CHAPTER 2

FREE VIBRATION OF SDF SYSTEMS

Expected outcome:
1. Students can formulate the governing equation of an SDF system in free vibration.
2. Students can calculate positions of the mass in an SDF system in free vibration.
3. Students can include the effect of damping in an SDF system in free vibration and
can determine damping parameters of an SDF system from decay of vibration
amplitude.

2.1 Free vibration of an undamped SDF system

Vibration of an SDF system without any external force or excitation applied, i.e.,
p  t   0 , is called “free vibration.” The vibration is due to initial displacement u  0  and

initial velocity u  0  at the beginning of vibration. The equation of motion is

mu  cu  ku  0 (2.1)

First, let us consider a simpler SDF system that has no damping, c  0 . Its vibration
is called “undamped free vibration.” And the equation of motion becomes

mu  ku  0 (2.2)

u (t )

m p (t )  0
k

Figure 2.1 An undamped single-degree-of-freedom (SDF) system

Solution of the above second order differential equation has the form of

u (t )  A cos(n t )  B sin(nt ) (2.3)

2-1
Obtain u  t  by differentiating the above u  t  twice

u(t )  n2 A cos(n t )  n2 B sin(n t )   n2u  t  (2.4)

Then, substitute Eq. (2.4) in the equation of motion Eq. (2.2) to obtain

mn2u  t   ku  t    k  mn2  u  t   0 (2.5)

Since u  t   0 is the trivial solution, let us consider the case that u  t   0 so

k  mn2  0

k
n 
m

n is called “natural (circular) frequency of vibration” in unit of radian per second (rad/sec).

Next determine A and B by using the initial conditions: initial displacement u  0  and

initial velocity u  0  .

At time t  0 ,

u  t  0   A cos  0   B sin(0)  u  0  (2.6)

A  u  0 (2.7)

u  t  0    An sin  0   Bn cos  0   u  0  (2.8)

u  0
B (2.9)
n
Therefore, the solution of undamped free vibration is

u  0 
u (t )  u  0  cos(nt )  sin(nt ) (2.10)
n

2-2
Plot of the above undamped free vibration solution versus time t is shown below.

Tn  2  n
u
u  0  b

Amplitude uo
u 0
a c e
t

d
uo uo

a b c d e

Figure 2.2 Free vibration of a system without damping

The vibrating motion is sinusoidal function with constant amplitude

2
 u (0) 
uo  u (0)  
2
 (2.11)
 n 

This motion is also known as “simple harmonic motion.” The mass moves back and forth in
cycles. The time duration to complete one cycle of vibration is called “natural period of
vibration in unit of time (seconds).”

2
Tn  (2.12)
n

Number of cycles completed in one second is called “natural cyclic frequency of vibration
(cycles per second or Hz).”

1 n
fn   (2.13)
Tn 2

2-3
Example 2.1

A 1000 kg lumped mass is supported by a 3m-tall steel pipe cantilever column having
a circular hollowed cross section with diameter = 150 mm and thickness = 1.5 mm.
Determine the natural frequency and period of vibration of this SDF system.

Figure 2.3 An SDF system representing a lumped mass supported by a cantilevered column

Given: mass m  1000 kg

Modulus of elasticity of steel is E  2  1011 N/m 2

Moment of inertia of pipe cross-sectional area is


I
64
 0.150 4
 0.1474   1.9292 106 m4

The lateral stiffness of cantilevered column is

3EI 3  2 10 1.9292 10   42,871 N m

11 6

k 3 
L 33

The natural frequency of vibration is

42871
n   6.5476 rad / sec
1000

The natural period of vibration is

2 2
Tn    0.96 sec
n 6.5476

The natural cyclic frequency of vibration is

1 1
fn    1.04 Hz
Tn 0.974

2-4
2.2 Free vibration of a viscously damped SDF system

u (t )
c
p (t ) = 0
m
k

Figure 2.4 A damped SDF system

For an SDF system with viscous damping, the equation of motion is

mu  cu  ku  0 (2.14)

Dividing m on both sides of the equation, we obtain

c k
u  u  u  0 (2.15)
m m

u  2nu  n2u  0 (2.16)

c c
where damping ratio    is the ratio between damping coefficient of the SDF
ccr 2mn

system and critical damping coefficient ccr  2mn  2 km .

