Response of a STABLE Second Order System

Seon Han (3/29/2011)

In this document, we will consider a simple m-c-k system shown below.
Genetic m-c-k system
The equation of motion is given by
m x + c x + kx = F (t) .
The part of this document is REVIEW of Chapter 3 of Palm and the rest is based on Chapter 8. Here,
I will address the following topics. The system we consider
1. Free System (Chapter 3)
- Undamped system
- Underdamped, overdamped, critically damped
2. Forced System (Sections 8.1-8.3, 13.1-13.2)
- Impulsive Force
- Arbitrary Force
- Harmonic Force
- Base Excited Motion
- Rotating Unbalance
1 Free Response Types
Consider a simple mass-damper-spring system subject to initial conditions only. This is the case when
F (t) = 0. The equation of motion is given by
m x + c x + kx = 0 with given x(0) and x(0) .
When m, c, and k are POSITIVE (or of the same sign), the response is stable. The response will eventually
die out to zero. There are three ways that this can happen. The response can decay exponentially, decay
exponentially while oscillating, or the borderline between the rst two.
There are two characteristic roots for this system (because it is a second order). When the characteristic
roots are both real and negative, you say that the system is OVERDAPMED. If the characteristic roots
are complex (with negative real part), the system is UNDERDAMPED and decays while oscillating. If the
characteristic roots are real, negative and repeated, the system is CRITICALLY DAMPED and the response
looks similar to that of the overdamped system. Here are some examples:
1. x + 3 x + 2x = t
2
has characteristic roots s = 1 and 2. The system is overdamped.
2. x + 2 x + 1x = sint has characteristic roots s = 1 and 1. The system is critically damped.
3. x + 2 x + 2x = sint has characteristic roots s = 1 i. The system is overdamped.
1
1.1 Undamped System (c = 0)
Consider a system with c = 0, m x + kx = 0. The characteristic roots are
s = i
_
k/m,
and the system is neutrally stable. The solution is given by
x(t) = C
1
sin
_
k/mt + C
1
cos
_
k/mt.
The mass oscillates at a period of
T =
2
_
k/m
[s] ,
has a frequency of
f =
1
T
=
_
k/m
2
[Hz] ,
and has an angular frequency of
= 2f =
_
k/m [rad/s] .
The coecient of t in the sinusoidal function is the angular frequency. This frequency is unique to a system
(depends on m and k only) and is called the NATURAL FREQUENCY of the system (therefore, the subscript
n). From now on, we drop angular, and the frequency is measured in [rad/s] , never never [Hz] .
You realize quickly that the systems with the same mass to stiness ratio subject to the same initial
conditions have the SAME response. That is, the following systems have the same solution x(t) :
x + 2x = 0
2 x + 4x = 0
3 x + 6x = 0.
Therefore, we do not need to know the individual values of m and k, but the natural frequency
n
is sucient
enough to nd x(t) . Therefore, we often use the NORMALIZED EOM.
1.2 Normalization of EOM
Consider an underdamped system, m x + c x + kx = 0. The characteristic roots are
s =
c
m

_
(c
2
4mk) /m
2
,
where c
2
4mk is a negative number if the system is underdamped.
We typically divide the equation by m so that we have
x +
c
m
x +
k
m
x = 0.
We recognize k/m as
2
n
. We write c/m as 2
n
such that
x + 2
n
x +
2
n
x = 0.
This is the NORMALIZED form of the EOM. We call the DAMPING RATIO. You can gure out that
is c/2

mk
c
m
= 2
n
= 2
_
k
m
=
1
2
c
m
_
m
k
=
c
2

mk
.
2
The characteristic roots are (in terms of and
n
)
s =
n

_
_

2
1
_

n
.
The system is overdamped if c
2
> 4mk or > 1. The system is critically damped if c
2
= 4mk or = 1.
The system is underdamped if c
2
< 4mk or < 1. Now do you see why we use ? Whether the system is
underdamped or overdamped can be determined from a single non-dimensional parameter instead of m, c,
and k.
We introduce ONE more nondimensional parameter called damped natural frequency,
d
, which is useful
for underdamped system only. It is dened as

