the right tools and used them properly,
to differentiate from an accurately drawn curve. The proper tool
was a small piece of glass rod. It was put over the curve, and
could easily be set parallel to the curve. It acted as a distorting
lens. The idea was an old one (Ramsay Wigan 1949*) but it was
a very powerful method. If that was used, quite accurate slopes
could be obtained.
He had applied that method to the author’s example. He had
not drawn on the scale that the author had done and, like
Professor Christopherson, he had found that instability set in
much earlier on his drawing than it had done on the author’s;
but he had found that the slope method, measuring the slopes
with a glass rod, with the same standard of accuracy, had given
results which practically throughout the whole period were
superior to those that he obtained by the phase-plane method.
In his hands the slope method was more accurate from the
start than the phase-plane method and, of course, it had no
instability problems. He therefore considered that it was
superior for that particular problem.
In his opinion it was necessary to be careful about using the
phase-plane method for differentiation, because it did depend
upon picking isolated points and making deductions from them.
I n all methods which depended on working from distant points,
whether numerical or graphical, there was a very severe problem
in choosing the interval when it came to differentiation. If points
too close together were taken, precision was lost ;if points too
far apart, the curve was not adequately defined. If numerical
methods were used, it could easily be seen whether the right
interval was being used, but he did not think that the author’s
method provided for that essential checking of whether the
interval that was being used was the appropriate one or not. In
his opinion, that was the danger of the method.
He considered, therefore, so far as teaching was concerned,
that that was a rather too special method. In the limited
teaching time that was available, he would prefer to deal more
thoroughly with the orthodox methods of graphical and
numerical differentiation and integration which were, he con-
sidered, more powerful on the whole, and which had a wider
range of problems with which they would deal.
Mr. R. H. MACMILLAN (Cambridge) said that the phase-plane
constructions which the author had described made it possible
to obtain, quickly and accurately, the response of a second-order
system to an arbitrary forcing function. That was a very big step.
The system itself did not need to be linear.
Important classes of automatic control systems fell into that
category, and the phase-plane approach had already been used
successfully, as the author had said, by Weiss in the United
States to study, in particular, relay-operated control systems.
There were other such systems which were of particular
interest and which could appropriately be treated in that way.
Those were systems which had non-linear damping and systems
which had a finite time delay somewhere in the control loop,
i.e. a distance/velocity effect. He and his colleagues had applied
the phase-plane approach to the studying of those types of
control systems, and Figs. 28-33 gave the preliminary results,
* WIGAN,RAMSAY. 1949 Jl. Scientific Instruments, vol. 26, p. 162.
314 DISCUSSION ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
and the constructions which had been found convenient to
obtain rapid solutions. In either of those cases-the non-linear
damping or the finite time delay-exact analysis was either
excessively tedious or almost impossible.
There was a third case, namely, a non-linear gain, and that
was, of course, the more general class of what Weiss had been
treating; Weiss had been concerned with a special sort of non-
linear gain.
The system which he and his colleagues had studied had a
single integration and a single time constant, which was some-
thing of a misnomer, in that it could vary either with error or
with rate of change of error. A particular case in which such a
system would exist w a s in the control of the position of a mass
by means of a motor which applied to the mass a force propor-
tional to the difference between its actual position and its set or
desired position. The movement of the mass was opposed by a
force p times its velocity at any time, where p, however, was not
a constant. It might be a function of the position of the mass or
of its velocity.
Clearly that was a single-degree-of-freedom system analogous
to Fig. 1, except that the author's was a passive system, whereas
that was an active system.

0, i 2 4 5 6
TlME,pf

Fig. 31. Comparison of Graphs in Figs. 28-30

A Critically damped system.
B Velocity-squared damping.
Pt
C Statistical damping.
Fig. 28. Critical Damping

