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Fundamentals of
Structural Dynamics
This page intentionally left blank
Fundamentals of
Structural Dynamics

ZHIHUI ZHOU
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

YING WEN
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

CHENZHI CAI
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

QINGYUAN ZENG
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
Elsevier
Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
Copyright © 2021 Central South University Press. Published by Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and
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Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright
by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices,
or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described
herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety
and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or
editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter
of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods,
products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN: 978-0-12-823704-5

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Publisher: Glyn Jones

Editorial Project Manager: Naomi Robertson
Production Project Manager: Vijayaraj Purushothaman
Cover Designer: Mark Rogers
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India
Contents

About the authors ix

Preface xi

1. Overview of structural dynamics 1

1.1 Objective of structural dynamic analysis 1
1.2 Characteristics of structural dynamics 2
1.3 Classification of vibrations 3
1.4 Vibration problems in engineering 6
1.5 Procedures of dynamic response analysis of structures 7
1.5.1 Description of system configuration 7
1.5.2 Analysis of excitation 7
1.5.3 Mechanism of vibration energy dissipation 9
1.5.4 Equation of motion of a system 9
1.5.5 Solution of equation of motion 10
1.5.6 Vibration tests 10
Problems 10
References 11

2. Formulation of equations of motion of systems 13

2.1 System constraints 13
2.2 Representation of system configuration 18
2.3 Real displacements, possible displacements, and virtual displacements 22
2.4 Generalized force 25
2.5 Conservative force and potential energy 30
2.6 Direct equilibrium method 34
2.7 Principle of virtual displacements 35
2.8 Lagrange’s equation 39
2.9 Hamilton’s principle 45
2.10 Principle of total potential energy with a stationary value in
elastic system dynamics 50
2.10.1 Principle of virtual work and principle of total potential
energy with a stationary value in statics 50
2.10.2 Derivation of the principle of total potential energy
with a stationary value in elastic system dynamics 52
2.11 The “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system matrices
and method of computer implementation in Matlab 59

v
vi Contents

2.11.1 The “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system matrices 59

2.11.2 Method of computer implementation in Matlab for
assembling system matrices 70
References 75
Problems 75

3. Analysis of dynamic response of SDOF systems 79

3.1 Analysis of free vibrations 79
3.1.1 Undamped free vibrations 79
3.1.2 Damped free vibrations 81
3.1.3 Stability of motion 89
3.2 Response of SDOF systems to harmonic loads 93
3.3 Vibration caused by base motion and vibration isolation 105
3.3.1 Vibration caused by base motion 105
3.3.2 Vibration isolation 110
3.4 Introduction to damping theory 113
3.4.1 Viscous-damping theory 114
3.4.2 Hysteretic-damping theory 117
3.4.3 Frictional damping theory 118
3.5 Evaluation of viscous-damping ratio 118
3.5.1 Free-vibration decay method 119
3.5.2 Resonant amplification method 119
3.5.3 Half-power (band-width) method 120
3.5.4 Resonance energy loss per cycle method 124
3.6 Response of SDOF systems to periodic loads 126
3.7 Response of SDOF systems to impulsive loads 129
3.7.1 Sine-wave impulsive load 129
3.7.2 Rectangular impulsive load 134
3.7.3 Triangular impulsive load 136
3.7.4 Response ratios to different types of impulsive loads 138
3.7.5 Response spectra (shock spectra) 138
3.7.6 Approximate analysis of response to impulsive loads 141
3.8 Time-domain analysis of dynamic response to arbitrary
dynamic loads 143
3.9 Frequency-domain analysis of dynamic response to arbitrary
dynamic loads 146
3.9.1 Express the system response to periodic loads in complex form 147
3.9.2 Fourier integral method 150
References 153
Problems 153
 Contents vii

4. Analysis of dynamic response of MDOF systems:

mode superposition method 157
4.1 Analysis of dynamic properties of multidegree-of-freedom systems 157
4.1.1 Natural frequencies, mode shapes, and principal vibration 157
4.1.2 Orthogonality of mode shapes 160
4.1.3 Repeated frequency case 163
4.2 Coupling characteristics and uncoupling procedure of equations
of MDOF systems 165
4.2.1 Coupling characteristics of equations of MDOF systems 165
4.2.2 Uncoupling procedure of equations of MDOF systems 167
4.3 Analysis of free vibration response of undamped systems 171
4.4 Response of undamped systems to arbitrary dynamic loads 175
4.5 Response of damped systems to arbitrary dynamic loads 177
References 184
Problems 185

5. Analysis of dynamic response of continuous systems:

straight beam 187
5.1 Differential equations of motion of undamped straight beam 188
5.2 Modal expansion of displacement and orthogonality of mode
shapes of straight beam 190
5.3 Free vibration analysis of undamped straight beam 195
5.4 Forced vibration analysis of undamped straight beam 201
5.5 Forced vibration analysis of damped straight beam 204
References 209
Problems 209

6. Approximate evaluation of natural frequencies and

mode shapes 211
6.1 Rayleigh energy method 211
6.2 Rayleigh
Ritz method 218
6.3 Matrix iteration method 222
6.3.1 Iteration procedure for fundamental frequency and mode 223
6.3.2 Iteration procedure for higher frequencies and modes 226
6.4 Subspace iteration method 229
6.5 Reduction of degrees of freedom in dynamic analysis 237
6.5.1 Preliminary comments 237
6.5.2 Kinematic constraints method 238
6.5.3 Static condensation method 239
viii Contents

6.5.4 Rayleigh
Ritz method 241

References 242
Problems 242

7. Step-by-step integration method 245

7.1 Basic idea of step-by-step integration method 245
7.2 Linear acceleration method 247
7.3 Wilson-θ method 252
7.4 Newmark method 255
7.5 Stability and accuracy of step-by-step integration method 257
Problems 266
References 266

Index 267
About the authors

Dr. Zhihui Zhou is currently an associate professor at the School of

Civil Engineering, Central South University (CSU), in China. He
received a PhD in Civil Engineering from CSU in 2007 under the super-
vision of Prof. Qingyuan Zeng. He was invited to study at the University
of Kentucky in 2014. Dr. Zhou’s research interests include train derail-
ment and dynamics of train
bridge (track) systems. He has been the prin-
cipal investigator of several research grants, including the research project
of National Natural Science Foundation of China (a study on the control
theory of running safety and comfort for high-speed trains on bridges), a
scientific research project of China’s Ministry of Railways (a study on
safety of running trains on large span cable-stayed bridges), special and
general projects of the Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and
some other scientific research projects. Dr. Zhou has published over 30
journal papers as the first author, and two monographs entitled “Lectures
on dynamics of structures” and “Theory and application of train derail-
ment.” He won the first prize of the Science and Technology Progress of
Hunan Province for his study “Theory and application of train derailment”
in 2006.

Dr. Ying Wen was employed in the School of Civil Engineering, CSU,
in China, after obtaining his PhD in 2010, and he was promoted to asso-
ciate professor in 2012. He became a research associate in the Department
of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University in 2011. In 2014 Dr. Wen was invited to visit the Department
of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern
California, for a collaborative research on the problem of moving loads
on structures. After he returned to CSU in 2015, Dr. Wen was appointed
as the vice director of the Key Laboratory of Engineering Structures of
Heavy-haul Railway, Ministry of Education. Dr. Wen has interests in
fields of various structural dynamics and stability, especially nonlinear
mechanics of long-span bridges and their dynamic stability under moving
trains. Dr. Wen has published more than 20 journal papers, one of which
is listed as the Top 25 Hottest articles published in “Finite Elements in
Analysis & Design.” He has also published three Chinese monographs
about statics and dynamics of structures as a coauthor. Dr. Wen has

ix
x About the authors

received the awards of the Science and Technology Progress of Hunan

Province (2006) and Zhejiang Province (2011).

Dr. Chenzhi Cai received his BS degree in civil engineering and MS

degree in road and railway engineering from CSU, in China in 2011 and
2015, respectively. He graduated from The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University with a PhD in civil engineering in 2018 and joined the
Department of Bridge Engineering as well as the Wind Tunnel
Laboratory of CSU as an associate professor later that year. Dr. Cai’s main
research interests are the fields of noise and vibration control, train-bridge
interaction dynamics, and train-induced ground vibration isolation. He
has participated in several research projects funded by the Hong Kong
government and has also received research funding from the National
Natural Science Foundation of China and Hunan Provincial Natural
Science Foundation of China. Dr. Cai has published more than 20 papers
in international journals, and some of his work is under consideration for
acceptance by the UK CIBSE Guide.

