Fundamentals of Mechanical Vibrations 4600:431

Homework 03
Due: 15 Feb 2016

Name:
Please denote your answers clearly, i.e., box in, star, etc., and write neatly. There are no
points for small, messy, unreadable work. . . please use lots of paper.
Problem 1: [?, 0303]
The static displacement of a system with a motor weight of 850lbs.
is found to be 1mil (= 0.001in). Determine the natural frequency
of vertical vibrations of this system.
Solution:
This system can be represented as a spring-mass system (the motor supported on an elastic foundation),
as illustrated to the right. Here the coordinate x is
assumed to represent the displacement of the elastic
foundation from the undeformed position (compression
in the spring from its unstretched length). Also, an
appropriate free-body diagram for this system can be
constructed as illustrated. Since the displacement is
measured from the unstretched position of the spring
we must include the force due to gravity. Application
of linear momentum balance on this system yields
X
F = (keq x mmotor g) = mmotor x = m aG ,

mmotor
x

keq

mmotor g

and the equation of motion reduces to

keq x

mmotor x
+ keq x = mmotor g.

The weight of the motor is Wmotor = mmotor g, from the equation of motion we find
that the static displacement of the system, identified as , is
=

mmotor g
,
keq

while the natural frequency can be written as

r
keq

n =
mmotor

n =

g
.

Interestingly enough, if we can only measure the static displacement of the system then
this is sufficient to calculate the natural frequency. Of course, these values all depend on
the mass and stiffness of the system, but they only depend on the ratio of the two. For
the numerical values given in the problem statement (using British units), g = 32.2ft/s2
and = 8.33 105 ft, so that n = 6.22 102 s1 .

Problem 2: [?, 0330]

Find the equation of motion for the system
shown to the right. The two disks roll on the
frame without slip. Determine the equivalent
mass and stiffness.

k
1

x
2

y1

2m

(m, r)

y2

(m, r)

Solution:
We begin with the coordinates and directions as shown in the figure. In particular, the
kinematics of the objects are described by x, 1 , and 2 while the displacement across
the individual springs is represented by x, y1 , and y2 .
The linear and angular acceleration of the objects can be expressed as

D1

aG =
x ,

D = 2 k.
= 1 k,
2

Assuming that the disks roll on the frame with no relative slip, these coordinates can
be related as
x = r 1 ,

x = r 2 ,

We identify the magnitude of the

unknown contact forces between the
disks and the block as T1 and T2 and
a free-body diagram for this system is
shown to the right. Notice that each
pair of contact forces cancels, as internal forces must do. Linear momentum
balance on the block yields
X
F = mblock aG ,

(T1 + T2 + k x) = 2 m x
.

y1 = r 1 ,

y 2 = r 2 .

k x
T1

T1

T2

T2

F R1
k y1

Also, angular momentum balance on each disk becomes

2
= I O1 D ,
= m r 1 k
M O1 = (k r y1 T1 r) k
1
2
2
X
= m r 2 k
= I O2 D .
M O2 = (k r y2 + T2 r) k
2
2

Eliminating T1 and T2 from these equations leads to

h
mr i
mr i h
.
1 + k y2 +
2 + k x = 2 m x
k y1
2
2
2

F R2
k y2

Finally, eliminating the coordinates y1 , y2 , 1 , and 2 , the equation of motion can be

written in terms of x as
3mx
+ 3 k x = 0.
From this we identify the equivalent mass and stiffness as
meq = 3 m,

keq = 3 k.
x

Note that for this

p equation of motion the natural frequency
is simply n = k/m, so that this system is equivalent to a
simple spring-mass system as shown to the right.

Problem 3: [?, 0337]

The pendulum shown in the figure oscillates
about the pivot at point O. When the system is in equilibrium, the pendulum is vertical and the spring is unstretched. If the mass
of the rigid link of length 3 can be neglected,
determine

a) the linearized equations of motion

about the vertical equilibrium position;

b) the natural frequency and damping ratio of the system.

c
y
m

Solution:
a) We define the coordinates , x, and y as identified in the figure, together with the
directions and . With these coordinates, the angular acceleration of the system is
In addition, the moment of inertia of the pendulum about the pin at O is
B = k.

IO = 4 m 2 .
Here the problem statement identifies the vertical position as an equilibrium state. Therefore we expect
that the oscillations of this system will
be centered around eq = 0 and near
this state the standard small-angle assumption holds, so that sin and
cos 1. Therefore, the identified coordinates are related as
x = ,

k x

FR
c y

y = .

An appropriate free-body diagram for

this system is shown to the right.
Applying angular momentum balance
about the pin joint at O eliminates the
unknown reaction force, and yields

m g

= IO B .
= 4 m 2 k
M O = (k x + c y + 2 m g ) k

Finally, using the coordinate relations given above the equation of motion can be written
as
4 m 2 + c 2 + (k 2 + 2 m g ) = 0.
b) For this system the equivalent mass, damping, and stiffness are
meq = 4 m 2 ,

beq = c 2 ,

keq = k 2 + 2 m g .

