DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

2018/19 FIRST SEMESTER EXAM

COURSE CODE MEE 411
COURSE TITLE MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
DATE July 13, 2019
TIME ALLOWED 3 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS ATTEMPT FIVE QUESTIONS, AT LEAST ONE FROM EACH SECTION
PHONES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE EXAM HALL

SECTION 1: FREE VIBRATIONS

Question One.
a. For a system undergoing simple harmonic motion;
(i) With the aid of formulae, show the relationship between the period, frequency and
angular velocity. (1mark)
(ii) What effect does a decrease in mass have on the frequency of the system? (1 mark)
(iii) What effect does a decrease in the stiffness have on the period? (1 mark)
b. A steel shaft ABCD 1.5m long has flywheels at its ends A and D. The mass of the flywheel
A is 600kg and its radius of gyration is 0.6m. The mass of the flywheel D is 800kg and has a
radius of gyration of 0.9m. The connecting shaft has a diameter of 50mm for the portion
AB which is 0.4m long; and has a diameter of 60mm for the portion BC which is 0.5m long;
and a diameter of ‘d’mm for the portion CD which is 0.6m long. Determine:
(i) The diameter ‘d’ of the portion CD so that the node of torsional vibration of the
system would be at the center of the length BC (4 marks)
(ii) The frequency (f) of torsional vibrations (2 marks)
The modulus of Rigidity of the Shaft Material 80GN/m2
c. A press is mounted on a rubber pad to isolate it from its foundation. If the rubber pad is
compressed 10mm by the self-weight of the press, find the natural frequency (𝜔) of the
system. (5 marks)
Question Two.
a. Show that for a simple pendulum, the frequency of oscillation for small angles is given as:
1 𝑔
𝑓= √
2𝜋 𝐿
(4 marks)
b. A link AB in a mechanism is a rigid bar of uniform section 0.3 m long. It has a mass of 10
kg, and a concentrated mass of 7 kg is attached at B. The link is hinged at A and is supported
in a horizontal position by a spring attached at the midpoint of the bar. The stiffness of
the spring is 2 kN/m. Find the frequency of small free oscillations of the system. The system
is as shown below. (5 marks)

c. A torsional pendulum has a rod of 5 mm diameter. Find out its length for natural frequency
of 10 Hz. The inertia of the mass fixed at the free end is 0.0120 kg m2., Take G = 0.84 x
1011 N/m2 (5 marks)

MEE 411 Page 1 of 4

 DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

SECTION 2: FREE DAMPED VIBRATIONS

Question Three
a. A damped oscillation be given by
𝑥1 = R𝑒 −𝜁𝜔𝑛 𝑡 cos (√(1 − 𝜁 2 )𝜔𝑛 𝑡 − 𝜙)
The amplitude is 𝑥2 after a full period 𝜏. Determine the ratio of successive amplitudes
(4 marks)

b. A flywheel of mass 10kg and radius of gyration 0.3m makes rotational oscillations under
the control of a torsion spring of stiffness 5Nm/rad. A viscous damper is fitted and it is
found experimentally that the amplitude is reduced by a factor of 100 over any 2 complete
cycles. Calculate the damping ratio and damping coefficient, and the periodic time of
damped oscillation. (4 marks)

c. Write the differential equation of motion of the system shown below and determine the
natural frequency (𝜔𝑛 ) and the critical damping coefficient (𝑐𝑐 ). (6 marks)

Question Four
a. State three differences between viscous and coulomb damping. (3 marks)

b. A metal block, placed on a rough surface, is attached to a spring and is given an initial
displacement of 10 cm from its equilibrium position. After five cycles of oscillation in 2 s,
the final position of the metal block is found to be 1 cm from its equilibrium position. Find
the coefficient of friction between the surface and the metal block. (4 marks)

c. A horizontal spring mass system with coulomb damping has a mass of 5kg attached to a
spring of stiffness 980N/m. if the coefficient of friction is 0.025, calculate;
(i) The frequency of free oscillations (2 marks)
(ii) The number of cycles corresponding to 50% reduction in amplitude if the initial
amplitude is 5.0cm (3 marks)
(iii) The time taken to achieve this 50% reduction. (2 marks)

MEE 411 Page 2 of 4

 DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

SECTION 3: FORCED VIBRATIONS

Question Five
a. The amplitude of a steady state motion is given by
𝐹⁄
𝐴= 𝑘
√(1 − 𝛽 2 )2 + (2𝜁𝛽)2
Derive an expression for the Amplitude at resonance when 𝜁 ≠ 0 . (3 marks)

b. A spring-mass-damper system is subjected to a harmonic force. The amplitude is found to

be 20 mm at resonance and 10 mm at a frequency 0.75 times the resonant frequency. Find
the damping ratio of the system. (4 marks)

c. A machine of mass 1000kg is supported on springs which deflects 8mm under static load.
With negligible damping, the machine vibrates with an amplitude of 5mm when subjected
to a vertical disturbing force Fsinωt at 0.8 of the resonant frequency. When a damper is
fitted, it is found that the resonant amplitude is 2mm. Find the magnitude of the disturbing
force and the damping coefficient. (7 marks)

Question Six
a. From the force vector diagram,

Show that;
𝐹⁄
𝐴= 𝑘
√(1 − 𝛽 ) + (2𝜁𝛽)2
2 2

(4 marks)

b. When an exhaust fan of mass 380 kg is supported on springs with negligible damping, the
resulting static deflection is found to be 45 mm. If the fan has a rotating unbalance of 0.15
kg-m, find the amplitude of vibration at 1750 rpm (4 marks)

c. A weight attached to a spring of stiffness 525N/m has a viscous damping device. When the
weight is displaced and released, the period of vibration is 1.8s and the ratio of consecutive
amplitudes is 4.2 to 1.0. Determine the amplitude when a force F=2cos 3t acts on the
system. (6 marks)

MEE 411 Page 3 of 4

 DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

SECTION 4: VIBRATION OF SYSTEMS WITH TWO DEGREES OF FREEDOM

Question Seven
a. With the aid of the diagram below, Explain briefly the modes of vibration for a system with
two degrees of freedom.(4 marks)

b. Given that;
𝑘 + 𝑘1 − 𝑚1 𝜔2 −𝑘 𝐴1
( 2 ) (𝐴 ) = 0
−𝑘 𝑘 + 𝑘2 − 𝑚2 𝜔 2
For a system with two degrees of freedom. Write the frequency equation. (3 marks)

c. If m1 = 1.5kg, m2 = 1.2kg, k1 =k =k2 = 5N/m, Determine the two natural frequencies of

vibration and the ratio of the amplitudes of motion of mass m1 and m2 for the system (7
marks)

SOME USEFUL FORMULAE

𝑮𝑱 𝒅𝟒𝟏 𝒅𝟒𝟏
𝒌= 𝒍𝒆𝒒 = 𝒍𝟏 + 𝒍𝟐 ( ) + 𝒍𝟑 ( )
𝒍 𝒅𝟒𝟐 𝒅𝟒𝟑

𝝅𝒅𝟒
𝑱= 𝒙𝟏
𝟑𝟐 𝐥𝐧 = 𝜻𝝎𝒏 𝝉
𝒙𝟐
𝟐𝝅
𝝉𝑫 = 𝒌
𝝎𝒏 √𝟏 − 𝜻𝟐 𝝎𝒏 = √ … … . . 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔
𝑰

MEE 411 Page 4 of 4