Free vibration response of a SDOF System

 Theequation of motion of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system

having viscous damping is given by

(1)

When m, c, and k do not vary with time and the displacement, velocity
and acceleration are small, this equation is a linear second order equation.

A dynamic system can undergo vibration even when the exciting force p is
zero. The response of the system in such cases, referred to as free
vibration response, depends on the initial displacement and initial velocity
imparted to the system
Free vibration response of a SDOF System
 For the very simple case when damping is absent and p is zero, the response of the system is
referred to as undamped free vibration response, and the equation of motion reduces to
(2)
We try a solution for this equation of the form
(3)
Substitution of (3) into (2) gives
(4)
On cancelling G and from Eq. 4, we get the characteristic equation
(5)
On solving Eq. 5 we get where
Free vibration response of a SDOF System
 The general solution of Eq. 2 now becomes

(6)

By using de Moivre’s theorem, Eq. 6 can be expressed as

(7)

where A and B are arbitrary constants. To determine their values we use the initial
values of the displacement and velocity, namely and . This gives and . Thus, Eq. 7
becomes

(8)
Free vibration response

 Equation (8) can be expressed in the

following alternate form
(9)
where
(10a)
(10b)

The displacements and velocities at time

t1 and are same. Thus the motion
repeats itself after s, which is called the
period of motion.
Free vibration response

 As shown on the preceding slide the free vibration response is cyclic. The time it takes to
complete one cycle is the period T. The number of cycles completed in one second is given
by
(11)

The term f is called natural frequency, its units are cycles per second or 1/s, often referred to
as Hertz (Hz). Term , which is related to f is also referred to as frequency or circular
frequency.

The maximum displacement of the system is equal to and is called the amplitude of
vibration. The angle is called phase angle. The motion in free vibration is a harmonic motion
of the simplest type and is referred to as a simple harmonic motion
Free vibration response

Fig. Motion from given

initial displacement but no
initial velocity

Fig. Motion from no initial

displacement but given
initial velocity
Free Vibrations with Viscous Damping
 The equation of motion for free vibration when the system has viscous damping is

(12)
We try a solution . Substitution in Eq. 12 and cancelling G gives
(13)
Equation 13 gives two solutions for
(14a)
(14b)
We consider three different type of systems: (1) critically damped, (2) overdamped, and
(3) underdamped
Critically damped system

 When c takes a value such that the discriminant in Eq. 14 becomes zero, the system is
said to be critically damped. In this case
(15)
where is the natural circular frequency of the associated undamped system. The two
roots of Eq. 14 are now equal, so that
(16)

For repeated roots, the general solution of Eq. 12 is given by

(17)
Critically damped system
 To determine arbitrary constants G1 and G2 we use the initial conditions and . The following
values are obtained
(18a)
(18b)
The general solution for u thus becomes
(19)

 The plot of Eq. 19 shows that the motion is

non-oscillatory and decays exponentially with
time. It is useful to define a term damping
ratio denoted as where
(20)

For critically damped system

Overdamped system
 For overdamped system and we have

(21)
Substitution of Eq. 21 in Eq. 14 gives

(22a)
(22b)

 Denote by . The solution then becomes

(23)

where G1 and G2 are arbitrary constants that can be obtained by using the initial conditions.
Underdamped system
 In a majority of structural and mechanical system damping is less than critical or . Such
systems are called underdamped systems. The two solutions for now become
  (22a)
(22b)

Setting the solution for u is now

(23)

By using de Moivre’s theorem Eq. 23 can be expressed as

(24)

When the arbitrary constants A and B can be obtained by using the initial conditions, the solution
becomes
(25)
Underdamped system
 Equation 25 can be expressed as

(26)
where the amplitude and the phase angle are
given by
(27a)

(27b)

The plot of Eq. 26 shows that the motion is

oscillatory and repeats itself after , referred to
as the damped period.
Underdamped system

 The amplitude of the motion decays because of the exponential term in the solution. The
plot of the of u against t also shows two other curves: and . They touch the response
curve at points where . These however do not represent the maximas. The actual maximas
lie just a bit to the left. The time at a maximum can be determined by equating the
derivative of Eq. 26 to zero and is obtained from
(28)
or
(29)
Logarithmic decrement
 The displacement of an underdamped system at time t1 is given by

(30)
The displacement at time is
(31)
The ratio of to represents the amount of decrease in displacement over one cycle of motion.
This ratio is constant and does not vary with time. Its natural logarithm, called logarithmic
decrement, is represented by and is
(32)

On solving Eq. 32 for and assuming that is small we get or more accurately
(33)