Simcenter Amesim

Student Edition
Tutorial: Response of a system with one degree of
freedom (DoF) excited by a sinusoidal force

Introduction
Systems with one DoF make possible to introduce the first important phenomenon occurring in
mechanical vibratory systems: natural pulsation, eigen frequency, damping… It helps to understand
the behavior of more complex systems with additional DoF.
Once the free response of the system is understood (refer to the course Mechanics and vibrations -
Free response of a system with one Degree of Freedom ), we can characterize the behavior of the
system with a sinusoidal excitation. That is the purpose of this course.

Theory
Description of the system
Let’s consider the system with a single DoF represented on Figure 1.

F(t)

m: mass
m x(t):displacement of the mass
k: stiffness
x(t) c: viscous damping coefficient
F(t): external force applied on the mass
k c

Figure 1: system with 2 DoF

Equations of the system

If we don’t take into account the gravity, we can describe the dynamic of the system with the
equation:
𝑚 × 𝑥̈ + 𝑐 × 𝑥̇ + 𝑘 × 𝑥 = 𝐹 sin Ω𝑡 (1)

F is the amplitude of the excitation force and Ω is the excitation pulsation (different from the natural
pulsation of the system ω).

The solution of this equation, in steady state, can be written:

𝑥 (𝑡) = 𝑋 𝑠𝑖𝑛(Ω𝑡 + 𝜙) (2)

X is the amplitude of the displacement of the mass and ϕ is the phase between the response (mass
position) and the excitation (the force).

Reporting (2) in (1), we get:

(𝑘 − 𝑚Ω2 ) 𝑋 𝑠𝑖𝑛(Ω𝑡 + 𝜙) + 𝑐 Ω 𝑋 𝑐𝑜𝑠(Ω𝑡 + 𝜙) = 𝐹 sin Ω𝑡 (3)

That we can develop as follows:

X cos Ω𝑡 [(𝑘 − 𝑚Ω2 ) sin 𝜙 + 𝑐 Ω cos 𝜙] + sin Ω𝑡 [ (𝑘 − 𝑚Ω2 ) 𝑋cos 𝜙 − 𝑐 Ω 𝑋 sin 𝜙 − 𝐹] = 0 (4)

This equation must be fulfilled at any time. Then we have:

(𝑘 − 𝑚Ω2 ) sin 𝜙 + 𝑐 Ω cos 𝜙 = 0 (5)
{
(𝑘 − 𝑚Ω2 ) 𝑋 cos 𝜙 − 𝑐 Ω 𝑋 sin 𝜙 − 𝐹 = 0 (6)

𝑐 Ω cos 𝜙
From (5), we can write: sin 𝜙 = − 𝑘− 𝑚Ω2 (7)

Then, integrating (7) in (6), we can get:

𝐹 𝑘− 𝑚Ω2
cos 𝜙 = 𝑋 (𝑘− 𝑚Ω2 )2+𝑐 2 Ω2
(8)

From (7) and (8), as F > 0, X > 0 and (𝑘 − 𝑚Ω2 )2 + 𝑐 2 Ω2 > 0, 𝑐 > 0, Ω > 0, we can deduce that:
𝑘
• When Ω < √𝑚 = 𝜔
cos ϕ > 0
sin ϕ < 0
 −𝜋/2 < ϕ < 0
𝑘
• When Ω > √𝑚 = 𝜔
cos ϕ < 0
sin ϕ < 0
 -𝜋 < ϕ < 𝜋⁄2

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From (7), we can get the expression of the phase by the equation:
𝑐Ω
tan 𝜙 = − (𝑘− 𝑚Ω2 ) (9)

As 𝑐 = 2 𝛼𝑚𝜔 (10)
and 𝑘 = 𝑚 𝜔2 (11)
Ω
2 𝛼( )
tan 𝜙 = − 𝜔
Ω 2
(12)
1−( )
𝜔

Using the Pythagorean identity 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜙 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜙 = 1, and equations (7) and (8), we can get:
𝐹
𝑋= 2 2 2 2
(13)
√(𝑘−𝑚Ω ) +𝑐 Ω

And using (10) and (11):

𝑋𝑠𝑡
𝑋= (14)
2 2 2
√[1−( Ω ) ] +[2 𝛼( Ω ) ]
𝜔 𝜔

𝐹
With 𝑋𝑠𝑡 = (15)
𝑘
Xst is the static displacement of the system due to the constant force F.

