Module 5: Oscillator with external forcing-II

Lecture 5: Oscillator with external forcing-II

5.1 Effect of damping

Introducing damping, the equation of motion

mẍ + cẋ + kx = F cos(ωt + ψ) (5.1)

written using the notation introduced earlier is

¨ + 2β ẋ + ω02 x̃ = f˜eiωt .
x̃ (5.2)

Here again we separately discuss the complementary functions and the par-
ticular integral. The complementary functions are the decaying solutions that
arise when there is no external force. These are short lived transients which
are not of interest when studying the long time behaviour of the oscillations.
These have already been discussed in considerable detail and we do not con-
sider them here. The particular integral is important when studying the long
time or steady state response of the oscillator. This solution is

f˜
x̃(t) = eiωt (5.3)
(ω02 − ω 2 ) + 2iβω
which may be written as x̃(t) = Ceiφ f˜eiωt where φ is the phase of the oscillation
relative to the force f˜.
This has an amplitude
f
| x̃ |= q (5.4)
(ω02 − ω 2 )2 + 4β 2 ω 2

and the phase φ is !

−2βω
φ = tan−1 (5.5)
ω02 − ω 2

29
30 CHAPTER 5. OSCILLATOR WITH EXTERNAL FORCING-II

−φ 0.6
β=0.2
0
0
2.5
2.5 f= ω =1
0
β=0.2
22

|x| 1.5
1.5 0.4

11 0.6
1.0
0.5
0.5
2.0
0
00 0.5
0.5 11 1.5
1.5 22 2.5
2.5 33

Figure 5.1: Amplitudes and phases for various damping coefficients as a func-
tion of driving frequency
f0
3 x(0)=3 β =1
3 9
ω=2 β = 0.5 5
. f0 = 3 β = 0.5 2 3
2
x(0)=0 ω0 = 3
x(t) 1
1
x(t)
2 4 6 8 10 12
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 t
t -1
x(0)=3
-1 ω=2 ω 0 =3 -2 . 1
x(0)=0

Figure 5.2: Forced oscillations with different resistances and forcing amplitudes

Figure 5.1 shows the amplitude and phase as a function of ω for different values
of the damping coefficient β. The damping ensures that the amplitude does
not blow up at ω = ω0 and it is finite for all values of ω. The change in the
phase also is more gradual.
Problem 1: Plot the response, x(t), of a forced oscillator with a forcing
3 cos 2t and natural frequency ω0 = 3 Hz with initial conditions, x(0) = 3 and
ẋ(0) = 0, for two different resistances, β = 1 and β = 0.5. Plot also for fixed
resistance, β = 0.5 and different forcing amplitudes f0 = 1, 3, 5 and 9.
Solution : The evolution is shown in the Fig. 5.2. Notice that the tran-
sients die and the steady state is achieved relatively sooner in the case of larger
resistance, β = 1. Furthermore, the steady state is reached quicker in the case
of larger forcing amplitude. See the variation of steady state amplitudes for
different parameters.
The low frequency and high frequency behaviour are exactly the same as
the situation without damping. The changes due to damping are mainly in
5.1. EFFECT OF DAMPING 31

the vicinity of ω = ω0 . The amplitude is maximum at

q
ω= ω02 − 2β 2 (5.6)

For mild damping (β ≪ ω0 ) this is approximately ω = ω0 .