Prof. Qingyuan Zeng is a distinguished scientist on bridge engineering at

Central South University, in China. He obtained his BS and MS degrees
from the Department of Civil Engineering, Nanchang University and
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, in 1950 and
1956, respectively. He was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy
of Engineering in 1999 for his great contributions to local
global interac-
tive buckling behavior of long-span bridge structures, train
bridge inter-
action dynamics and the basic theory of train derailment. He presented
the principle of total potential energy with a stationary value in elastic sys-
tem dynamics and the “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system
matrices, which is a significant improvement of the classical theory of
structural dynamics and finite element method. Prof. Zeng has an interna-
tional reputation for his originality in the transverse vibration mechanism
and time-varying analysis method of the train
bridge system. He has
authored and coauthored more than 100 journal papers, three monographs,
and three textbooks. He received numerous awards, including the State
Science and Technology Progress Award, Distinguished Achievement
Award for Railway Science and Technology from Zhan Tianyou
Development Foundation, and Honorary Member Award from the China
Railway Society. He has supervised more than 16 MS students and 30 PhD
students in the past three decades.
Preface

Nowadays, the design of engineering structures, for example, long-span

bridges, high-rise buildings, stadiums, airport terminals, and offshore plat-
forms, seeks a large ratio of their load carrying capacity to self-weight to
achieve esthetic pleasure and economy. However, the type of these light-
weight and flexible structures will lead to a large deformation and exces-
sive vibrations under loading. In addition, these structures may suffer from
some extreme excitations, for instance, strong winds, seismic actions,
high-impact collisions, and impacts of water wave flow. Therefore, inves-
tigation of structural behaviors under dynamic loads is essential in order to
achieve a good performance of the structure when satisfying the require-
ment of designed service. The basic concept of structural dynamics is of
great help to engineers in understanding structural vibration and taking
appropriate measures.
This book introduces the fundamental concepts and basic principles of
the “dynamics of structures.” Although the book focuses on the linear
problem in structural dynamics, solutions for some nonlinear problems
have also been briefly introduced. It should be noted that random vibra-
tion is beyond the scope of this book and is not included here. The main
content of this book includes the overview of structural dynamics, the
formulation of equations of motion of systems, the analysis of dynamic
response of SDOF systems, the analysis of dynamic response of MDOF
and continuous systems, the mode superposition method, the approximate
evaluation of natural frequencies and mode shapes, and the step-by-step
integration method.
Three original contributions have been proposed in this book, namely,
the principle of total potential energy with a stationary value in elastic sys-
tem dynamics, the “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system
matrices, and the method of computer implementation in Matlab.
Moreover, this book introduces the fundamental concepts of structural
dynamics in a concise way rather than with a detailed description, which
is more efficient for abecedarians in understanding the basic concepts and
methods of vibration analysis.
Participants in the writing of this book include Zhihui Zhou, Ying
Wen, Chenzhi Cai, and Qingyuan Zeng from Central South University.
The specific division of the organization and writing of this book is as

xi
xii Preface

follows: Zhihui Zhou is responsible for the writing of Chapters 1 to 4;

Ying Wen has fulfilled Chapters 5 and 6; Chenzhi Cai has completed
Chapter 7, and Qingyuan Zeng supplied the original manuscript of the
book.
The authors wish to express their sincere thanks and appreciation to
Prof. Xiaojun Wei from Central South University, Prof. Tong Qiu from
The Pennsylvania State University, and PhD student Juanya Yu from
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for valuable advice in the
process of writing. The authors are also grateful to Mr. Lican Xie, Ms.
Manxuan Yang, Mr. Liang Zhang, Mr. Bao Zhang, Mr. Xuanyu Liao,
Mr. Chenlong Tang, Mr. Zhenhua Jian, Mr. Xiaojie Zhu, and other
graduate students from Central South University for their contributions in
different ways to the content of this book.
This book can be used as a textbook for both postgraduates and
undergraduates majoring in civil engineering, engineering mechanics,
mechanical engineering, and other related fields in general colleges and
universities. It can also be a reference for teachers, general students, and
short-term trainees in institutions of higher vocational education.
The authors cordially invite the audience of this book to contact with
us (Zhihui Zhou: [email protected]) if you have any suggestions for
improvements and clarifications in the content organization, and even to
help identify errors. All the above efforts and comments are sincerely
acknowledged.

Zhihui Zhou
Ying Wen
Chenzhi Cai
Qingyuan Zeng
CHAPTER 1

Overview of structural dynamics

1.1 Objective of structural dynamic analysis
Dynamic analysis of the train
bridge system originated from the collapse of
the Chester Railway Bridge in the United Kingdom due to a train passing
over the bridge. In November 1940 the engineering community was aston-
ished by the dynamic instability of the Tacoma suspension bridge in the
United States under strong wind with a speed of 17
20 m/s. A large
crowd of people participated in the opening ceremony of Wuhan Yangtze
River Bridge in 1957, resulting in continuous swaying of the newly opened
bridge. The swaying came to an end when the crowd went away at night.
In 2011 the administrator of the Shanghai Railway observed the excessive
transverse vibration of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge under the condi-
tion of a cargo train passing over the bridge. The transverse amplitude of
the oscillated bridge exceeded 9 mm, which led to concerns over the safety
of running trains on the bridge. Therefore the assessment of the safety and
comfort of running trains on this bridge was conducted [1,2].
Seismic activity has been relatively active in recent decades, for instance,
the Chilean earthquake in 1960, the Tangshan earthquake in China in
1976, the Mexico earthquake in 1985, the Osaka
Kobe earthquake in
Japan in 1995, the India earthquake in 2001, and the Sichuan earthquake
in China in 2008. In addition to serious disruption to the local economy,
these disasters threatened the safety of residents and their properties in the
concerned areas. Thus the aseismic design of infrastructures in seismically
active areas is necessary to reduce or avoid severe earthquake damage for
major projects. In addition, many airplane accidents have been caused by
the flutter of aircraft wings or the abnormal vibration of engines. In
mechanical engineering, vibrations may bring about negative effects on the
performance of some precision instruments, for instance, these vibrations
may increase abrasion and fatigue, or reduce machining accuracy and sur-
face finish. However, some manufacturing facilities, for example, transmis-
sion, screening, grinding, piling, and so on, as well as various generators and
clocks, benefit from the positive aspects of vibrations [3].

Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics © 2021 Central South University Press.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823704-5.00001-X Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1
2 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

The investigation of structural dynamics focuses on understanding the

basic mechanism of vibrations and presenting the corresponding proces-
sing methods. These methods can be adopted to eliminate of the negative
vibration effects of machines, prevent dynamic instability of bridges and
improve the tamping and compaction performances of the road construc-
tion machinery, and so on.

1.2 Characteristics of structural dynamics

The main differences between statics and dynamics can be addressed in
the following aspects: (1) in dynamics, both the loads and responses of
structures are time-varying, which implies that, unlike static problems, the
solution of dynamics cannot be a single one. Therefore the dynamic anal-
ysis of structures presents a more complex and time-consuming process
when compared with the static analysis of structures; (2) acceleration is
significant in dynamics. The so-called inertial force produced by accelera-
tion acts in the opposite direction of the acceleration. As illustrated in
Fig. 1.1A, the internal moment and shear of the cantilever beam should
equilibrate the applied dynamic load, F(t), as well as the inertial force asso-
ciated with the acceleration. In Fig. 1.1B, the internal moment, shear, and
deflection of the cantilever beam under a static load F depend only on
the applied load itself. In general, once the inertial force accounts for a
relatively large proportion of the forces equilibrated by the elastic internal
force, the dynamic characteristics should be taken into account in the
structural analysis. When applied loads do not change significantly, the
dynamic responses are minor and the inertial forces can be neglected.
Thus the static analysis procedure could be applied at any desired instant
of time in these cases. If the exciting frequency is less than one third of
the first natural frequency of the structure, the analysis of the structure

Figure 1.1 Cantilever beam subjected to (A) dynamic load and (B) static load.
 Overview of structural dynamics 3

could be treated as a static problem (a better understating of this concept

can be achieved by means of Fig. 3.14); (3) damping is also an indispens-
able factor in dynamic problems. Energy will be dissipated in the vibration
of structures. Structural damping is frequently ignored in the analysis of
the natural dynamic properties and the dynamic response over a relatively
short duration (such as the action of impulsive loads). However, structural
damping must be taken into account when large damping exists or vibra-
tion lasts a long period, as well as in the analysis of the vibration in the
resonance region.

