In the present assignment, it is planned to estimate the damping ratio of a

car (same car as earlier used in Assignment - 1) through the logarithmic decre-
ment method.

It was understood from a general vibration data obtained from the application,
iNVH, that due to presence of numerous frequencies in the raw data, it would
be dicult to lter out the required data alone and determine the damping ratio
when the car is in running condition. Hence, the damping characteristics were
studied with the engine in o condition and by exciting the system while car is
parked. Additionally, attempts were made to study the data while the car runs
over a hump.

1 Part 1: Experimental Data Analysis

1.1 Excitation of the Car While Parked

Figure 1: Excitation given to car while in parked and engine o condition.

1
 While the car is parked, two persons occupied the front passenger seats
(each of masses 62 and 95 kg). While person 1 controls the recording in iNVH,
the other would provide a sudden excitation in the vertical direction from the
driver's seat. The results hence obtained are shown in Fig. 1.

The observed frequency of the excitation is around 13 Hz (damped frequency).

The value of the peaks beginning from the second one shown in the Fig. 1 are
as follows
x1 = 2.04 m/s2
x2 = 1.07 m/s2
x3 = 0.51 m/s2
x4 = 0.28 m/s2
x5 = 0.14 m/s2

The damping ratio can be calculated from the formula

δ
ζ=√
4π 2 n2 + δ2
For n = 4, the logarithmic decrement value is
 
x1
δ = ln
x5
 
2.04
= ln
0.14
= 2.679

From δ , ζ is calculated as given below

2.679
ζ=√
4 × π 2 × 42 + 2.6792
= 0.106

For a simplied calculation with assumption of small ζ would have given

δ
ζ=
2πn
2.679
=
2π × 4
= 0.106

which is similar to the earlier calculated value. So, for small values the approx-
imate equation holds. Detailed study on the applicability of the approximate
equation is performed in Section 2.

1.2 Analysis of Vibration When the Car Passes through

a Hump

In the actual data acquired, the amount of background noise in the vibration
data was quite large (refer Fig. 2). With the observed value of natural fre-

2
 Figure 2: Vibration data from moving car.

quency of 13 Hz, it was attempted to apply a band pass lter between 12-14
Hz. However, the signal was still observed to have multiple frequencies and
hence identifying damping ratio from it was dicult. However, an FFT of the
acquired signal did indicate a dominant frequency around 12 Hz as expected
(refer Fig. 3).

2 Part-2: Plots with Dierent ζ Values and Com-

parison with Logarithmic Decrement
For a free vibration with viscous damping, the general solution can be expressed
as
x(t) = Xe−ζωn t cos (ωd t − ϕ)
Let us assume an initial velocity of zero so that ϕ = 0. Let us also assume the
initial displacement as 10 mm when t = 0. The displacement equation can be
hence written as  p 
x(t) = 10e−ζωn t cos ωn 1 − ζ 2t

From part-1, ωn can be taken as 82 rad/s. ζ is varied between 0.05 to 0.8 and
the graphs are plotted (refer Fig. 4). ζ is back calculated through logarithmic
decrement method and compared with the ζ obtained from the equation
δ
ζ=
2πn

3
Figure 3: Dominant frequency in vibration data of a moving car

Figure 4: Variation of displacement function with dierent ζ

4
 Figure 5: Dierence between actual ζ and estimated ζ

The error is calculated as

∆ζ = ζactual − ζestimated

and is given as a plot in Fig. 5. With an increase in the ζ , large variations

are observed in back calculated ζ . The approximation is hence valid for small ζ
values only.

Table 1: Consolidation of the input ζ values and corresponding error in ζ

ζ X1 X2 Log Dec Est. ζ Error %
0.05 10 7.310 0.313 0.050 0.261
0.1 10 5.344 0.627 0.100 0.272
0.15 10 3.898 0.942 0.150 0.027
0.2 10 2.830 1.262 0.201 -0.440
0.25 10 2.041 1.589 0.253 -1.181
0.3 10 1.454 1.928 0.307 -2.304
0.4 10 0.707 2.650 0.422 -5.434
0.5 10 0.311 3.469 0.552 -10.430
0.6 10 0.116 4.457 0.709 -18.219
0.7 10 0.032 5.738 0.913 -30.470
0.8 10 0.005 7.663 1.220 -52.446