FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

MECE 3210U – Mechanical Vibrations

Winter 2018

Assignment No. 1

1. The static equilibrium position of a massless rigid bar, hinged at point O and connected
with springs k1 and k2 is shown in the Figure. Assuming that the displacement (x) resulting
from the application of a force F at point A is small, find the equivalent spring constant of
the system, ke that relates the applied force F to the displacement x as:

F = ke x.

2. A heavy machine weighing 9,810 N is being lowered vertically down by a winch at a

uniform velocity of 3 m/s. The steel cable supporting the machine has a diameter of 0.001
m. The winch is suddenly stopped when the steel cable’s length is 20 m. Find the period
and amplitude of the ensuing vibration of the machine.
3. A massless bar of length 1 m is pivoted at one end and subjected to a force F at the other
end. Two translational dampers, with damping constants c1 = 10 N.s/m and c2 = 15 N.s/m
are connected to the bar as shown in the figure below. Determine the equivalent damping
constant, ceq, of the system so that the force F at point A can be expressed as F = ceqv,
where v is the linear velocity of point A.

4. A machine is subjected to x(t) = A cos(60t+) mm. The initial conditions are given by x(0)
= 4 mm and 𝑥̇ (0) = 20.0 m/s.
a. Find the constants A and 
b. Express the motion in the form x(t) = A1 cost + A2 sint, and identify the constants
A1 and A2.

5. Drive the equation of motion and find the natural frequency of vibration of the system
shown below:
6. A box car of mass 18000 kg hits a shock absorber at the end of the track while moving at
13 m/s. The stiffness of the absorber is k = 73000 N/m and the damping is c = 88000 N.s/m.
Determine (a) the maximum spring compression and (b) the time for the boxcar to stop.

7. A single degree of freedom system consists of a mass of 20 kg and a spring of stiffness of

4000 N/m. The amplitudes of successive cycles are found to be 160, 80, 40, 20, ... mm.
Determine the nature and the magnitude of the damping constant and the frequency of the
damped vibration.
8. A mass of 10 kg slides back and forth on a dry surface due to the action of a spring having
a stiffness of 10 N/mm. After five complete cycles, the amplitude has been found to be 100
mm. What is the average coefficient of friction between the two surfaces if the original
amplitude was 150 mm? How much time has to elapse for complete stop?