d
=
_
1
2

n
for < 1.
The underdamped system response is written as
x(t) = e
nt
(C
1
cos
d
t + C
2
sin
d
t) .
The damped natural frequency is the ACTUAL frequency that x(t) is oscillating at.
2 Forced Response to an Impulsive force
The response of a system to a unit impulse is VERY important in dynamics. Consider a system model
(equation of motion) given by
m x + kx = f
o
(t),
which is a simple mass-spring system subject to impulsive force f
o
(t) . In this case, f
o
(t) has a unit of
[N] . The Dirac delta function has a unit of [1/s] , and therefore, f
o
has a unit of [N s] not [N] . WHAT
HAS A UNIT OF [N s]? IMPULSE has a unit of [N s] . f
o
is the impulse, not the force, applied to the
mass.
Just to remind you, recall
f (t) =
d
dt
(mv)
_
f (t) dt = (mv) ,
where
_
f (t) dt is called IMPULSE and mv is called momentum. The principle of linear momentum
says the impulse is equal to change in momentum. The strength of an impact force is measured by
the amount of impulse applied, not the magnitude of force itself. The magnitude of the force applied, after
all, is f
o
. It is the impulse that determines the how much momentum the system gains after the force
is gone.
Now, lets nd the response, x(t) , due to this impulsive force (use zero initial conditions). The easiest
way is to use the Laplace transform. We nd
X (s) =
f
o
ms
2
+ k
x(t) = L
1
[X (s)] =
f
o
m
sin
_
k
m
t.
The response to the unit impulse (f
o
= 1) is SO important that we give another name, g (t) , instead of using
x(t) . That is g (t) is the solution to
m g + kg = (t) with zero ICs
G(s) =
1
ms
2
+ k
g (t) =
1
m
sin
_
k
m
t (1)
3
We call g (t) the impulse response function. IN SOME textbooks, the impulse response function may
refer to the impulse response when m = 1 ( g + 2
n
g +
2
n
g = (t)) so that
g (t) = sin
_
k
m
t.
Now, it is YOUR TURN to nd the impulse response functions for the damped system (for all three
underdamped, overdamped, and critically damped).
3 Forced Response to an Arbitrary Forcing
The response to an unit impulse (when f
o
= 1) is VERY important because it allows us to nd the response
to an arbitrary force f (t) . Consider the same system subject to f (t) .
m x + kx = f(t).
After taking the Laplace transform, we have
X (s) =
1
ms
2
+ k
F (s) .
The transfer function is given by
X (s)
F (s)
=
1
ms
2
+ k
,
and, surprise and surprise, it is the SAME as the impulse response function in the s domain, G(s)!!!!!!!
From X (s) = G(s) F (s) , we use the CONVOLUTION theorem to nd the the response in the time
domain,
x(t) =
_
t
0
g (t ) f () d or
_
t
0
f (t ) g () d,
where we already know g (t) =
1
m
sin
_
k
m
t. This integral may not be easy to evaluate by hand but is certainly
doable numerically (remember numerical integration using trapezoidal or Simpsons rule from Colleen Bergs
class?). This integral says you can nd the response to ANY force, f (t) , once you nd the impulse response
function g (t) . You really should be impressed.
Example 1 Consider a mass-spring system subject to F (t) , F (t) shown in the gure. Find the displacement
of the mass, x(t) . Use zero initial conditions.
k = 100 N/m
m = 1 kg
x t ( )
f t ( )
f t ( ) [N]
t [s]
5
10
Solution: We already found that the impulse response function for a mass-spring system is (Equation 1)
g (t) =
1
m
sin
_
k
m
t = sin10t.
The force is given by
f (t) = 2t for 0 < t < 5
= 10 for t > 5.
4
The response is given by (If your force is discontinuous, it is easier to use the rst equation.)
x(t) =
_
t
0
g (t ) f () d.
I need to convert the force as a function of ,
f () = 2 for 0 < 5
= 10 for > 5.
f () is discontinuous and we dont have a single function that we can plug into
_
t
0
g (t ) f () d. The
dummy variable,, is varied from 0 to t.
For t 5, f () can be expressed in terms of a continuous function,
f () = 2 for 0 < t.
For t > 5, we can write f () in two parts
f () = 2 for 0 < 5
= 10 for 5 < < t.
Then, for t 5,
x(t) =
_
t
0
g (t ) 2d
=
_
t
0
sin10 (t ) 2d
=
1
50
sin(10t) +
t
5
.
For t > 5,
x(t) =
_
5
0
g (t ) 2d +
_
t
5
g (t ) 10d
=
1
50
sin(10t) +
1
50
sin(10t 50) + 1.
4 Forced Response to a Harmonic Force (Chapter 8)
Now, consider the case when F (t) is harmonic. The equation of motion is given by
m x + c x + kx = F cos
f
t.
Lets do an example with numbers.
Example 2 Find the response of a m-c-k system given below
x + 2 x + 5x = 7 cos 3t
The system is subject to initial conditions given by x(0) = 1 and x(0) = 1.
Time Domain Solution: We nd the particular solution, homogeneous solution, and apply the initial
conditions to the total solution. The particular solution has the form of
x
p
(t) = Acos 3t + Bsin3t.
We substitute this particular solution back into x
p
+ 2 x
p
+ 5x
p
= 7 cos 3t to obtain
9 (Acos 3t + Bsin3t) + 2(3) (Asin3t + Bcos 3t)
+5 (Acos 3t + Bsin3t) = 7 cos 3t.
5
Equating the coecient of cos3t, we have
9A + 6B + 5A = 7
Equating the coecient of sin3t, we have
9B 6A + 5B = 0.
Solving the two simultaneous equations, we nd
A = 7/13
B = 21/26.
Now, we have the particular solution, x
p
(t) =
7
13
cos 3t +
21
26
sin3t.
Next, the homogeneous solution is obtained from x+2 x+5x = 0. The characteristic roots are s = 12i.
Then, the homogenous solution is given by
x
h
(t) = e
t
(C
1
cos 2t + C
2
sin2t) .
Now, we assemble the total solution,
x(t) = x
h
(t) + x
p
(t)
= e
t
(C
1
cos 2t + C
2
sin2t)
7
13
cos 3t +
21
26
sin3t.
Finally, the initial conditions (x(0) = 1 and x(0) = 1) are applied to nd C
1
= 20/13 and C
2
= 3/52.
Laplace-Inverse Laplace Transform Method: You couldve gotten the same results by taking a
Laplace transform and taking the inverse Laplace transform. The Laplace transform of the equation of
motion gives
_
s
2
X (s) sx(0) x(0)
_
+ 2 (sX (s) x(0)) + 5X (s) =
7
s
2
+ 9
_
s
2
+ 2s + 5
_
X (s) s 3 =
7
s
2
+ 9
X (s) =
1
(s
2
+ 2s + 5)
7
s
2
+ 9
+
s + 3
(s
2
+ 2s + 5)
.
After rewriting it in a more friendly form, you will then take the inverse Laplace transform to nd
x(t) = e
t
_
20
13
cos 2t +
3
52
sin2t
_

