Chapter 6 multi-degree of freedom

systems

Multidegree-of-freedom systems are the topic of this chapter

Equations of Motion – Newton’s second law

Generate the equation of motion for each mass element by applying Newton’s second law of motion
with reference to the free-body diagrams:
The equations of motion of the masses m1 and m n can be derived from Eq. (E.1) by setting i = 1
along with x0 = 0 and i = n along with xn + 1 = 0, respectively:
 Matrix Representation
Where the mass matrix [m], the damping matrix [c] and the stiffness matrix [k] are given by:

And the displacement. Velocity, acceleration and excitation force vectors are given by
Influence coefficients – stiffness
 Influence coefficients
It is sometimes practical to express the eqns. of motion of M-DoF systems in terms of influence
coefficients

• The elements of the stiffness matrix are known as the stiffness influence coefficients and relate the force at a point in the
system with the displacement applied at another point in the system.

• The stiffness influence coefficient kij is defined as the force at point i due to a unit displacement at point j
when all other points, except j, are fixed.

• The total force at i is the sum of the forces due to all applied displacements.
Use static equilibrium to determine the stiffness influence coefficients.

Step 1: x1 = 1, x2 = 0, x3 = 0.

The stiffness influence coefficient kij is defined as

the force at point i due to a unit displacement at
point j
when all other points, except j, are fixed.
The equilibrium of forces for the masses m1, m2, and m3 in the horizontal direction yields

The solution of Eqs. (E.1)–(E.3) gives

 Influence coefficients - inertia.
• The inertia influence coefficients m1j, m2j, m3k…..mnj are defined as the impulses applied at
points 1, 2,3…n to produce a unit velocity at point j and zero velocity at every other point in the
system