We next shift our attention to the energy of the oscillator. The average
energy E(ω) is the quantity of interest. Calculating this as a function of ω we
have
mf 2 (ω 2 + ω02 )
E(ω) = (5.7)
4 [(ω02 − ω 2 )2 + 4β 2 ω 2 ]

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
FWHM
Ε 0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
ω

Figure 5.3: Energy resonance

The response to the external force shows a prominent peak or resonance (Fig-
ure 5.3) only when β ≪ ω0 , the mild damping limit. This is of great utility
in modelling the phenomena of resonance which occurs in a large variety of
situations. In the weak damping limit E(ω) peaks at ω ≈ ω0 and falls rapidly
away from the peak. As a consequence we can use

(ω02 − ω 2 )2 = (ω0 + ω)2 (ω0 − ω)2 ≈ 4ω02 (ω0 − ω)2 (5.8)

which gives
k f2
E(ω) ≈ (5.9)
8 ω02 [(ω0 − ω)2 + β 2 ]
in the vicinity of the resonance. This has a maxima at ω ≈ ω0 and the
maximum value is
kf 2
Emax ≈ . (5.10)
8ω02 β 2
We next estimate the width of the peak or resonance. This is quantified using
the FWHM (Full Width at Half Maxima) defined as FWHM = 2∆ω where
E(ω0 + ∆ω) = Emax /2 ie. half the maximum value. Using equation (5.9) we
see that ∆ω = β and FWHM = 2β. as shown in Figure 5.3. The FWHM
32 CHAPTER 5. OSCILLATOR WITH EXTERNAL FORCING-II

quantifies the width of the curve and it records the fact that the width increases
with the damping coefficient β.
The peak described by equation (5.9) is referred to as a Lorentzian profile.
This is seen in a large variety of situations where we have a resonance.For
example, Intensity profiles of spectral lines are Lorentzian.
We finally consider the power drawn by the oscillator from the external
force. The instantaneous power P (t) = F (t)ẋ(t) has a value

P (t) = [F cos(ωt)][− | x̃ | ω sin(ωt + φ)] . (5.11)

The average power is the quantity of interest, we study this as a function

of the frequency. Calculating this we have
1
hP i(ω) = − ωF | x̃ | sin φ . (5.12)
2
Using equation (5.3) we have
−2βω F
 
| x̃ | sin φ = 2
(5.13)
(ω0 − ω 2 )2 + 4β 2 ω 2 m
which gives the average power
!
βω 2 F2
hP i(ω) = 2 . (5.14)
(ω0 − ω 2 )2 + 4β 2 ω 2 m

β = 0.1
2

Lorentzian
P( ω)
1

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Figure 5.4: Power resonance

The solid curve in Figure 5.4 shows the average power as a function of
ω. Here again, a prominent, sharp peak is seen only if β ≪ ω0 . In the mild
damping limit, in the vicinity of the maxima we have
!
β F2
hP i(ω) ≈ . (5.15)
(ω0 − ω)2 + β 2 4m
which again is a Lorentzian profile. For comparison we have also plotted the
Lorentzian profile as a dashed curve in Figure 5.4.
5.1. EFFECT OF DAMPING 33

Problem 2: The galvanometer: A galvanometer is connected with a

constant-current source through a switch. At time t=0, the switch is closed.
After some time the galvanometer deflection reaches its final value θmax . Tak-
ing damping torque proportional to the angular velocity draw the deflection of
the galvanometer from the initial position of rest (i.e. θ = 0, θ̇ = 0) to its final
position θ = θmax , for the underdamped, critically damped and overdamped
cases.
Solution: We solve the forced oscillator equation with constant forcing
(i.e. driving frequency =0) and given initial conditions and plot the various
evolutions. Figure 5.5 shows the galvanometer deflection as a function of time
for some arbitrary values of θmax , damping coefficient and natural frequency.

1.4
Underdamped
1.2
θ1
0.8 Critically damped
0.6
Overdamped
0.4
0.2

2 4 t6 8 10 12

Figure 5.5: Galvanometer deflection

Problems

3. An oscillator with ω0 = 2π s−1 and negligible damping is driven by an

external force F (t) = a cos ωt. By what percent do the amplitude of
oscillation and the energy change if ω is changed from π s−1 to 3π/2 s−1 ?
(71.4%, 114%)