1.3 Classification of vibrations

1. The vibrations could be classified as either deterministic or random
vibrations according to the deterministic or random characteristics of
the dynamic responses.
a. Deterministic vibration: the structural responses are deterministic
functions of time due to the determined load and system.
b. Random vibration: the structural responses are random due to the
uncertainty of load or system. However, the responses usually comply
with certain statistical rules and can be analyzed with statistical pro-
bability methods. For instance, the vibrations of aircraft owing
to aerodynamic noise, the vibrations of the train
track
bridge system
caused by track irregularity, etc., are all regarded as random vibrations.
2. The vibrations could be classified as either free vibrations, forced vibra-
tions, self-excited vibrations, or parametric vibrations.
a. Free vibration: external perturbation makes the system deviate
from the initial equilibrium position or have initial velocity. When
the perturbation is rapidly removed, the system will vibrate due to
initial displacement or velocity, which is called free vibration.
b. Forced vibration: the vibration of the structure is caused by a contin-
uously applied load, which is called forced vibration. The response
of a forced vibration consists of two components. One is the tran-
sient response related to the initial conditions and the other is the
steady-state response with the same frequency as the applied load.
Since transient vibrations decay rapidly due to the damping effect,
forced vibrations are often referred to as steady-state vibration.
c. Self-excited vibration: the vibration is excited and controlled by
the system motion itself, which is called self-excited vibration.
In the analysis of self-excited vibrations, the components of the
4 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

system should be determined first. Then, the interaction among

these components should be fully understood, as well as the pro-
cess of the input and dissipation of system energy. In self-excited
vibrations, energy is obtained from the periodic vibration of a part
of the system. The excitation is a function of the displacement,
velocity and acceleration of the system. It is common to encounter
self-excited vibration phenomena in nature, engineering, and daily
life, for example, the piston motion of engines, the working prin-
ciple of clocks, the wind-induced motion of the Tacoma Bridge,
and the vibration of leaves in the breeze.
Through the observation of the swing of leaves under the excita-
tion of the wind, it can be noted that the wind angle of leaves stand-
ing against the wind will be changed due to bending of branches.
Therefore part of the air flow along the leaves and the wind pressure
on the leaves would be reduced. However, the elastic resistance of
the branch forces the leaves to return to their initial positions. Such a
process is repeated over and over. It can be concluded from the
above description that the external wind itself does not vary periodi-
cally, while the wind excitation on the leaves is periodic. This is
because the motion of the leaves controls the wind actions on the
leaves. This type of vibration is referred to as self-excited vibration.
d. Parametric vibration: system parameters change with a certain rule
due to the action of applied load, and the vibration is excited by the
changing system parameters, which is called parametric vibration.
The motion of a single pendulum with the time-varying length is
a typical example, as illustrated in Fig. 1.2A. Considering a small-
amplitude motion of a single
 pendulum,

 its equation of motion
could be derived as ϕ€ 1 2 _l=l ϕ_ 1 g=l ϕ 5 0 (ϕ is the rotation of
the pendulum; l is the time-varying length of the pendulum; g is
the acceleration of gravity; the detailed derivation can be found in
Example 2.6). It can be observed from the equation that the system
parameters vary with the length of the pendulum l. The external
force is not present in the load term of the equation of motion.
Another typical example is the transverse vibration of a straight bar
to a periodic axial force, as shown in Fig. 1.2B. The periodic axial
force results in periodic variation of parameters in the equation of
transverse bending (detailed information can be found in Chapter 17
of Ref. [4]), which leads to the vibration of the straight bar in the
transverse direction. Once the frequency of the applied force ω, and
 Overview of structural dynamics 5

the natural frequency associated with transverse bending of the bar,

ω, satisfy the relation of ω 5 2ω=K, K 5 1; 2; ?, the transverse
amplitude of the bar would become larger and larger and instability
would occur eventually. That is parametric resonance of the bar in
the transverse direction due to the periodic excitation in the direc-
tion of the bar axis, as shown in Fig. 1.2C.
3. According to the linear or nonlinear differential equations of a system,
the vibrations can be categorized into linear vibrations and nonlinear
vibrations:
a. Linear vibration: the inertial force, damping force, and elastic resis-
tance of the system are linearly related to the acceleration, velocity,
and displacement, respectively. The vibration of a system is governed
by a linear differential equation. Instead of second- and higher-order
terms, only the first-order terms with respect to acceleration, veloc-
ity, and displacement are present in the differential equation. This
book focuses on the investigation of the linear vibration.
b. Nonlinear vibration: in contrast to the linear vibration, the inertial
force, damping force, or elastic resistance of the system are nonlinear
with respect to acceleration, velocity, or displacement, respectively,
and the corresponding vibration can only be governed by nonlinear
differential equations. For instance, both the collapse of infrastructure
due to earthquakes and large amplitude vibration of flexible struc-
tures due to strong winds are examples of the nonlinear vibration.

Figure 1.2 Examples and response characteristics of parametric vibration: (A) motion
of a single pendulum with time-varying length; (B) transverse instability of a straight
bar; (C) vibration response due to parametric vibration.
6 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

1.4 Vibration problems in engineering

In the analysis of vibration, the investigated object (the engineering struc-
ture) is generally referred to as the vibrating system, and can be described
by the mass M, stiffness K, and damping C. The external loads that act on
a system or the factors that lead to the vibration of a system are called the
excitation or input. The dynamic responses of the system subjected to
such an excitation or input, for instance, accelerations, velocities, and dis-
placements, are regarded as the responses or output. The excitation (input)
is connected with the responses (output) by means of the properties of the
vibration system, as shown in Fig. 1.3.
The investigation of system vibration boils down to the analysis of the
relationships among the system, input, and output. Theoretically, once two
of these three factors are determined, the remaining one can be obtained.
Therefore vibration problems in engineering can be classified into the follow-
ing four types:
1. Response analysis: based on the given physical properties of the structural
system and the applied loads, the responses, including the acceleration,
velocity, and displacement, etc., are solved. Response analysis provides
basic information for analyzing the strength, stiffness, and vibration state
of a system. This book mainly focuses on the response analysis.
2. Environment prediction: based on the given properties and responses of
the structural system, the input is to be determined, and the characteristics
of the environment where the system is located may be identified.
3. System identification: the input and output are known, that is, the
dynamic loads and responses of the system are known. Therefore the
properties of the system can be obtained by using the system identifi-
cation method. The identified parameters include both physical prop-
erties (mass, stiffness, damping, etc.) and modal parameters (natural
frequencies and mode shapes).
4. System design: in many cases of engineering applications, the proper-
ties of the system can be designed based on the given input and
required criteria of responses. In general, the system design depends on
the response analysis. System design and response analysis are often
conducted alternately in practical engineering.

Figure 1.3 Three factors representing system vibration.

 Overview of structural dynamics 7

1.5 Procedures of dynamic response analysis of structures

1.5.1 Description of system configuration
Evaluation of the system responses of is a significant objective in structural
dynamics. The prerequisite for finding the solutions of the structural
responses is to formulate the dynamic equilibrium equation, that is, the equa-
tion of motion of the system, by considering the inertial, damping, elastic,
and external forces. The inertial, damping, and elastic forces are directly
related to the displacements, velocities, and accelerations of the system, as
well as its physical properties. Therefore it is necessary to describe the config-
uration of the system at any instant of time. Generally, a vibration configura-
tion is determined from the positions of all particles of the system. Practical
structures are generally continuous systems, and infinite displacement variables
are required to represent their vibration configuration theoretically. For
example, the position coordinates v k , k 5 1; 2; ?, of all continuous particles
distributing along the length of the beam should be obtained for the sake of
accurate description of the vibration of the simply supported beam in the
vertical plane, as shown in Fig. 1.4A. However, it is difficult and unnecessary
to do so in vibration analysis of engineering structures. An approximate esti-
mate of structural configuration can often satisfy the requirement of accuracy
in practical engineering. It is both efficient and possible to discretize a simply
supported beam into finite elements and use the displacements of nodes to
describe the configuration of the beam, as shown in Fig. 1.4B. The selection
of the appropriate coordinates that represent vibration configuration of struc-
tures is the preliminary and most important step for the modeling of practical
structures, which is associated with computational effort and accuracy.