7
13
cos 3t +
21
26
sin3t.
4.1 Steady-State Solution to the Harmonically Forced m-c-k System
Note that the homogenous solution dies out given enough time, and only the particular solution will remain.
The particular solution in this case is the steady-state solution. If the system is stable (so that the
homogeneous solution is guaranteed to disappear), the particular solution is the steady-state
solution. In many cases, you may care ONLY about the amplitude of the steady-state solution. For the
example above, the steady-state solution can be rewritten in the amplitude-phase form such that

7
13
cos 3t +
21
26
sin3t = C cos (7t + ) .
I am using cosine because the FORCING is cosine. NOTE that YOU CANNOT nd the particular
solution easily using the Laplace transform method (You cant simply let the initial conditions
zeros). You must solve the problem in the time domain to nd the particular solution only (at least until
I show you the frequency domain method).
6
Lets continue to nd the amplitude and the phase lag. Rewrite the right hand side by expanding
cos(7t + ) = cos 7t cos sin7t sin. Then, for the two sides to be equal, we must have

7
13
= C cos
21
26
= C sin. (2)
By squaring the rst and second equations and summing them, we have
_
7
13
_
2
+
_
21
26
_
2
= C
2
.
We always take the positive C such that
C =
_
_
7
13
_
2
+
_
21
26
_
2
= 0.97
Now, we nd the phase angle. Going back to Equation 2, with C being positive, we nd that cos is negative
and sin is also negative. Then, the phase angle must be in the third quadrant. Lets divide the second
equation by the rst to get
tan =
21/26
7/13
.
Your calculator will give you = 0.9828 (56.3

