50 FREE VIBRATIONS OF I-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM SYSTEMS ICHW.

For a damping ratio of 1.25,

2(125)(29.1 ~)
c 1820 N-s
m' m
0.04 _ ,
kg m

2.17 The recoil mechanism of a gun is designed with critical damping such that the system
returns to its firing position the quickest without overshooting. Design a recoil mechanism
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(by specifying c and k) for a 10-kg gun with a 5-cm recoil such that the firing mechanism
Mathead returns to within 0.5 mm of firing within 0.5 s after maximum recoil.
Let 1=0 occur when the mechanism reaches maximum recoiL The response of the mech anism
from this time is that of a critically damped system with x(O) = 0.05 m and .«0) = O. From Eq.
(2.21)
X(I) = 0.05e '~"(1 + W"I)
Requiring that x(0.5) = 0.0005 m leads to
0.0005 = 0.05e '''·'~' (1 + 0.5",")
A trial-and-error solution leads to w" = 13.2 rad l s, which leads to
rad)' N
k=mw,'= (10kg) ( 13.27 = 17400;:;;-
rad) N-s
c = 2mw" = 2(10 kg) ( 13.27 = 264-;:;;-

2.18 A railroad bumper is designed as a spring in parallel with a viscous damper. What is the
bumper's damping coefficient such that the system has a damping ratio of 1.25 when the
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bumper is engaged by a 20,000-kg railroad car and has a stiffness of 2 x 10' N/m?
The damping coefficient i, calculated from the damping ratio by

c = 2(v;;;k = 2(1.25) ~(20,000 kg)( 200,000 ~) = 1.58 X 10' N~S

2.19 The railroad car of Problem 2.18 is traveling at a speed of 20 mls when it engages the

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bumper. What is the maximum deflection of the bumper?
The natural frequency of the syst:m 0Jfp~::: ~18 is rad

w" = J§; = 20,000 kg = 3.16 7

Let I = 0 occur when the car engages the bumper. Since the system is overdamped with x(O) = 0
and '«0) = 20 mis, application of Eq. (2.22) leads to
20~
s e - (1.2S)(J . !6)J

X(I)=
3.16 rad 2"'(1.25)' - 1
s
x [e (3· 16)~ 1 - e -(3_ 1 6)~ 1
X(I) = 4.22(e ''-'" - e" ·)2,) m
The time at which the maximum deflection occurs is obtained by setting
~
dl = 0 = 4. - 1 58e ''-'" + 6. 32e")2,)
22( .
632 e - 1 ~Xl
158;;;: e-f,:\21:;: e
4741

1 (6.32)
I = 4.74 In 1.58 = 0.292 s
Thus the maximum bumper deflection is
Xmu = 4.22(e - l.s . . . '/.2'12) - e- 6 . 32 (U.21)2») = 1.99 m