Mechanical Vibrations MDPN471 Fall 2014

Problem Set 03

Problem 1. Derive the equation of motion and find the natural frequency of vibration of the system
shown in Fig. 1.

Problem 2. A simple pendulum is found to vibrate at a frequency of 0.5 Hz in a vacuum and 0.45
Hz in a viscous fluid medium. Find the damping constant, assuming the mass of the bob of the
pendulum is 1 kg.

Problem 3. The ratio of successive amplitudes of a viscously damped single-degree-of-freedom

system is found to be 18:1. Determine the ratio of successive amplitudes if the amount of
damping is (a) doubled, and (b) halved.

Problem 4. The free-vibration responses of an electric motor of weight 500 N mounted on different
types of foundations are shown in Fig. 4. Identify the following in each case: (i) the nature of
damping provided by the foundation, (ii) the spring constant and damping coefficient of the
foundation, and (iii) the undamped and damped natural frequencies of the electric motor.

Problem 5. A railroad car of mass 2,000 kg traveling at a velocity v = 10 m/s is stopped at the end
of the tracks by a spring-damper system, as shown in Fig. 5. If the stiffness of the spring is k =
80 N/mm and the damping constant is c = 20 N-s/mm determine (a) the maximum
displacement of the car after engaging the springs and damper and (b) the time taken to reach
the maximum displacement.

Figure 05

Figure 01

Figure 04
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Mechanical Vibrations MDPN471 Fall 2014

Problem 6. A body vibrating with viscous damping makes five complete oscillations per second,
and in 50 cycles its amplitude diminishes to 10 percent. Determine the logarithmic decrement
and the damping ratio. In what proportion will the period of vibration be decreased if damping
is removed?

Problem 7. A wooden rectangular prism of weight 9 kg, height 90 cm, and cross section 30 cm x 60
cm floats and remains vertical in a tub of fluid, as shown in Figure 7. The prism, when
disturbed, is observed to vibrate freely with a natural period of 0.5 s. Determine the density of
the fluid.

Problem 8. For the prism-fluid system in Problem 7, the frictional resistance of the fluid can be
assumed to be equivalent to a viscous damping coefficient. When the prism is depressed by a
distance of 15 cm from its equilibrium and released, it is found to reach a depth of 14 cm at the
end of its first cycle of oscillation. Determine the value of the damping coefficient of the fluid.

Problem 9. Determine the values of ζ and ωd for the following viscously damped system with m =
10 kg, c = 150 N-s/m, k = 1000 N/m.

Problem 10. Determine the free-vibration response of the viscously damped systems described in
Problem 9 when xo  0.1 m, xo  10 m/s .

Figure 07

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