EM3511/EA3538 Tutorial 2 Solution

Question 1.

Stiffness k and damping coefficient c represent elastic and damping properties of the rope which
is used to suspend the crate:

Then, assuming that tension in the rope is T,

the free body diagram is

k, c
T T

m
m x

When the crate is moved downward by x, the rope will be stretched by 2x, and therefore the tension
in the rope can be calculated as

T 2kx + 2cx
=

Then equation of motion is

mx =∑ Fx =−T − T

−2kx − 2cx − 2kx − 2cx

mx =

mx + 4cx + 4kx =

0

When we divide this equation by m

x + 2ζωn x + ωn2 x =
 0

where 2ζωn = 4 c m and ωn = 4k m .

Therefore we have

4k 4 ⋅10.35 ⋅106
ωn
= = = 321.7 rad/s
m 400

4c 4 ⋅1930
=ζ = = 0.03
2ωn m 2 ⋅ 321.7 ⋅ 400
 Question 2.
For the damped free vibrations, the solution of the equation of motion is

=x(t ) e −ζωnt ( A cos(ωD t ) + B sin(ωD t ) )

The damped natural frequency can be calculated as

ωD= ωn 1 − ζ 2 = 321.7 1 − 0.032 = 321.55 rad/s rad/s

If the initial conditions for the system are (coordinate is positive downwards)

x(0) = 0
x (0) = 0.5

Then
x(0) = e −ζωn ⋅0 ( A cos(ωD ⋅ 0) + B sin(ωD ⋅ 0) ) = A = 0
A=0

Velocity is equal to

x (t ) e −ζωnt ( (− Aζωn + BωD ) cos(ωD t ) + (−ωD A − ζωn B )sin(ωD t ) )

=
− Aζωn + BωD =
x (0) = BωD =
0.5
0.5 0.5
B
= = = 0.001555
ωD 321.55

Solution is

x ( t ) e −ζωnt B =
= sin(ωD t ) e −0.03⋅321.7 t ⋅ 0.00155sin ( 321.55t )

Substituting t=0.005

x ( 0.005
= ) e−0.03⋅321.7⋅0.005 ⋅ 0.00155sin ( 321.55 ⋅ 0.005
= ) 0.00148 m

(When calculating your displacement make sure that the calculator is set up in such a way that sin
and cos function are using angles in radians, not degrees).
Question 3.

You should obtain using Matlab the following outputs:

Q3.I:
System response for the following values of the system parameters:
m = 1 kg, k = 1000 N/m, c = 1 Ns/m x st = mg / k , x 0 = 0 m/s
-3
10

2
Displacement

-2

-4

-6

-8

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

Time
Q3.II:
The responses of the system with different initial conditions

0.03

0.02

0.01
Displacement

-0.01

-0.02

-0.03

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Time
Q3.III:
A series of responses for varying mass of the system with all other parameters kept constant

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02
Displacement

-0.02

-0.04

-0.06

-0.08

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time

Q3.IV:
A series of responses for varying stiffness of the system with the mass of the system m = 1 kg and
all other parameters constant
-3
10

2
Displacement

-2

-4

-6

-8

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

Time
Q3.V:
A series of responses for varying damping coefficient c = 0.1ccr , 0.2ccr , 0.5ccr , ccr and m = 1 kg,
k = 1000 N/m
-3
10

2
Displacement

-2

-4

-6

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Time

Q3.VI:
Responses from in Q.3.II for the case (a) and numerical solution obtained in Matlab using ode45
solver over 50 periods of the free vibrations. Yellow line is analytical solution and red dots are
numerical solution.
-3
10
-4
10

8
3

4 2.8

2
2.6
Displacement

Displacement

-2 2.4

-4

2.2
-6

-8
2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.935 6.94 6.945 6.95 6.955 6.96 6.965 6.97 6.975 6.98 6.985
Time Time