P* i
Fig. 29. Velocity-squared Damping
Fig. 32. Finite Time-delay System

'\\ I
"' I i
TIME, Pt
Fig. 30. Damping as a Function of Position Fig. 33. Comparison of Graphs in Figs. 28 and 32
 DISCUSSION ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
Fig. 28,which was the first of the figures giving the preliminary
results to which he had referred, showed critical damping. With
a lightly damped system, as in the case of many of those treated
by the author, there was an equiangular spiral for the phase-
plane trajectory. With critical damping, the spiral degenerated,
as shown in the figure.
Fig. 29 showed velocity-squared damping. That was not for
use in a linear-controlled system. It illustrated how simply any
function of velocity might be put in, such as the damping.
Fig. 30 was a study of a system which had the damping as a
function of the position, and it was a much more practical
system, and one that might well be used.
Fig. 31 showed the three previous graphs together: (a) a
critically damped system, (b) a velocity-squared damping, and
(c) a statistical damping, which would be seen to be the better
system.
Fig. 32 referred to the finite time-delay system.
Fig. 33 showed the first and the fifth combined.
(He pointed out that the constructions shown had been
devised by Mr. P. E. Grensted.)
It would be borne in mind that the particular systems which
he had been considering were very awkward ones to analyse
algebraically, but the job might be done quite conveniently by
those constructions.
There was no reason why, instead of the time delay, some
other sort, for example, an exponential delay, might not be put
in. Instead of the quantity,~,being deducted as in Fig. 32, some
other quantity would be deducted which could be calculated
by means of a suitable construction. The output value which had
to be deducted from the desired input might be determined by
finding what emerged when the signal was subject to an exponen-
tial time delay, 1/(1+ TD). That might be done by using another
construction he and his colleagues had devised, which he could
not describe in detail. Of course, if it were a second-order time
delay, it would merely be necessary to repeat the phase-plane
method and find out what to deduct in that way. If it were of first
order, it would be necessary to have a different construction. It
could, of course, be non-linear again. It would appear that there
was in principle no limit to the order of the system which could
be treated in that way. It w a s possible to put in as many more of
those delays as might be wished, and then to put in the transient
which entered into it and to find what emerged from it, each of
them being of first or second order.
The problem of higher-order systems had been tackled in
recent months in an article in the Journal of the Franklin
Institute (Ku 1953)*. Phase-planes for x and #, x and x, etc.,
were involved. It was complicated, but it appeared to be
practicable.
He wished, in conclusion, to make two general comments.
The first had been almost invalidated by certain remarks which
the author had made when he had introduced the paper. H i s
original intention had been to say that he found the analytical
proof of the circle construction, as used by the author to justify
the general approach of Jacobsen, easier to grasp and more
convincing than the abutment motions; but, to some extent, he
was prepared to withdraw that criticism after having heard just
how the author effected his explanation of that abutment
motion, He had no doubt that students did prefer the author’s
way of doing it when it was so clearly explained.
His second comment was that one of the great merits of those
phase-plane constructions was the retention of time as a para-
meter on the phase-plane trajectories. Although he had not
mentioned it before, all the trajectories that he had shown
(Figs. 28-33) had contained little ticks along their length, and
they were at equal intervals of time. That was not true of some
of the phase-plane methods; the method of isoclines and
Lamoen’s constructions did not produce time as a parameter on
the trajectories, and that made them inconvenient to use.
Another point was that the use of the p-divided velocity scale
was equivalent to taking the natural period of oscillation of the
system as the unit of time j that ingenious device added materially
to the accuracy of the results obtained by using circular arcs,
since damping was not great in many practical systems.
* Kv, Y.H. 1953 J!. Franklin Imt., vol. 256?p. 229, ‘AMethod for
Solving Third and H&er Order Nonlinear Differential Equations’.
315
Dr. A. BLOW (Associate Member) said that he had been
particularly interested in the paper, because when he had been
teaching mechanics he had developed the method in its most
rudimentary form, and the way in which he had presented it to
the students had been on the lines of the more homely method
used by the author in presenting the paper at the meeting itself
rather than the analytical method described in the paper (i.e. he
had based it on two remarks : first, that in the usual vector treat-
ment of sinusoidal oscillations the projection on a second axis
at right angles to the first gave the velocity of the oscillating
particle, and further, that the really significant part of the rotating
vector was its endpoint). A particular example which he had
given to the students was the pendulum which received an
impulse either at the end of its s w i n g or at the middle of its
swing.
He had not at the time carried the method any further because
he had then been quite satisfied with one of the usual step-by-
step methods which he had brought into a particularly convenient
form. However, he would readily admit that the author’s method
would be advantageous in all those instances where the displace-
ment curve consisted of large sections of sinusoids, as it would
then be possible to use large steps.
By the discussion of the loaded-column problem, the author
had shown that his method was useful in fields other than
straightforward oscillations. Indeed, broadly speaking, the field
of applicability covered all instances where sinusoids and dis-
continuities of the sinusoid and its first derivative had to be dealt
with. It was perhaps appropriate to draw attention to a whole field
of applications which should be of increasing interest to mecha-
nical engineers. That was the steady-state behaviour of systems
which he would like to call (on account of their electrical
analogue) mechanical transmission lines. The systems he had
in mind were, for instance, shafts with flywheels carrying out
torsional oscillations when it was not possible to neglect the
rotational inertia of the shaft, coiled springs, gas columns in
exhaust pipes, fuel feeds on compression-ignition engines, and
so forth. Under excitation by a steady sinusoidal force, standing
waves would form on those structures with a sine-shaped or
cosine-shaped distribution of force or velocity. Discontinuities
might arise in the following form :-
(1) On a mass (5ywheel) there would be a discontinuity of
the force pattern (but with continuity of the velocity pattern).
(2) On a spring (for example, an elastic coupling) there
would be a discontinuity of the velocity pattern (but continuity
of the force pattern).
(3) On a change in the ‘characteristic impedance’ (e.g.
cross-section of shaft) there would be a discontinuity similar
to that arising from the change of scale associated with a
change of p.
Those matters had been fuUy discussed for the analogous
electrical case in a paper by Bloch (1944)t. For those who were
not so familiar with the electrical analogy, he mentioned also
another paper by Blcch (1945)$.
On the use of the method for finding the time law of the
driving force (Fig. 9), he would like to offer a suggestion. There
were evidently parts of the displacement curve where it was
quite easy to draw an accurate tangent maximum slope, and other
points where the maximum displacement could be accurately
determined. That would make it possible to draw, on the phase
plane, vertical and horizontal boundaries which would have to
be touched by the locus which it was wanted to construct in the
phase plane. It would appear that those intermediate checks
might delay the onset of ‘instability’ in the solution.
Mr. P. GROOTENHUIS, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Associate Member),
congratulated the author upon his brief but most lucid presenta-
tion of the paper, and observed that he had been delighted to
hear the author mention the term ‘simple harmonic motion’.
He had rather missed that term in the paper itself, dthough in
the first parts of the paper, where the method was described, the
t BLOCH,A. 1944 Wireless Engineer, vol. 21, p. 161, ‘Loss-less
*
Trkmission Lines’.
BLOCH,A. 1945 Proc. I.E.E., vol. 92, Part I, p. 157, ‘Electro-
mechanical Analomes and Their Use for t h e Aualysls of Mechanical
and E1ectromechr;;licalSystems’.
316 DISCUSSION ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
author had dealt with no more than the simple-harmonic-
motion systems. In fact, Figs. 2, 4, and 5 depicted motions
which were none other than simple harmonic.
He was a little perplexed in regard to the teaching of that
method. He agreed with the author that for solving complicated
transient problems the method was indeed powerful, and he
considered that Mr. Macmillan, in his contribution, had also
