Sec. 5.

2 Methods Based on Interpolation of Excitation 157

When applied successively with i = 0,1,2,3,..., the time-stepping procedure gives

the desired response at all time instanis i = 1,2,3,.... The known initial conditions
provide the information necessary to start the procedure.
Stepping from time { to-i + 1 is usually not an exact procedure. Many approximate
procedures are possible that are implemented numerically. The three important require-
ments for a numerical procedure are (1) convergence—as the time step decreases, the
numerical solution should approach the exact salution, (2) stability—the numerical solu-
ton should be stable in the presence of numerical round-off errors, and (3) accuracy—the
numerical procedure should provide results that are close enough to the exact solution.
Although these are important issues, they are mentioned only briefly in this book.
Three types of time-stepping procedures are presented in this chapter: (1) methods
based on interpolation of the excitation function, (2) methods based on finite difference
expressions of velocity and acceleration, and (3) methods based on assumed variation of
acceleration, Only one method is presented in each of the first two categories and two
from the third group.

5.2 METHODS BASED ON INTERPOLATION OF EXCITATION

A highly efficient numerical procedure can be developed for linear systems by interpo-
lating the excitation over each time interval and developing an exact solution for a lincar
system using the methods of Chapter 4. If the time intervals are short, linear interpolation
is satisfactory. Figure 5.2.1 shows that over the time interval ; <t < #;., the excitation
function is given by

Ap; (5.2.1a)
pt)=p;+
At T
where

Ap; = piv1 — pi - (5.2.1b)

and the time variable 7 varies from 0 to A¢,. For algebraic simplicity, we first consider
systems without damping; later, the procedure will be extended to include damping. The

Figure 5.2.1 Notation for linearly

interpolated excitation.
158 Numerical Evaluation of Dynamic Response ~ Chap. 5

equation to be solved is

s Ap;
mii + ku = p; + A T (5.2.2)

The response u(z) over the time interval 0 < v < Ay is the sum of three parts:
(1) free vibration due to initial displacement u; and velocity #; at T = 0, (2) response
to step force p; with zero initial conditions, and (3) response to ramp force (Ap; /At)T
with zero initial conditions. Adapting the available solutions for these three cases from
Sections 2.1, 4.3, and 4.4, respectively, gives

7 ; Ap; T sinw,T
u(t) = u; COsSw, T + aT,: sinw, T + %(1 —COSWRT) + —kl- (th — o A"[i ) (5.2.3a)

and
; 2 i . Ap 1
4o = —u;sinw,T + & cosw,T + biid sinw,T + £PE (1 —cosw,T) (5.2.3b)
wy, Wy k k w, At
Evaluating these equations at 7 = A¢; gives the displacement u,, and velocity ;4 at
time 7 + 1:
7
U1 = u; cos(w, AL) + — sin(a, Af)
@y
Pi Api 1 .
+ —[1 — cos(w, At)] + —— ——[wy At; — sin(w, A%)] (5.2.42)
k k w, Ay

fl1+1 - l“i
= —u, sin(w, At;) + — cos(w, AL)
Wy Wy

i Ap; 1
+ %sm(w,, At) + %w,, a0 [1 — cos{w, At;)] (5.2.4b)

These equations can be rewritten after substituting Eq. (5.2.1b) as recurrence formulas:
w1 = Au; + Bu; + Cp; + Dp;yy (5.2.5a)

iy = A'M; + B'i; + C'p; + D'piy (5.2.5b)

These formulas also apply to damped systems with the expressions for the coeffi-
cients A, B, ..., D' given in Table 5.2.1 for under-critically damped systems (i.e.,
¢ < 1). They depend on the system parameters w,, k, and £, and on the time interval
Ar = At
Since the recurrence formulas are derived from exact solution of the equation of
motion, the only restriction on the size of the time step Ar is that it permit a close
approximation to the excitation function and that it provide response results at closely
spaced time intervals so that the response peaks are not missed. This numerical procedure
is especially useful when the excitation is defined at closely spaced time intervals—as
for earthquake ground acceleration—so that the linear interpolation is essentially perfect.
If the time step At is constant, the coefficients A, B, ..., D’ need to be computed only
once.
Sec. 5.2 Methods Based on Interpolation of Excitation 159

TABLE 5.2.1 COEFFICIENTS IN RECURRENCE FORMULAS (¢ < 1)

A =e bt 3 sinwp At + coswp At
1-¢2
1
B = e ten M (— sinwp At)
wp

1) 2 papa | (1-2%7 '3 ) 2%

Cik[a},‘At*—e wp AT Vm sinwp At 1+a),,Al coswp Af

1 2 2%2-1 2%
D=-|1- B o0 B 3 sinwp Af + d coswp At
wp At @y At

[
A= —eb N (*"= sinwn-41>

B/= ¢t At (ccswo At — i1 sinwp At

¢ ; 1
Al —

+ ——=—— — coswpAt
&

| sinwp At +
4
&

= At
$

an1-¢2
a

1-22 At
LY

R
+

||
I
|

1
D= TAT |:1 — gTbun A ( $ = sinwp At + cos wp A:)]
V1-¢

The exact solution of the equations of motion required in this numerical procedure
is feasible only for linear systems. It is conveniently developed for SDF systems, as
shown above, but would be cumbersome for MDF systems unless their response is
obtained as superposition of modal responses (Chapters 12 and 13).

