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System Dynamics for
Engineering Students
Concepts and Applications
Second Edition
Nicolae Lobontiu
University of Alaska Anchorage
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ISBN: 978-0-12-804559-6
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with friendly consideration.
Foreword to the First Edition
This text is a modern treatment of system dynamics and its relation to traditional me-
chanical engineering problems as well as modern microscale devices and machines.
It provides an excellent course of study for students who want to grasp the funda-
mentals of dynamic systems, and it covers a significant amount of material also
taught in engineering modeling, systems dynamics, and vibrations, all combined
in a dense form. The book is designed as a text for juniors and seniors in aerospace,
mechanical, electrical, biomedical, and civil engineering. It is useful for understand-
ing the design and development of micro- and macroscale structures, electric and
fluidic systems with an introduction to transduction, and numerous simulations us-
ing MATLAB and SIMULINK.
The creation of machines is essentially what much of engineering is all about.
Critical to almost all machines imaginable is a transient response, which is funda-
mental to their functionality and needs to be our primary concern in their design.
This might be in the form of changing voltage levels in a sensor, the deflection of
a spring supported mass, or the flow of fluid through a device. The phenomena
that govern dynamics are not simply its mechanical components but often involve
the dynamics of transducers as well, which are often electromechanical or fluidic
based. This text not only discusses traditional electromagnetic type actuators but
also ventures into electrostatics, which are the dominant form of actuators in micro-
electromechanical systems.
This book presents an opportunity for introducing dynamic systems to scientists
and engineers who are concerned with the engineering of machines both at the mi-
cro- and macroscopic scale. Mechanism and movement are considered from the
types of springs and joints that are critical to micromachined, lithographic-based de-
vices to traditional models of macroscale electrical, fluidic, and electromechanical
systems. The examples discussed and the problems at the end of each chapter
have applicability at both scales. In essence this is a more modern treatment of
dynamical systems, presenting views of modeling and substructures more consistent
with the variety of problems that many engineers will face in the future. Any univer-
sity with a substantive interest in microscale engineering would do well to consider a
course that covers the material herein. Finally, this text lays the foundation and
framework for the development of controllers applied to these dynamical systems.
Professor Ephrahim Garcia

Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
xv
Preface
Engineering system dynamics is a discipline that focuses on deriving mathematical

models based on simplified physical representations of actual systems, such as
mechanical, electrical, fluid, or thermal, and on solving the mathematical models
(most often consisting of differential equations). The resulting solution (which
reflects the system response or behavior) is utilized in design or analysis before pro-
ducing and testing the actual system. Because dynamic systems are characterized by
similar mathematical models, a unitary approach can be used to characterize individ-
ual systems pertaining to different fields as well as to consider the interaction of
systems from multiple fields as in coupled-field problems.
This book was designed to be utilized as a one-semester system dynamics text for
upper-level undergraduate students with emphasis on mechanical, aerospace, or elec-
trical engineering. Comprising important components from these areas, the material
should also serve cross-listed courses (mechanicaleelectrical) at a similar study
level. In addition to the printed chapters, the book contains an equal number of
chapter extensions that have been assembled into a companion website section;
and this makes it useful as an introductory text for more advanced courses, such as
vibrations, controls, instrumentation, or mechatronics. The book can also be useful
in graduate coursework or in individual study as reference material. The material con-
tained in this book most probably exceeds the time allotted for a one-semester course
lecture, and therefore topical selection becomes necessary, based on particular
instruction emphasis and teaching preferences.
While the book maintains its focus on the classical approach to system dynamics,
a new feature of this text is the introduction of examples from compliant mechanisms
and micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS). As demonstrated in
the book, and for the relatively simple examples that have been selected here, this in-
clusion can really be treated within the regular system dynamics lumped-parameter
(pointlike) modeling; therefore, the students not so familiar with these topics should
face any major comprehension difficulties. Another central point of this book is pro-
posing a chapter on coupled-field (or multiple-field) systems, whereby interactions
between the mechanical, electrical, fluid, and thermal fields occur and generate
means for actuation or sensing applications, such as in thermomechanical, electro-
thermomechanical, electromechanical, electromagnetomechanical, or piezoelectric
applications.
Another key objective was to assemble a text that is structured, balanced, cohe-
sive, and providing a fluent and logical sequence of topics along the following lines:
1. It starts from simple components (the elements), proceeds to the objects’
assembly (the individual system), and arrives at the system interaction level
(coupled-field systems).
xvii
xviii Preface
2. It uses modeling and solution techniques that are familiar from other disciplines,
such as physics or ordinary differential equations, and subsequently introduces
new modeling and solution procedures.
3. It provides a rather even coverage (space) to each book chapter.
4. While various chapter structures are possible in a system dynamics text, this book
proposes a sequence that was intended to be systematic and consistent with the
logical structure and progression of the presented material.
As such, the book begins with an introductory Chapter 1, which offers an over-
view of the main aspects of a system dynamics course for engineering students. The
next four chaptersdChapters 2e5dare dedicated to mechanical (Chapters 2 and 3),
electrical (Chapter 4), and fluid and thermal (Chapter 5) system modeling. They
contain basic information on components, systems, and the principal physical and
mathematical tools enabling to model a dynamic system and determine its solution.
Dynamic systems modeling is performed both by means of Lagrange’s equations
and of methods designed for a particular system, such as Newton’s second law of
motion for mechanical system or Kirchhoff’s laws for electrical systems. These
chapters also define and illustrate analogies between the different systems.
Once the main engineering dynamic systems have been studied, Chapter 6 pre-
sents the Laplace transform technique, a mathematical tool that allows simplifying
the differential equation solution process for any of the individual systems. This
chapter is directly connected to the next segment of the book, containing Chapters
7e9. Chapter 7 introduces the transfer function approach, which facilitates
modeling a dynamic system directly in the Laplace domain, by expressing the output
as the product between the transfer function and the input. The complex impedance,
which is actually a transfer function connecting the Laplace-transformed input and
output of a specific system element, is also introduced and thoroughly treated in this
chapter. Chapter 8 studies the state space modeling and solution approach, which is
also related to the Laplace transform of Chapter 6 and the transfer function of
Chapter 7. Chapter 9 discusses modeling system dynamics in the frequency domain
by means of the sinusoidal (harmonic) transfer function. Chapter 10 analyzes
coupled-field (or multiple-field) dynamic systems, which are combinations of
mechanical, electrical, magnetic, piezoelectric, fluid, or thermal systems. In this
chapter, dynamic models are formulated and solved by means of the procedures
studied in previous chapters.
Because of the partial and natural overlap between system dynamics and
controls, the majority of textbooks on either of these two areas contain coverage
of material from the adjoining domain. Consistent with this approach, Chapters
11e13 cover basic concepts of feedback controls, as follows: Chapter 11 discusses
components and block diagrams for feedback control system modeling; Chapter 12
covers the stability of control systems; Chapter 13 presents notions of feedback
controls in the time and frequency domains.
The book also includes six appendixes: Appendix A is a refresher on complex
numbers, Appendix B is a review of matrix algebra, Appendix C gives a summary
Preface xix
of solutions to linear homogeneous ordinary differential equations with constant

