Lecture

06 Single Degree of Freedom Forced Vibration

“The simplest model, exactly known.”

Chapter outline

This lecture deals with the response of the single degree of freedom systems
subjected to harmonic excitation. First, it presents the derivation of the equation
of motion and its solution for undammed system. The magnification or amplification
and the phenomenon of resonance are introduced in the context of undamped spring
mass system. The total solution of the governing nonhomogeneous second order
differential equation is presented as a sum of the homogeneous equation (free
vibration solution) and the particular integral (forced vibration solution). The
known initial conditions of the system are used to evaluate the constants in the
total solution.

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, the reader should be able to do the following:

• Find the response of undamped single degree of freedom systems to harmonic
force. 


• Distinguish between transient, steady state and total solution.

• Understand the variations of magnification factor with the frequency of
excitation and the phenomenon of resonance.

INTRODUCTION

A mechanical system is said to undergo forced vibration whenever external energy
is supplied to the system during vibration. External energy can be from either an
applied force or an imposed displacement excitation. Here we consider the response
of a dynamic system to a harmonic load, the most important loading case found in
practice. Figure 6.1 depicted a spring mass system subjected to external force.



Fig.6.1 Spring mass system subjected to external force

Harmonically Forced Vibration

We begin with governing Equation 6-1 with 𝐹 𝑡 = 𝐴 cos 𝜔𝑡 with amplitude 𝐴 and
driving frequency 𝜔 , where 𝜔 ≠ 𝜔, .

𝒎𝒙 + 𝒌𝒙 = 𝑭(𝒕)

𝟏 6-1
𝒙 + 𝝎𝟐𝒏 𝒙 = 𝑭(𝒕)

𝒎
For the particular response, assume a solution of the form

𝒙𝒑 𝒕 = 𝑩𝟏 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕

Differentiating the assumed solution twice and substituting the appropriate

expressions into the governing equation 𝑥 + 𝜔,? 𝑥 = 𝐴 𝑚 cos 𝜔𝑡 gives

𝐴
𝐵B −𝜔? + 𝜔,? cos 𝜔𝑡 = cos 𝜔𝑡

𝑚
from which

𝑨 𝒎 𝑨 𝒌 6-2
𝑩𝟏 = =
−𝝎𝟐 + 𝝎𝟐𝒏 𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏 𝟐

where in the last equality, both numerator and denominator were divided by 𝜔,? .
The particular response is then

𝑨 𝒌 6-3
𝒙𝒑 (𝒕) = 𝟐
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕
𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏

The term 𝐴 𝑘 in the Equation 6-3 is the static deflection under a constant force
𝐴. Defining 𝑥FG = 𝐴 𝑘, the dimensionless displacements is given by

 𝒙𝒑 (𝒕) 𝟏 6-4
= 𝟐
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕
𝒙 𝒔𝒕 𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏

?
The coefficient 1 − 𝜔 𝜔, represents a dynamic amplification factor and is a
function of the frequency ratio 𝜔 𝜔, 𝑜𝑟 (𝑟). It is also called as resonance factor

Note: This factor acts like a filter that allows signals of certain frequencies
to pass through it and blocks signals of other frequencies.

The complete solution (free plus forced vibration) is then

𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒙𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕 + 𝒙𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 (𝒕) = 𝒙𝒉 𝒕 + 𝒙𝒑 (𝒕)

𝒙 𝒔𝒕 6-5
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝑪𝟏 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝝎𝒏 𝒕 + 𝑪𝟐 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒏 𝒕 + 𝟐
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕
𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏

where 𝐶B and 𝐶? are determined by satisfying the initial conditions, 𝑥 0 = 𝑥W and

𝑥 0 = 𝑣W . Using Equation 6-5 to evaluate 𝑥 0 and its derivative 𝑥 0 , we can
find the amplitudes

𝒗𝟎 𝒙 𝒔𝒕
𝑪𝟏 = , 𝑪𝟐 = 𝒙𝟎 −
𝝎𝒏 𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏 𝟐

where 𝐶? is a function of the frequency ratio 𝜔 𝜔, Therefore, the response to

harmonic loading with arbitrary initial conditions is

𝑣W 𝑥 FG 𝑥 FG
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔, 𝑡 + 𝑥W − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜔, 𝑡 + cos 𝜔𝑡
𝜔, 1 − 𝜔 𝜔, ? 1 − 𝜔 𝜔, ?

𝒗𝟎 6-6
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝝎𝒏 𝒕 + 𝒙𝟎 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒏 𝒕
𝝎𝒏
𝒙 𝒔𝒕
+ 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒕 − 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒏 𝒕
𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏 𝟐

Even though the load is harmonic, the response is not harmonic since it is the
difference between two harmonic functions of different frequencies.