). This is not the correct answer. You must nd the answer

that has the same reference angle (angle measured from the x axis) and in the third quadrant. The actual
answer is = + 0.983 = 4.12 rad or Then,

7
13
cos 3t +
21
26
sin3t = 0.97 cos (7t + 4.124) .
The particular solution, 0.97 cos (7t + 4.124) , is ahead of forcing, 7 cos 3t, by 4.124 radians or 4.124/7 = 0.308
seconds. Another way of thinking is that the particular solution lags behind the forcing by 24.124 radians
or 0.308 seconds.
4.2 Frequency Domain Method for Amplitude-Phase Form of the Particular
solution (8.1-8.3 of Palm)
You and I agree that it is very labor intensive to nd the particular solution using the time domain method.
Here is another method that I recommend you using. Lets go back to
m x + c x + kx = F cos
f
t,
Note that cos
f
t is the real part of e
i
f
t
. We can solve a similar problem where the system is the
forced by e
ift
instead of cos
f
t and take the real part of the solution to be the solution to the
current problem. That is,
m x + c x + kx = Fe
i
f
t
.
We specically look for the solution that oscillates at the forcing frequency (the particular solution). The
solution that we look for will have the form of
x
p
(t) = X
p
e
i
f
t
.
We substitute back in to nd
_

2
f
m+ ic
f
+ k
_
X
p
e
i
f
t
= Fe
i
f
t
X
p
=
F
_
k
2
f
m+ ic
f
_. (3)
7
In terms of non-dimensional parameters, we can write
X
p
=
F
k
1
_
1
2
f
/
2
n
+ i2
f
/
n
_ (4)
Note that X
p
is complex. Write this in the amplitude phase form,
X
p
=
F
_
_
k
2
f
m
_
2
+ (c
f
)
2
e
i
=
F
_
_
k
2
f
m
_
2
+ (c
f
)
2
. .
e
i
,
Response amplitude |Xp|
where
= tan
1
c
f
k
2
f
m
= tan
1
c
f
k
2
f
m
= tan
1
c
f
k +
2
f
m
.
Note that you have to choose on the rst and the second quadrant (0 because of the positive
imaginary part and + or real part). Therefore, is between 0 and -. When you use the calculator, the
calculator will only give you the answer between /2 and /2. YOU must nd the answer in the correct
quadrant. Then,
x
p
(t) = Re
_
_
F
_
k
2
f
m+ ic
f
_e
i
e
i
f
t
_
_
x
p
(t) =
F
_
_
k
2
f
m
_
2
+ (c
f
)
2
cos (
f
t + ) .
Lets redo the example from the previous section. The eom is given by x + 2 x + 5x = 7 cos 3t. Then,
|X
p
| =
F
_
_
k
2
f
m
_
2
+ (c
f
)
2
=
7
_
(5 3
2
1)
2
+ (2 3)
2
= 0.971
= tan
1
c
f

2
f
mk
= tan
1
2 3
3
2
1 5
= 0.982 79
= 0.982 is in the rst quadrant. This is incorrect because the possible value for must be in the third or
fourth. Since the argument of tan
1
is positive, the answer is in the third quadrant and = +0.982 = 4.12
rad or = ( 0.982) = 2.16. Then,
x
p
(t) = 0.971 cos (3t + 4.12)
or
= 0.971 cos (3t 2.16)
IMPORTANT: Take a look at the ratio, |X
p
| /F,
|X
p
|
F
=
1
_
_
k
2
f
m
_
2
+ (c
f
)
2
.
8
Compare this with the transfer function of this system,
T (s) =
1
ms
2
+ cs + k
Replace s with i
f
, and nd the magnitude of T (i
f
)
|T (i
f
)| =
1
_
_
k
2
f
m
_
2
+ (c
f
)
2
,
which is IDENTICAL to |X
p
| /F. Therefore, the amplitude of the particular solution (which happens to be
the steady-state response also because the system is stable) when the forcing frequency is
f
can be written
as
|X
p
| = FT (i
f
) .
We call, |X
p
| /F, the magnitude ratio and denote it as M. This book is quite confusing because it denes
M to be
M = |X
p
| /F or k |X
p
| /F.
The BODE plots are the plots of M and . The magnitude ratio M is drawn in the logarithmic scale in
Figure 8.2.4. Note that the logmagnitude ratio, m, in decibels is
m = 20 log M,
where M has no unit and m has a unit of dB.
Example 3 Book Example: 8.2.1. The model is given by
6 x + 12 x + 174x = 15f (t)
f (t) = 5 sin7t
The transfer function is given by
T (s) =
15
6s
2
+ 12s + 174
T (i
f
) =
15
6
_