outlined its use in other fields. In teaching first-course under-
graduates the mathematical means of obtaining a solution were
not, to his mind, the most important thing; it was more im-
portant to give an understanding of the physical results of
such a solution in practice. In most dynamical systems which
occurred in practice, apart from one or two isolated transient
problems, the disturbing force-not necessarily simple harmonic
-was usually associated with the machinery or part of the system
which was causing motion. That very rarely worked under a
precise and known frequency or speed, so that in solving the
problem one would treat the operating speed as a variable and
try to obtain an answer which would show more or less at a
glance the speed at which there might be trouble, heavy ampli-
tudes, and so forth. T o do it by that method one would have to
do a new construction each time, to draw the right-hand part
of all the various pictures, the displacement curve, and then to
measure the maxima, plot them on a frequency basis and obtain
the usual response curve. He would prefer the more conventional
mathematical solutions. From those solutions it was at any rate
quite often possible to see what would happen at a different
speed. The method described in the paper would entail a great
deal of drawing work.
He gathered from the paper that the author had taught some
at least of that method in the Part I Mechanical Sciences
Tripos the previous year. His own experience was that the
syllabus of any undergraduate course was absolutely full, and
the addition of anything would have to be at the expense of some-
thing else. He asked whether the author’s lectures had been an
addition to the course in vibrations so that something else from
another course had had to be taken out of Part I, or whether
the amount of time allotted to the vibrations course had remained
the same, with the result that something had had to be taken
out of that course to allow the method to be brought in.
He was a little disappointed that, although the method of
Coulomb damping had been mentioned, the author had not, in
his opinion, given an adequate solution to it, particularly in the
case where the Coulomb-damping coefficient was not a constant
but varied with velocity. He asked whether the author could
also work out quite readily the actual final displacement of a
system with Coulomb damping when it came to rest.
Mr. E. B. PEARSON, A.M.I.E.E. (Shrivenham), said that he
was concerned with servo-mechanisms, particularly from the
teaching angle, and asked whether the author considered that it
would be worth while to manufacture a device which would
enable a servo-mechanism, particularly a non-hear one, to plot
its phase-plane response automatically. He had considered
Communications
Mr. T. M. CHARLTON, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Associate Member), wrote
that while he was unable to share the author’s apparent
enthusiasm for graphical methods of solving transient vibration
problems in general, he appreciated that such methods could be
advantageous and he, therefore, welcomed the paper. For the
instruction of students he would have thought that graphical
methods ought to be introduced as an expedient only, once the
mathematical and physical aspects were understood. There were,
however, popular graphical methods of great practical utility
which did not require much mathematical background, for
example, the Schnyder-Bergeron method for the study of
travelling-wave phenomena, in particular, problems of water
making one in which the angular displacement and angular rate
of the output shaft would be picked off as voltages by a potentio-
meter, and a tacho-generator, respectively. Those voltages,
suitably amplified, would then form the inputs to a pair of
position-control servos driving the pen on a Cartesian plotting
table, or they could be fed to the X and Y plates of an oscillo-
scope provided with a camera to photograph the screen trace.
H e also referred to Professor Black’s remarks about the
difficulty of differentiating a curve accurately, and wondered
whether he knew about the ‘Askania’ prismatic derivator. That
very simple device consisted of a right-angled prism which was
placed with its hypotenuse face on the curve to be differentiated,
so that the edge of the prism ‘roof‘ was across the curve. Having
first made a dot on the curve at the point where its derivative was
required, the user looked down at the curve through the prism
and moved the prism on the paper until (a) the two visual images
of the dot were equidistant from the edge of the roof, and (b) the
curve, which first appeared to be broken, across the edge, was
seen as a continuous one. When those conditions were satisfied
the roof was at right angles to the curve at the selected point.
If the prism was mounted on a Perspex beam scribed with a line
at right angles to the roof, the line was then the required tangent
to the curve. The correct setting was very sensitive and the
device had given very accurate results on a wide variety of
curves.
Mr. H. CLAUSEN, B.Sc. (Bath), said that he was very interested
in the paper, though labouring under some disadvantages in
that he had not seen any of the works listed in the formidable
bibliography, and in that the terms ‘phase plane’ and ‘trajectory’
were, in the sense used, quite new to him. The paper seemed,
however, to throw much new light on an old subject.
In common, he supposed, with most engineers, he had always
found graphical methods of calculating more informative than
analytical methods, and also of high educational value. A process,
rather analogous to that described in the paper, had been in
well-established use in studying the dynamics of railway elec-
trification at least forty years previously. He had been using it
himself in 1912-13.
Vibration problems were, usually, similar to other dynamic
problems in general character but with a difference in the time
scale. He considered that, in some respects, the old-established
method of integrating from a speed-displacement curve to a
displacement-time curve and the reverse process of differentia-
tion in similar terms, had advantages over the method shown,
and he did not subscribe to the author’s view of the difficulties
of graphical differentiation. Even without the two very elegant
methods described in the discussion, good practical results,
within the limits of accuracy of the initial data were usually
possible.
A combination of the methods shown in the paper and discus-
sion with the older methods of graphical treatment seemed to
him to form a most valuable extension of the tools and methods
available to the engineer.
hammer. It remained to be seen whether the methods considered
by the author would achieve similar status.
There was a classical analytical approach to the problem of
transient vibrations of h e a r systems, which involved neither
Fourier integrals nor the operational calculus. First the transient
force was analysed as the first half-cycle of a periodic force in
terms of a Fourier series. The response of the system was then
determined for (a) the periodic force applied at t = 0, and (b) an
equal and opposite periodic force applied at t = T, where T was
one half of the periodic time. The transient response required
was the combination of the responses (a) and (b), namely, the
forced vibration between t = 0 and T and the natural vibrations
COMMUNICATIONS ON T H E GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS 317
compatible with the boundary conditions at t = 0 and T which If any point A on the trajectory on the phase plane (Fig. 34)
would continue indefinitely in the absence of damping. The was considered,. the ordinate AB was the velocity iA.
method of Duhamel could also be used with advantage for Assuming that AB was the mean velocity acting over the
determining the response and indicated clearly a numerical interval of time A t during which the value of x changed by Ax,
(tabular) method which avoided the use of Fourier series Ax
altogether, By that method the transient force was considered then A - = iA.
t
to consist of an infinite number of infinitesimally small steps or Ax
impulses. He himself had treated such methods in detail else- If OD = p, a constant polar distance, then tanLCOD = pdt‘
where (Charlton 1952)* and wondered whether the author was since CD = AB.
familiar with them. While they were generally laborious they p.At
did, he considered, enable a clear impression of the phenomenon
to be obtained.
If OE was perpendicular to OC then tanLEOD = x.
Mr. V. E. GOUGH, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Associate Member), wrote
that there were one or two points which could, perhaps, be
added to those mentioned in the paper in the section on Evalua-
tion of Phase-plane Methods.
A single-degree-of-freedom system with any non-linear elastic
and damping, f ( i , x), subjected to any forcing function, F(t),
satisfied the equation
w + f ( x , i ) = F(t) . . . . . . . . . . . (60)
and as
f = - x . x di
dx dx
d = z . i. . . . . . (61)
& F(t)-f(x, i ) - (driving force) -(visco-elastic reaction)
z= tn2
- momentum
. . . (62)
i.e. the gradient on the phase plane could be expressed entirely
in terms of the physical quantities, the instantaneous value of
the applied driving force, the instantaneous value of the reaction
set up by the spring and damping system and the instantaneous
‘ - I
F+---P
I

