13 Vibrations of Single-

degree-of-freedom
Systems

13.1 INTRODUCTION TO VIBRATIONS

A mechanical system is said to be vibrating when its component parts are

undergoing periodic (that is cyclically repeated) oscillations about a central
configuration (usually the statical equilibrium position). It can be shown that
any system, by virtue of its inherent mass and elasticity, can be caused to
vibrate by externally applied forces. The duration and severity of the vibration
will depend on the relation between the external forces and the mechanics
of the system, and will be discussed later.
Although vibration can sometimes be used to advantage-as in cleaning
or mixing machines-its presence is generally undesirable for three main
reasons. Structural damage of a fatigue nature may be caused by the cyclical
fluctuation of loading; physical discomfort may be experienced by personnel
associated with the system (for example, passengers in a vehicle); noise, itself
a vibration of air molecules, may be generated by a mechanical vibration.
A vibration is characterised and assessed by three parameters, amplitude,
frequency and phase. Amplitude is the maximum displacement from the central
position (measured as a linear or angular quantity); frequency is the reciprocal
of the period (the time for one complete cycle of vibration) and is expressed
in Hz (cycles/ s); phase is a measure of the instant at which a vibration passes
through the central position, and in mechanical systems is usually only of
importance when the relation between two vibrations, or between the motions
of two parts of a system, is being considered.

Free Vibrations
If a mechanical system is displaced from its equilibrium position and then
released, the restoring force (arising from either spring elements as in a vehicle
suspension, material stiffness as in torsional or bending systems, or gravitational
forces as in a pendulum) will cause a return towards the equilibrium position.
There will inevitably be an overshoot on the other side, and so on, resulting
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in what is called a free vibration. This type of vibration arises from an initial
input of energy that is continually changing from the potential (or strain
energy) form to the kinetic form as the system moves between its extreme
positions and its mid-position. In a free vibration the system is said to vibrate
at a natural frequency.

Damping
Due to various causes there will always be some loss (that is, 'dissipation')
of mechanical energy during each cycle of vibration, and this effect is called
damping. A free vibration will die away (that is 'decay') due to damping,
though if the damping forces are small enough they will have little influence
on the frequency and are often neglected to simplify the mathematics.

Degrees of Freedom
The present chapter is restricted to the consideration of single-degree-of-
freedom systems, and these can vibrate in only one mode (for example, a
pendulum swinging in a vertical plane). In practice many systems have more
than one degree-of-freedom (a vehicle may pitch, bounce, or roll) each having
its own natural frequency, and these will be analysed in chapter 14. Finally
there are the 'continuous' systems, such as beams, where mass and elasticity
are inextricably linked and in theory an infinite number of modes of vibration
is possible. Some consideration will be given to these cases in chapter 15,
though fortunately it is rarely necessary to calculate more than one or two
of the lower frequencies at which such systems can vibrate.

Forced Vibrations
When a harmonically varying external force or displacement (known as the
'excitation') is applied to a single-degree-of-freedom system at rest, it is found
that the vibration initiated is a combination of one motion at the natural
frequency together with one at the 'forcing' frequency. However, the natural
frequency component will die out after sufficient time has elapsed for damping
to take effect. The system is then said to be performing' steady-state forced
vibrations'. These occur at the excitation (or forcing) frequency and with an
amplitude that depends on the ratio between forcing and natural frequency
and the level of damping. When the forcing frequency is equal to the natural
frequency the system is said to be in resonance and the amplitude may build
up to a very high value (limited only by damping and the physical constraints
of the system). If the excitation consists of a number of harmonic components
at n different frequencies, and the system has N degrees of freedom, then
there will be nN possible resonant conditions (that is, values offrequency at
which resonance will occur).