2
f
_
+ 12 (i
f
) + 174
=
15
120 + 84i
.
The magnitude ratio is
M = |T (i7)| = 0.1024,
or if you are using the second denition of M,
M = |kT (i7)| = 174 0.1024.
The phase is =

1

(120 + 84i) = 0 tan

1
(84/ 120) = 0 2.53 rad. What does it mean to have
M = 0.1024 and a phase of 2.53? This means that the response is (particular solution)
x
p
(t) = 0.1024 5 sin(7t 2.53)
= 0.1024 5 sin
_
7
_
t
2.53
7
__
.
The response amplitude is 0.1024 times the forcing amplitude and the peak of the response lags behind the
peak of the input force by 2.53/7 seconds.
9
4.3 Frequency Response Plots (to HARMONIC INPUT only)
The frequency response plots refer to the plots of the AMPLITUDE of the PARTICULAR solution and the
PHASE of the particular solution as functions of the input frequency. Of course, it would not make any
sense if the input is not harmonic.
For our current case where the system is forced harmonically, you may want to know how the response
amplitude changes with varying input frequency. You would want to plot |X
p
| vs
f
, where |X
p
| is given in
Equation 3. The amplitude plot is always accompanied by the phase plot, vs
f
.
If you know the values of m, c, and k, use Equation 3 to plot |X
p
| as a function of
b
. However, if you
are a designer, your job is to nd m, c, and/or k! It is better if you have the response plots. It is better
to plot the nondimensional version of the amplitude (note that phase already does not have units). What
do you think |X
p
| should be normalized with respect to? Once you write |X
p
| in terms of the normalized
frequency or frequency ratio,
f
/
n
, it becomes obvious how |X
p
| should be normalized. Rewrite Equation
4 in terms of r, and you will obtain
|X
p
| =
F
k

1
_
1 (
f
/
n
)
2
+ i2 (
f
/
n
)
_

. (5)
It is natural to normalize |X
p
| with respect to F/k. The term, F/k, has a physical meaning. It is the static
deection due to a constant force of F [N] . Therefore, |X
p
| / (F/k) is the ratio of the dynamic amplitude to
the static amplitude. |X
p
| / (F/k) = 3 means that the amplitude of the dynamic response (particular solution
only) is three times of the static deection if the force was not harmonically varying. There are VARIOUS
names for |X
p
| / (F/k) . Your book calls it magnitude ratio, M. My old textbook called it magnication
factor.
Starting from Equation 5, we have
M =
k |X
p
|
F
=

1
(1 r
2
+ i2r)

=
1
_
(1 r
2
)
2
+ (2r)
2
, (6)
where we denote
r =
f
/
n
and call it frequency ratio. The frequency ratio, r, is the NORMALIZED forcing frequency. The non-
dimensional magnitude ratio is plotted Figure 8.2.4. Note that the y axis is in decibels and x in log scale.
Here is my version in Figure 1. I plotted |X
p
| / (F/k) for 0 < < 2. You should note that this is only HALF
of the whole picture (more important half). The other half of the frequency response plot is the PHASE
plot. You will see that the phase varies from 0 to - (Figure 8.2.4 in your text).
From the frequency response plot, you should notice the followings:
1. The dynamic response amplitude is equal to the static deection if
f
= 0 for any value of . This is
no brainer. If the static force is applied (this is what it means to have
f
= 0), the displacement of
the mass is, of course, the static deection.
2. As
f
increases, the dynamic amplitude approaches zero for any value of .
From Equation 6, we nd that M has the maximum value of 1/2
_
1
2
at the forcing frequency
r =
_
1 2
2
. SEE TABLE 8.2.2.
M
peak
=
1
2
_
1
2
r
peak
=
_
1 2
2
valid for <

