CHAPTER ONE

MECHANICAL VIBRATION

By: Amanuel Denekew

 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Basic Concepts of vibration.

WHAT IS VIBRATION?
➢ Vibration: is any motion that repeats itself after an
interval of time is called vibration or oscillation.
The swinging of a pendulum is typical example of
vibration.

➢ The study of vibration is concerned with the

oscillatory motions of bodies and the forces
associated with them.
1.2 Importance of studying vibration.
➢ To verify that frequencies and amplitudes do not
exceed the material limits.

➢ To avoid resonance in machine parts.

➢ To be able to dampen or isolate vibration sources.

➢ To make conditional maintenance on machines.

➢ To construct or verify computer models of

structures [simulation]
USES OF VIBRATION
➢ In spite of its detrimental effects, vibration can be
utilized profitably in several consumer and
industrial applications.

➢ For example, vibration is put to work in vibratory

conveyors, hoppers, sieves, compactors, washing
machines, electric toothbrushes, dentist’s drills,
clocks, and electric massaging units.
➢ It is also useful for the propagation of sound
(musical instruments).

➢ Vibratory finishing processes, for example certain

machining, casting, forging, and welding processes]

➢ To simulate earthquakes for geological research and

also to conduct studies in the design of nuclear
reactors.
 ADVERSE EFFECTS OF VIBRATION

➢ Vibrations occur in many mechanical and structural

systems. If uncontrolled, vibration can lead to
catastrophic situations.

➢ The structures designed to support the high speed

engines and turbines are subjected to vibration. But
many buildings, structures and bridges fall because
of vibration.
➢ Excessive vibrations of pumps, compressors, turbo
machinery, and other industrial machines can induce
vibrations of the surrounding structure, leading to
inefficient operation of the machines while the noise
produced can cause human discomfort.

➢ Due to faulty design and poor manufacture, there is

unbalance in the engines which causes excessive
and unpleasant stresses in the rotating system
because of vibration.
➢ The vibration and noise generated by engines
causes annoyance to people and sometimes,
damage to property.

➢ Vibration of instrument panels can cause their

malfunction or difficulty in reading the meters.

➢ The vibration causes rapid wear of machine parts

such as bearings and gears and also creates
excessive noise.
➢ In machines, vibration can loosen fasteners such as
nuts.

➢ In metal cutting processes, vibration can cause

chatter, which leads to a poor surface finish.

➢ If the frequency of excitation coincides with one of

the natural frequencies of the system, a condition of
resonance is reached, and dangerously large
oscillations may occur which may result in the
mechanical failure of the system.
➢ Thus one of the important purposes of vibration
study is to reduce vibration through proper design
of machines and their mountings.
 TERMINOLOGY
➢ Periodic motion: A motion which repeats itself
after equal intervals of time.

➢ Time period: Time taken to complete one cycle.

➢ Frequency: Number of cycles per unit time.

➢ Amplitude: The maximum displacement of a

vibrating body from its equilibrium position.
➢ Natural frequency: When no external force acting
on the system after giving it an initial displacement,
the body vibrates.

➢ These vibrations are called free vibrations and their

frequency is known as natural frequency. It is
expressed in rad/sec or Hertz.
➢ Simple Harmonic Motion: If motion of an object
is repeated after equal intervals of time, it is called
periodic motion. [e.g., simple pendulum].

➢ The simplest type of periodic motion is harmonic

motion. Harmonic motions are represented by sine
or cosine functions.

➢ SHM is a periodic motion with acceleration always

directed towards the equilibrium position.
➢ Damping: It is the resistance to the motion of a
vibrating body. The vibrations associated with this
resistance are known as damped vibrations.

➢ Forced Vibrations: It is the vibration of a body

when subjected to an external force which is
periodic in nature and vibrations occur as long as
external force is present.
➢ Resonance: When the frequency of external
excitation is equal to the natural frequency of a
vibrating body, the amplitude of vibration becomes
excessively large. This phenomena is known as
resonance.

➢ Fundamental Mode of Vibration: A vibrating

body may have more than one natural frequency
and when it vibrates with the lowest natural
frequency, it is the Fundamental mode of vibration.
➢ Mechanical Systems: The systems consisting of
mass, stiffness and damping are known as
mechanical systems.

➢ Degree of Freedom: The minimum number of

independent coordinates required to specify the
motion of a system at any instant is known as
degrees of freedom of the system.
Examples of single degree of freedom systems:
Examples of two degree of freedom systems:
 1.3 KINEMATICS OF VIBRATIONS

➢ A vibratory system, in general, includes a means for

storing potential energy (spring or elasticity), a
means for storing kinetic energy (mass or inertia),
and a means by which energy is gradually lost
(damper).