1.5.2 Analysis of excitation

Excitation is defined as the external actions which induce structural vibra-
tions. The excitation of structural vibration is complex and affected by
many random factors. For instance, the dynamic actions of a train running

Figure 1.4 Configuration of a simply supported beam: (A) accurate description;

(B) approximate description using the finite element method.
8 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

on a bridge include the wheel
rail contact forces caused by the hunting

movement of wheelsets, eccentric loads of vehicles, and additional forces
generated by track irregularities. It is difficult to identify these excitations
with specific expressions quantitatively; however, these excitations satisfy
certain statistical rules. Although seismic acceleration waves can be adopted
for the input of earthquake actions on structures, there are no uniform
mathematical models for seismic acceleration waves for different regions,
even for earthquakes of the same magnitude. The seismic actions on the
structure are random, as well as the wind actions. These dynamic loads are
called random loads.
Some special excitations are present in engineering, which can be
described with sufficient precision by a specific time-domain function.
Harmonic excitation caused by the eccentric rotor with a constant angular
speed is a typical example of this.
According to whether excitations can be described by a deterministic
mathematical model or not, excitations can be classified into two types,
namely, random dynamic load and prescribed dynamic load.
1. Random dynamic load: a time-varying random dynamic load cannot
be represented deterministically. The differences of loads in each
experiment are obvious. However, probability theory can be adopted
to describe the statistical characteristics of these loads.
2. Prescribed dynamic load: the time variation of a deterministic dynamic
load is specified. The obtained results of these kinds of loads in different
experiments are nearly identical when considering the experimental
error. Fig. 1.5 shows some typical prescribed dynamic loads.

Figure 1.5 Typical prescribed dynamic loads: (A) harmonic load; (B) arbitrary periodic
load; (C) impulsive load; (D) arbitrary nonperiodic load.
 Overview of structural dynamics 9

Prescribed dynamic loads include both periodic and nonperiodic loads.

Periodic loads can be categorized into simple harmonic loads (Fig. 1.5A)
and arbitrary periodic loads (Fig. 1.5B). Nonperiodic loads can be catego-
rized as impulsive loads with an extremely short duration (such as a shock
wave and explosion wave, as shown in Fig. 1.5C), and arbitrary nonperio-
dic loads with a specified duration (such as measured seismic excitations,
as illustrated in Fig. 1.5D, which is regarded as a prescribed dynamic load
in the analysis of deterministic vibrations).

1.5.3 Mechanism of vibration energy dissipation

The mechanism of energy dissipation is complex and not fully under-
stood. Energy dissipation in structural vibration is related to the damping
force. The damping force is mainly caused by the internal friction due to
the deforming of solid material, the friction at connection points of struc-
tures (such as the friction at bolt joints of steel structures), the opening
and closing of microcracks in concrete, and the friction due to external
media around structures (such as the effects of air and fluids), etc. In real-
ity, it is difficult to simulate damping accurately due to the combined
effects of several factors. If only one kind of damping dominates the
effects, it would be possible to find a reasonable model for the damping
force. For instance, viscous damping force is proportional to the magni-
tude of velocity, that is, F vd 5 c_v , and it opposes the velocity. Detailed
information about the damping will be given in Section 3.4.

1.5.4 Equation of motion of a system

An important task for structural dynamics is to obtain the displacements
that vary with time or other responses to prescribed loads. Approximate
methods (such as the finite element method) considering a certain number
of degrees of freedom can generally meet the accuracy requirements for
most structures. Thus the problem boils down to solving the time history
of these selected displacement variables. The mathematical expression of
dynamic displacements is referred to as the equation of motion of a struc-
tural system. It is also known as the dynamic equilibrium equation once
the inertial force is introduced. By solving the equation, the displacements
and other responses can be obtained. The vibration characteristics
of a multidegree-of-freedom system can be expressed by the following
equation:
M q€ 1 C q_ 1 Kq 5 Q (1.1)
10 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

where q is the generalized displacement vector; q_ is the generalized veloc-

ity vector; q€ is the generalized acceleration vector; M is the mass matrix;
C is the damping matrix; K is the stiffness matrix; and Q is the general-
ized force vector.

1.5.5 Solution of equation of motion

The theory for the linear equation of motion of a system is comparatively
mature. It can be categorized into the following two types:
1. Solution for linear equation of motion with constant coefficients: the
main methods include numerical integration method (such as the
Euler method or Runge
Kutta method), variational method, mode-
superposition method, and weighted residual method.
2. Solution for linear equation of motion with variable coefficients: this
is mainly tackled by the variational method, step-by-step integration
method, and weighted residual method.
There is no general method available for solving a nonlinear equation of
motion yet. The small parameter method, variational method, and weighted
residual method are commonly applied to solve a nonlinear equation of
motion. With the rapid development of computers, the step-by-step integra-
tion method has become the dominant algorithm.

1.5.6 Vibration tests

The main purpose of vibration tests is to validate the theoretical results,
modify the theoretical model, and obtain the parameters required by the
theoretical analysis. The natural frequencies, mode shapes, damping ratio,
and seismic acceleration wave are among the test items. These parameters
are the basis of the analysis of structural dynamics.

Problems
1.1 What are the main differences between the dynamic and static analy-
sis of structures?
1.2 What are the main differences between prescribed and random
dynamic loads? How should one express these two kinds of loads in
mathematics?
1.3 What are the common problems related to engineering vibration
analysis and what relationships do they have?
1.4 According to the characteristics of parametric vibration and self-excited
vibration, which category does the motion of swing belong to?
 Overview of structural dynamics 11

References
[1] Zeng Q, Guo X. Theory of vibration analysis of train-bridge time-varying system and
its application. Beijing: China Railway Press; 1999.
[2] Zeng Q, Xiang J, Zhou Z, Lou P. Theory of train derailment analysis and its applica-
tion. Changsha: Central South University Press; 2006.
[3] Zhou Z, Wen Y, Zeng Q. Lectures on dynamics of structures. 2nd ed. Beijing: China
Communications Press Co., Ltd; 2017.
[4] Clough RW, Penzien J. Dynamics of structures. 3rd ed. Berkeley, CA: Computers &
Structures, Inc; 2003.
This page intentionally left blank
CHAPTER 2

Formulation of equations of
motion of systems
The preliminary step for estimating structural response is to formulate the
equation of motion of a structural system. This chapter focuses on the
basic concepts of structural dynamics and several methods for formulating
the equation of motion. These methods include (1) the direct equilibrium
method, (2) the principle of virtual displacements, (3) Lagrange’s equa-
tions, (4) Hamilton’s principle, (5) the principle of total potential energy
with a stationary value in elastic system dynamics, and (6) the “set-in-
right-position” rule for assembling system matrices and the method of
computer implementation in Matlab.
First, the concept of system constraint and the representation of the
configuration of a system will be introduced in this chapter. Then, the prin-
ciples and applications of the aforementioned six methods will be discussed.

2.1 System constraints

The earth is often selected as the reference frame in the vibration analysis of
systems. The chosen Cartesian coordinate system is fixed on the Earth, as
illustrated in Fig. 2.1. This kind of coordinate system is called a basic coor-
dinate system. The notation O represents the origin of the coordinate

Figure 2.1 Position of a particle in the basic coordinate system.

Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics © 2021 Central South University Press.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823704-5.00002-1 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 13
14 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

system. Bridges, buildings, and other infrastructures are considered to be

fixed on the earth and are incapable of moving freely. The motions of these
structures should satisfy external constraint conditions. Such kinds of systems
are referred to as constrained systems of particles. In contrast, aircrafts, birds,
etc., can move freely in all directions relative to the earth (i.e., the basic
coordinate system). This kind of system is called a free system of particles.
Each particle, which satisfies the requirements of internal constraints, can
move freely in all directions relative to the basic coordinate system.
A constraint could be defined as a geometric or kinematic restriction
imposed on the position and/or velocity of a particle. It is commonly
expressed by a constraint equation. The boundary conditions of a struc-
ture are typical examples of constraint equations. The following is a brief
introduction of constraint classifications.
1. Constraints can be categorized as either geometric or kinematic constraints
according to the characteristics of state variables in constraint equations.
Geometric constraint: Only the positions of the particles of a system
are restricted. For example, the coordinates of the particle m, x, y, z, as
shown in Fig. 2.2, should satisfy the following equation
x2 1 y2 1 z2 5 l 2 (2.1)
where l represents the length of the rigid rod. Eq. (2.1) is known as the
geometric constraint equation. Therefore the position coordinates of the
particle m at any instant of time t, xðtÞ, yðtÞ, zðtÞ, are not independent.
Only two of them are independent.
Kinematic constraint: Both the position and velocity of the particles of
a system are restricted. A cylinder moves along the positive direction
of the x axis, as shown in Fig. 2.3. It should be noted that the position of
the center of the cylinder C must satisfy the following relationship
zC 5 R (2.2)

Figure 2.2 Particle constrained by a rigid rod.

 Formulation of equations of motion of systems 15

Figure 2.3 Cylinder rolling horizontally.

