ME421 Mechanical Vibrations

Assignment 2
Due Thursday 9/17/15
1) An overdamped spring-mass-damper system is given an initial velocity v0 = 2 m/s and zero
initial displacement. The natural frequency is 0 = 4 rad/s and the damping ratio is = 1.5.
Derive an expression for the time t1 when the displacement of the system is at its maximum
value. Plot the response as a function of time.
2) The response of a damped spring/mass system is shown in figure (1). Say as much as you
can about the system. This includes estimating the damping ratio using the method of
log-decrement as discussed in class.

Response of a spring/mass/dashpot
0.15

response (meters)

0.1
0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0

10
time (seconds)

15

20

Figure 1: Response of a damped spring/mass.

3) Suppose that a system has fairly light damping so that the response decays slowly as shown
in figure (2). The system starts with zero initial velocity and a displacement of x0 = 0.2 meter.
After eight cycles, the response decays to x = 0.175 m as shown in the figure. Extend the
approach discussed in class to derive an expression for the log decrement and damping ratio.
Calculate the damping ratio.
4) A spring/mass/damper system is started with initial conditions of x(0) = 0, and x(0)

= v0 .
Theundamped natural frequency is 0 = 1. Using entirely real expressions (i.e. without using
= 1), write down solutions for the system response when the damping ratio takes on the
following values: a) = 2.0, and b) = .5. Plot the response x(t) versus t for the two cases.
Be sure to use enough points on your plot to obtain a smooth curve.

damped response

0.2

response (meters)

X: 30.66
Y: 0.1775

0.1

-0.1

-0.2
0

10

20

30

time (seconds)
Figure 2: Response of a lightly damped spring/mass.

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