Therefore, the natural frequency and damping ratio can be written as

s
r
keq
k + 2mg
c
beq
.
= p
n =
=
,
= p
meq
4m
2 keq meq
4 (k + 2 m g) m
Problem 4: [?, 0403]
A microelectromechanical system has a mass of 0.30g and a stiffness of 0.15N/m. Assume that the damping coefficient is negligible
and that the gravity loading is normal to the direction of motion.
Determine the displacement response for this system if the system
is provided an initial displacement of 2m and an initial velocity of
5mm/s.
Solution:
A representative sketch of this system
is shown to the right, with

k = 0.15N/m,

m = 0.3 108 kg,

while the initial conditions can be

written as

x(0) = 2 106 m,

x(0)

= 5 103 m/s.
Note that we have written the mass in terms of kg and the initial conditions in terms
of m, the standard metric units. The coordinate x measures the stretch in the spring,
and the direction and are as shown. Also, the direction of gravity is normal to the
motion of the system.
For this system the equation of motion can be found from linear momentum balance
to be
mx
+ k x = 0,
x(0) = x0 , x(0)

= x 0 .
This equation of motion has the general solution
x(t) = A sin(n t) + B cos(n t),

with

Thus, at t = 0, we find that

x0 = x(0) =
x 0 = x(0)

=
4

B,
A n .

n =

k
.
m

Finally, solving for A and B, the solution becomes

!
!
r
r

m x 0
k
k
t + x0 cos
t .
x(t) =
sin
m
m
k
With the numerical values given in the problem statement, the response of this system
is

x(t) = 0.707 sin 7.07 103 s1 t + 2.00 cos 7.07 103 s1 t 106 m,
=

0.707 sin

7.07 103 s1 t + 2.00 cos

7.07 103 s1 t m.

Problem 5: [?, 0343]

A railroad bumper is modeled as a linear spring in parallel with a
viscous damper. What is the damping coefficient of a bumper of
stiffness 2 105 N/m such that the system has a damping ratio of
1.15 when it is engaged by a 22, 000 kg railroad car?
Solution:
The damping ratio can be written in terms of the system parameters as
=

, b = 2 k m.
2 km

Therefore the required damping coefficient is b = 1.53 105 N s/m.

Problem 6:
The response of a damped harmonic oscillator can be expressed as:
!
"
#
 p

 p

x 0 + n x0
n t
p
sin n 1 2 t + x0 cos n 1 2 t ,
x(t) = e
n 1 2

provided || < 1. In this expression x0 and x 0 represent the initial displacement and
velocity respectively, while is the damping ratio and n is known as the natural frequency.
Using MATLAB, plot the response x(t) over the interval 0 t 10 for:
x0 = 1.00,

x 0 = 0.25,

with = 0.50 and n = 4.00.

Solution:
In MATLAB, we first define the independent variable t, then calculate the dependent
variable y(t), and finally generate the plot. This can be accomplished with the following
commands:
% define the array t from t=0 to t=10 with increments of 0.1
t = 0:0.1:10;
% define the parameters and initial conditions
zeta = 0.50;
omegan = 4.00;

 x0 = 1.00;
xdot0 = -0.25;
% for simplicity we identify the following groups:

%
tau = zeta*omegan,
omegad = omegan*sqrt(1-zeta^2),
%
A = (xdot0 + tau*x0)/omegad,
B = x0,
tau = zeta*omegan;
omegad = omegan*sqrt(1-zeta^2);
A = (xdot0 + tau*x0)/omegad;
B = x0;

% calculate the dependent function

x = exp(-tau*t).*( A*sin(omegad*t) + B*cos(omegad*t) );
% finally, generate the plot
plot(t,x);
xlabel(t); ylabel(x(t));
title(Response of an Underdamped Linear Oscillator)

These can all be combined into a single MATLAB function.

Problem 7:
In the figure, the disk and the block have
mass m and the radius of the disk is r.
x

a) Find the equations of motion for this

system.
k

c) If the block is displaced 18 cm to the

right and released from rest find the resulting angular displacement of the disk
with
m = 3 kg,
k = 21 N/m,

(m, r)

b) What are the natural frequency and

damping ratio of the system in terms
of m, c, and k?

r = 9 cm,

c = 63 N s/m,

4k

Solution:
a) For this system the coordinates identified above are related as
r
x = ,
2

y = r .

The equation of motion can be expressed in terms of as

3 m r2 c r2 21 k r2
+
+
= 0.
4
4
4
b) The natural frequency and damping ratio for this system can be expressed as
r
21 k
c
, =
n =
.
3m
6 7km
6

c) For these parameter values the natural frequency and damping ratio become
n = 7.00 rad/s,

= 0.50.

If the block is displaced by 18 cm to the right, then x(0) = 18 cm, and as a result
(0) =

2 x(0)
= 4.00 rad.
r

Finally, the response of the system to the given initial conditions is



(t) = (4.00 rad) e3.50 t (0.577 sin(6.06 t) + cos(6.06 t)) .