2/2.
10
Figure 1: Frequency Response Plot, |X| / (F/k) .
For an undamped case, the magnitude ratio goes to innity when the forcing frequency is equal to the
natural frequency, r = 1. If the system is damped, the magnitude ratio is maximum at r =
_
1 2
2
or

f
=
n
_
1 2
2
, which is slightly less than the natural frequency and damped natural frequency.
Your book calls this frequency resonant frequency,
r
=
n
_
1 2
2
. Note that magnitude ratio does not
have local max if > 0.707 and the maximum steady-state response occurs when the forcing frequency is
zero (or constant force).
4.4 Resonance (true resonance when c = 0 and
f
=
n
)
Consider an undamped system that is forced at the natural frequency. That is
x +
2
n
x = F cos
n
t.
The solution is given by
x(t) = C
1
sin
n
t + C
2
cos
n
t +
1
2
F

2
n
t sin
n
t,
where C
1
and C
2
are determined from the initial conditions. The last term is the particular solution, and
it grows LINEARLY with time. It takes innite time for the response to grow innity. When the forcing
frequency matches the natural frequency, we say we have resonant response or resonance. Your book expands
the denition of resonance to the damped system.
4.5 Beating (Near Resonance) (Section 8.3)
Consider an undamped system forced by a cosine forcing with forcing frequency
f
. Let us use zero initial
conditions (for your convenience), and then the response is given by
x(t) =
F
k (1 r
2
)
cos
f
t
F
k (1 r
2
)
cos
n
t
=
F
k (1 r
2
)
(cos
f
t cos
n
t) .
Note that your book uses sine forcing (page 442). This solution is valid for any
f
that is NOT equal to

n
. Note that sum or dierence of sinusoidal functions with dierent frequency can be written as
cos a + cos b = 2 cos
a + b
2
cos
a b
2
cos a cos b = 2 sin
a + b
2
sin
a b
2
11
We can rewrite the solution as
x(t) = 2
F
k (1 r
2
)
sin

f

n
2
sin

f
+
n
2
,
where sin

f

n
2
is SLOWLY varying. The term, 2
F
k(1r
2
)
sin

f

n
2
, controls the envelop, and sin

f
+
n
2
the fast oscillations inside the envelop (See gure 8.3.2 on pg444). Due to the symmetry, the beat frequency
is twice the envelop frequency or

beat
= |
f

n
| .
4.6 OTHER Frequency Response Plots: (1) Force transmitted to the wall, (2)
acceleration of the mass
The plot of what I call the magnication ratio or X
p
/ (F/k) is a powerful design tool. You can select so
that the steady-state amplitude (X
p
) is under some threshold. Why? Maybe your m-c-k system is housed
in an enclosure and you are worried that the mass may hit the enclosure.
Unfortunately, the response amplitude may not be the only design criteria you need to satisfy. For
example, you may be worried that the wall that the m-c-k system is attached to may break or you may be
worried that the sensitive equipment (block, m) that is mounted on the vibration isolator (c and k) may
break due to excessive acceleration.
Lets consider these two cases.
Force Transmitted to the Wall The force transmitted to the wall is
F
tr
= kx + c x
= Re
_
(k + ci
f
) X
p
e
i
f
t

.
The amplitude of the force transmitted (of course the particular solution only) is (use Equation 3)
|F
tr
| = |(k + ci
f
) X
p
|
=

(k + ci
f
) F
_
k
2
f
m+ ic
f
_

.
If you are given c and k and F, then use above expression to nd the force transmitted. Otherwise, it is
much better to use the normalized expression.
What do you think is the reasonable quantity to normalize the force transmitted? It should have a unit of
force and input amplitude should be included. The amplitude of the input force, of course. The normalized
force transmitted (If you want to name this, I would call it force transmissibility) is
|F
tr
|
F
=

(k + ci
f
)
_
k
2
f
m+ ic
f
_

(1 + i2r)
(1 r
2
+ i2r)