value of the momentum of the oscillating mass. That was always

true for any system under any condition of oscillation including
transients.
As it was quite general, special cases such as Lienard’s
(equation (52)) could be deduced from it. Other special cases
also arose, for example, when
mf+F(x)=O . . . . . (63)
the loci of constant d i / d x values were curves of F(x) (the load
deflexion relation) drawn at appropriate scales. That gave rise
to a simple graphical method for non-linear elasticity. Investiga- \
tion of such cases showed that it was only when the load deflexion \
curve had a point of inflexion at x = 0 that the oscillation
tended to simple harmonic motion at small amplitudes. In cases Fig. 34. Derivation of x / t Curve from Phase-plane Plot
where the curve was convex or concave at x = 0, i.e. only even
orders in terms higher than the linear, the stiffness deduced
from the frequency by the simple harmonic motion formula Hence, if F G was drawn parallel to OE over the interval
was incorrect. But all that related to the field of non-linearity FH = A x , it followed that HG = At, and that FG was a portion
and was, perhaps, outside the scope intended by the author. of the x / t curve which latter could be completed by a step-by-
What was, perhaps, relevant to the field of the author’s paper step process.
was that expression (62), being true for any non-linear system, An alternative way ,of determining t was to note that
was also true for linear systems. The equation showed that the dt = &/ifrom which it was seen that dt was proportional to
phase-plane trajectory gave a description of the motion in
fundamental physical terms and that phase-plane methods of
dealing with transients in linear systems applied to transients in
non-linear systems. That was not true for a number of other
methods which were used for the solution of linear problems.
In the general case (equations (601,(61), (62)) the method
could be used to find the driving force to produce any required
motion, periodic, transient, or even any arbitrary path in the
phase plane. In principle one hadf(x, i )at all points of the phase
plane if one knew the nature of the system. For any prescribed
motion ( x i ) one could find d i , dx, so that

and hence, F ( t ) could be evaluated at any point.