coefficients, Appendix D is an introduction to SimulinkdMATLAB’s graphical
application, which allows diagram/graphical solutions of system dynamics prob-
lems, Appendix E contains basic MATLAB commands that have been used
throughout this text, and Appendix F comprises a summary of equations for calcu-
lating deformations, strains, and stresses of deformable mechanical components
such as bars and beams.
The book introduces several topics that are new to engineering system dynamics,
as highlighted here:
Chapter 2, Mechanical Elements
• Lumped-parameter inertia properties of basic compliant (flexible) members.
Chapter 3, Mechanical Systems
• Lumped-parameter dynamic modeling of simple compliant mechanical
microsystems.
• Mass detection in MEMS by the resonance shift method.
Chapter 4, Electrical Systems
• Capacitive sensing and actuation in MEMS.
Chapter 5, Fluid and Thermal Systems
• Natural response of fluid systems.
• Analogies between electrical, fluid, and thermal systems.
Chapters 3e5
• Notion of degrees of freedom (DOFs) for defining the system configuration of
dynamic systems.
• Application of the energy method to calculate the natural frequencies of
single- and multiple-DOF conservative systems.
• Utilization of the vectorematrix method to calculate the eigenvalues either
analytically or using MATLAB.
• Application of Lagrange’s equations to derive the mathematical models of the
free and forced response.
• Model derivation and solution of dynamic system nonlinear mathematical
models.
Chapter 6, Laplace Transform
• Laplace transformation of vectorematrix differential equations.
• Use of the convolution theorem to solve integral and integraledifferential
equations.
• Time-domain system identification.
Chapter 7, Transfer Function Approach
• Extension of the single-input, single-output transfer function approach to
multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) systems by means of the transfer
function matrix.
• Application of the transfer function approach to solve the forced and the free
responses with nonzero initial conditions.
xx Preface
• Systematic introduction and comprehensive application of the complex

impedance approach to electrical, mechanical, and fluid and thermal
systems.
• Stability analysis of dynamic systems by means of the transfer function.
Chapter 8, State Space Approach
• Application of the state space approach to solve the forced and free responses
with nonzero initial conditions.
Chapter 9, Frequency Response Approach
• Simplified (asymptote) Bode plots.
• Actuation, sensing, transmission, and reduction/isolation of mechanical
vibrations.
• Steady-state response of cascading unloading systems.
• Mechanical and electrical filters.
Chapter 10, Coupled-Field Systems
• Formulation of the coupled-field (multiple-field) problem.
• Principles and applications of sensing and actuation.
• Strain gauge and Wheatstone bridge circuits for measuring mechanical
deformation.
• Thermomechanical and electrothermomechanical coupling, including
nonlinear problems.
• Applications of electromagnetomechanical system dynamics.
• Principles and applications of piezoelectric coupling with mechanical
deformable systems.
Chapter 11, Block Diagrams and Feedback Control System Modeling
• Multiple examples of physical systems that operate as components in feed-
back control systems.
• Systematic formulation of lead-, lag-, and lag-lead compensators in the
frequency domain.
Chapter 12, Stability of Feedback Control Systems
• Stability of MIMO control systems by the transfer function matrix method.
Chapter 13, Time- and Frequency-Domain Controls of Feedback Systems
• Time-domain modeling of MIMO feedback control systems.
Within this printed book’s space limitations, attention has been directed at gener-
ating a balanced coverage of minimally necessary theory presentation, many solved
examples, and end-of-chapter problems. Whenever possible, examples are solved
analytically, using hand calculation, so that any mathematical software can be
used in conjunction with any model developed here. The book is not constructed
on MATLAB, but it uses this software to determine numerical solutions and to solve
symbolically mathematical models too involved to be obtained by hand. It would be
difficult to overlook the built-in capabilities of MATLAB’s tool boxes (really pro-
grams within the main program, such as the ones designed for symbolic calculation
or controls), which many times use one-line commands to solve complex system dy-
namics problems and which have been used in this text. Equally appealing solutions
Preface xxi
to system dynamics problems are the ones provided by Simulink, the graphical user
interface program built atop MATLAB, and applications are included in almost all
the chapters of solved and proposed exercises that can be approached by Simulink.
Through a companion website, the book comprises more ancillary support ma-
terial, including companion book chapters with extensions to the printed book
(with more advanced topics, details of the printed book material, and additional
solved examples, this section could be of interest and assistance to both the
instructor and the motivated student).
Whenever possible, alternative solution methods have been provided in the text
to enable using the algorithm that best suits various individual approaches to the
same problem.
The ancillary material also comprises an instructor’s manual, an image bank of
figures from the book, MATLAB code for the book’s solved examples, and Power-
Point lecture slides. After publication and as a result of specific requirements or sug-
gestions expressed by instructors who adopted the text and feedback from students,
additional problems resulting from this interaction will be provided on the website,
as well as corrections of the unwanted but possible errors.
To make distinction between variables, small-cap symbols are used for the time
domain (such as f for force, m for moment, or v for voltage), whereas capital symbols
denote Laplace transforms (such as F for force, M for moment, or V for voltage).
With regard to matrix notation, the probably old-fashioned symbols { } for vectors
and [ ] for matrices are used here, which can be replicated easily on the board.
Several solved examples and end-of-chapter problems in this book resulted from
exercises that I have used and tested in class over the years while teaching system
dynamics, and I am grateful to all the students who contributed to enhancing the
scope and quality of the original variants. I am indebted to the anonymous academic
reviewers who critically analyzed this text. They have made valid suggestions for
improvement, which were well taken and applied to this current second edition.
I am very thankful to Steven Merken, Senior Acquisition Editor at Elsevier
Engineering & Computing Textbooks, whose commitment to this project and quality
support has been instrumental in realizing this second edition. I am also grateful to
Nate McFadden, Senior Development Editor at Elsevier Engineering & Computing
Textbooks, and Mohanapriyan Rajendran, Production Project Manager, for kind and
efficient assistance, as well as for timely converting this project from its draft form to
its refined print state.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge and thank the unwavering support of my
wife, Simona, who painstakingly reviewed, checked, and edited the manuscript for
the second edition. She definitely made this project possible. As always, my
thoughts and profound gratitude for everything they gave me go to my daughters
Diana and Ioana and to my parents Ana and Nicolae.
Resources That Accompany
This Book
System dynamics instructors and students will find additional resources at textbooks.
elsevier.com
AVAILABLE TO ALL
Additional Online Content linked to specific sections of the book, extra content
includes advanced topics, additional worked examples, and more.
Downloadable MATLAB Code for the book’s solved examples.
FOR INSTRUCTORS ONLY