=
_
1 + (2r)
2
_
(1 r
2
)
2
+ (2r)
2
.
In class, I showed a dierent way to arrive at this. (I substituted x = X
p
cos(w
f
t + ) into F
tr
= kx + c x,
and found the amplitude. You can see that it is much easier to use e
if t
instead of sine and cosine.)
I have the plot of the normalized amplitude of the force transmitted (Figure 2).
12
Figure 2: The normalized amplitude of force transmitted, |F
tr
| /F, for 0 < < 2.
Acceleration of the Mass You will come across a statement such as The maximum force that a compo-
nent can withstand is 3g, which is not incorrect but imprecise. What they mean is that the maximum force
that a component can withstand is 3gm where m is the mass of the component and g is the gravitational
acceleration, or the maximum acceleration that the component can withstand is 3g. The acceleration is
a = x
p
(t) = Re
_
d
2
dt
2
_
X
p
(i
f
) e
i
f
t
_
_
= Re
_
X
p
(i
f
)
2
f
e
i
f
t

X
p
(i
f
)
2
f

cos (
f
t + )
The amplitude of the acceleration (complex amplitude that has the phase information, too) is
A = X
p
(i
f
)
2
f
=
F
2
f
_
k
2
f
m+ ic
f
_.
The phase angle is
=

A
What is the reasonable quantity that we can use to normalize the amplitude? It should have a unit of
acceleration and should have the input amplitude. I would use F/m, where F is the force amplitude and m
is the mass. Then,
|A|
F/m
=

r
2
1 r
2
+ i2r

=
r
2
_
(1 r
2
)
2
+ (2
r
)
2
.
I dont have this plot.
5 Base Excited (harmonically excited) Motion
Consider a m-c-k system that is mounted on a moving base. The motion of the base is known and is given
by y (t) = Y cos
b
t.
13
The equation of motion is given by
m x + c x + kx = c y + ky,
where x(t) is the displacement of the mass measured from the inertial frame
1
.
Then, the particular solution is given by
x
p
(t) = Re
_
T (i
b
) Y e
i
b
t

or |T (i
b
) Y | cos (
b
t + ) ,
where
T (s) =
X
p
(s)
Y (s)
=
cs + k
ms
2
+ cs + k
.
The amplitude of the response (steady-state response) is
|X
p
| =

c (i
b
) + k
m
2
b
+ c (i
b
) + k
Y

. (7)
As a designer, you may be interested in frequency response plots such as
1. the response amplitude, |X
p
|,
2. the relative response amplitude |Z
p
| , or
3. the amplitude of the force transmitted to the ground.
If you know the values of m, c, and k, use Equation 7 to plot X
p
as a function of
b
. However, if you are
a designer, your job is to nd m, c, and/or k! It is better if you have the dimensionless frequency response
plots. The response amplitudes are normalized by the input amplitudes, |X
p
| /Y or |Z
p
| /Y, and the force
amplitude is normalized by kY.
The normalized response amplitude, |X
p
| /Y , has a good name. It is called the DISPLACEMENT
TRANSMISSIBILITY. It is obvious from the name that it is the ratio of the dynamic amplitude to the
amplitude of the base motion.
5.1 Displacement Transmissibility, |X
p
| /Y
From 7, the displacement transmissibility is given by
|X
p
|
Y
=

c (i
b
) + k
m
2
b
+ c (i
b
) + k

.
1
It is, however, possible to write the equation of motion in terms of RELATIVE displacement, z (t) = x(t) y (t) , observed
from the moving base. The equation of motion in terms of the relative displacement is
m z + c z + kz = m y.
14
Figure 3: Base Excited Motion, Displacement Transmissibility
I will keep the complex form until the last moment. Because the LHS is dimensionless, the RHS also does
not have units. Divide the top and bottom by m, and divide the top and bottom by
2
n
again.
|X
p
|
Y
=

c (i
b
) + k
m
2
b
+ c (i
b
) + k

m
m
=

2
n
(i
b
) +
2
n

2
b
+ 2
n
(i
b
) +
2
n

2
n
(i
b
) +
2
n

2
b
+ 2
n
(i
b
) +
2
n

2
n

2
n
=

i2r + 1
r
2
+ i2r + 1

=
_
1 + (2r)
2
_
(1 r
2
)
2
+ (2r)
2
.
Note that the phase angle is
=

(i2r + 1)

