ME-329 - Mechanical Vibrations

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Institute of Avionics and Aeronautics (IAA)

Introduction
Dated: 12th March, 2021
Number of Degrees of Freedom

● Number of independent coordinates required to determine completely

position of all parts of system at any instant of time

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Number of Degrees of Freedom

● Two-degree-of-freedom system

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Number of Degrees of Freedom

● Three-degree-of-freedom system

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Discrete and Continuous Systems

● Large number of practical systems can be described using finite

number of degrees of freedom
● Some systems, especially those involving continuous elastic members
have infinite numbers of degrees of freedom
● E.g. cantilever beam
● Beam has infinite number of mass points, we need infinite number of
coordinates to specify its deflected configuration
● Infinite number of coordinates defines its elastic deflection curve
● So cantilever beam has infinite number of degrees of freedom
● Most structural and machine systems have deformable (elastic) members
and therefore have infinite number of degrees of freedom 5
Discrete and Continuous Systems
● Systems with finite number of degrees of freedom are called discrete or
lumped parameter systems
● Those with infinite number of degrees of freedom are called continuous or
distributed
● Most of the time continuous systems are approximated as discrete
systems, solutions are obtained in a simpler manner
● Although treatment of a system as continuous gives exact results,
analytical methods available to deal with such problems are limited to a
few selection of problems
● Most practical system are studied by treating them as finite lumped mass,
spring, damper - more accurate results by increasing number of mass,
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spring, damper, increasing the number of degrees of freedom
Classification of Vibrations

● Free Vibration
○ After initial disturbance left to vibrate on its own
○ No external force acts on it
○ example: simple pendulum
● Forced Vibration
○ Subjected to external repeating type of force
○ example: machines such as diesel engines
If frequency of external force matches natural frequency: resonance occurs
https://www.windfarmbop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Wind-turbine-resonance.mp4?_=1 7
 Classification of Vibrations

● Undamped Vibration
○ No energy lost/dissipated in friction, other resistance during oscillation

● Damped Vibration
○ Energy lost in a manner described above

● For most engineering purposes damping is so small it can be neglected

Effect damping become very important when analysing system near resonance

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Classification of Vibrations

● Linear Vibration
○ Basic components: mass, spring, damper behave linearly

● Nonlinear Vibration
○ Basic components: mass, spring, damper behave nonlinearly
○ Nonlinear spring: hardening, softening with increased force
○ Nonlinear damper: structural damping of wing changes with higher
excitation level or amplitude
○ Nonlinear mass: exponential decay?
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Classification of Vibrations

● Linear Vibration
○ Differential equation is linear
○ Principle of superposition holds
○ Mathematical techniques are well developed
● Nonlinear Vibration
○ Principle of superposition does not hold
○ Mathematical techniques of analysis are less known
All vibratory system tend to vibrate nonlinearly with increasing amplitude10
Classification of Vibrations

● Deterministic Vibration
○ Value of magnitude or excitation (force or motion) acting on
vibratory system is known at any given time
○ Resulting vibration is known as deterministic vibration

● Random Vibration
○ Value of excitation at given time cannot be predicted
○ E.g.: wind velocity, road roughness, ground motion during earthquake
○ Large collection of data exhibit statistical regularity: mean value
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Vibration Analysis Procedure

● A vibratory system is dynamic one in which excitations (inputs) and

responses (outputs) are time dependent
● Response of vibratory system generally depends on initial conditions and
external excitations
● Most practical vibrating systems are complex and it is impossible to
consider all the details
● Only the most important features are considered to predict behaviour
under specific input conditions
● Often overall behaviour of model can be determined considering even a
simple model of complex physical system 12
Vibration Analysis Procedure

● Mathematical Modelling
○ Represent all the important features of system for purpose of
mathematical (or analytical) equations governing system’s behaviour
○ Should include enough details without making it complex
○ May be linear or nonlinear (nonlinear models may predict certain
characteristics that linear model cannot predict)
○ Use engineering judgement to come up with suitable model
○ Model can be improved to obtain more accurate results
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Vibration Analysis Procedure

● Mathematical Modelling
○ Initially a crude, elementary model may be used to get quick insight
into behaviour of system
○ Then refine model to include more components and/or details to
observe behaviour of system more closely

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Vibration Analysis Procedure

● Derivation of Governing Equations

○ Draw the free-body diagrams of all masses involved
○ Free-body diagram of mass: isolating mass, indicating all external
forces, reactive forces and inertial forces
○ Equations of motion are:
■ Ordinary differential equations for discrete systems
■ Partial differential equations for continuous systems
○ Use Newton’s method, D’Alembert’s principle, Lagrange’s
equations to derive equations of motion 15
Vibration Analysis Procedure

● Solution of Governing Equations

○ Solved using:
■ Standard methods for solving differential equations
■ Laplace transform method
■ Matrix methods
■ Numerical methods

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Vibration Analysis Procedure

● Interpretation of Results
○ Solution of governing equations gives:
■ Displacements
■ Velocities
■ Accelerations

Interpret these with a clear purpose of analysis and possible design

implications of results

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Mathematical Model of Motorcycle

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● Read Article 1.3 (pg 10 - 13)

● Get ideas for semester project

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