For example, consider the vibration of the simple

pendulum shown in Figure below.
➢ Let the bob of mass m be released after being given
an angular displacement θ. At position 1, the
velocity of the bob and hence its kinetic energy is
zero.
➢ But it has a potential energy of magnitude mgl (1 –
cosθ) with respect to the datum position 2.

➢ Since the gravitational force mg induces a torque

mgl sinθ about the point O, the bob starts swinging
to the left from position 1.

➢ This gives the bob certain angular acceleration in

the clockwise direction, and by the time it reaches
position 2, all of its potential energy will be
converted into kinetic energy.
➢ Hence the bob will not stop in position 2 but will
continue to swing to position 3.

➢ However, as it passes the mean position 2, a

counterclockwise torque due to gravity starts acting
on the bob and causes the bob to decelerate.
➢ The velocity of the bob reduces to zero at the left
extreme position. By this time, all the kinetic energy
of the bob will be converted to potential energy.
Again, due to the gravity torque, the bob continues
to attain a counterclockwise velocity.

➢ Hence the bob starts swinging back with

progressively increasing velocity and passes the
mean position again. This process keeps repeating,
and the pendulum will have oscillatory motion.
➢ However, in practice, the magnitude of oscillation
(θ) gradually decreases and the pendulum
ultimately stops due to the resistance (damping)
offered by the surrounding medium (air).

➢ This means that some energy is dissipated in each

cycle of vibration due to damping by the air.
 1.4 Classification of Vibration
Vibration can be classified in several ways. Some of
the important classifications are as follows.

❑ Free Vibration: If a system, after an initial

disturbance, is left to vibrate on its own, the ensuing
vibration is known as free vibration.

▪ No external force acts on the system.

▪ The oscillation of a simple pendulum is an example
of free vibration.

❑ Forced Vibration: If a system is subjected to an

external force (often, a repeating type of force), the
resulting vibration is known as forced vibration.
❑ Undamped vibration: If the vibratory system has
no damper, so that no energy is lost or dissipated in
friction or other resistance during oscillation, the
vibration is known as undamped vibration.

❑ Damped vibration: If the vibratory system has a

damper, the motion of the system will be opposed
by it and the energy of the system will be dissipated
in friction.
▪ This type of vibration is called damped vibration.
(OR)

▪ If any energy is lost during oscillation, it is called

damped vibration.

❑ Linear vibration: If all the basic components of a

vibratory system the spring, the mass, and the
damper behave linearly, the resulting vibration is
known as linear vibration.
❑ Nonlinear vibration: If any of the basic
components behave nonlinearly, the vibration is
called nonlinear vibration.

▪ The differential equations that govern the behavior

of linear and nonlinear vibratory systems are linear
and nonlinear, respectively.
❑ Deterministic vibration: If the value or magnitude
of the excitation (force or motion) acting on a
vibratory system is known at any given time, the
excitation is called deterministic.

▪ The resulting vibration is known as deterministic

vibration.
❑ Non deterministic or random vibration: If the
value of the excitation at a given time cannot be
predicted, then the excitation is called non-
deterministic (random).

▪ The resulting vibration is known as non-

deterministic vibration.
❑ Longitudinal vibrations : If the mass m moves up and
down parallel to the spindle axis, it is said to execute
longitudinal vibrations. Figure below represents a body
of mass m carried on one end of a weightless spindle,
the other end being fixed.

Where ,
B = represents the mean
position.
A and C = represents the
extreme positions.
❑ Transverse vibration: When the particles of the
body or shaft move approximately perpendicular to
the axis of the shaft, the vibration so caused are
known as transverse vibration.
Figure below shows the transverse vibration.

Where ,
B = represents the mean position.
A and C = represents the extreme
positions.
❑ Torsional vibrations: If the spindle gets alternately
twisted and untwisted on account of vibratory motion
of the suspended disc, it is called torsional vibrations.

Figure below shows the torsional vibration.

Where ,
B = represents the mean position.
A and C = represents the extreme
positions.
❑ Transient Vibration

➢ In ideal systems the free vibrations continue

indefinitely as there is no damping.

➢ The amplitude of vibration decays continuously

because of damping (in a real system) and vanishes
ultimately.

➢ Such vibration in a real system is called transient

vibration.
 1.5 VIBRATION ANALYSIS
➢ A vibratory system is a dynamic system for which
the response (output) depends on the excitations
(inputs) and the characteristics of the system (e.g.,
mass, stiffness, and damping) as indicated in Figure
below.
➢ Vibration analysis of a given system involves
determination of the response for the excitation
specified.