_
1 r
2
+ i2r
_
.
You must be able to nd the phase angle using a calculator. In matlab, use the command angle.m.
Here is the plot of displacement transmissibility in Figure 3.
Note that as increases, the displacement transmissibility attens out to 1. WHY WHY WHY? Does
this make sense to you? As increases (which means c increases), the damper acts more and more like a
rigid connection. Therefore, the response of the mass will become same as the base motion.
How about when k ? You know intuitively that |X
p
| /Y should be 1 again. Where does it say that
in Figure 3? As k increases,
n
increases, and r decreases. That is, as k , r 0. At r = 0, the
displacement transmissibility is 1 for ANY VALUES OF .
5.2 Force Transmitted
The force transmitted to the ground is
F
tr
= k (x y) + c (x y) .
From EOM, we can also write
F
tr
= m x.
Either expression will work. Starting from
x(t) = X
p
e
i
b
t
y = Y e
ibt
,
15
we nd
F
tr
= (k (X
p
Y ) + i
b
c (X
p
Y )) e
ibt
or m
2
b
X
p
e
ibt
,
where X
p
is complex and Y is a real number. The amplitude of the force transmitted is
|F
tr
| = |k (X
p
Y ) + i
b
c (X
p
Y )| or

m
2
b
X
p

,
where we already know
X
p
=
c (i
b
) + k
m
2
b
+ c (i
b
) + k
Y
=
i2r + 1
r
2
+ i2r + 1
Y.
You can use either |k (X
p
Y ) + c (X
p
Y )| or

m
2
b
X
p

to nd the force transmitted. I will use the rst

expression (just to torture myself and prove to you that you get the same F
tr
), the normalized force is

F
tr
kY

_
X
p
Y
1
_
+ i
b
c
k
_
X
p
Y
1
_

_
1 + i
b
2
n

2
n
__
X
p
Y
1
_

(1 + i2r)
_
i2r + 1
r
2
+ i2r + 1
1
_

(1 + i2r)
_
r
2
1 r
2
+ i2r
_

= r
2
_
1 + (2r)
2
_
(1 r
2
) + (2r)
2
.
Why dont you use |F
tr
| =

m
2
b
X
p

and conrm that the results agree?

Anyway, I look at this expression carefully, and I realized as r the force transmitted also goes to
INFINITY. Remember when the mass is subject to harmonic force, the force transmitted goes to zero as
r . However, if the mck system is subject to harmonic base motion, the force transmitted to the wall
INCREASES (quadratically) with increasing r.
5.3 Relative Displacement
I am going to leave it up to you to gure out the amplitude of the relative displacement (z (t) = x(t)y (t)).
6 Rotating Unbalance (Washer with unbalanced load)
The equation of motion is given by
x + 2
n
x +
2
n
x =
me
M

2
r
sin
r
t.
16
Figure 4: Amplitude ratio, |X| / (me/M) , for a system with rotating unbalance.
The particular solution is given by
x
p
(t) = Re
_
T (i
r
)
me
M

2
r
e
i
r
t
_
= Re
_
1

2
r
+ i2
n

r
+
2
n
me
M

2
r
e
irt
_
=
m
2
r
e/M
_
(
2
n

2
r
)
2
+ (2
n

r
)
2
sin(
r
t + )
=
me
M
r
2
_
(1 r
2
)
2
+ (2r)
2
. .
response amplitude, |X
p
|
sin(
r
t + ) , (8)
where
r =

r

n
and =

T (i
r
) = arctan
2r
1 r
2
( 0).
The amplitude of vibration (particular solution only) normalized by me/M is given by
|X
p
|
me/M
=
r
2
_
(1 r
2
)
2
+ (2r)
2
,
which is shown in Figure ??. The maximum amplitude occurs when r = 1/
_
1 2
2
(note that this value
is slightly greater than 1) and the maximum value is given by
|X
p
|
max
=
me
M
1
2
_
1
2
.
6.0.1 Force transmitted to the ground due to the rotation of unbalance
The force is transmitted through the spring and damper. The force transmitted to the ground is given by
F
tr
= kx + c x.
17
Then, the amplitude of the force transmitted to the ground is given by (using Equation 8)
|F
tr
| = |kX
p
+ ci
r
X
p
|
=
_
k
2
+ (c
r
)
2
|X
p
|
=
me
M
k
r
2
_
1 + (2r)
2
_
(1 r
2
)
2
+ (2r)
2
.
18