INTRODUCTION

The frequency extraction procedure in Abaqus/Standard is used to determine the modes and
frequencies of the structure. This procedure is easy to use in that you need only specify the number of
modes required or the maximum frequency of interest.

7.1.2 Modal superposition

The natural frequencies and mode shapes of a structure can be used to characterize its dynamic response
to loads in the linear regime. The deformation of the structure can be calculated from a combination of
the mode shapes of the structure using the modal superposition technique. Each mode shape is multiplied
by a scale factor. The vector of displacements in the model, u, is defined as

where is the scale factor for mode . This technique is valid only for simulations with small
displacements, linear elastic materials, and no contact conditions—in other words, linear problems.
In structural dynamic problems the response of a structure usually is dominated by a relatively
small number of modes, making modal superposition a particularly efficient method for calculating the
response of such systems. Consider a model containing 10,000 degrees of freedom. Direct integration
of the dynamic equations of motion would require the solution of 10,000 simultaneous equations at
each point in time. If the structural response is characterized by 100 modes, only 100 equations need
to be solved every time increment. Moreover, the modal equations are uncoupled, whereas the original
equations of motion are coupled. There is an initial cost in calculating the modes and frequencies, but
the savings obtained in the calculation of the response greatly outweigh the cost.
If nonlinearities are present in the simulation, the natural frequencies may change significantly
during the analysis, and modal superposition cannot be employed. In this case direct integration of
the dynamic equation of equilibrium is required, which is much more expensive than modal analysis.
A problem should have the following characteristics for it to be suitable for linear transient dynamic
analysis:
• The system should be linear: linear material behavior, no contact conditions, and no nonlinear
geometric effects.
• The response should be dominated by relatively few frequencies. As the frequency content of the
response increases, such as is the case in shock and impact problems, the modal superposition
technique becomes less effective.
• The dominant loading frequencies should be in the range of the extracted frequencies to ensure that
the loads can be described accurately.
• The initial accelerations generated by any suddenly applied loads should be described accurately
by the eigenmodes.
• The system should not be heavily damped.

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DAMPING

7.2 Damping

If an undamped structure is allowed to vibrate freely, the magnitude of the oscillation is constant. In
reality, however, energy is dissipated by the structure’s motion, and the magnitude of the oscillation
decreases until the oscillation stops. This energy dissipation is known as damping. Damping is usually
assumed to be viscous or proportional to velocity. The dynamic equilibrium equation can be rewritten
to include damping as

where
C is the damping matrix for the structure and
is the velocity of the structure.
The dissipation of energy is caused by a number of effects, including friction at the joints of the
structure and localized material hysteresis. Damping is a convenient way of including the important
absorption of energy without modeling the effects in detail.
In Abaqus/Standard the eigenmodes are calculated for the undamped system, yet most engineering
problems involve some kind of damping, however small. The relationship between the damped natural
frequency and the undamped natural frequency for each mode is

where
is the damped eigenvalue,
is the damping ratio, which is the fraction of critical damping,
c is the damping of that mode shape, and
is the critical damping.
The eigenfrequencies of the damped system are very close to the corresponding quantities for the
undamped system for small values of ( < 0.1). As increases, the undamped eigenfrequencies become
less accurate; and as approaches 1, the use of undamped eigenfrequencies becomes invalid.
If a structure is critically damped ( ), after any disturbance it will return to its initial static
configuration as quickly as possible without overshooting (Figure 7–2).

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 DAMPING

Static Equilibrium

Underdamped

Critically
damped
Overdamped

Figure 7–2 Damped motion patterns for various values of .

7.2.1 Definition of damping in Abaqus/Standard

In Abaqus/Standard a number of different types of damping can be defined for a transient modal analysis:
direct modal damping, Rayleigh damping, and composite modal damping.
Damping is defined for modal dynamic procedures. The damping is part of the step definition, and
different amounts of damping can be defined for each mode.
Direct modal damping
The fraction of critical damping, , associated with each mode can be defined using direct modal
damping. Typically, values in the range of 1% to 10% of critical damping are used. Direct modal
damping allows you to define precisely the damping of each mode of the system.

Rayleigh damping
In Rayleigh damping the assumption is made that the damping matrix is a linear combination of the
mass and stiffness matrices,

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