Project Deliverable 2

The second project deliverable consists a problem related in vibrating mechanical

system. You will submit your solution for the below question in a word file and upload to

the Turnitin link that will be given in the Moodle page. All your work should be typed in a

word file. It cannot include any pictures of equations or handwritten solutions.

The problem is related with Laplace transformation is referred as integral transforms.

Please first read the explanation and answer the below questions.

Laplace transformation is referred as integral transforms with wide applications in

various fields like engineering technology, basic sciences, and mathematics and in

economics. It is also used to find the solution of differential equations at boundary

value. One of the examples is related in vibrating mechanical system, i.e. Mass–

spring–damper system.
Spring-mass-damper systems can be found in many mechanical systems. One

common example is the suspension of a car. The car itself is the mass; it is suspended

by an elastic spring. A damper (the actual shock absorber) prevents oscillations. To

determine how the mass moves under some time-variable imposed force, by Newton’s

and Hooke’s law, we can develop the following the differential equation

𝑑2 𝑦 𝑑𝑦
𝑚 2 +𝑏 + 𝑘𝑦 = 𝐹 (𝑡), 𝑦(0) = 𝑦0 , 𝑦 ′ (0) = 𝑣0 (∗)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

where 𝑦(𝑡) represents the displacement then 𝑦0 is initial displacement and 𝑣0 is the

initial velocity.

Suppose that we are investigating the suitability of a new car suspension system. If we

focus our attention on just one corner of the car, we can simplify the suspension to our

mathematical mass-spring-damper model.

Let's assign the system with the following parameters:

• mass 𝑚 = 1 𝑘𝑔

1 𝑁, 𝑡<3
• imposed force 𝐹 = {
4 𝑁, 𝑡≥3

• spring constant 𝑘 = 5 𝑁/𝑚 (note, this is a very soft spring compared to real

world applications)
 • damping constant 𝑏 = 2 𝑁𝑠/𝑚

• initial displacement 𝑦0 = 0.1 𝑚 (let's say this wheel has been driven off a curb of

10 𝑐𝑚 height, and therefore the spring is stretched by this amount as our

starting position)

• initial velocity 𝑣0 = 1 𝑚/𝑠

Question:

a) (60 points) Based on the provided information, construct the initial value problem

(IVP) and solve it using the Laplace transform.

b) (30 points) Using any software tool, sketch the solution of initial value problem

(IVP). Specify the software application used.

c) (10 points) Based on the graph obtained in part b), please provide an

interpretation of the results using your own words.