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Topic 4

Response to Arbitrary, Step, and

Pulse Excitations

In many practical situations the dynamic excitation is neither harmonic nor

periodic. Thus we are interested in studying the dynamic response of SDF
systems to excitations varying arbitrarily with time. A general result for
linear systems, Duhamel’s integral, is derived in this part. This result is
also to study the response of systems to step force, linearly increasing
force, and step force with finite rise time. These results demonstrate how
the dynamic response of the system is affected by the rise time.

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4.1 RESPONSE TO ARBITRARILY TIME-VARYING

FORCES

A general procedure is developed to analyze the response of an SDF system subjected

to force p(t) varying arbitrarily with time. This result will enable analytical evaluation
of response to forces described by simple functions of time. We seek the solution of the
differential equation of motion

subject to the initial conditions

In developing the general solution, p(t) is interpreted as a sequence of impulses of

infinitesimal duration, and the response of the system to p(t) is the sum of the
responses to individual impulses. These individual responses can conveniently be
written in terms of the response of the system to a unit impulse.
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4.2 RESPONSE TO UNIT IMPULSE

A very large force that acts for a very short time but with a time integral that is finite
is called an impulsive force. Shown in figure below, is the force p(t) = 1/ε, with time
duration ε starting at the time instant t = τ. As ε approaches zero the force becomes
infinite; however, the magnitude of the impulse, defined by the time integral of p(t),
remains equal to unity. Such a force in the limiting case ε → 0 is called the unit
impulse.

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0 < −
2
1
( )= − ≤ ≤ +
2 2
0 > −
2

/ /
1
= = 0 + + 0 =
/ /

/
1 1 1
= = + −( − ) = × =1
/ 2 2

The Dirac delta function δ(t − τ) mathematically defines a unit impulse centred at t = τ

( − )= lim ( )
→

≠ = δ(t − τ)
( − )=
∞ =
∞

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4.3 Response of undamped SDF system to unit impulse

(̇ )
− = cos − + sin ( − )
δ(t − τ)

Experimental data has shown that spring force and

damping effect could be disregard in the motion equation
due to a significantly short duration of impulse.

̈ = ( − )

̈ = ( − )

̈ = ( − )

̇( ) = ( − )

̇( ) = 1

1
̇( ) =

u( ) = 0

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Substituting u = 0 and ̇( ) = , in the equation of − :

(̇ )
− = cos − + sin ( − )

0 <
u − = sin − =

Response to unit impulse is denoted by h(t- )

0 <
h − = sin − ≥

4.4 Response of damped SDF system to unit impulse

With substituting u = 0 and ̇( ) = , in the equation of −

for damped SDF systtem

− =( cos − +( ̇ +ζ ) + sin ( − )

1
̇( ) =

u( ) = 0

0 <
ℎ − = ( )
1
× sin − ≥
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4.5 RESPONSE TO ARBITRARY FORCE

A force p(t) varying arbitrarily with time can be represented as a sequence of

infinitesimally short impulses. The response of a linear dynamic system to one of
these impulses, the one at time τ of magnitude p(τ) dt, is this magnitude times the unit
impulse-response function:

The response of the system at time t

is the sum of the responses to all
impulses up to that time.

Magnitude of one impulse =

Response for each impulse = ℎ − ×

= ℎ( − ) ×

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Specializing the recently obtained equation for the SDF system by

substituting the response for the unit impulse response function h(t-τ),
gives Duhamel’s integral:

1 ̇ (0)
= sin − + 0 +

1 ( )
̇ 0 +ζ 0 sin
= × sin − + × 0 +

Duhamel’s integral provides a general result for evaluating the response of a

linear SDF system to arbitrary force. This result is restricted to linear systems
because it is based on the principle of superposition.
Thus it does not apply to structures deforming beyond their linearly elastic limit.
If p(τ) is a simple function, closed-form evaluation of the integral is possible and
Duhamel’s integral is an alternative to the classical method for solving
differential equations.

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Assignment 1
Obtain the response equation for an undamped SDF system with zero initial condition under
a harmonic load of P(t) = P0 sin , using Duhamel’s Integral method.

Assignment 2

Obtain the response equation for undamped and damped SDF systems with zero initial
condition under a rectangular load of P(t) as shown in the figure below, using Duhamel’s
Integral method.