Since i and x were known at every point, t could be found as
dt/dx = l / i , i.e. t = J(dx/i), which reduced to a simple
graphical construction of integration.
CHARLTON, T. M. 1952 Engineer,vol. 193, p. 300, ‘A Note on the
Effect of Transient Forces’. Fig, 35. Graphical Construction for d t on Phase Plane
318 COMMUNICATIONS ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N
the angle subtended by the increment dx on an arm length equal
to li. which reduced to a simple graphical construction.
If, in Fig. 35, LAB'A" = LA"B"A', etc. = 8 then t"'--t"
= t " - f = A t = 8 where 8 = A x / x and x = Ax/At.
2 could be taken as having an average value over the interval ;
that presented least difficulty if 8 was small. The angle 8 was a
measure of the time interval elapsing in traversing from A' to A".
There were other extensions of the fundamental expression
(equations (61) and (62)) but sufficient had been given to
indicate that the more conventional phase-plane methods in
which the gradient was of central interest could be further
developed and could have some value in teaching both non-linear
and linear, transient or periodic, motion.
Professor LYDX s. JACOBSEN (Stanford, California) con-
gratulated the author on his comprehensive treatment of the
phase-plane method for solving various problems governed by
second-order differential equations. He wrote that Figs. 8 and 9
showed the author's ingenious method of performing a double
differentiation by means of an auxiliary sector that could be slid
around in the phase plane so as to keep its vertex on the x-axis,
and thereby find the circular arc that would reconstruct a section
of the trajectory corresponding to a section of the given function.
That simple device ought to be of great interest to people who
were concerned with an evaluation of records obtained from
blast phenomena.
The author's contribution to the treatment of multi-degree-of-
freedom problems by phase-plane methods was possibly a linle
too sketchy in its description to give a clear idea as to whether
or no the difficulties involved were materially less than those
found by Ayre (1952).
There was no doubt that the author's treatment of beam
columns clarified the problem and also pointed out the limita-
tions imposed by using either of the two choices of phase-plane
co-ordinates.
Extensive work with the phase-plane technique for non-linear
systems had convinced him that the original method of Lamoen
(1935), consisting in adopting a stepwise variation in the turning
frequency, p , with its consequent graphical discontinuities in
kjp, could be very annoying, and often led to awkward construc-
tlons, as in Fig. 14. T h a t was especially true when the slope of
the restoration function approached zero ; moreover, a negative
slope in the function would require hyperbolic arcs. Con-
sequently, the general method (Fig. 23) that relegates all non-
linearities of the differential equation into the operative function
x and thereby retained a constant turning frequency p with
graphical continuity in x/p was definitely preferable to the
original one.
In Fig. 15 the author had shown a construction that employed
stepwise translation of the entire restoration function. He would
suggest that a change from absolute to relative displacements
would, in many instances, make that probiem easier to handle.
Thus, if the abutment co-ordinate was given by 5 = F(t), the
equation of motion would be
f+f(~-R = O . . . . . (65)
Lettingy = (x-8, one obtained
j;+f(y) = i'=Q(t) . . . . (66)
If the absolute displacement was definitely required, y and 6
could always be added.
It was clearly an individual's right to prefer numerical
methods to graphical ones, but from a pedagogic point of view
he himself was in complete agreement with the author's state-
ment that the phase-plane graphical method was of extremely
great value in clarifying the dynamic relations of transient
vibration problems for students of engineering.
Mr. J. L. L ~ E YB.Sc. , (Graduate), wrote that the author
was to be congratulated on a lucid explanation of the phase-
plane method for solution of equations of the general type
f = G(k, X, t )
He thought that would be welcomed by many people who
had been confronted by that form of equation, particularly in
its frequently occurring non-linear forms.
OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
For undergraduate work the phase-plane method of treatment
for undamped, linear single-degree-of-freedom systems was
particularly instructive and gave a good insight into the processes
involved. However, it was significant that, at Cambridge, the
next extension of the method, namely, the introduction of
oblique co-ordinates for the treatment of damping, was not
introduced to the average undergraduate. At that stage the
method would. probably become obscure to the average under-
graduate. There was, however, every justification for the intro-
duction of the more involved ideas, in particular the general
phase-plane method of integration at a more advanced level in,
say, specialist, optional, advanced courses. That appeared to be
the approach adopted at Cambridge.
In the introduction to the paper and in the section on the
Evaluation of Phase-plane Methods the author had mentioned
the other numerical methods available for the treatment of
equations of the type
m f + k k + c x = F(t) . .. . (67)
where F(t) was an arbitrary function of time. Undoubtedly the
Fourier integral method presented mathematical difficulties to
the average undergraduate, at the level at which he usually met
equation (67) for the first time; but the type of numerical method
described in Timoshenko and Young (1948) w a s worthy of
introduction at an early undergraduate level. That type of
numerical method, based on the Duhamel integral, could also be
a stumbling block for the average undergraduate and much
depended on the method of presentation. The author was un-
doubtedly very familiar with that treatment but the ease with
which the method could be applied to equations of the type of
equation (67) (and higher-order linear equations) made a simple
exposition of the technique justifiable in a communication on a
paper which came under the auspices of the Education Group.
In brief the method was as followed :-
First the response &I) to the sudden application of a unit load
to the system in question should be determined. That involved
the solution of, say,
me+k#+cx = H(t)
where H(t) was the Heaviside unit function shown in Fig. 36.
0
Fig. 36. The Heaviside Unit Function, H(r)
That was within the powers of the average undergraduate, being
the solution for transient abutment motion mentioned by the
author.
Next the known forcing function F(t) and the response
should be plotted against time as shown in Fig. 37a and b and
they should be replaced by equivalent 'step functions' as shown.
The solution would then be obtained by considering the
forcing function H t ) as a series of constant forces applied for
small time intervals. The working was best arranged in a tabular
form as shown in Table 1. Each row in Table 1 gave the con-
tribution to the total response, R [ F ( ~due
) ~ to
, the changes dF(r)
in the forcing function, i.e. each row was simply the product of
the change in F(t), i.e. AF(t), at the time considered, and the
response R ( l )to the unit impulse.
Addition of the columns gave the total response R [ P ( ~to
) Ithe
forcing function F(t). The final result was plotted in Fig. 38.
He made no claim to originality in giving the above (he had
first encountered that method of laying out the calculation in
lectures at the Imperial College of Science and Technology) but
the very simplicity of that method would probably appeal to
many of those engaged in the teaching of undergraduates and
of those who might be encountering arbitrary forcing problems
in their work.
COMMUNICATIONS ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS 319
71 71

I-

0
Z i i j i i,
t
7 i 9 10 II 12
1
I3 i i i i i t ; I 111 li i3

a Forcing function F(t) and equivalent step function. b Response R ( I )to Heaviside unit function.