Instructor’s Manual The book itself contains a comprehensive set of end-of-chapter
problems. Worked-out solutions to the problems are available online to instructors
who adopt this book.
Image Bank that provides adopting instructors with various electronic versions of the
figures from this book that may be used in lecture slides and class presentations.
Power Point Lecture Slides Use the available set of lecture slides in your own course
as provided, or edit and reorganize them to meet your individual course needs.
Instructors should contact their Elsevier textbook sales representative at textbooks@
elsevier.com to obtain a password to access the instructor-only resources.
xxiii
CHAPTER
Introduction
1
This chapter discusses the notion of modeling or simulation of dynamic engineering
systems as a process that involves physical modeling of an actual (real) system,
mathematical modeling of the resulting physical representation (which generates
differential equations), and solution of the mathematical model, followed by inter-
pretation of the result (response). Modeling in this text uses lumped (or pointlike)
parameters and is placed in the context of either analysis or design. The dynamic
system mathematical model is studied in connection to its input and output signals,
such that single-input, single-output (SISO) and multiple-input, multiple-output
(MIMO) systems can be formed. Linear systems are categorized depending on the
order of the governing differential equations as zero-, first-, second-, or higher-
order systems. In addition to the applications usually encountered in system
dynamics texts, examples of compliant (or flexible) mechanisms that are incorpo-
rated in micro- or nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS or NEMS) are included
here. The nature of presentation is mainly descriptive in this chapter, as it attempts to
introduce a few of the concepts that are covered in more detail in subsequent
chapters.
1.1 ENGINEERING SYSTEM DYNAMICS

Engineering system dynamics is a discipline that studies the dynamic behavior of
various systems, such as mechanical, electrical, fluid, and thermal, either as isolated
entities or in their interaction, when they are coupled-field (or multiple-field) sys-
tems. One trait specific to this discipline is that systems belonging to different phys-
ical fields are described by similar mathematical models (expressed most often as
differential equations); therefore, the same mathematical apparatus can be utilized
to analyze or design different-field systems. This similitude also enables migration
between systems in the form of analogies, as well as application of a unitary
approach to coupled-field problems.
System dynamics relies on previously studied subject matter, such as differential
equations, matrix algebra, and physics, and the dynamics of systems (mechanical,
electrical, and fluid or thermal), which it integrates in probably the first
engineering-oriented material in the undergraduate course work. Engineering sys-
tem dynamics is concerned with physically and mathematically modeling dynamic
systems, which means deriving the mathematical models that govern the behavior
System Dynamics for Engineering Students. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804559-6.00001-4 1

2 CHAPTER 1 Introduction
(response) of these systems, as well as solving these mathematical models and

obtaining the system response. In addition to known modeling procedures, such
as Newton’s second law of motion for mechanical systems or Kirchhoff’s laws for
electrical systems, the student will learn or reinforce new techniques, such as
Lagrange’s equations, direct and inverse Laplace transforms, the transfer function,
the state-space approach, and frequency-domain analysis.
This course teaches the use of simplified physical models for real-world engi-
neering applications to design or analyze a dynamic system. Once an approximate,
yet sufficiently accurate, mathematical model has been derived, one can employ
MATLAB, a software program possessing numerous built-in functions, to solve sys-
tem dynamics mathematical models. Simulink, a graphical user interface computing
environment that is built atop MATLAB and that allows using blocks and signals to
perform various mathematical operations, can also be used to model, solve, and plot
the time response of engineering system dynamics problems. At the end of this
course, the student should feel more confident in approaching an engineering design
project from the model-based standpoint, rather than the empirical one; this
approach should enable selecting the key physical parameters of an actual system,
combining them into a relevant mathematical model and finding the solution (either
time response or frequency response).
Complementing the classical examples encountered in previous courses (such as
the rigid body, the spring, and the damper in mechanical systems), new examples are
offered in this course of compliant (flexible) mechanisms and MEMS or NEMS.
These devices can be modeled using the approach used for regular systems, which
is the lumped-parameter procedure (according to which system parameters are
pointlike).
In addition to being designed as an introduction to actual engineering course
work, and as a subject matter that studies various systems through a common prism,
engineering system dynamics is also valuable to subsequent courses in the engineer-
ing curricula, such as vibrations, controls, instrumentation, or mechatronics.
1.2 MODELING ENGINEERING SYSTEM DYNAMICS

The modeling process of engineering system dynamics starts by identifying the
fundamental properties of an actual system and its parameters. The minimum set
of variables necessary to fully define the system configuration is formed of the de-
grees of freedom (DOF). Key to this selection is simplifying assumptions that enable
retaining the essential features of the system. This process is usually aided by a sche-
matic representation or diagram, which pictorially identifies the parameters and the
variables, such as the free-body diagram that corresponds to the dynamics of a point-
like body in mechanical systems with forces and moments shown, and which plays
the role of a physical model for the actual system.
It is then necessary to utilize an appropriate modeling procedure or method that
will result in the mathematical model of the system. Generally, a mathematical
1.2 Modeling Engineering System Dynamics 3
Actual Physical Mathematical System

system model model response
Simplifying Mathematical Solving

assumptions procedure algorithm
FIGURE 1.1
Flow in the Dynamic System Modeling Process.
model describing the dynamic behavior of an engineering system consists of a dif-

ferential equation (or a system of differential equations) combining parameters with
known functions, unknown functions, and their derivatives. For relatively simple
systems, the mathematical model consists of a set of linear ordinary differential
equations (ODE), whereas more complex systems may be described by nonlinear
or/and partial differential equations. The next step involves solving the mathematical
model through adequate mathematical algorithms, analytical or numerical. When
the solution is analytically available, it is formed of equations depending on system
parameters and time (or frequency) and that reflect the system response or behavior.
Figure 1.1 gives a graphical depiction of this process that connects an actual
dynamic system under the action of external forcing to its response. There are
also situations when interrogation of the system response results in information
that is fed back to the actual system at the start of the chain, so it allows for correc-
tions to be applied; this is a topic pertaining to feedback-control systems, which is
briefly covered in Chapters 11e13 of this text.
1.2.1 Modeling Variants