Figure 2.4 Motion of an ice skate in a plane.

where zC is the position of the center of cylinder along the z axis, and R
is the radius of the cylinder.
Eq. (2.2) is a geometric constraint equation. Once the cylinder can
only roll without sliding, the velocity of the contact point D on the
ground shall equal zero, which could be expressed as
x_ C 2 Rϕ_ 5 0 (2.3)
where x_ C is the velocity of the center of cylinder along the x axis, and ϕ_
is the angular velocity of the cylinder.
Eq. (2.3) is a kinematic constraint equation. Eq. (2.3) could be trans-
formed into xC 5 Rϕ 1 c (c is an integral constant; ϕ is the rotation of the
cylinder) by integration, which is a geometric constraint equation. The
motion of an ice skate on the ground can be simplified to the motion of
the rod AB in a plane, as shown in Fig. 2.4. The velocity vC of the center
of mass C is always along the direction of rod AB. Therefore the velocity
components x_ C and y_ C along the direction of the x and y axes should
16 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

satisfy the following relationship

y_ C
5 tan θ or x_ C sin θ 2 y_ C cos θ 5 0
x_ C
where θ is the rotation angle of rod AB measured from the x axis.
The above equation is a kinematic constraint equation. Due to the
angle θ varying with the motion of the system, the above equation cannot
be integrated to obtain a geometric constraint relation. More knowledge
about transforming kinematic constraint equations into geometric con-
straint equations can be found in Ref. [1].
2. Constraints can be categorized as either steady or unsteady constraints
according to whether the time variable is explicitly present in the con-
straint equation or not.
Steady constraint: Time variable t is not present in the constraint equa-
tion. Eqs. (2.1), (2.2), and (2.3) belong to the steady constraints.
Consider a system of l particles, the steady constraint equation could
be expressed as follows:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ;_r 1 ; ?; r_l Þ 5 0
(2.4)
or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;_x1 ;_y1 ;_z1 ;?;_xl ;_yl ;_zl Þ 5 0
where r k is the position vector of the kth particle, r_k is the velocity vector
of the kth particle, xk ; yk ; zk are the coordinate components of the kth
particle in the basic coordinate system, and x_ k ; y_ k ; z_ k are the velocity com-
ponents of the kth particle in the basic coordinate system, where
k 5 1; 2; ?; l.
Unsteady constraint: Time t is an explicit variable in constraint
equations. For example, Fig. 2.5 shows a planar pendulum dangled at
point j. The point j moves in terms of sine function y0 5 a sin ωt along

Figure 2.5 Motion of a planar pendulum.

 Formulation of equations of motion of systems 17

the direction of the y axis. The constraint equation of particle m can be

given as follows:
x2 1 ðy2a sin ωtÞ2 5 l 2 (2.5)
The general equation of an unsteady constraint can be expressed as:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ; r_1 ; ?; r_l ; tÞ 5 0
(2.6)
or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;_x1 ;_y1 ;_z1 ;?;_xl ;_yl ;_zl ;tÞ 5 0
3. Constraints can also be categorized as either holonomic or nonholo-
nomic constraints, according to whether the terms of velocity are present
in constraint equations or not.
Holonomic constraints: Geometric constraints and integrable kine-
matic constraints are called holonomic constraints. Holonomic constraints
only depend on the coordinates and time t, and holonomic constraint
equations exclude the terms of velocity. The general expression could be
given as follows:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ; tÞ 5 0 or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;tÞ 5 0 (2.7)
Nonholonomic constraints: Kinematic constraints which cannot be inte-
grated to get geometric constraints are called nonholonomic constraints.
Nonholonomic constraint equations contain derivatives of coordinates with
respect to time t. The general expression could be given as follows:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ; r_1 ; ?; r_l ; tÞ 5 0
(2.8)
or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;_x1 ;_y1 ;_z1 ;?;_xl ;_yl ;_zl ;tÞ 5 0
As discussed above, the constraints of the rolling cylinder, as shown in
Fig. 2.3, can be considered to be holonomic. The constraint of the ice
skate, as shown in Fig. 2.4, is nonholonomic due to its unintegrable kine-
matic constraint equation. For given constraint equations which contain
the terms of velocity, integration transformations should be used to obtain
constraint equations in the form of Eq. (2.7). Once these transformations
are available, the corresponding constrains are holonomic. Otherwise, the
constrains are nonholonomic.
Once all the constrains of a system are holonomic, the system can be
defined as a holonomic system. Otherwise, the system is a nonholonomic
system. The subsequent chapters of the book focus on holonomic systems.
Detailed information about nonholonomic systems could be found in
Ref. [1].
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He obeyed; and the young lady and the slaves danced with him,
laughing all the while as if they were crazy. After they had danced for
some time, they all threw themselves upon the poor wretch, and
gave him so many blows, both with their hands and feet, that he fell
down almost fainting. The old woman came to his assistance, and
without giving him time to be angry at such ill treatment, she
whispered in his ear, “Console yourself, for you are now arrived at
the conclusion of your sufferings, and are about to receive the
reward for them. You have only one thing more to do,” added she,
“and that is a mere trifle. You must know that my mistress makes it
her custom, whenever she has drunk a little, as she has done to-day,
not to suffer anyone she loves to come near her, unless they are
stripped to their shirt. When they are in this situation, she takes
advantage of a short distance, and begins running before them
through the gallery, and from room to room, till they have caught her.
This is one of her fancies. Now, at whatever distance from you she
may start, you, who are so light and active, can easily overtake her.
Undress yourself quickly, therefore, and remain in your shirt, and do
not make any difficulty about it.”
My brother had already carried his complying humor too far to
stop at this. The young lady at the same time took off her outer robe,
in order to run with greater ease. When they were both ready to
begin the race, the lady took the advantage of about twenty paces,
and then started with wonderful celerity. My brother followed her with
all his strength, but not without exciting the risibility of the slaves,
who kept clapping their hands all the time. The young lady, instead
of losing any of the advantage she had first taken, kept continually
gaining ground of my brother. She ran round the gallery two or three
times, then turned off down a long dark passage, where she saved
herself by a turn of which my brother was ignorant. Bakbarah, who
kept constantly following her, lost sight of her in this passage, and he
was also obliged to run much slower, because it was so dark. He at
last perceived a light, toward which he made all possible haste; he
went out through a door which was instantly shut upon him.
You may easily imagine what was his astonishment at finding
himself in the middle of a street inhabited by curriers. Nor were they
less surprised at seeing him in his shirt, his eyebrows painted red,
and without either beard or mustachios. They began to clap their
hands, to hoot at him; and some even ran after him, and kept lashing
him with strips of their leather. They then stopped him, and set him
on an ass, which they accidentally met with, and led him through the
city, exposed to the laughter and shouts of the mob.
To complete his misfortune, they led him through the street where
the judge of the police court lived, and this magistrate immediately
sent to inquire the cause of the uproar. The curriers informed him
that they saw my brother, exactly in the state he then was, come out
of the gate leading to the apartments of the women belonging to the
grand vizier, which opened into their street. The judge then ordered
the unfortunate Bakbarah, upon the spot, to receive a hundred
strokes on the soles of his feet, to be conducted without the city, and
forbade him ever to enter it again.—History of the Barber’s Second
Brother.

Persian Wit and humor is best known to us through the Rubaiyat

of Omar Khayyam.
While their interest lies partly in the adept translation, the wit of
the original is clearly self evident.
XXVII
Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same door where in I went.

XXVIII
With them the seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow;
And this was all the Harvest that I reap’d—
“I came like Water, and like Wind I go.”

XXIX
Into this Universe, and Why not knowing
Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.

XXX
What, without asking, hither hurried Whence?
And, without asking, Whither hurried hence!
Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine
Must drown the memory of that insolence!

XXXI
Up from Earth’s Centre through the Seventh Gate
I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,
And many a Knot unravel’d by the Road;
But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.

XXXII
There was the Door to which I found no Key;
There was the Veil through which I might not see:
Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee
There was—and then no more of Thee and Me.

LIV
Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of This and That endeavour and dispute;
Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape
Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit.

LV
You know, my Friends, with what a brave Carouse
I made a Second Marriage in my house;
Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,
And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.

LIX
The Grape that can with Logic absolute
The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute:
The sovereign Alchemist that in a trice
Life’s leaden metal into Gold transmute:
 LXI
Why, be this Juice the growth of God, who dare
Blaspheme the twisted tendril as a Snare?
A Blessing, we should use it, should we not?
And if a Curse—why, then, Who set it there?

LXVIII
We are no other than a moving row
Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go
Round with the Sun-illumin’d Lantern held
In Midnight by the Master of the Show;

LXIX
But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days:
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.

LXX
The Ball no question makes of Ayes and Noes,
But Here or There as strikes the Player goes;
And He that toss’d you down into the Field,
He knows about it all—he knows—HE knows!

