ENGR 387: Project 1

Due on November 14th, 2021 at 11:59 pm PDT

Instructions: Please submit your project report in a PDF format through the “Assignments” section on
Canvas. Your submission must include the manual calculations, relevant plots and discussions, and a
snapshot of your Python/MATLAB script.

For the viscously damped system shown below:

a) Derive the equation of motion in terms of 𝑥𝑥.

b) Find the natural frequency 𝑤𝑤𝑛𝑛 , and damped natural frequency 𝑤𝑤𝑑𝑑 .

c) Using the system specifications provided below, derive and plot (using the provided
code) the free-vibration response 𝑥𝑥(𝑡𝑡) for the following scenarios:
1) Assume a value of damping constant 𝑐𝑐 that results in an underpamed response.
2) Assume a value of damping constant 𝑐𝑐 that results in a critically damped
response.
3) Assume a value of damping constant 𝑐𝑐 that results in an overdamped response.
𝑁𝑁
𝑚𝑚 = 4 𝑘𝑘𝑔𝑔, 𝑘𝑘 = 2500 , 𝑥𝑥0 = 100 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚, 𝑥𝑥̇ 0 = −10 𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠
𝑚𝑚
d) Engineering application: Assuming this vibrating system is used as part of a large gun,
the engineer’s task is to design a damper that returns the gun to its initial position after
recoil in the minimum time without vibrating. Based on your observations in part c, what
value of damping constant do you suggest? Explain why.

e) For scenario c.1, how does the response of the system change if the damping constant is
halved? Plot both responses in one plot and discuss your observations.