Various steps can be adopted in transitioning from the actual system to a simplified
physical model, then from a physical model to a mathematical one, as sketched in
Figure 1.1. Several physical models can be developed, starting from an actual sys-
tem, depending on the severity (or laxity) of the simplifying assumptions applied.
Once a physical model has been selected, several modalities are available to math-
ematically describe that physical model. The application of different algorithms to
one mathematical model should produce the same result or solution, as the system
response is unique.
In the case of a car that runs on even terrain, the car vertical motion has a direct
impact on its passengers. A basic physical model is shown schematically in
Figure 1.2, which indicates the car mass is lumped at its center of gravity (CG)
and the front and rear suspensions are modeled as springs. Because the interest
here lies only in the car vertical motion, and the terrain is assumed even (perfectly
flat), it is safe to consider, as a rough approximation resulting in a first-iteration
physical model, that the impact points between the wheels and the road surface
Car motion
l1 l2
Original position
x θ
CG
m, J
k2
Front suspension k1 Car body
Rear suspension
Road surface
FIGURE 1.2
Simplified Physical Model of a Car That Moves Over Even Terrain.
are fixed points. Under these simplifying assumptions, the parameters that define the
car’s properties are its mass, its mechanical moment of inertia about an axis passing
through the CG and perpendicular to the drawing plane, and the spring stiffness of
the two suspensions. What is the minimum number of variables fully describing the
state (or configuration) of this simplified system at any moment in time? If we attach
the system motion to the CG, it follows that the vertical motion of the CG (measured
by the variable y) and the rotation (pitch) of the rigid rod (which symbolizes the car
body) about a horizontal axis and measured by an angle q are sufficient to specify the
position of the car body at any time moment. Of course, we have used another
simplifying assumption that the rotations and vertical displacements are relatively
small, and therefore the motions of the suspensions at their joining points with
the car body (modeled here as a rigid rod) are purely vertical.
As a consequence, the system parameters are the car mass m and its moment of
inertia J, the suspension spring constants (stiffnesses) k1 and k2, as well as the dis-
tances l1 and l2, which position the CG of the car. Generally, all these parameters
have known values. The variables (unknowns or DOF) are y, the vertical motion of
the CG, and q, the rotation of the body car about its CG. The next step is deriving
the mathematical model corresponding to the identified physical model, and this
phase can be achieved using a specific modeling technique, such as Newton’s sec-
ond law of motion, the energy method, Lagrange’s equations, or the state-space
representation for this mechanical systemdall these modeling techniques are dis-
cussed in subsequent chapters. The result consists of two linear ODE containing
the system parameters m, J, k1, k2, l1, l2, and the unknowns y, q, together with their
time derivatives. Solving for y and q in terms of initial conditions (for this system,
these are the initial displacements when t ¼ 0, namely y(0), q(0), and the initial
_
velocities yð0Þ; _
qð0Þ) provides explicitly the functions y(t) and q(t), and this consti-
tutes the system’s response. The system behavior can be studied by plotting y and q
as functions of t.
1.2 Modeling Engineering System Dynamics 5
l1 l2
y θ
CG
ks2 cs2 y
m, J 2
y1 ks1 cs1 m2
m1 kt ct
kt u2
ct
u1
FIGURE 1.3
Simplified Physical Model of a Car Moving Over Uneven Terrain, With the Degrees of
Freedom of the Suspensions Shown.
More complexity can be added to the simple car physical model of Figure 1.2, for
instance, by considering that the wheels are separate from the mechanical suspen-
sion through the tire elasticity and damping. The assumption of an uneven terrain
surface can also be introduced. Figure 1.3 depicts the physical model of the car
when all these system properties are taken into accountdplease note that the masses
of wheels, tires, and suspensions are included and combined together (they are
denoted by m1 and m2 in Figure 1.3), and when the two wheels are considered iden-
tical. It can now be seen that two more DOF are added to the existing ones, so that
the system becomes a four-DOF system (they are y, q, y1, and y2), whereas the input
is formed by the two displacements applied to the front and rear tires, u1 and u2.
Dynamic modeling is involved in two apparently opposite directions: the analysis
and the design (or synthesis) of a specific system. Analysis starts from a given system
whose parameters are known. The dynamic analysis objective is to establish the
response of a system through its mathematical model. Conversely, the design needs
to find an actual dynamic system capable of producing a specified performance or
response. In analysis we start from a real-world, well-defined system, which we
attempt to characterize through a mathematical model, whereas in design (synthesis)
we embark with a set of requirements and use a model to obtain the skeleton of an
actual system. Figure 1.4 gives a graphical representation of the two processes.
Actual Mathematical System

system model response
(a)
Specified Mathematical Designed

system response model system
(b)
FIGURE 1.4
Processes Utilizing Dynamic Models: (a) Analysis; (b) Design (Synthesis).
1.2.2 Dynamical Systems Lumped-Parameter Modeling and

Solution
It is convenient from the modeling viewpoint to consider that the parameters
defining the dynamic behavior of a system are located at well-specified spatial sta-
tions, so they can be considered pointlike. Lumping parameters result in dynamic
system models consisting of ODE. The mass of a rigid body, for instance, is consid-
ered to be concentrated at the center of mass (gravity) of that body, so that the center
of mass becomes representative for the whole body, which simplifies the modeling
task substantially, without diminishing the modeling accuracy. Similar lumping con-
siderations can be applied to springs or dampers in the mechanical realm, and also in
the electrical domain, where resistances, capacitances, and inductances are consid-
ered lumped-parameter system properties.
Also, in some cases, the lumped-parameter modeling can be used for compo-
nents that have inherently distributed properties. Take the example of a cantilever,
such as the one sketched in Figure 1.5(a). Both its inertia and elastic properties
are distributed, as they are functions of the position x along the length of the canti-
lever. Chapter 2 shows how to transform the actual distributed-parameter model into
an equivalent lumped-parameter model, as in Figure 1.5(b). That approach provides
the tip mass meq and stiffness kt (the subscript denotes translation) that are equivalent
to the dynamic response of the original cantilever.
y y
meq
x
kt
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1.5
Cantilever Beam: (a) Actual, Distributed-Parameter Inertia and Stiffness; (b) Equivalent,
Lumped-Parameter Inertia and Stiffness.
Caution should be exercised when studying complex flexible systems, where the
lumping of parameters can yield results that are sensibly different from the expected
and actual results, as measured experimentally or simulated by more advanced (nu-
merical) techniques, such as the finite element method. However, for the relatively
simple compliant device configurations analyzed in subsequent chapters, lumped-
parameter modeling yields results with relatively small errors.
Modeling Methods
Several procedures or methods are available for deriving the mathematical model of
a specified lumped-parameter physical model. Some of them are specific to a certain
1.3 Elements, System, Input, and Output 7
system (such as the Newton’s second law of motion, which is applied to mechanical
systems or the Kirchhoff’s laws, which are used in electrical systems). Others can be
utilized more across the board for all dynamic systems, such as the energy method,
the Lagrange’s equations, the transfer function method, and the state-space
approach. These methods are detailed in subsequent chapters.
Solution Methods
Once the mathematical model of a dynamic system has been derived, and consists of
one or more differential equations (linear or nonlinear), the solution can be obtained
mainly using two methods. One method is the direct integration of the differential
equations, and the other method uses the direct and inverse Laplace transforms.
The big advantage of the Laplace method, as will be shown in Chapter 6, consists
in the fact that the original, time-defined differential equations are transformed into
algebraic equations, whose solution can be found by simpler means. The Laplace-
domain solutions are subsequently converted back into the time-domain solutions
by means of the inverse Laplace transform. The transfer function and the state-
space methods are also employed to determine the time response in Chapters 7 and
8, respectively.
System Response
The majority of the systems studied in this text are linear and are modeled with
constant-coefficient ODE as initial-value problems. The solution to a linear ODE
that describes the system behavior is the sum of two parts: one is the complementary
(or homogeneous) solution (which is the solution when no input or excitation is
applied to the system), and the other is the particular solution (which is one solution
of the equation when a specific forcing or input acts on the system). The complemen-
tary solution is representative of the free response, and usually vanishes after a
period of time with dissipation present, so it is indicative of the transient response.
The particular solution, on the other hand, persists in the overall solution, and there-
fore defines the forced or steady-state response of the system to a specific input.
1.3 ELEMENTS, SYSTEM, INPUT, AND OUTPUT