LXXII
And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop’d we live and die,
Lift not your hands to It for help—for it
As impotently moves as you or I.

XCIII
Indeed the Idols I have loved so long
Have done my credit in this World much wrong:
Have drown’d my Glory in a shallow Cup,
And sold my Reputation for a Song.

XCIV
Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before
I swore—but was I sober when I swore?
And then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand
My thread-bare Penitence apieces tore.
 XCV
And much as Wine has play’d the Infidel,
And robb’d me of my Robe of Honour—Well,
I wonder often what the Vintners buy
One half so precious as the stuff they sell.

Firdausi, the greatest Epic poet of Persia, gives us this witty

epigram.
ON SULTAN MAHMOUD
’Tis said our monarch’s liberal mind
Is like the ocean, unconfined.
Happy are they who prove it so;
’Tis not for me that fact to know:
I’ve plunged within its waves, ’tis true,
But not a single pearl could view.

Sadi, one of the greatest of Persian poets, was also a great

scholar, and wrote in both Persian and Arabian, beside being, it is
said, the first poet to write in Hindustani.
His works are numerous and beautiful, both in verse and prose,
and show a graceful wit.

DISCOMFORT BETTER THAN DROWNING

A king was embarked along with a Persian boy slave on board a

ship. The boy had never been at sea nor experienced the
inconvenience of a ship. He set up a weeping and wailing, and all his
limbs were in a state of trepidation; and however much they soothed
him, he was not to be pacified. The king’s pleasure-party was
disconcerted by him; but there was no help for it. On board that ship
there was a physician. He said to the king, “If you will order it, I can
manage to silence him.” The king replied, “It will be an act of great
favor.”
The physician so directed that they threw the boy into the sea,
and after he had plunged repeatedly, they seized him by the hair of
the head and drew him close to the ship, when he clung with both
hands to the rudder, and, scrambling upon the deck, slunk into a
corner and sat down quiet. The king, pleased with what he saw, said,
“What art is there in this?” The boy replied that originally he had not
experienced the danger of being drowned, and undervalued the
safety of being in a ship. In like manner, a person is aware of the
preciousness of health when he is overtaken with the calamity of
sickness.
A barley loaf of bread has, oh, epicure, no relish for thee.
To the houris, or nymphs of paradise, purgatory would be a hell.
Ask the inmates of hell whether purgatory is not paradise.
There is a distinction between the man that folds his mistress in
his arms and him whose two eyes are fixed on the door expecting
her.—The Rose Garden (Gulistan).

THE STRICT SCHOOLMASTER AND THE MILD

In the west of Africa I saw a schoolmaster of a sour aspect and

bitter speech, crabbed, misanthropic, and intemperate, insomuch
that the sight of him would derange the ecstasies of the orthodox,
and his manner of reading the Koran cast a gloom over the minds of
the pious. A number of handsome boys and lovely virgins were
subject to his despotic sway; they had neither the permission of a
smile nor the option of a word, for this moment he would smite the
silver cheek of one of them with his hand, and the next put the
crystalline legs of another in the stocks. In short, their parents, I
heard, were made aware of a part of his angry violence, and beat
and drove him from his charge.
They made over his school to a peaceable creature, so pious,
meek, simple, and good-natured that he never spoke till forced to do
so, nor would he utter a word that could offend anybody. The
children forgot that awe in which they had held their first master, and
remarking the angelic disposition of their second master, they
became one after another as wicked as devils. Relying on his
clemency, they would so neglect their studies as to pass most part of
their time at play, and break the tablets of their unfinished tasks over
each other’s heads.
When the schoolmaster relaxes in his discipline, the children will
stop to play at marbles in the market-place.
 A fortnight after I passed by the gate of that mosque, and saw the
first schoolmaster, with whom they had been obliged to make friends
and to restore him to his place. I was in truth offended, and calling on
God to witness, asked, saying, “Why have they again made a devil
the preceptor of angels?”
A facetious old gentleman, who had seen much of life, listened to
me, and replied, “A king sent his son to school, and hung a tablet of
silver round his neck. On the face of that tablet he had written in
golden letters, ‘The severity of the master is more useful than the
indulgence of the father.’”—The Rose Garden (Gulistan).

HATEFULNESS OF OLD HUSBANDS

An old man married a young virgin. He adorned the bridal

chamber with flowers, seated himself with her in private, and riveted
his heart and eyes upon her. Many a long night he would lie awake
and indulge in pleasantries and jests, in order to remove any
coyness on her part, and encourage familiarity. One of those nights
he addressed her thus:
“Lofty fortune was your friend, and the eye of your prosperity
broad awake, when you fell into the society of such an old gentleman
as I am, being of mature judgment, well-bred, worldly experienced,
inured to the vicissitudes of heat and cold, and practised in the
goods and evils of life, who can appreciate the rights of good-
fellowship, and fulfil the duties of loving attachment and is kind and
affable, sweet-spoken, and cheerful. I will treat you with affection, as
far as I can, and if you deal with me unkindly, I will not be unkind in
return. If, like a parrot, thy food be sugar, I will devote my sweet life
for thy nourishment. And you did not become the victim of a rude,
conceited, rash, and headstrong youth, who one moment gratifies
his lust, and the next has a fresh object; who every night shifts his
abode, and every day changes his mistress. Young men are lively
and handsome, but they keep good faith with nobody. Expect not
constancy from nightingales, who will every moment serenade a
fresh rose. Whereas my class of seniors regulate their lives by good
breeding and sense, and are not deluded by youthful ignorance.”
 Court the society of a superior, and make much of the opportunity!
for in the company of an equal thy good fortune must decline.
The old man spoke a great deal in this style, and thought that he
had caught her heart in his snare, and made sure of her as his prey,
when she suddenly drew a cold sigh from the bottom of a much-
afflicted bosom, and answered:
“All this speech which you have delivered has not, in the scale of
my judgment, the weight of that one sentence which I have heard of
my nurse, that it were better to plant a spear in a young maiden’s
side than to lay her by an old man in bed. Much contention and strife
will arise in that house where the wife shall get dissatisfied with her
husband.”
Unable to rise without the help of a staff, how can an old man stir
the staff of life?
In short, there being no prospect of concord, they agreed to
separate. After lapse of the period prescribed by the law, she united
in wedlock with a young man of an ill-tempered and sullen
disposition, and in very narrow circumstances, so that she endured
much tyranny and violence, penury and hardship. Yet she was thus
offering up thanksgivings for the Almighty’s goodness, and saying:
“Praised be God that I have escaped from such hell-torment, and
secured a blessing so permanent. With all this violence and
impetuosity of temper, I bear with his caprice, because he is
handsome. It were better for me to burn with him in hellfire than to
dwell in paradise with the other.”
The smell of an onion from the mouth of the lovely is sweeter than
that of a rose in the hand of the ugly.
—The Rose Garden (Gulistan).

