Dynamics of Structures

Lecture 2 – Free Vibrations

Andrea Calabrese
Problem statement in structural dynamics
Given:
– Mass, m
– Stiffness, k
– Damping coefficient, c
– A dynamic load (𝑝𝑝 𝑡𝑡 or 𝑢𝑢̈ 𝑔𝑔 (𝑡𝑡)) 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

Find response of an SDF system

Find the Displacement Time History

the response of the system can be derived:

– velocity, acceleration
– Internal forces (M(t),V(t),N(t)) can be
– Internal stresses
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 Free Vibration

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/masses-and-springs/latest/masses-and-
springs_en.html Andrea Calabrese 3
 Free vibrations
A structure is said to be undergoing free vibration when it is
disturbed from its static equilibrium position and then
allowed to vibrate without any external dynamic excitation.

Damped free vibrations: 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 + 𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑢̇ + 𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑢̈ = 0

Undamped free vibrations (c = 0): 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 + 𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑢̈ = 0

Second-Order Linear Ordinary Differential Equations

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 Undamped Free vibrations
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 + 𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑢̈ = 0
• Free vibration is initiated by disturbing the
system from its static equilibrium position by
imparting the mass some displacement 𝑢𝑢(0)
and/or velocity 𝑢𝑢(0)
̇ at time zero.
• Subject to this initial conditions the mass will
displace in time following the function:
𝑢𝑢(0)
̇ 𝑘𝑘
𝑢𝑢 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑢𝑢(0) cos 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑡𝑡 + sin 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑡𝑡 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 =
𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑚𝑚

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Undamped free vibrations (c = 0):

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Free vibrations of a system without
damping (harmonic motion)
𝑢𝑢(0)
̇
𝑢𝑢 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑢𝑢(0) cos 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑡𝑡 + sin 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑡𝑡
𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛

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𝑢𝑢(0)
̇
𝑢𝑢𝑜𝑜 = 𝑢𝑢(0)2 +
𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛

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The natural vibration properties

𝑘𝑘
The natural circular frequency of vibrations: 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 = [Rad/s]
𝑚𝑚

The natural period of vibrations (time required 2𝜋𝜋

𝑇𝑇𝑛𝑛 = [s]
to complete one cycle of free vibration): 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛

The natural frequency of vibrations (number 1 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛

𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑛 = = [Hz]
of cycles executed in one second): 𝑇𝑇𝑛𝑛 2𝜋𝜋

Note: all natural vibration properties depend only on the mass and stiffness of the
structure.
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 Example 2.2
Determine the natural vibration properties of the steel girder bridge
𝑘𝑘 = 25,880 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘/𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑝𝑝 − 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 2
𝑚𝑚 = 214.9
𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓

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Viscously damped free vibrations
Damped free
𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑢̈ + 𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑢̇ + 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 = 0
vibrations:

Dividing by m: 𝑢𝑢̈ + 2𝜁𝜁𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑢𝑢̇ + 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛2 𝑢𝑢 = 0

𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐
Damping ratio: 𝜁𝜁 = =
2𝑚𝑚𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐

Critical damping 2𝑘𝑘

𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 2𝑚𝑚𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 = 2 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 =
coefficient: 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛
Note: The damping constant c is a measure of the energy dissipated in a cycle of
free vibrations. The damping ratio (a dimensionless measure of the damping) is a
property that also depends on the mass and stiffness of the system. Critical
damping coefficient is the smallest value of c that inhibits oscillation completely.
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Free vibrations of underdamped, critically
damped, and overdamped systems
Critically damped - 𝜁𝜁 = 1
Overdamped - 𝜁𝜁 > 1
Underdamped - 0 < 𝜁𝜁 < 1

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 Underdamped systems
All structures of our interest (buildings, bridges, dams, nuclear
power plants, etc.) are underdamped with a damping ratio
smaller than 10%.

Free vibrations (displacement of the mass) of an underdamped

system subjected to initial displacement and velocity is:
𝑢𝑢̇ 0 + 𝜁𝜁𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑢𝑢(0)
𝑢𝑢 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑒𝑒 −𝜁𝜁𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛𝑡𝑡 𝑢𝑢(0) cos 𝜔𝜔𝐷𝐷 𝑡𝑡 + sin 𝜔𝜔𝐷𝐷 𝑡𝑡
𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛

Natural frequency of
𝜔𝜔𝐷𝐷 = 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 1 − 𝜁𝜁 2
damped vibration:

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Effects of damping on free vibration

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2
𝑢𝑢̇ 0 + 𝜁𝜁𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 𝑢𝑢(0)
𝜌𝜌 = 𝑢𝑢(0) +
𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛

Note: Damping has the effect of lowering the natural frequency and lengthening
the natural period.
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Effect of damping on the natural
vibration frequency

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Free vibration of systems with
different levels of damping

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 Decay of motion

2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖
The ratio of two successive peaks: 𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖 = 𝑒𝑒 𝛿𝛿
= 𝑒𝑒 1−𝜁𝜁 2 𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖+1
𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖+1
𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋
Logarithmic decrement: 𝛿𝛿 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 =
𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖+1 1 − 𝜁𝜁 2

Logarithmic decrement for small ζ: 𝛿𝛿 ≅ 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋

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Exact and approximate relations between
logarithmic decrement and damping ratio

Approximate relation is
valid for damping ratios
< 0.2, which covers
most practical cases.

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 Decay of motion
If the decay of motion is slow it is desirable to relate the ratio of
two amplitudes several cycles apart to the damping ratio.

Over j cycles the motion decreases from u1 to u1+j

𝑢𝑢1 𝑢𝑢1 𝑢𝑢2 𝑢𝑢3 𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗
= …. = 𝑒𝑒 𝑗𝑗𝛿𝛿
𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗+1 𝑢𝑢2 𝑢𝑢3 𝑢𝑢4 𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗+1

𝑢𝑢1
𝑗𝑗𝛿𝛿 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗+1

1 𝑢𝑢1 1 𝑢𝑢1
𝛿𝛿 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 ≅ 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝜁𝜁 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝑗𝑗 𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗+1 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝑢𝑢1+𝑗𝑗

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 Free vibration tests

1 𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖 1 𝑢𝑢̈ 𝑖𝑖
𝜁𝜁 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝜁𝜁 = 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖+𝑗𝑗 2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝑢𝑢̈ 𝑖𝑖+𝑗𝑗

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 Snap-back free vibrations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzQ53Du5kAc

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Example

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Example 2.5

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 Homework – Problem 1
Determine the natural vibration period and damping ratio of the
aluminum frame model from the acceleration record of its free
vibration shown in the figure bellow.

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