The analysis usually involves:

✓ Mathematical modeling,

✓ Derivation of the governing equations of motion,

✓ Solution of the equations of motion, and

✓ Interpretation of the response results.

▪ The purpose of mathematical modeling is to
represent all the important characteristics of a
system for the purpose of deriving mathematical
equations that govern the behavior of the system.

▪ The mathematical model is usually selected to

include enough details to describe the system in
terms of equations that are not too complex.
Mathematical modeling for Forging hammer

Mathematical modeling

Forging hammer
Single degree of freedom model
➢ Sometimes the mathematical model is gradually
improved to obtain more accurate results.

➢ So the above the model is refined by including

more components and/or details so that the behavior
of the system can be observed more closely as
shown in figure below.
Refined model
➢ The mathematical model may be linear or
nonlinear, depending on the nature of the system
characteristics.
➢ Once the mathematical model is selected, the
principles of dynamics are used to derive the
equations of motion of the vibrating system.
➢ For this, the free-body diagrams of the masses,
indicating all externally applied forces (excitations),
reaction forces, and inertia forces, can be used.
➢ Then several approaches, such as D’Alembert’s
principle, Newton’s second law of motion, and
other methods can be used to derive the equations
of motion of the system.

➢ The equations of motion can be solved using a

variety of techniques to obtain analytical or
numerical solutions, depending on the complexity
of the equations involved.
➢ The solution of the equations of motion provides
the displacement, velocity, and acceleration
responses of the system.

➢ The responses and the results of analysis need to be

interpreted with a clear view of the purpose of the
analysis and the possible design implications.
VIBRATION CONTROL METHODS

Undesired vibrations should be eliminated or reduced

up to certain extent by the following methods:

✓ Removing external excitation, if possible

✓ Using shock absorbers.

✓ Resting the system on proper vibration isolators.

 1.6 MECHANICAL ELEMENTS

1. SPRING ELEMENT: Often, in applications,

springs are placed in combination.

▪ It is convenient, for purposes of modeling and

analysis, to replace the combination of springs by a
single spring of an equivalent stiffness, keq.
▪ A model SDOF system consisting of a block
attached to a spring of an equivalent stiffness is
shown in figure below.

▪ The resultant force acting on the block is F = keqx

SPRINGS IN COMBINATION
a) PARALLEL COMBINATION

➢The springs in the system shown in figure below are

in parallel.
➢The displacement of each spring in the system is the
same, but the resultant force acting on the block is the
sum of the forces developed in the parallel springs.

➢ If x is the displacement of the block, then the force

developed in the ith spring is kix and the resultant is

Keq.x = (k1 + k2 + ….. + kn) x

Keq = k1 + k2 + ….. + kn
b) SERIES COMBINATION

➢The springs in figure below are in series.

➢The force developed in each spring is the same and

equal to the force acting on the block. The

displacement of the block is the sum of the changes in
length of the springs in the series combination.
If xi is the change in length of the ith spring, then

Since the force is the same in each spring, xi =

=
2. Mass Element:
It is assumed to be a rigid body
It can gain or lose kinetic energy whenever the
velocity of the body changes

mass x acceleration = the force applied to the mass

3. DAMPING ELEMENT
➢ Every vibration energy is gradually converted into heat
or sound. Hence the displacement during vibration
gradually reduces.

➢ The mechanism by which vibration energy is gradually

converted into heat or sound is known as damping.

➢ It can be classified in to viscous damping, Coulomb or

dry friction damping and materials or solid or hysteric
damping
a) Viscous damping
Viscous damping is most commonly used damping mechanism
in vibration analysis.
➢ When the mechanical system vibrates in a fluid medium such
as water or oil, the resistance offered by the fluid to the
moving body causes energy to be dissipated.
➢ In this case , the amount of dissipated energy depends on
many factors such as size or shape of the vibrating body, the
viscosity of the fluid, the frequency of vibration and velocity
of fluid.
➢ Resistance due to viscous damping is directly
proportional to the velocity of vibration.
Fd α V

Fd =C𝑥ሶ

Where C= damping coefficient

Fd = damping force
b) Coulomb damping or dry friction
damping
➢ It is caused by the friction between the surfaces that
are dry or have insufficient lubrication.

➢ Here a damping force is constant in magnitude but

opposite in direction to that of the motion of
vibrating body.
c) Material or solid or hysteric
damping
➢ When the materials are deformed, energy is
absorbed and dissipated by the material.

➢ The effect is due to friction between the internal

planes which slip or slide as the deformation takes
place.
THE END