4. An oscillator with ω0 = 104 s−1 and β = 1 s−1 is driven by an external

force F (t) = a cos ωt. [a.] Determine ωmax where the power drawn by
the oscillator is maximum? [b.] By what percent does the power fall if ω
is changed by ∆ω = 0.5 s−1 from ωmax ?[c.] Consider β = 0.1 s−1 instead
of β = 1 s−1 . ( ([a.] 104 s−1 , 33.3%, 96.2%)

5. A mildly damped oscillator driven by an external force is known to have

a resonance at an angular frequency somewhere near ω = 1MHz with a
quality factor of 1100. Further, for the force (in Newtons)

F (t) = 10 cos(ωt)

the amplitude of oscillations is 8.26 mm at ω = 1.0 KHz and 1.0 µm at

100 MHz.
34 CHAPTER 5. OSCILLATOR WITH EXTERNAL FORCING-II

a. What is the spring constant of the oscillator?

b. What is the natural frequency ω0 of the oscillator?
c. What is the FWHM?
d. What is the phase difference between the force and the oscillations
at ω = ω0 + FWHM/2?
f
6. Show that, x(t) = ω2 −ω 2 (cos ωt − cos ω0 t), is a solution of the undamped
0
2
forced system, ẍ + ω0 x = f cos ωt, with initial conditions, x(0) = ẋ(0) =
0. Show that near resonance, ω → ω0 , x(t) ≈ 2ωf 0 t sin ω0 t, that is the
amplitude of the oscillations grow linearly with time. Plot the solution
near resonance. (Hint: Take ω = ω0 − ∆ω and expand the solution
taking ∆ω → 0.)

7. Find the driving frequencies corresponding to the half-maximum power

points and hence find the FWHM for the power curve of Fig. 5.4.

8. Show that the average power loss due to the resistance dissipation is
equal to the average input power calculated in the expression (5.14).
q
9. (a) Evaluate average energies at frequencies, ωAmRes = ω02 − 2β 2 (at
the amplitude resonance) and ωP oRes = ω0 (at the power resonance).
Show that they are equal and independent of ω0 .
(b) Find the value of the forcing frequency, ωEnRes , for which the energy
of the oscillator is maximum.
(c) What is the value of the maximum energy?
((a) mf 2 /8β 2 , q
2
(b) ωEnRes = 2ω0 ω02 − β 2 − ω02 , ωAmRes < ωEnRes < ωP oRes ,
q
(c) mf 2 /16(ω0 ω02 − β 2 − ω02 + β 2 ).)

10. A massless rigid rod of length l is hinged at one end on the wall. (see
figure). A vertical spring of stiffness k is attached at a distance a from
the hinge. A damper is fixed at a further distance of b from the spring
providing a resistance proportional to the velocity of the attached point
of the rod. Now a mass m(< 0.1ka2 /gl) is plugged at the other end of
the rod. Write down the condition for critical damping (treat all angular
displacements small). If mass is displaced θ0 from the horizontal, write
down the subsequent motion of the mass for the above condition.

11. A critically damped oscillator has mass 1 kg and the spring constant
equal to 4 N/m. It is forced with a periodic forcing F (t) = 2 cos t · cos 2t
N. Write the steady state solution for the oscillator. Find the average
power per cycle drawn from the forcing agent.

12. A horizontal spring with a stiffness constant 9 N/m is fixed on one end
to a rigid wall. The other end of the spring is attached with a mass of 1
5.1. EFFECT OF DAMPING 35
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k
11
00
00
11
00
11 l
111111111111111111111111111
000000000000000000000000000
00
11
00
11 111111111111111111111111111
000000000000000000000000000
m
00
11
00
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o000000000000000000000000000
111111111111111111111111111
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11 1111111111
00
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a b

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kg resting on a frictionless horizontal table. At t = 0, when the spring

-mass system is in equilibrium and is perpendicular to the wall, a force
F (t) = 8 cos 5t N starts acting on the mass in a direction perpendicular
to the wall. Plot the displacement of the mass from the equilibrium
position between t = 0 and t = 2π neatly.