1. Locman the wise being asked, “Whence did you learn

wisdom?” answered, From the blind, who try the path with a stick
before they tread on it....
 4. Hormus the tyrant, being asked, why he had put his father’s
courtiers in prison, answered, Because they feared me; and the wise
say, Fear him who fears thee, though he be a fly, and thou an
elephant.
5. A religious was famous at Bagdad for his powerful prayers.
Hoschas Joseph, king of Persia, begged him to pray for him. The
religious said, O God, take away this man’s life! for no better prayer
can I make either for him or his subjects.
6. An infamous king asked a Dervise, “Of all pious offices, which
is the chief?” The Dervise answered, For thee, the chief is a long
sleep at noon, that thou mayest, for a short time, cease to injure
mankind.
7. A courtier being deprived of his place, became a religious. After
some time, the king wished to restore him to his station; but he said,
Experience has now taught me to prefer ease to dignity.
7. A slave of Omer, the viceroy, fled from his service, but was
retaken, and brought before the king; who, at Omer’s instigation,
condemned him to death. The slave upon this said, O king, I am an
innocent man; and, if I die by thy command, my blood will be
required. Permit me then to incur guilt before I meet my sentence.
Let me kill this Omer, my master, and I shall die contented. It is for
thy sake only I desire this. The king, laughing at this new mode of
clearing his own justice, acquitted the wretch.
9. A master had taught a youth to wrestle; who, proud of his
acquired skill, and possest of more strength than his master, wished
to acquire fame at his expence, and challenged him to wrestle before
the court. The master, by one trick, which he had not taught the
youth, threw him at once: and, the youth complaining that he had not
taught him all his art, the master said, No. I always provide against
ingratitude.
10. A religious sitting by the highway, the king passed by; but the
religious took no notice of him. A courtier saying “Do not you see the
king?” was answered, I want nothing of him. Kings are made for
subjects, not subjects for kings. Why then should I respect him who
is the publick servant? This anecdote from Sadi differs much from
present Eastern despotism.
11. A courtier went to his master, Suelnun, king of Egypt, and
begged permission to retire; saying, “Though I am night and day
anxious in thy service; yet the fear of once displeasing thee makes
me wretched.” Suelnun, in tears, exclaimed, Ah, did I serve God, as
thou thy king, I should be one of the just.
12. A king condemned an innocent man to death, who said, O
king, thy anger rages against me, but will injure thyself. “How?”
rejoined the king. Because my pain lasts but for a moment; but thine
for ever. Pardon followed.
13. The courtiers of king Nourshivan consulting with him on
important business, when the king had spoken, one of them
assented to his opinion, against the rest. Being asked the cause, he
said, Human affairs depend on chance, not on wisdom: and, if we err
with the king, who shall condemn us? ...
17. A king saying to a Dervise, “Do you never think on me?” was
answered, Yes: but it is when I forget God.
18. A Dervise, in a dream, saw a king in paradise, but a religious
in hell, and thought that, upon enquiring the cause, he was told, The
king used to keep company with Dervises; and the Dervise with
kings.
19. Locman, the sage, being asked, where he learned virtue, he
answered, Of the vicious, for they taught me what to shun.
20. Abu Hurura used often to visit Mustapha, who one day said to
him, O Abu Hurura, visiting seldom feeds love and friendship.
21. Sadi, being taken prisoner by the Franks, or Christians, was
redeemed for ten pieces of gold, by one, who also gave him his
daughter in marriage, with one hundred pieces of gold as a dower.
The lady, being a termagant, once reproached him with this; and he
said, Yes, I was redeemed for ten pieces, and made a slave for a
hundred.
 22. Some wicked men using a religious very ill, he went to an old
dervise, and complained much. The elder told him, Son, our habit is
that of patience. Why do you wear it, if it does not fit you?
23. A sage seeing a strong man in a passion, asked the cause,
and being told that it was on account of an affronting word, he
exclaimed, O strong man, with a weak mind! who could bear an
elephant’s load, yet cannot bear a word.
24. A lawyer gave his daughter, who was very deformed in
marriage to a blind man. A celebrated oculist coming to the place,
the lawyer was asked why he did not employ him for his son-in-law?
To which he answered, Why should I endeavour to procure the
divorce of my daughter?
25. Ardeschir enquiring of a physician, how much food was
necessary for a day? was answered, eight ounces. Ardeschir said,
“How can so little support a man?” The physician replied, That will
support him; if he takes more, he must support it....
27. A robber said to a beggar, “Art thou not ashamed to stretch
out thy hand to all for a piece of copper?” The beggar answered, It is
better to stretch it out for a piece of copper, than have it cut off for a
piece of gold.
29. Sadi being about to purchase a house, a Jew came up and
said, “I am an old neighbour, and know the house to be good and
sufficient. Buy it by all means.” Sadi answered, The house must be
bad if thou art a neighbour....
31. An old man being asked, why he did not take a wife,
answered, I do not like old women: and a young woman, I judge from
that, can never like me.
32. A courtier sent a foolish son to be educated by a sage. He
made no progress, and some time after the sage brought him back,
saying, This boy will never be wiser; and he has even made me
foolish in teaching him.
33. A king sent his son to an instructor, desiring him to educate
the boy, as he did his own sons. The preceptor laboured in vain to
teach the young prince, though his own sons made great progress.
The king sending for him and reproaching him for this; he answered,
O king, the education was the same, but the capacity differed. We
find gold in the soil! yet gold is not found in every soil.
34. A man having sore eyes went to a mule-doctor, who gave him
an ointment that struck him blind. The man brought his doctor before
the cadi, who acquitted him; saying to the patient, If you had not
been an ass, you would not have applied to a mule-doctor.
35. Sadi saw two boys, one the son of a rich man, the other of a
poor, sitting in a cemetery. The former said “My father’s tomb is
marble, marked with letters of gold: but what is your father’s? two
turfs and a handful of dust spread over them.” The poor boy
answered, Be silent. Before your father shall have moved his marble!
mine shall be already in paradise.
36. Muhammed, the learned priest of Gasala, being asked, how
he had acquired so much science? answered, I never was ashamed
to ask and learn what I did not know....
Jalal uddin Rumi was another Persian who wrote a series of
stories conveying moral maxims.

THE SICK SCHOOLMASTER

The boys of a certain school were tired of their teacher, as he was

very strict in the exaction of diligence; so they consulted together for
the best means of getting rid of him for a time. Said they, “Why does
he not fall ill, so that he may be obliged to be away from school, and
we be released from confinement and work? Alas! he stands as firm
as a rock.” One of them, who was wiser than the rest, suggested this
plan: “I shall go to the teacher, and ask him why he looks so pale,
saying, ‘May it turn out well! But your face has not its usual color. Is it
due to the weather, or to fever?’ This will create some alarm in his
mind. Then you, brother,” he continued, turning to another boy, “must
assist me by using similar words. When you come into the
schoolroom you must say to the teacher, ‘I hope, sir, you are well.’
This will tend to increase his apprehension, even though in a slight
degree; and you know that even slight doubts are often enough to
drive a man mad. Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth boy must one
after another express his sympathy in similar words, till at last, when
thirty boys successively have given expression to words of like
nature, the teacher’s apprehension will be confirmed.”
The boys praised his ingenuity, and wished each other success;
and they bound themselves by solemn promises not to shirk doing
what was expected of them. Then the first boy bade them take oaths
of secrecy, lest some telltale should let the matter out.
Next morning the boys came to school in a cheerful mood, having
resolved on adopting the foregoing plan. They all stood outside the
schoolhouse, waiting for the arrival of the friend who had helped
them in the time of need—since it was he who had originated the
plan: it is the head that is the governor of the legs. The first boy
arrived, entered the schoolroom, and greeted the teacher with “I
hope you are well, sir, but the color of your face is very pale.”
“Nonsense!” said the teacher; “there is nothing the matter with
me. Go and take your seat.” But inwardly he was somewhat
apprehensive. Another boy came in, and in similar words greeted the
teacher, whose misgivings were thereby somewhat increased. And
so on, one boy after another greeted him, till his worst
apprehensions seemed to be confirmed, and he was in great anxiety
regarding the state of his health.
He got enraged at his wife. “Her love for me is waning,” he
thought. “I am in this bad state of health, and she did not even ask
what was the matter with me. She did not draw my attention to the
color of my face. Perhaps she is not unwilling that I should die.”
Full of such thoughts, he came to his home, followed by the boys,
and flung open the door. His wife exclaimed, “I hope nothing is the
matter with you! Why have you returned so soon?”
“Are you blind?” he answered. “Look at the color of my face, and
at my condition! Even strangers show sympathetic alarm about my
health.”
“Well, I see nothing wrong,” said the wife. “You must be laboring
under some senseless delusion.”
 “Woman,” he rejoined impatiently, “you are most obstinate! Can
you not perceive the altered hue of my face and the shivering of my
body? Go and get my bed made, that I may lie down, for my head is
dizzy.”
The bed was prepared, and the teacher lay down on it, giving vent
to sighs and groans. The boys he ordered to sit there and read the
lessons, which they did with much vexation. They said to
themselves, “We did so much to be free, and still we are in
confinement. The foundation was not well laid; we are bad
architects. Some other plan must now be adopted, so that we may
be rid of this annoyance.”
The clever boy who had instigated the first plot advised the others
to read their lessons very loudly; and when they did so, he said, in a
tone to be overheard by the teacher, “Boys, your voices disturb our
teacher. Loud voices will only increase his headache. Is it proper that
he should be made to suffer pain for the sake of the trifling fees he
gets from us?”
The teacher said, “He is right. Boys, you may go. My headache
has increased. Be off with you!” And the boys scampered away
home as eagerly as birds fly toward a spot where they see grain.
The mothers of the boys, on seeing them return, got angry, and
thus challenged them, “This is the time for you to learn writing, and
you are engaged in play. This is the time for acquiring knowledge,
and you fly from your books and your teacher.”
The boys urged that it was no fault of theirs, and that they were in
no way to blame, for, by the decree of fate, their teacher had become
very ill.
The mothers, disbelieving, said, “This is all deceit and falsehood.
You would not scruple to tell a hundred lies to get a little quantity of
buttermilk. To-morrow morning we shall go to the teacher’s house,
and shall ascertain what truth there is in your assertions.”
So the next morning the mothers went to visit the teacher, whom
they found lying in bed like a very sick person. He had perspired
freely, owing to his having covered himself with blankets. His head
was bandaged, and his face was covered with a kerchief. He was
groaning in a feeble voice.
The ladies expressed their sympathy, hoped his headache was
getting less, and swore by his soul that they had been unaware until
quite lately that he was so ill.
“I, too,” said the teacher, “was unaware of my illness. It was
through those little bastards that I learned of it.”
—Stories in Rime (Masnavi).