Note on Terminology

The definitions of the terms transient, steady-state, free, and forced solutions in
vibration as well as the term total solution needed clarification. The summation of
the transient and the steady-state solutions is the total solution:

1. The transient solution is the part of the solution that decays with time.
 2. The steady-state solution is the part of the solution that persists over
time.

The summation of the free and forced solutions is also the total solution:

1. The free solution is the part of the solution due to the initial conditions.
2. The forced solution is the part of the solution that is due to the external
force.

In the undamped case, the particular solution is not the steady-state solution or
the forced solution. For example, consider the undamped forced system,

𝑨
𝒙 + 𝝎𝟐𝒏 𝒙 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕

𝒎
The total solution is given by Equation 6-6, which can be written as

𝒗𝟎 𝒙 𝒔𝒕
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝝎𝒏 𝒕 + 𝒙𝟎 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒏 𝒕 + 𝟐
𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒕 − 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒏 𝒕
𝝎𝒏 𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏
𝒙𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒙𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅

or

𝒗𝟎 𝒙 𝒔𝒕 6-7
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝝎𝒏 𝒕 + 𝒙𝟎 − 𝟐
𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒏 𝒕
𝝎𝒏 𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏
𝒙𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔
𝒙 𝒔𝒕
+ 𝟐
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕
𝟏 − 𝝎 𝝎𝒏
𝒙𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓

In this case 𝑥(𝑡) is solely a steady-state solution since with no damping there is no
transient response.

A typical response is shown in figure below.

Beating effect: Occurs when 𝜔 ≈ 𝜔, and 𝑥 0 = 𝑥 0 = 0

Example: Free Plus Forced Vibration (Matlab)

For the case where 𝑥W = 1 𝑐𝑚, 𝑣W = 1 𝑐𝑚/𝑠, 𝜔, = 1 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠, and 𝑥FG = 1 𝑐𝑚, plot the
displacement responses for loading frequencies: 𝜔 = 0.5, 2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 5 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠.

Solution:

Resonance

?
The denominator in Equation 6-3, 1 − 𝜔 𝜔, , is a positive quantity for
𝜔 𝜔, < 1 and a negative quantity for 𝜔 𝜔, > 1. Physically, this means that when
the natural frequency is greater than the forcing frequency, the force and motion
are in phase, and when the forcing frequency is greater than the natural frequency,
they are out of phase. The value of the denominator affects the magnitude of the
steady-state response.

Vibration becomes dramatic when the forcing frequency is close to the natural
frequency since the factor 1 − 𝜔 𝜔, ? in Equation 6-3 becomes very large when
𝜔 ≃ 𝜔, . When 𝜔 = 𝜔, the theoretical prediction is infinite displacement amplitude.
In real systems, damping effects are always present, limiting the displacement.

To avoid significant amplitudes, preliminary engineering designs attempt to keep
natural frequencies as far as possible from driving frequencies. This is true
regardless of the number of degrees of freedom. It becomes almost impossible to
achieve for very large structures with many degrees of freedom since each degree
of freedom has an associated natural frequency.

In order to understand how the dynamic amplification factor 1 − 𝜔 𝜔, ? which
is plotted in Fig. 6.2, varies as a function of the driving frequency, we consider
three cases:

(a) 0 < 𝜔 𝜔, ≪ 1,

(b) 𝜔 𝜔, ≫ 1, and

(c) 𝜔 𝜔, = 1.

Fig. 6-2 Dynamic amplification factor vs. frequency ratio for an undamped
system

For 𝜔 𝜔, ≪ 1, the forcing frequency is very slow and the mass will be displaced
essentially to its static deflection with very minor perturbations. In the limit as
𝜔 → 0, the static displacement is the response and 𝑥(𝑡) 𝑥FG → 1 as Fig 6.2 shows.

For 𝜔 𝜔, ≫ 1, the forcing frequency is very high and the mass cannot follow the
rapidly oscillating force. Therefore, since the average value of the force is zero, in
the limit for large 𝜔, the displacement approaches zero, and 𝑥(𝑡) 𝑥FG → 0.

The most interesting and important case is when 𝜔 𝜔, = 1, which means that the
forcing frequency coincides exactly with the system’s natural frequency.
Theoretically, the response is infinite. It will be shown shortly that the response
grows linearly requiring infinite time for infinite response. Practically, the force is
continuously pushing the mass in the direction of motion, adding energy with each
cycle. The system vibrates with ever increasing amplitudes since there is no
damping to dissipate energy. A small force can eventually make the amplitude very
large, a phenomenon called resonance. For the case of no damping, the natural
frequency is the resonant frequency.