A system in general (and an engineering one in particular in this text) is a combina-
tion of various elements (or components), which together form an entity that can be
studied in its entirety. Take for instance a resistor, an inductor, a capacitor, and a
voltage source, as shown in Figure 1.6(a); they are individual electrical elements
that can be combined in the series connection of Figure 1.6(b) to form an electrical
system. Similarly, mechanical elements such as inertia (mass), stiffness, damping,
and forcing can be combined in various ways to generate mechanical systems. There
are also fluid systems, thermal systems, and systems that combine elements from at
least two different fields (or domains) to generate coupled-field (or multiple-field)
systems, such as electromechanical or thermoelectromechanical, to mention just
two possibilities.
+ + i
R L C v v L
– –
C
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1.6
(a) Individual Electrical Elements; (b) Electrical System Formed of These Components.
y1 y2
k1
k2
m1 m2
f2
c f1
FIGURE 1.7
MIMO Mechanical System With Linear Motion.
The response of a dynamical system is generated by external causes, such as

forcing or initial conditions. It is customary to name the cause that generates the
change in the system as input, whereas the resulting response is known as output.
A system can have one input and one output, in which case it is a SISO system or
it can have several inputs or several outputs, consequently known as MIMO system.
A SISO example is the single-mesh series-connection electrical circuit of
Figure 1.6(b). For this example the input is the voltage v, whereas the output is
the current i. A MIMO mechanical system is sketched in Figure 1.7, where there
are two inputs, the forces f1 and f2, and two outputs, the displacements y1 and y2.
The car models just analyzed are also MIMO systems, as they all have more than
one input or output.
The input signals (or forcing functions) that are applied to dynamic systems can
be deterministic or random in nature. This text is concerned with deterministic input
signals only, which are known, analytic functions of time. Elementary input signals
include the step, ramp, parabolic, sine (cosine), pulse, and impulse functions;
Figure 1.8 plots these functions in terms of time.
1.4 COMPLIANT MECHANISMS AND

MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS
In addition to examples that are somewhat classical for dynamics of engineering
systems, this text discusses several applications from the fields of compliant mech-
anisms and MEMS or NEMS. This book demonstrates that, under regular circum-
stances, simple applications from compliant mechanisms and MEMS can be
1.4 Compliant Mechanisms and Microelectromechanical Systems 9
u u u
0, t < 0
A u=
0, t < 0 0, t < 0 A ⋅ t 2, t ≥ 0
u= u=
A, t ≥ 0 A ⋅ t, t ≥ 0
t t t
(a) (b) (c)
u u u
0, t < 0
A ∞ u=
A A A ⋅ sin ( ω ⋅ t ) , t ≥ 0
τ , 0≤ t ≤ τ lim
u= τ u = τ→0 τ A
0, t < 0, t > τ 0, t < 0, t > τ
τ t 0←τ t t
(d) (e) (f)

FIGURE 1.8
A Few Input Functions: (a) Step; (b) Ramp; (c) Parabolic; (d) Pulse; (e) Impulse;
(f) Sinusoidal.
reduced to lumped-parameter (most often) linear systems that are similar to other
well-established system dynamics examples.
Compliant (flexible) mechanisms are devices that use the elastic deformation of
slender, springlike portions, instead of classical rotation or sliding pairs to create,
transmit, or sense mechanical motion. The example of Figure 1.9 illustrates the rela-
tionship between a classical translation (sliding) joint with regular springs and the
corresponding compliant joint formed of flexure hinges (slender portions that
bend and enable motion transmission). The compliant device of Figure 1.9(a) is
Fixed support
Flexure hinges
y
k k
Body Motion direction m
k k
Flexure hinges
Fixed support
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1.9
Realizing Translation: (a) Compliant Mechanism With Flexure Hinges; (b) Equivalent
Lumped-Parameter Model.
Compliant frame Flexure hinge

Rotation joint
Amplified output
Input Input
Amplified output
Piezoelectric actuator
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1.10
Flexure-Based Planar Compliant Mechanism for Motion Amplification: (a) Photograph of
Actual Device; (b) Schematic Representation With Pointlike Rotation Joints.
constrained to move horizontally because the four identical flexure hinges bend
identically (in pairs of two), whenever a mechanical excitation is applied along
the motion direction. The lumped-parameter counterpart is drawn in
Figure 1.9(b), where the four identical flexure hinges have been substituted by
four identical translation springs, each of stiffness k.
Another compliant mechanism example is the one of Figure 1.10(a), which pic-
tures a piezoelectrically actuated, displacement-amplification device. Figure 1.10(b)
is the schematic representation of the actual mechanism, where the flexure hinges
are replaced by classical pointlike rotation joints. The schematic shows that the input
from the two piezoelectric (PZT) actuators is amplified twice by means of two lever
stages. The mechanism is clamped to and offset above the base centrally, as indi-
cated in Figure 1.10(a), and is free to deform and move in a plane parallel to the
base plane.
As monolithic (single-piece) devices, compliant mechanisms present several ad-
vantages over their classical counterparts, such as lack of assembly, no moving parts,
and therefore no losses due to friction between adjacent parts, no need for mainte-
nance, and simplicity of fabrication (although at costs that are higher generally
compared to classical manufacturing procedures). Their main drawback is that the
range of motion is reduced because of the constraints posed by limited deformations
of their compliant joints. Compliant mechanisms are encountered in both macro-
scale applications (with dimensions larger than millimeters) and micro- or nanoscale
ones (when the device dimensions are in the micrometer or nanometer range
(1 mm ¼ 106 m, 1 nm ¼ 109 m)), particularly in microelectromechanical systems.
In many situations, compliant mechanisms are built as single-piece (monolithic) de-
vices with techniques such as wire electro-discharge machining (wire EDM),
through water jet machining or by microfabrication techniques (for MEMS), such
as surface or bulk micromachining.
1.4 Compliant Mechanisms and Microelectromechanical Systems 11
Anchor Flexure hinges Output motion
Electrostatic sensing
Thermal actuation
Input motion
Fixed armature
Anchor Output motion
FIGURE 1.11
Top View of Compliant MEMS With Thermal Actuation and Electrostatic Sensing of
Motion.
MEMS applications, such as sensors, actuators, pumps, motors, accelerometers,