Solution of the governing equation of motion Eq. (2.14) depends on damping ratio  .

• If   1 , or c  ccr , the system will oscillate about its equilibrium position with
decreasing amplitude. Such system is an “underdamped” system.

• If   1 , or c  ccr , there will be no oscillation and the mass will return from initial
displacement to its equilibrium position without oscillation. Such system is a
“critically damped” system.

• If   1 , or c  ccr , there will be no oscillation, but the mass will return to its
equilibrium position at a slower rate than a critically damped system. Such system is a
“overdamped” system, e.g., door closer.

In structural dynamics, we will only consider the underdamped systems because all structures
of interest, i.e., buildings, bridges, typically have damping ratio less than 15%.

2-5
 Figure 2.5 Comparison of free vibration of SDF systems with different levels of damping

Table 2.1 Typical values of damping ratio for different type of construction

Type of construction Damping ratio

Steel 0.02 – 0.05

Concrete 0.05 – 0.07
Masonry 0.05 – 0.10
Wood 0.10 – 0.15

Solution of the differential equation Eq. (2.16) governing damped free vibration is

  u (0)  nu (0)  

u (t )  ent u (0) cos Dt    sin Dt  (2.17)
  D  

where the natural frequency of damped vibration is

 D  n 1   2 (2.18)

and the natural period of damped vibration is

2 Tn
TD   (2.19)
D 1  2

Note that the natural frequency of damped vibration is slightly lower than undamped
vibration, and the natural period of damped vibration is slightly longer than undamped
vibration. However, the effect of damping on vibration frequency is negligible (2%) in
practical range of damping (  <20%).

2-6
The plot of damped free vibration shows that amplitude of vibration becomes smaller after
every cycle of oscillation.

u t  u  0 
undamped structure
 e  t
n

damped structure

u  0
t

  e nt
TD

Tn

Figure 2.6 Comparison of undamped and damped free vibration.

The rate of amplitude decay is exponential. The envelope curves of amplitude are   e n t
where
2
 u (0)  nu (0) 
  u (0)  
2
 (2.20)
 D 

2.3 Effect of damping on the rate at which free vibration decays

Effect of damping is directly related to the rate at which free vibration decays. A
system with larger damping ratio oscillates fewer cycles before it comes to stop.

Figure 2.7 Free vibration of SDF systems with different damping ratios

2-7
2.4 Estimation of damping ratio from decay of motion

Knowing the decay of consecutive peak allow us to estimate the damping ratio.

u(t)
u1
u2
u3
u4
t
0

Figure 2.8 Amplitude of vibration every cycle of motion due to effect of damping

The following peak ui 1 occurs at time interval TD , so the peak is smaller than ui by a factor
of
2 2 
 n 
nTD (2.21)
e e n 1 2
e 1 2

The ratio of amplitude of cycle i and i+1 is then

ui  2 
 exp   (2.22)
ui 1  1  2 
 

Logarithmic decrement of each cycle of oscillation is

 ui  2
  ln   (2.23)
 ui 1  1  2

For small damping ratio  , the square root term is nearly equal to 1.

1 2  1 (2.24)

So logarithmic decrement can be approximated as

  2 (2.25)

2-8
and the damping ratio can be estimated from the ratio of consecutive peaks as

1  ui 
  ln   (2.26)
2  ui 1 

For lightly damped system, the amplitude decay is slow, so it is desirable to relate the ratio of
two amplitudes several cycles apart, e.g., over j cycles:

1  ui 
  ln    2 (2.27)
j 
 ui  j 

1  u 
 ln  i  (2.28)
2 j  ui  j 

2.5 Free vibration test

Because it is not possible to determine analytically the damping ratio for practical
structures, this property should be determined experimentally. The structure is excited and let
to vibrate freely.