Fig. 37. F(t) and R(,)

Plotted Against t

TABLE
-- -
1. The Working Arranged in Tabular Form
-
5 6 8 10
--
3 4 7 9 11 12 13
- -
5 3 2 1 0.5 05 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
--
15 9 6 3 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 I 1.5
5 5 3 2 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
2 5 5 3 2 1 05 0.5 0.5

6 I 2
0 0 0
0
-2
0
0
-5
0
0
-5
0
0
-3
0
0
- 2
0
0
-1
0
0
-
-
0
0
0.5
-
0
0
- 0.5

i
-2 - 5 -5 -3 -2 1 0.5
-4 -10 - 10 -6 -4 -2
9 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 +5 10 25 25 15
11 I -2 -4 -10 -10
i2
13 I T: ~- -2 II - :
6 17I22
- - --
19 14 6 -2.5
-
-11 -15.5 - 2.5
--
145
~~

10 1.5

-20’
Fig. 38. Curve of Response R [ F ( ~to) IForcing Function F(t)
Professor B. J. LLOYD-EVANS, Ph.D., M.Sc. (Eng.) (Member),
wrote that the author was to be congratulated on having
presented a new development in the theory of vibrations. It was
well known that vector and other graphical methods appealed to
students because a physical meaning was given to the mathe-
matical expressions. There was no doubt, therefore, that the
paper would be of real service in teaching.
Sir RICHARDSOUTHWELL, M.A., LL.D. (Hon. Member),
F.R.S., wrote that during his time at Oxford the same lecture
courses had been taken by every undergraduate student of
engineering science ;and a one-term course for which he made
himself responsible had dealt with vibration theory. Reading
the author’s paper he had come to realize how much it would
have improved his presentation if, knowing something of the
phase-plane method, he had included one or two of the author’s
graphical constructions; for the mathematical equipment of an
average undergraduate student did not, when analysing forced
vibrations, permit much more to be given than the variation
of the response with frequency and its general expression as
a Fourier integral, and many would have benefited from the per-
forming of LamoEn’s construction for (at least) an undamped
system. Even the failure of graphical differentiation to reproduce
curve A of Fig. 9 would have been enlightening if it had been
explained as due in part to the readiness of a system’s response
to quite small forces having its natural frequency.
One speaker in the discussion had seemed to assume that the
author would not teach any analytical methods: he supposed
that that had been a misunderstanding, and that the derivation
of the response to a sinusoidal force had not been included in
the paper simply because it was well known. What was not so
clear to him (from the author’s last paragraph) was whether the
author saw those graphical methods not only as an aid to the
teaching of theory but as the best means to quantitative results :
if so, then he had to express his disagreement, on the ground
that numerical methods were exempt from errors that were
inescapable on the drawing-board. He already knew some
devices, and from the paper had learnt of others, whereby
tangents and normals could be drawn with accuracy ;but he was
thinking of the finite thickness of an inked or pencilled line,
which prevented one from making three lines precisely con-
w e n t (except by chance). Therein was a source of error which
would be the bigger, the smaller the angle between the first
two lines of the three: consequently, in graphical work there
was a limit below which intervals could not be reduced, what-
ever amount of time one was willing to devote. No such limit
restricted numerical computation : its intervals adjoined exactly,
and one could, at no cost except in time and labour, make them
as small as one liked.
He would be interested to learn what order of accuracy the
author regarded as being (I) needed in practical work and
(2) obtainable in his graphical constructions.
320 AUTHOR’S REPLY ON THE GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
AUTHOR’S R E P L Y
Dr. R. E. D. BISHOPwrote in reply that the contributions to
the discussion underlined the fact that problems of transient
vibration were beginning to excite a great deal of interest.
In the oral presentation of the paper, he had introduced the
graphical method in a simple form that differed slightly from that
of the paper. In response to several requests, he wished to out-
line that second approach. He would do that before replying to
the discussion.
I+
a Rotatingline. b Curve of X and projection of the rotating
line giving the displacement x.
Fig. 39. Vector Representation of the Free Motion of the
System of Fig. 3 with X = 0
Fig. 39 showed the vector representation of the free motion
of the system of Fig. 3 when X = 0. That diagram would be
familiar to all who studied vibration. The curve of X in that
case coincided with the t-axis in Fig. 396.
It would next be supposed that the quantity X of Fig. 3 had
some constant value X 1 and that free oscillation took place as
before. The problem w a s precisely that of Fig. 39 except that
all displacements x would be increased by X I as in Fig. 40.
l a
a Rotating line. b Curve of X and projection of the rotating line.
Fig. 40. Vector Representation of the Free Motion of the
System of Fig. 3 about an Equilibrium Position correspond-
ing to x = x1
Finally, he considered the problem illustrated by the X-curve
in Fig. 416. Free motion was considered with X = 0 until the
instant t = t l when X became equal to X I .That was illustrated
in Fig. 41 where the interval t = 0 to t = tl was covered by
the construction of Fig. 39 and, when t = tl, the construction of
Fig. 40 became relevant. The rest of the discussion by that
approach followed that given in the paper.
Professor Christopherson had described an ingenious method
of warding off the instability which set in during the process of
graphical differentiation. He (the author) agreed that the philo-
sophical basis of the suggestion was obscure but it certainly
seemed effective when applied to an actual problem.
The second point which Professor Christopherson had raised
(concerning the case where p = 0) was obviously an interesting
and important one and he himself had, in fact, spent some time
examining it without much success. Incidentally, it should be
noted that the technique, if it could be adapted to that problem,
would differentiate the given curve not once but twice.
In reply to Professor Christopherson’s last point, he considered
it wrong and ill-advised in a course on vibration to treat harmonic
oscillation to the complete exclusion of transients. He agreed
that harmonic motion was vitally important ;but he did not agree
that it ought to be regarded as the only problem. It was not
proposed that any more than elementary considerations ought to
be dealt with and he certainly did not think that Jacobsen’s
method was undergraduate material. T o be sure, phase-plane
techniques could hardly be omitted from a course on non-linear
vibration; but only advanced students would then be concerned.
Professor Black had provided an interesting contribution on
the time-keeping of pendulum clocks and it was one that could
be illustrated easily by means of the phase-plane.
He was afraid that he would have to take issue with Professor