gyroscopes, electrical or mechanical filters, electronic or optical switches, GPS
devices (to mention just a few), are encountered in the automotive, defense, medical,
biology, computing, and communications domains. Figure 1.11 is the microphoto-
graph of a flexure-hinge thermal microactuator, whose motion is sensed electrostat-
ically by several pairs of capacitors. The entire device floats over a substrate on
which it is attached by four anchors (two are shown in the figure).
Another MEMS application is sketched in Figure 1.12(a) and 1.12(b). It repre-
sents a torsional micromirror, which can be used in several applications such as dy-
namic redirectioning of incoming optical signals. Attraction/repulsion forces, which
can be produced electrostatically or magnetically, act on the side of and underneath
the central plate (the mirror) and generate partial rotation of the plate about the axis
that passes through the two end elastic hinges. The hinges deform in torsion, hence
Fixed support
Torsion hinge kr
Fixed plate
A
Mobile plate Mobile plate Jt
kr
Force
(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 1.12
Torsional Micromirror: (a) Top View; (b) Side View (From A); (c) Equivalent Lumped-
Parameter Model.
the name torsional mirror. Figure 1.12(c) shows the equivalent lumped-parameter
model of the actual torsional mirror. Several other MEMS devices are analyzed in
subsequent chapters as mechanical, electrical, or coupled-field systems.
1.5 SYSTEM ORDER

As mentioned previously, the simplest linear dynamic system is described by a
constant-coefficient linear ODE. The order of the differential equation(s) gives the
order of the system, as is shown next. For a SISO system, the relationship between
the input u(t) and the output y(t) is described by a differential equation of the type
X
n
d i yðtÞ
ai $ ¼ b $ uðtÞ (1.1)
i¼0
dti
where ai (i ¼ 0 to n) and b are constant factors, and the input function u(t) can also
include derivatives. The maximum derivation order of the output function y(t) in a
system of the nth order is n, such that a second-order system, for instance, is defined
by a maximum-order input derivative of 2, and so on.
1.5.1 Zero-Order Systems

A zero-order system is defined by the equation
a0 $ yðtÞ ¼ b $ uðtÞ or yðtÞ ¼ K $ uðtÞ (1.2)
where K ¼ b/a0 is the constant gain or static sensitivity.
The static sensitivity constant reflects the storage nature of a zero-order system,
and this is illustrated in the following example. A force f is applied slowly (quasis-
tatically) to a massless body that is elastically supported by two identical springs, as
illustrated in Figure 1.13. The static equilibrium requires f ¼ fe, the elastic force be-
ing produced by two springs as fe ¼ 2k$y. As a consequence, the following equation
results:
1
y¼ $f (1.3)
2k
where the static sensitivity is K ¼ 1/(2k), and the input is f ¼ u.
y
k
f
k
Massless body
FIGURE 1.13
Massless Body With Springs.
1.5 System Order 13
1.5.2 First-Order Systems

First-order systems are described by a differential equation:
dyðtÞ dyðtÞ
a1 $ þ a0 $ yðtÞ ¼ b $ uðtÞ or s $ þ yðtÞ ¼ K $ uðtÞ (1.4)
dt dt
where s is the time constant, and it is defined as s ¼ a1/a0. It can be seen that a first-
order system is described by two constants: the static sensitivity K and the time
constant sdthis latter one displays the dissipative side of a first-order system.
The thermal system sketched in Figure 1.14 is a first-order system, as shown next.
Thermometer
θ
Bath
θb
FIGURE 1.14
Bath-Thermometer Thermal System.
As detailed in Chapter 5, the heat flow rate stored by the thermometer during
contact is
dqðtÞ
q ¼ m$c$ (1.5)
dt
where c is the specific heat of the thermometer, m is its mass, and q is the thermom-
eter temperature. At the same time, it is known that convective heat transfer between
the bath and thermometer is governed by the equation
q ¼ h $ A $ ½qb qðtÞ (1.6)
where h is the convection heat transfer (film) coefficient, and A is the thermometer
area in contact with the fluid. Equating the heat flow rates of Eqs. (1.5) and (1.6) re-
sults in
m $ c dqðtÞ
$ þ qðtÞ ¼ qb (1.7)
h $ A dt
which indicates that s ¼ m$c/(h$A) and K ¼ 1. The input is the bath temperature qb,
and the output is the thermometer temperature q(t). Figure 1.15 displays a typical
first-order system response for the particular case where s ¼ 10 s and qb ¼ 80 C.
For a first-order system, the response to a step input can be characterized by the
steady-state response, y(N), the rise time (time after which the response gets to 90%
FIGURE 1.15
Thermometer Temperature as a Function of Time (Typical First-Order System Time
Response).
of the steady-state response, but other definitions are also applicable), and the
settling time (time necessary for the response to stay within 2% of the steady-
state response values); more details on this topic are given in the website Chapter
13, which studies the dynamics of control systems.
1.5.3 Second- and Higher-Order Systems

Second-order systems are defined by the following differential equation:
d2 yðtÞ dyðtÞ
a2 $ þ a1 $ þ a0 $ yðtÞ ¼ b $ uðtÞ (1.8)
dt2 dt
Division of Eq. (1.8) by a2 and rearrangement of the resulting equation yields
d2 yðtÞ dyðtÞ
þ 2x $ un $ þ u2n $ yðtÞ ¼ u2n $ K $ uðtÞ (1.9)
dt2 dt
where the new constants, the natural frequency un, and the damping ratio x, are
defined as
a0 a1 b b a0
¼ u2n ; ¼ 2x $ un ; ¼ $ ¼ K $ u2n (1.10)
a2 a2 a2 a0 a2
Let us prove that the mechanical system of Figure 1.16 operates as a second-
order system.
1.5 System Order 15
y
k
m
f
c
FIGURE 1.16
Mechanical System With Mass, Spring, and Damper.
As detailed in Chapters 2 and 3, the equation of motion is derived by means of