Acceleration is measured easier than displacement. For lightly damped system, it can
also be shown that

1  u 
 ln  i 
2 j  ui  j 

2-9
 TD TD
u t 
ui
ui 1
ui  2
ui 3
t
0

Figure 2.9 Acceleration amplitude of the mass also decreases every cycle of motion

Measured period

The natural period of damped vibration TD is the time required to complete one cycle
of vibration. Comparing the measured period to the natural period calculated from stiffness
and mass of an idealized system tells us how well the idealization represents the actual
structure.

Example 2.2

Determine the natural period and damping ratio from the following acceleration
record of its free vibration.

Figure 2.10 Measured acceleration of a mass during a free vibration test

2 - 10
 Peak no. Time, ti (sec) Peak value (g)

1 1.20 0.905
7 3.85 0.085

3.85  1.2
TD   0.441 sec
6

1 0.905 g
  ln  0.0628  6.28%
2 (6) 0.085 g
Example 2.3

A free vibration test is conducted on an empty water tank tower.

Figure 2.11 A water tank idealized as a mass supported by a cantilevered column

A cable attached to the tank applies a horizontal force of 73 kN and pulls the tank to
displace horizontally by 5 cm. The cable is suddenly cut and the resulting free vibration is
recorded. At the end of four complete cycles, the time is 2.0 sec and the amplitude is 2.5 cm.
From these data, compute the following: (a) damping ratio; (b) natural period of undamped
vibration; (c) stiffness; (d) weight; (e) damping coefficient; and (f) number of cycles required
for the displacement amplitude to decrease to 0.5 cm.

Solution
Substituting ui = 5 cm, j = 4 and ui+j = 2.5 cm in Eq. (2.28):

1  u  1  5 
 ln  i   ln    0.02758  2.758% (a)
2 j  ui  j  2  4   2.5 

2.0
TD   0.5 sec ; Tn  TD  0.5 sec (b)
4

2 - 11
 73 kN
k  1460 kN/m (c)
0.05 m

2 2
n    12.566sec
Tn 0.5

k 1, 460, 000 N m
m   9245.2 kg
 12.566 rad sec 
2 2
n

W   9245.2  9.807  90,668 N  90.67 kN (d)

  
c   2 km  0.0276 2 1, 460, 000 N m  9245.2 kg  6409 N
m sec
(e)

1 u1
  ln ;
2 j u1 j

1 2
j ln  13.28cycles  13cycles (f)
2  0.0276  0.2

Example 2.4

The weight of water required to fill the tank of example 2.3 is 355.858 kN. Determine
the natural vibration period and damping ratio of the structure with the tank full.

Solution

W  90.664  355.858  446.522 kN

446, 522 N
m  45, 533 kg
9.807m/s 2

m 45, 533kg
Tn  2  2  1.11 sec
k 1, 460, 000 N m

c 6409 N  s m
    0.0124  1.24%
2 km 2 1, 460, 000 N m  45,533 kg 

2 - 12
Observe that the damping ratio is now smaller (1.24% compared to 2.76% in example 2.3)
because the mass of the full tank is larger and hence the critical damping coefficient is larger.

2 - 13
Exercises

2.1 Determine the displacement u  t  of the mass in structure below in undamped free

vibration due to initial displacement u0 and zero initial velocity.

m

EI

Figure P2.1 A simple beam with lumped mass at midspan

2.2 Determine the displacement u  t  of the mass in structure above in damped free vibration

due to initial displacement u0 and zero initial velocity. Assume that the damping ratio is

 .

2.3 Suppose that damping ratio of the above structure is to be determined by an experiment.
The acceleration amplitude of free vibration becomes half after 5 cycles of damped free
vibration. Determine the damping ratio of this structure.

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