Black‘s comment on the matter of differentiation. In that
problem, two differentiations were required and Professor Black
had said (in effect) that he could make them by slope-measure-
ment and still keep the method fairly accurate. He thought that
any engineer would challenge that. Instability did not set in
when the slope-measuring method was used so that results did
not get worse as one went on-they tended, in his opinion, to be
uniformly bad.
I a b
I
a Rotatinglines. 6 Curve of X and projection of the rotating
lines.
Fig. 41. Vector Representation of Motion of the System of Fig.
3 when X changes abruptly from X = 0 to X = Xl at t = t ,
The paper was essentially one on a method of integration.
The section on differentiation, while something of a side-line,
had been inserted because it had been found to be useful in the
analysis of response to blast-loading. It was true that the con-
struction was no improvement upon more conventional methods
for more than, say, one-and-a-half convolutionsof the trajectory;
but that might well be of no consequence in shock loading. In
the measurement of pressure in blast waves set up by explosive
charges, the forcing function was commonly represented by the
approximate relation
X= I01 t<O
Ae-tI7 r> 0
where A and 7 were constants. Enough information could be
extracted from a response curve (by means of the described con-
struction) to evaluate A quite accurately. That could not be done
as accurately by Professor Black’s method because his construc-
tion was unlikely to give an accurate value of X at t = 0 or at
any other given instant. The criticism that differentiation in the
phase-plane was not always accurate simply gave emphasis to a
statement which appeared in the paper; that was to the effect
that the accuracy depended upon the shape of the forcing curve.
He had not offered a general method of graphical differentiation;
in a paper on a method of integration, he had indicated, paren-
thetically, that the converse process was sometimes useful.
Professor Black had written that, as far as teaching was con-
cerned, he would prefer to devote more time to ‘orthodox
methods of graphical and numerical differentiation and integra-
tion’. He (the author) had not suggested that differentiation by
the method of the paper was suitable for lectures to under-
graduates ;for one thing, it was too specializedin application. But
integration was another matter since transient vibration wa
 AUTHOR’S REPLY ON T H E GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N O F T R A N S I E N T VIBRATION PROBLEMS 321
concerned with ‘initial condition’ (rather than ‘boundary value’) techniques were unlikely to be really accurate although they were
problems and so could not be handled by what he regarded as obviously the best over a large number of swings of the oscillator.
orthodox methods. He observed that Professor Black’s view was Mr. Clausen had referred to graphical constructions which
not shared by other contributors and, in particular, was not that had been in use for many years. Unfortunately no reference was
of Sir Richard Southwell. given so that comparison was impossible. He gathered, however,
Mr. Macmillan’s results were both interesting and significant. that the purpose of the constructions referred to was not the
The work which he had described illustrated clearly what a same as that of the paper under discussion.
powerful tool the phase-plane method of integration was in Mr. Charlton’s opening remarks seemed a little confused. The
control theory. He noted that the results were to be presented graphical construction was presented as a means of finding solu-
in a more complete form at a later date and considered that tions to differential equations. That was distinct from the task
engineers would view the prospect with satisfaction. of setting up the differential equations-a process to which he
He hoped that his opening remarks in reply to the discussion apparently referred. He (the author) agreed that the method of
had substantiated Mr. Macmillan’s comment on the subject of Bergeron was most valuable in the solution of wave problems but
presenting the graphical method in an elementary form. he hoped that nobody would be misled into thinking that it had
It was true that time could be retained on trajectories as a anything to do with the transient vibration of systems with finite
parameter in those constructions (as in Fig. 41). In asserting that freedom.
that was not true of Lamoen’s construction, Mr. Macmillan had The article to which Mr. Charlton had referred was known
clearly made a slip of the pen. to him. It was concerned with the analytical and numerical
Dr. Bloch had, like Professor Black, mentioned the problem approach to problems of transient vibration of a linear undamped
of the delivery of an impulse to a pendulum. Dr. Bloch had also system with a single degree of freedom. The methods described,
introduced the general topic of steady-state oscillation although while quite well known as applied mathematics, did not seem to
the paper was essentially one on transient vibration. Neverthe- him to be simple enough or sufficiently easily adapted to other
less, he himself did not believe that many engineers would have problems to be of much general interest to engineers. That,
Dr. Bloch’s enthusiasm for turning elementary problems of however, was admittedly a matter of opinion and he (the author)
mechanical oscillation in principal modes into ‘equivalent’ had included the reference to Timoshenko and Young (1948) as
transmission lines before finding solutions. That idea seemed a consequence, since they gave a selection of such methods.
most unlikely to be helpful. While he agreed that the paper by Mr. Charlton was of interest,
The suggestion that outer bounds might be put on the trajec- he considered that the inclusion of a bibliography of numerical
tory in a given problem of differentiation (according to the and analytical methods would have meant greatly lengthening
method given in the paper) was a sound one. the list of references without much gain.
He was mystified by the contribution of Mr. Grootenhuis. It Mr. Gough had drawn attention to certain aspects of the
was common practice to distinguish between two types of linear theory of the phase-plane. Those had not been dealt with in the
oscillatory motion; those were (1) ‘steady-state’ harmonic vibra- paper because they were mostly concerned with the theory of
tion and (2) all other motions-sometimes called ‘transient non-linear oscillation and also because, as such, they had received
vibration’. As its title implied, the paper was concerned with much attention in recent years.
the second kind of oscillation so that simple harmonic motion The constructions shown by Mr. Gough were elegant and
was not the object of the treatment. Mr. Grootenhuis had largely simple and they illustrated further properties of trajectories.
concerned himself in his discussion with steady-state oscillation However, he could not convince himself that they were of im-
so that much of what he had said was irrelevant. mediate practical use as he considered that they were concerned