Example 5.1
An SDF system has the following properties: m = 0.2533 kip-sec¥/in., k = 10 kipsfin.,
T, = 1 sec (w, = 6.283 rad/sec), and £ = 0.05. Determine the response u(z) of this
system to p(t) defined by the half-cycle sine pulse force shown in Fig. E5.1 by (a) using
piecewise-linear interpolation of p(f) with Ar = 0.1 sec, and (b) evaluating the theoretical
solution.

Solution
1. Initial calculations

et A = 09691 wp =wny/1 -2 =6.275

sinwp At = 0.5871 coswp Ar = 0.8095
 160 Numerical Evaluation of Dynamic Response Chap. 5

P, kips
10 sin (7t / 0.6)
10 8.66
Piecewise linear
interpolation

t, sec
06 Figure E5.1

Substituting these in Table 5.2.1 gives

A =0.8129 B =0.09067 C =0.01236 D =0.006352

A= -3.5795 B’ =0.7559 ¢’ =0.1709 D' =0.187

2. Apply the recurrence equations (5.2.5). The resulting computations are summa-
rized in Tables E5.1a and ES.1b.

TABLE ES.1a NUMERICAL SOLUTION USING LINEAR INTERPOLATION OF EXCITATION

4 i Cpi Dp;1 Bu; ; Au; uj Theoretical u;

00 0.0000 0.0000 00318 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000

0.1 50000 0.0618 0.0550 0.0848 0.9354 0.0258 0.0318 0.0328
02 86602 0.1070 0.0635 0.2782 3.0679 0.1849 02274 0.2332
03 100000 0.1236 0.0550 0.4403 4.8558 0.5150 0.6336 0.6487
04 86603 0.1070 0.0318 0.4290 4.7318 09218 1.1339 1.1605
05 50000 0.0618 0.0000 0.1753 1.9336 12109 1.4896 1.5241
0.6 00000 0.0000 0.0000 —0.2735 -3.0159 11771 1.4480 1.4814
0.7 0.0000 0.0000 00000 —0.6767 —7.4631 0.7346 0.9037 0.9245
08 00000 0.0000 0.0000 —0.8048 —8.8765 0.0471 0.0579 0.0593
09 00000 00000 00000 —0.6272 —69177 —0.6160 —0.7577 -0.7751
1.0 0.0000 —2.5171 —1.2432 —1.2718

3. Compute the theorerical response. Equation (3.2.5)—valid for t < 0.6 sec,
Eq. (2.2.4) modified appropriately—valid for r > 0.6 sec, and the derivatives of these
two equations are evaluated for cach #; the results are given in Tables E5.1a and E5.1b.
4, Check the accuracy of the numerical results. The numerical solution based on
piecewise linear interpolation of the excitation agrees reasonably well with the theoretical
solution. The discrepancy arises because the half-cycle sine curve has been replaced by
the series of straight lines shown in Fig. ES.1. With a smaller Ar the piecewise linear
approximation would be closer to the half-cycle sine curve, and the numerical solution
would be more accurate.
 Sec. 5.3 Central Difference Method 161

TABLE E5.1b NUMERICAL SOLUTION USING LINEAR INTERPOLATION OF EXCITATION

4 pi C'pi D'pitt Alui i B'u; Ph Theoretical #;

0.0 0.0000 0.0000 0.9354 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
0.1 5.0000 0.8544 1.6201 —0.1137 00318 0.7071 0.9354 0.9567
0.2 8.6602 14799 18707 —0.8140 0.2274 23192 3.0679 3.1383
03 100000 1.7088 1.6201 —2.2679 0.6336 3.6708 4.8558 4.9674
0.4 8.6603 14799 09354 —4.0588 1.1339 35771 47318 4,8408
05 5.0000 (.8544 00000 -53320 1.4896 1.4617 1.9336 1.9783
0.6 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 —5.1832 1.4480 -22799 -3.0159 —3.0848
0.7 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 —32347 09037 -5.6418 —7.4631 —7.6346
08 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 —0.2074 00579 -6.7103 —8.8765 —9.0808
09 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 27124 —0.7577 52285 69177 —7.0771
1.0 0.0000 —1.2432 —-2.5171 —2.5754

5.3 CENTRAL DIFFERENCE METHOD

This method is based on a finite difference approximation of the time derivatives of

displacement (i.e., velocity and acceleration). Taking constant time steps, At; = At, the
central difference expressions for velocity and acceleration at time i are

Mgy — Ui o Wiyl — 2u + iy 3.1

T T A = @an?
Substituting these approximate expressions for velocity and acceleration into Eq. (5.1.3),
specialized for lincarly elastic systems, gives

Wiy — 2u; + Ui Miy) — Ui —1

A c AT + ku; = p; (5.3.2)

In this equation »; and u;_; are assumed known (from implementation of the procedure
for the preceding time steps). Transferring these known quantities to the right side leads
to

moLe [ g Zm (53.3)
B2 Taa M TR T T 2ar @0z | e
or

kg = i (5.3.4)
where

pR— ¢ (53.5)