THE INVALID AND HIS DEAF VISITOR

A deaf man was informed that an neighbor of his was ill, so he

resolved upon going to see him. “But,” said he to himself, “owing to
my deafness I shall not be able to catch the words of the sick man,
whose voice must be very feeble at this time. However, go I must.
When I see his lips moving I shall be able to make a reasonably
good conjecture of what he is saying. When I ask him, ‘How are you,
oh, my afflicted friend?’ he will probably reply, ‘I am well,’ or ‘I am
better.’ I shall then say, ‘Thanks be to God! Tell me, what have you
taken for food?’ He will probably mention some liquid food or gruel. I
shall then wish that the food may agree with him, and shall ask him
the name of the physician under whose treatment he is. On his
naming the man, I shall say, ‘He is a skilful leech. Since it is he who
is attending upon you, you will soon be well. I have had experience
of him. Wherever he goes, his patients very soon recover.”
So the deaf man, having prepared himself for the visit, went to the
invalid’s bedside, and sat down near the pillow. Then, rubbing his
hands together with assumed cheerfulness, he inquired, “How are
you?” “I am dying,” replied the patient. “Thanks be to God!” rejoined
the deaf man.
The sick man was troubled in his heart, and said to himself, “What
kind of thanksgiving is this? Surely he must be an enemy of mine!”—
little thinking that his visitor’s remark was but the result of wrong
conjecture.
“What have you been eating?” was the next question; to which the
reply was, “Poison!” “May it agree with you,” was the wish expressed
by the deaf man which only increased the other’s vexation.
“And pray, who is your physician?” again asked the visitor,
“Azrael, the Angel of Death. And now, be-gone with you!” growled
the invalid. “Oh, is he?” pursued the deaf man. “Then you ought to
rejoice, for he is a man of auspicious footsteps. I saw him only just
now, and asked him to devote to you his best possible attention.”
With these words he bade the sick man good-by, and withdrew,
rejoicing that he had satisfactorily performed a neighborly duty.
Meanwhile, the other man was angrily muttering to himself, “This
fellow is an implacable foe of mine. I did not know his heart was so
full of malignity.”
—Stories in Rime (Masnavi).

OLD AGE—DIALOGUE

Old Man. I am in sore trouble owing to my brain.

Physician. The weakness of the brain is due to old age.
Old Man. Dark spots are floating before my eyes.
Physician. That, too, comes from old age, oh, venerable sheikh!
Old Man. My back aches very much.
Physician. The result of old age, oh, lean sheikh!
Old Man. No food that I take agrees with me.
Physician. The failure of the digestive organs is also due to old
age.
Old Man. I am afflicted with hard breathing.
Physician. Yes, the breathing ought to be affected in that manner.
When old age comes, it brings a hundred complaints in its train.
Old Man. My legs are getting feeble, and I am unable to walk
much.
Physician. It is nothing but old age which obliges you to sit in a
corner.
Old Man. My back has become bent like a bow.
 Physician. This trouble is merely the consequence of old age.
Old Man. My eyesight is quite dim, oh, sage physician!
Physician. Nothing but old age, oh, wise man!
Old Man. Oh, you idiot, always harping on the same theme! Is this
all you know of the science of medicine? Fool, does not your reason
tell you that God has assigned a remedy to every ailment? You are a
stupid ass, and with your paltry stock of learning are still fumbling in
the mire!
Physician. Oh, you dotard past sixty, know, then, that even this
rage and fury is due to old age!
From Abu Ishak we glean this delightful bit of parody on Hafiz.
PARODY ON HAFIZ
Hafiz Abu-Ishak
Will those who can transmute dust into Will those who sell cooked
gold by looking at it ever give a sidelong sheep’s-head give us a sidelong
glance at us? glance, when they open their pots
in the morning?
The beauteous Turk, who is the cause The cook has to-day bought
of death to her lovers, has to-day gone onions for giving a relish to minced
forth intoxicated. Let us see from whose meat. Let us see, now, from whose
eyes the heart’s blood shall begin to flow. eyes tears shall begin to flow.
I have a yearning for seclusion and I have an inclination for abstinent
peace. But, oh! those narcissus-like living and observing fasts. But, oh!
eyes! The commotion they cause me is in what a tempting way doth the
inexpressible! roasted lamb wink at me!
No one should give up his heart and No one should partake of sauce
his religion in the expectation of to accompany sweetened rice
faithfulness from his sweetheart. My colored with saffron. My having
having done so has resulted to me in done so has given me cause for
lifelong repentance. infinite regret.
And from

Do-Pyazah
THESE DEFINITIONS

Angel. A hidden telltale.

 King. The idlest man in the country.
Minister of State. The target for the arrows of the sighs of the
oppressed.
Flatterer. One who drives a profitable trade.
Lawyer. One ready to tell any lie.
Fool. An official, for instance, who is honest.
Physician. The herald of death.
Widow. A woman in the habit of praising her husband when he is
gone.
Poet. A proud beggar.
Mirror. One that laughs at you to your face.
Bribe. The resource of him who knows he has a bad cause.
National Calamity. A ruler who cares for nothing but the pleasures
of the harem.
Salutation. A polite hint to others to get up and greet you with
respect.
Priest Calling to Prayers. A disturber of the indolent.
Faithful Friend. Money.
Truthful Man. One who is regarded as an enemy by every one.
Silence. Half consent.
Service. Selling one’s independence.
Hunting. The occupation of those who have no work to do.
Mother-in-Law. A spy domiciled in your house.
Debtor. An ass in a quagmire.
Liar. A person making frequent use of the expression, “I swear to
God it is true!”
Guest. One in your house who is impatient to hear the dishes
clatter.
 Poverty. The consequence of marriage.
Hunger. Something which falls to the lot of those out of
employment.
Soporific. Reading the verses of a dull poet.
Druggist. One who wishes everybody to be ill.
Learned Man. One who does not know how to earn his livelihood.
Miser’s Eye. A vessel which is never full.

DIVING FOR AN EGG—ANECDOTE

The Emperor Akbar was one day sitting with his attendants in the
garden of the palace, close to a large cistern full of water. At the
suggestion of a courtier, the emperor commanded some of the men
present to procure an egg each, and to place it in the cistern in such
a manner that it could easily be found when searched for.
Soon after the order had been obeyed, the Mollah Do-pyazah
came to this spot. Akbar then turned to his attendants, saying he had
dreamed the night before that there were eggs in the cistern, and
that all who were his faithful servants had dived in, and brought out
an egg. Whereupon the attendants one by one dived into the water,
each one issuing forth with an egg in his hand. Do-pyazah, not
disposed himself to enter the water, the emperor asked why he alone
held aloof. The mollah, thus pressed, divested himself of his outer
garments and plunged in.
He searched for a long time, but could not find a single egg. At
length he emerged from the cistern, and, moving his arms in the
manner of a cock flapping his wings, he cried aloud, “Cock-a-doodle-
doo!”
“What,” asked Akbar, “is the meaning of this?”
“Your Majesty,” came the reply, “those who brought you the eggs
were hens, but I am a cock, and you must not expect an egg from
me.”
 At which Akbar laughed heartily, and had Do-pyazah well
rewarded.

The Chinese are more noted for their wit that is wisdom, than for
their humor.
Confucius, doubtless the greatest of their philosophers, born 551
b.c., left many sayings which became proverbs, yet which embodied
only the elementary morality of all ages and races.
These are some of the sayings from The Analects of Confucius.
“While a man’s father is alive, look at the bent of his will; when his
father is dead, look at his conduct.”
“An accomplished scholar is not a cooking-pot.”
“When good order prevailed in his country, Ning Wu acted the part
of a wise man; when his country was in disorder, he acted the part of
a fool. Others may equal his wisdom, but they cannot equal his folly.”
“How can one know about death, when one does not understand
life?”
“Four horses cannot overtake the tongue.”
“If you were not covetous, you could not even bribe a man to steal
from you.”
“When their betters love the Rules [of Propriety], then the folk are
easy tools.”
“Why use an ox-knife to kill a hen?”
“There are two classes that never change: the supremely wise
and the profoundly stupid.”
“If a man is disliked at forty, he always will be.”
“When driving with a woman, hold the reins in one hand and keep
the other behind your back.”
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