Mr. Grootenhuis had, in his opening sentence, himself with problems which seldom presented themselves. He did not
referred to the duration of the presentation (it had taken him wish to be emphatic in that respect, however, as it was clear that
(the author) about 15 minutes to outline as much of the method more work was needed along the lines suggested in the con-
as he taught in an elementary course of vibration). It therefore tribution. He noted that when the trajectory was postulated
seemed that the query as to what ought to be omitted from a there was no need to retain the variable i / p , as distinct from x ;
course to make room for the material presented could not be taken that had the advantage of allowing equation (62) to be used in
very seriously. He was sure that an inflexible attitude towards the the form given.
content of lecture courses was undesirable. In regard to the contribution by Professor Jacobsen he wished
The problems mentioned in the final paragraph of Mr. to acknowledge that it was a particularly valuable one, emanating
Grootenhuis’s contribution were so clearly amenable to solution as it did from one in whose hands the graphical method had
by the construction that it had not seemed right to treat them in yielded remarkable results and whose lectures on the subject
detail in the paper. They could be (and some were) given to were no less striking. They had accounted for his own interest in
undergraduates as examples. the subject.
Incidentally, it was usual to associate Coulomb’s name with He agreed that the variation of p in constructions like that of
damping which did not depend upon velocity. Fig. 14 could become most annoying. The feature of the general
Mr. Pearson had asked whether a device could be made for construction (whereby all variation of p could be relegated to the
finding trajectories. Some time ago he had worked on the matter function x ) had been mentioned and he agreed that that ought
himself, and he was convinced that that could be done mecha- to have been emphasized in the paper.
nically for the equation The suggestion embodied in equations (65) and (66) was an
interesting one and he had, in fact, wondered whether or not to
n + p x = pZX(t) mention it in the paper. His reason for not doing so was that,
The machine would thus do the work of Lamoen’s construction. having been given [ ( t ) one would have to find t ( t ) and the double
Mr. Pearson evidently wanted a machine for making Jacobsen’s differentiation had seemed too high a price to pay for the un-
construction and that would, he thought, be much more difficult doubted simplification of the equations.
to devise. He considered that a promising method of tackling the Professor Jacobsen’s final paragraph would, he thought,
former equation would be to have a sheet of paper on which the provide reassurance to some of the other contributors to the
curve of X ( t ) could be plotted, and then to have a mechanism discussion who were dubious of the place of graphics in
which could be rolled along the r-axis and would plot the curve engineering science.
of x directly. The device he had in mind was simply a mechanical Mr. Livasey had raised the question of the value of the
trajectory-tracer that would be translated instead of standing Duhamel integral in an undergraduate training. His own view
still as in the paper. He was of the opinion that it could be was that the concept involved, which was clearly described by
done fairly simply, but he had had to give the matter up owing Timoshenko and Young (1948), was well within the grasp of an
to the pressure of other work. honours candidate. Indeed, the chief obstacle with the technique
He had found Mr. Pearson’s description of the prismtic appeared to be its name. He thought that the same was true, in
derivator very interesting. It probably offered the best means of a minor way, of Mr. Livesey’s exposition of the numerical
differentiating a given curve. However, the problem was not of method ;for the mere statement that he employed ‘Heaviside’s
one differentiation, but two. He considered that slope-measuring unit function’ might deter the weaker student.
322 AUTHOR’S REPLY ON THE GRAPHICAL S O L U T I O N OF TRANSIENT VIBRATION PROBLEMS
While he (the author) readily agreed that the numerical
approach had much to be said for it in the solution of equation
(67), he thought that Mr. Livesey would agree that it was not as
easily adaptable to other equations as the method described in
the paper.
The comment of Professor Lloyd-Evans was particularly
gratifying. He (the author) had received his first instruction in
vibration theory from him and valued his opinion of the method
as a means of teaching as that of one whose lectures were
beautifully lucid. He also knew that the construction would have
to be of use in practical engineering problems in order to obtain
the Professor’s blessing.
Sir Richard Southwell’s contribution was most encouraging
since the remarks were those of one whose knowledge of finite-
difference methods was unsurpassed. As Sir Richard had sup-
posed, it was not suggestedeither that the analytical derivation of
response to harmonic forcing was unimportant or that it should
not be taught. It had not been mentioned in the paper because it
was ‘not concerned with transient vibration.
The method of graphical integration had been presented as an
aid to the teaching of theory and as a good method of obtaining
quantitative results (though not the most accurate possible). He
had stated in the Introduction that he acknowledged the great
power of numerical methods and it had also been indicated later
how the graphical approach could be used as an aid to numerical
work (see the Evaluation of Phase-plane Methods).
However, while some shortcomings had been pointed out by
Sir Richard (and those were inherent in the whole of engineering
graphics) he did not think that drawing-board methods were
seriously marred by them. Sir Richard would doubtless agree
that, when faced with a problem, the engineer should try to find
the least troublesome method of solution which was adequately
accurate, and that the criterion of adequacy was largely the
accuracy with which the problem was stated. It was his own
contention that, that being so, graphical methods were usually
quite satisfactory. It had been postulated in the paper that the
forcing function could be given as a curve and, if that was the
case, then there was a limit to the accuracy with which data was
given on that account alone. It was his belief that engineers were
often interested in results for the calculation of which only crude
numerical work was needed; and in those circumstances he con-
sidered that graphical methods were just as useful. That was a
difficult matter to discuss with any precision and he did not think
that quantitative expression could be given at all easily to those
views. Sir Richard was perfectly correct, of course, in his state-
ment that numerical methods were the most accurate; but he
himself believed that it was possible to be too ‘accurate’ when
using engineering data.