Base Excitations

(Transmission of harmonic displacements from base)

If the ground motion is defined as u g  u gosin( t) , it can be

t

t t
shown that the amplitude u o of the total displacement u (t)
of the mass can be calculated from the same formula that is used
for transmission of force from a system to its foundation. i.e.,

1  2rω 
2
u ot
TR  
u go 1 - r 
ω
2 2
 2rω 
2
1

Base Excitations
(Transmission of harmonic displacements from base)

1
 Base Excitations (out-of-phase)
(Transmission of harmonic displacements from base)
ut
m

k c

ug Base

Vehicle 2 Vehicle 1
Let ωn1 and ωn2 be the natural frequencies of the vertical suspension
systems of vehicles 1 and 2, respectively. Both the vehicles have same
velocity passing over the speed breaker (signifying ω) . It can be observed
that the suspension system of second vehicle is more flexible as compared
to first one. In the other words ω n2< ωn1 or rω2 =ω / ω n2> rω1= ω/ ωn1. Now
determine TR from graph given on next slide) and compare the results to
understand the effect of rω on TR 3

Base Excitations (out-of-phase)

(Transmission of harmonicVehicle
displacements
ωn ω from
rω base)
TR for ζ =0.7
1 20 40 2 ≈ 0.7
2 10 40 4 ≈ 0.35

Comments:
1. Relatively speaking vehicle with suspension
system of higher frequency (rω= 2) will
experience more discomfort (TR= 0.7) as
against vehicle with lower frequency r ω =4
(TR=0.35)
2. This is valid for out-of-phase motion with rω>1
V1

V2

2
 Base Excitations (in-phase)
(Transmission of harmonicVehicle
displacements
ωn ω from
rω base)
TR for ζ =0.7
1 20 8 0.4 ≈ 1.1
2 10 8 0.8 ≈ 1.2

Comments:
1. Relatively speaking vehicle with suspension
system of higher frequency (rω= 0.4) will
experience less discomfort (TR= 1.1) as against
vehicle with lower frequency r ω =0.8 (TR=1.2)
2. This is valid for in-phase motion with rω<1

V1
V2

Base Excitations (in-phase and out-of-phase) from

Vehicle ωn ω rω TR for ζ =0.7
1 20 10 0.5 ≈ 1.1
2 10 11 1.1 ≈ 1.1

Comments:
1. Both vehicles experience same level of
comfort/discomfort
2. This is valid when one vehicle is in the in-
phase zone and the other is out-of-phase

V1 V2

3
Example 3.5. A delicate instrument weighing 100 lb is to be mounted on a
rubber pad to the floor of a test laboratory where the vertical acceleration
is 0.1 g at a frequency of f = 10 cps. It has been determined
experimentally that the ratio of the stiffness, k, to the damping coefficient,
c, is equal to 100 (l/sec) for the type of rubber pad material used in the
isolation. What is the stiffness of the isolation required to reduce the
acceleration transmitted to the instrument to 0.01 g?

4
Example 3.6. If the frame of Example 3.2 (Fig. 3.7) is subjected to a
sinusoidal ground motion ys(t) = 0.2 sin 5.3t, determine:
(a) the transmissibility of motion to the girder
(b) the maximum shearing force in the supporting columns
(c) maximum stresses in the columns.

Solution: (a) The parameters for this

system are calculated in Ex 3.2 as

10

5
Example 3.8. A machine having a total weight of 18001b, including its
foundation, is to be isolated from the vibration of the ground, which is
22.8 cps owing to other machines operating near. Determine the stiffness
of rubber isolation spring to limit the transmitted vibration to 1/10:
(a) neglect damping and (b) consider damping given by the expression c =
k/170 obtain experimentally [units of c (lb· sec/in) and of k (lb/in)].

11

12

6
Number of cycles required by a harmonic excitation to
develop full resonance in a SDOF system
Following relation between uo (peak displacement at resonance)
and uj (peak displacement after j cycles of vibration) for lightly
damped systems u
 1  e  2 πζj
j

uo
This relation is plotted in Figure on next slide for ζ = 0.02, 0.05
and 0.10.
It can be observed from figure The lighter the damping, the larger
is the number of cycles required to reach a certain percentage of uo,
the steady-state amplitude.
For example, the number of cycles required to reach 95% of uo is
24 for ζ = 0.02, 10 for ζ = 0.05 and 5 for ζ = 0.10.
13

Number of cycles required by a harmonic excitation to

develop full resonance in a SDOF system

uj
0.95
uo

uj
uo ζ Rd at resonance= 1/(2ζ) uo at resonance
0.10 5 5* (ust)o
0.05 10 10* (ust)o
0.02 25 25* (ust)o

5 10 24

Figure: Variation of response amplitude with number of cycles of

harmonic force with frequency ω = ωn . 14