Amplitude resonance
1 Ω
The maximum amplitude X r (amplitude resonance) occurs when 𝛼 < = 0.71 𝑎𝑛𝑑 when (𝜔) =
√2
√1 − 2𝛼 2 (16)

Its value is:

𝑋𝑠𝑡
𝑋𝑟 = 2
(17)
2𝛼√1−𝛼

For this excitation pulsation, the expression of the phase is:

√1−2𝛼 2
tan 𝜙 = 𝛼
(18)

1
When > , the maximum amplitude occurs when Ω = 0.
√2

Phase resonance
Ω
When = 1, tan 𝜙 tends to be infinite.
𝜔

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 𝜋
𝜙=−
2
𝑋𝑠𝑡
𝑋 =
2𝛼

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Simulation, validation and practice with Simcenter Amesim
Building the sketch

In sketch mode , the model of the system (Figure 2) can be built easily and fast, selecting
4 components from the mechanical library, in translation:
• A zero force source
• A mass
• A spring and damper
• A zero velocity source

Figure 2: model of the system

Selecting submodels

In this example, in submodel mode submodels can be selected using the “premier
submodel” .

Setting parameters

In parameter mode , we will first define the mass and the stiffness as Global Parameters
as shown on Figure 3.

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 Figure 3: global parameters definition

Then, we will define the following values (default values are kept for other parameters):
• Mass:
o Mass: M kg
o Initial displacement port 1: 0.1m

• Spring and damper:

o Spring rate: k N/m
o Damper rating: 0 N/(m/s)

𝑘 1
The natural pulsation of the system is then 𝜔 = √ = √ = 3.16 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠
𝑚 0.1

For the spring and damper, let’s define the damper rating parameter as a batch parameter (Settings
>> Batch parameters) in order to evaluate the behavior of the system for different values of the
damping ratio:
• α=0.01
• α=0.1
• α=0.2
• α=0.5
• α=1
• α=2

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You can calculate the damper rating from the values of the stiffness, the mass and the damping ratio
with the formula 𝑐 = 2α√𝑘𝑚, as shown on Figure 4.

Figure 4: batch parameters window

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Running the simulation

In simulation mode , let’s select the Linearization mode and the Batch Run type in

the run parameters window .

In order to analyze the frequency response of the system, we have to define in Simcenter Amesim
the excitation (force applied on the mass) and the response (displacement of the mass). That is done
by selecting the mass in simulation mode, and, in the variables window, as in Figure 5:
• defining the force at port 2 Status as control
• defining the displacement at port 1 Status as state observer

Figure 5: definition of the control and state observer variables

We can now run the simulation .

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Analyzing the results
Let’s analyze the results using the Frequency response, with a Bode diagram.
We have already evaluated that the natural frequency of the system is 3.16 rad/s, so we can set the
start frequency to 1 rad/s and the final frequency to 10 rad/s as shown on Figure 6.

Figure 6: Frequency response window

Select the Jacobian file of the 1 st batch simulation (Result set 1) and press OK. You will get Bode
diagram displaying the amplitude and phase of the response (Figure 7).

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 Figure 7: Bode diagram of the batch 1

If we proceed as well for the 6 batch simulation and superpose the curves on the same graph, we
can get the results shown on Figure 8. On the graph, we can clearly visualize what has been
demonstrated previously:
• Regarding the amplitude:
o When the damping is low and the force pulsation close to the natural pulsation of the
system (3.16 rad/s), we get the amplitude resonance of the system.
1 Ω
o 𝛼 < = 0.71 , the amplitude resonance occurs at = √1 − 2𝛼 2
√2 𝜔
1
o When the damping is bigger than , the maximum amplitude occurs when Ω = 0
√2
• Regarding the phase:
o When Ω < ω, −𝜋/2 < ϕ < 0
o When Ω= ω, ϕ= −𝜋/2
o When Ω > ω, −𝜋 < ϕ < −𝜋/2

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 Figure 8: Bode diagram of each of the batch simulations

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Summary
With this tutorial, we considered a simple mechanical system with a single degree freedom.

We applied a sinusoidal force on a mass spring and damper system and we explained the behavior of
the system. More especially, we could define the amplitude and the phase of the mass
displacement. We explained the impact of:
• the system damping ratio
• the ratio between the force pulsation and the system natural pulsation.

Finally, using system simulation made possible to validate the theory, reproducing the dynamic
behavior of the system for different damping values and plotting the corresponding Bode diagrams.
It was them possible to visualize clearly the impact of the damping and the impact of the force
frequency on the response amplitude and phase.

Bibliography
1. Mecanique des vibrations linéaires – M Lalanne, P Berthier, J Der Hagopian – Masson 1992

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