Free vibrations with damping

Free vibration with damping

𝑚𝑚𝑥𝑥̈ + 𝑐𝑐𝑥𝑥̇ + 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 = 0
Above is the equation of motion for a free vibration system. The initial conditions at time
𝑡𝑡 = 0 are given as 𝑥𝑥(0) = 𝑥𝑥0 , and 𝑥𝑥̇ (0) = 𝑣𝑣0 . The above equation of motion has a characteristic
equation: 𝑚𝑚𝑟𝑟 2 + 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 + 𝑘𝑘 = 0. Solution for such an equation will fall into one of the following
cases:

1. Case 1: Over damped

𝒄𝒄𝟐𝟐 − 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 > 𝟎𝟎 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝜻𝜻 > 𝟏𝟏, the characteristic equation has two distinct real roots

−𝑐𝑐 ± √𝑐𝑐 2 − 4𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

𝑟𝑟1,2 =
2𝑚𝑚
The solution is:
𝒙𝒙(𝒕𝒕) = 𝑨𝑨𝟏𝟏 𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒓𝟏𝟏 𝒕𝒕 + 𝑨𝑨𝟐𝟐 𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝒕𝒕
𝒗𝒗𝟎𝟎 −𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐 𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎
where 𝑨𝑨𝟏𝟏 = , 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑨𝑨𝟐𝟐 = 𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎 − 𝑨𝑨𝟏𝟏
𝒓𝒓𝟏𝟏 −𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐

2. Case 2: Critical damped

𝒄𝒄𝟐𝟐 − 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 = 𝟎𝟎 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝜻𝜻 = 𝟏𝟏, the characteristic equation has two equal (repeated) roots
−𝑐𝑐
𝑟𝑟 =
2𝑚𝑚
The solution is:
𝒙𝒙(𝒕𝒕) = 𝑨𝑨𝟏𝟏 𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓 + 𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝟐𝟐 𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝒙𝒙(𝒕𝒕) = (𝑨𝑨𝟏𝟏 + 𝑨𝑨𝟐𝟐 𝒕𝒕)𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓

where 𝑨𝑨𝟏𝟏 = 𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎 , 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑨𝑨𝟐𝟐 = 𝒗𝒗𝟎𝟎 − 𝒓𝒓𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎

3. Case 3: Under damped

𝒄𝒄𝟐𝟐 − 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 < 𝟎𝟎 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝜻𝜻 < 𝟏𝟏, the characteristic equation has two complex roots

−𝑐𝑐 ± √𝑐𝑐 2 − 4𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

𝑟𝑟1,2 = = 𝑠𝑠 ± 𝑞𝑞𝑞𝑞
2𝑚𝑚
The solution is:
𝒙𝒙(𝒕𝒕) = 𝑨𝑨𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔(𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 + 𝛟𝛟)
𝟏𝟏 𝒒𝒒𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎
where 𝑨𝑨 = 𝒒𝒒 �(𝒒𝒒𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎 )𝟐𝟐 + (𝒗𝒗𝟎𝟎 − 𝒔𝒔𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎 )𝟐𝟐 , 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝝓𝝓 = 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝒗𝒗
𝟎𝟎 −𝒔𝒔𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎

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 Free vibrations with damping

𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎 𝒗𝒗𝟎𝟎 −𝒔𝒔𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎

𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 = , 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 =
𝑨𝑨 𝒒𝒒𝑨𝑨

Note:

• The solution for case 3 can be written as:

𝑥𝑥(𝑡𝑡) = 𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝐴𝐴1 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 + 𝐴𝐴2 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠)

where 𝐴𝐴2 = 𝐴𝐴12 + 𝐴𝐴22

• The solution for case 3 can also be written as:

𝑥𝑥(𝑡𝑡) = 𝐴𝐴𝑒𝑒 −𝜁𝜁𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠(𝜔𝜔𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑡 + 𝜙𝜙)

where 𝜔𝜔𝑑𝑑 = 𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛 �1 − 𝜁𝜁 2 is called the frequency of damped vibration.

• 𝜁𝜁 is the damping ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the damping coefficient to the
critical damping coefficient.
𝑐𝑐
𝜁𝜁 =
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐

• The critical damping coefficient 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 is defined as the value of the damping coefficient 𝑐𝑐
for which the characteristic equation has two equal (repeated) roots or:

𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 2 𝑘𝑘
� � − =0
2𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚

𝑘𝑘
∴ 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 2𝑚𝑚� = 2𝑚𝑚𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛
𝑚𝑚

𝑐𝑐
∴ = 2𝜁𝜁𝜔𝜔𝑛𝑛
𝑚𝑚

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