MEMB343 MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS

SEMESTER 2 2018/2019
TEST (7th of December 2018; 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm)

1. Consider the single-degree-of-freedom mass-spring-damper system shown in Figure 1. The

system’s equation of motion is expressed as mx  ceq x  k eq x  0

(a) Determine the equivalent stiffness k eq and equivalent damping coefficient c eq for the

system shown in this figure.

[10 marks]
(b) For values of m  30 kg, k1  3000 N/m, k 2  2000 N/m, k 3  4000 N/m,

c1  80 Ns/m and c 2  40 Ns/m, compute the system’s undamped natural frequency,

critical damping coefficient, damping ratio and damped natural frequency.
[20 marks]
(c) If the mass is given an initial displacement of 0.001 m and initial velocity of
0.02 m/s, determine its position x at t  0.5 second.
[10 marks]
(d) Damper c 2 is now removed from the system and replaced with another damper with

an unknown damping coefficient, c 3 . Measurement of the free vibration response of

the system revealed that the amplitude of displacement decayed to 2% of its initial
value after 5 complete cycles. Estimate the value of c 3 .

[10 marks]

Figure 1
2. Schematic diagram of an airplane elevator control tab is shown in Figure 2. The flap has mass
m and length l and its mass moment of inertia, J 0 is taken about the hinge point O . The flap

is supported by a torsional spring kt , linear spring k and damper c . An external harmonic

force F0 sin t is applied at the tip of the flap. The governing equation of motion for this

25 2  25 
system is J 0  cl    kt  kl 2   F0l sin t .
36  36 
(a) Determine the values of the system’s undamped natural frequency, damping ratio and
damped natural frequency given J 0  9 kg-m2, l  3 m, k  3600 N/m,

kt  1800 N-m/rad and c  13 Ns/m.

[23 marks]
(b) Estimate the system’s steady-state angular displacement amplitude and phase if the
known value for F0 is 90 N and  is 15 rad/s.

[12 marks]
(c) Due to lift requirement, the system’s steady-state angular displacement amplitude at
  50 rad/s should not exceed 1 rad. The maximum force can be exerted on the flap
is also limited to 1500 N. Determine new torsional spring stiffness kt so that the
system will meet the specifications. Assume the values of other parameters remain
unchanged. (Hint: Choose the largest root of quadratic equation.)
[15 marks]

Figure 2