Newton’s second law of motion as
d2 yðtÞ dyðtÞ d 2 yðtÞ c dyðtÞ k 1
m$ 2
¼ f ðtÞ c $ k $ yðtÞ or 2
þ $ þ $ yðtÞ ¼ $ f ðtÞ
dt dt dt m dt m m
(1.11)
where f ¼ u; therefore, the three coefficients defining the second-order system are
k c 1
u2n ¼ ; 2x $ un ¼ ; K ¼ (1.12)
m m k
Based on this mechanical system, Figure 1.17 shows the time response of a
typical second-order system for f ¼ 1 N, x ¼ 0.5, un ¼ 100 rad/s, and K ¼ 1. The
main characteristics of the time response of a second-order system to a step input
are the steady-state response, the rise time, the peak time (time required for the
FIGURE 1.17
Mass Displacement as a Function of Time (Typical Second-Order System Time
Response).
Ra
Rotor armature
+ ia
va vb Jl
– cr
θ, ma
La Stator Load
FIGURE 1.18
Schematic of a DC Motor as an Electromechanical System.
response to reach its maximum value), the peak response (the maximum response),
and the settling time; all these parameters are studied in more detail in Chapter 13 in
the context of controls.
Systems of orders larger than two are also encountered in engineering applica-
tions, as in the following example, which results in a third-order system model.
The electromechanical system of Figure 1.18 consists of a dc (direct-current) motor
and load. The dynamic model of this rotary system consists of equations that
describe the mechanical, electrical, and mechanicaleelectrical (coupled-field)
behavior. Essentially, the electromechanical system sketched in Figure 1.18 is
formed of a mobile part (the rotor armature), which rotates under the action of a
magnetic field produced by the electrical circuit of an armature (the stator). The
electrical circuit is formed of a resistor Ra, an inductor La, and a voltage source
va. As discussed in Chapters 4 and 10, the electrical system’s behavior is governed
by Kirchhoff’s second law, according to which
dia ðtÞ
Ra $ ia ðtÞ þ La $ ¼ va ðtÞ vb ðtÞ (1.13)
dt
where the subscript a indicates the armature, and vb is the back electromotive force
(voltage).
The mechanical part of the system is formed of the rotary load inertia Jl and a
rotary damper cr; according to Newton’s second law of motion and as detailed in
Chapters 3 and 10, the system is governed by the equation
d2 qðtÞ dqðtÞ
Jl $
2
¼ ma ðtÞ cr $ (1.14)
dt dt
where ma is the torque developed due to the statorerotor interaction. It is also known
that the following equations couple the mechanical and electrical fields:
8
>
< ma ðtÞ ¼ Km $ ia ðtÞ
dqðtÞ (1.15)
>
: vb ðtÞ ¼ Ke $
dt
1.6 Coupled-Field (Multiple-Field) Systems 17
with Km and Ke being constants. By combining Eqs. (1.13)e(1.15), the following

third-order differential equation is produced:
2
La $ Jl d3 qðtÞ La $ c r R a $ J l d qðtÞ Ra $ c r dqðtÞ
$ þ þ $ þ þ Ke $ ¼ va ðtÞ
Km dt3 Km Km dt2 Km dt
(1.16)
where va(t) is the input, and q(t) is the output. The order of Eq. (1.16) can be reduced
to two by using the substitution u(t) ¼ dq(t)/dt.
1.6 COUPLED-FIELD (MULTIPLE-FIELD) SYSTEMS

The previous example illustrated the interaction between mechanical and electrical
elements and systems that resulted in an electromechanical system. The correspond-
ing mathematical model is formed of equations pertaining to a single domain or field
(either mechanical or electrical) and equations combining elements from both fields.
Such a mathematical model is representative of coupled-field (or multiple-field) sys-
tems. Another example is presented here in a descriptive manner, and more details
on coupled-field systems are given in Chapter 10. Consider the system of
Figure 1.19, which is formed of a PZT block with a strain gauge attached to it.
Each of these two subsystems has its own electrical circuit. PZT materials essen-
tially deform when an external voltage is applied to them due to the inverse
piezoelectric effect. A voltage vi applied between the end points of the bloc sketched
in Figure 1.19 generates an axial deformation, which is proportional to the applied
voltage. Assuming now that the strain gauge (which is a resistor) is affixed longitu-
dinally to the block, the resistor incurs the same axial deformation as the block;
+ Actuation circuit
vi
–
Mechanical deformation Mechanical deformation

+
Strain gauge
vo
PZT linear actuator
–
Sensing circuit
FIGURE 1.19
Coupled-Field System With Mechanical, Electrical, and Piezoelectric Elements. PZT,
piezoelectric.
therefore, its resistance changes by a quantity proportional to the mechanical defor-

mation. This resistance change can be sensed in the external circuit and measured as
vo. To summarize, an equation is obtained that combines electrical, PZT, and me-
chanical elements; therefore, this system is a coupled-field one.
As illustrated by this example, the PZT block behaves as an actuator when sup-
plied with a voltage generating the mechanical motion. The dc motor is another actu-
ator (or motor) example, where the armature voltage is the source of shaft angular
rotation. More generically, an actuator transforms one form of energy (such as elec-
trical, most often) into mechanical energy.
A PZT block can also produce voltage when subjected to mechanical pressure or
deformation through direct PZT effect. In this case it behaves as a sensor (or gener-
ator) by converting one form of energy (mechanical in this particular situation) into
electrical energy to perform a measurement (quantitative assessment) operation. A
sensor generally aims at measuring the variation of a physical parameter, such as
displacement, velocity, acceleration, pressure, electrical resistance, also named
measurand, by converting that variation into another parameter’s variation, which
can subsequently be processed more easily. The two parameters are usually con-
nected by a linear relationship, which is typical of zero-order systems (see
Eq. 1.2), and where the input is the quantity to be measured, while the output is
the parameter that measures (the converted quantity). The two parameters are related
by the static sensitivity K, as illustrated in Figure 1.20. Being methods of converting
one form of energy into another one, actuation and sensing are known collectively as
transduction (although in many instances transduction substitutes for sensing). More
on transduction is discussed in Chapter 10, and in specialized measurement and
instrumentation texts.
Converted quantity
K
Quantity to be measured
FIGURE 1.20
Sensing Characteristics in a Linear Measurement Process.
1.7 LINEAR AND NONLINEAR DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

Linearity or nonlinearity of a dynamic system is mathematically associated with the
differential equation that defines the behavior of that specific system. A SISO sys-
tem, for instance, is linear when the coefficients ai of Eq. (1.1) do not depend on
1.7 Linear and Nonlinear Dynamic Systems 19
the unknown function (response) y(t) and when the unknown function and its deriv-
atives in the left-hand side of Eq. (1.1) are first-degree polynomial functions. Sys-
tems where the coefficients ai are not constant (are time variable, for instance)
still preserve their linear character.
Consider a linear system whose output y(t) is formally expressed in terms of the
input u(t) as O(u) ¼ y where O is a linear operator. For an input c$u (c being a con-
stant factor), the resulting output is O(c$u) ¼ c$O(u) ¼ c$y; this property of linear
systems is known as scalability or homogeneity. Linear systems are also additive,
which means that when the input is a sum of multiple inputs, such as u1 þ u2, the
corresponding output becomes O(u1 þ u2) ¼ O(u1) þ O(u2) ¼ y1 þ y2. Combining
scaling and additivity results in O(c1$u1 þ c2$u2) ¼ O(c1$u1) þ O(c2$u2) ¼
c1$O(u1) þ c2$O(u2) ¼ c1$y1 þ c2$y2, where c1 and c2 are constant factors. This
linear superposition feature allows calculating the output of a dynamic system to
a linear combination of multiple inputs, which is c1$u1 þ c2$u2 þ ., by superim-
posing the system outputs to individual inputs, namely c1$y1 þ c2$y2 þ ..
An important consequence of linearity of systems and of their mathematical
models is that of enabling direct and inverse Laplace transformations. For instance,
Laplace transforming the linear Eq. (1.1) results in Y(s) ¼ G(s)$U(s), where Y(s) and
U(s) are the Laplace transforms of the output y(t) and input u(t), while G(s)dthe
transfer functiondplays the role of a gain function. The output y(t) can simply be
found by inverse Laplace transforming Y(s).
In a SISO mechanical system, nonlinearity can be produced by several factors
connected to either mass, stiffness, damping, or motion features. Consider the
body of mass m of Figure 1.21, which is attached by two identical springs of stiffness
k and of undeformed length l.
When the body moved a distance x to the right from the equilibrium position, the
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
elongation of each of the two identical springs is equal to l2 þ y2 l. By applying
k
l
m
l
k
y
FIGURE 1.21
Mass With Two Springs in Deformed Position as a Nonlinear Mechanical System.
Newton’s second law of motion and projecting the two identical spring forces on the
horizontal motion direction, the following equation results:
d2 yðtÞ
þ 2keq $ yðtÞ ¼ 0
m$ (1.17)
dt2
with the equivalent stiffness being
0 1
B l C
keq ¼ k $ @1 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiA (1.18)
2
l2 þ yðtÞ
which indicates the stiffness is nonlinear, and therefore the whole mechanical system
is nonlinear. The stiffness increase is produced by a “hardening” effect, whereby the
stiffness and its slope increase with y. Another variant, where the slope decreases
with y, is generated by a “softening” effect. Both behaviors are nonlineardthey
are sketched in Figure 1.22, alongside the characteristic of a linear spring.
Hardening spring
Spring force
Linear spring
Softening spring
Deformation
FIGURE 1.22
Linear, Hardening, and Softening Spring Characteristics.
Another nonlinearity type, particularly encountered in electrical components is

saturation. Figure 1.23 shows the voltageecurrent characteristic curve of an
inductor; it can be seen that the linear relationship between the voltage and the cur-
rent changes past a central zone, as the voltage decreases (saturates) when the
Voltage
Current
– i lin i lin
FIGURE 1.23
Saturation-Type Nonlinearity.
1.9 Feedback Control of Dynamic Systems 21
current increases past the linearity limits. As known from electromagnetism, the
voltage across an inductor is defined as vL ðtÞ ¼ L $ diðtÞ=dt. Obviously, when the
current is confined within the ilin and þilin bounds, the slope di/dt is constant,
and the voltageecurrent relationship is linear. This actually is the range utilized
in the majority of electrical system calculations.
1.8 TIME- AND FREQUENCY-DOMAIN SYSTEM DYNAMICS

Dynamic systems are preponderantly modeled by means of equations that provide
the time-domain response, which is y(t) for a SISO system whose input is u(t). Using
the Laplace transform (as discussed in Chapter 6), time-domain linear dynamic sys-
tems are converted into frequency-domain models, whose independent variable is
sdconventionally called frequency. For instance, a constant-coefficient linear ordi-
nary differential equation with the input u(t) and the output y(t) is Laplace trans-
formed into a frequency-domain algebraic equation where the input is U(s), and
the output is Y(s). This equation is solved for Y(s), which enables calculating its orig-
inal, time-domain counterpart y(t). A related frequency-domain modeling approach
utilizes the transfer function G(s), which relates the frequency input and output as
Y(s) ¼ G(s)$U(s) for a SISO systemdmore details are given in Chapter 7.
Frequency-domain modeling is also necessary for harmonic inputs, such as
u(t) ¼ U$sin(u$t). The resulting steady-state response (when t / N) in those cases
is also harmonic, namely:

Y ¼ U $ jGðu $ jÞj
yðtÞ ¼ Y $ sinðu $ t þ 4Þ with (1.19)
4 ¼ ;Gðu $ jÞ
As Eq. (1.19) indicates, both the output amplitude Y and phase angle 4 depend on
the complex number G(u$j), which, for a SISO system, results from the transfer
function G(s) ¼ Y(s)/U(s). Because Y and 4 depend on the input frequency u solely
(which is identical to the output frequency), formulating Y(u) and 4(u) is known as
frequency-domain response, and the resulting two plots are called Bode plots (see
Chapters 9 and 13).
This text studies both the time- and the frequency-domain responses of engineer-
ing dynamic systems.
1.9 FEEDBACK CONTROL OF DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

Both time-domain and frequency-domain approaches fundamentally assume that the
response (output) of a dynamic system can be predicted reliably and solely based on
an accurate mathematical model of a system for any forcing (input), as illustrated in
Figure 1.24(a). In actuality, the system response can and does vary from the model-
predicted one. The main sources of differences between model (ideal) and actual
Input Output Input Output

System model Control model System model
Feedback
(a) (b)
FIGURE 1.24
(a) Uncontrolled Dynamic System; (b) Feedback-Control Dynamic System.
(real-life) system responses are the errors due to physical/mathematical modeling

simplifying assumptions, to numerical procedures, and to the presence of unwanted
factors, such as noise or disturbances. It therefore becomes necessary to apply some
corrective measure to minimize or eliminate the errors. The most common proced-
ure of ensuring that the response of a dynamic system is the desired one uses an addi-
tional systemdthe controllerdto interact with the original dynamic system based
on output information that is back fed to the controller. Figure 1.24(b) is a simplified,
principle representation of this corrective technique, known as feedback control,
which is introduced with more details in Chapters 11e13 of this text.
CHAPTER
Mechanical Elements
2
OBJECTIVES
In this chapter you will learn about:
• Springs, heavy bodies, and viscous dampers, which are the main mechanical
elements of systems undergoing translation or/and rotation.
• Lumped-parameter properties of and energy associated with translatory and rotary
mechanical elements: stiffness, inertia, and damping.
• Transforming distributed-parameter inertia properties of elastic members such as
bars and beams into equivalent lumped-parameter properties.
• Transforming lumped-parameter mechanical properties by series/parallel connec-
tion, gears, and levers.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces the basic mechanical elements that are used as building blocks
for translatory and/or rotary mechanical systems. These elements are the springs, which
describe elastic properties through stiffness (or spring constants), the heavy solids,
which carry inertial or mass properties, and the viscous dampers, which qualify a widely
used type of energy losses through damping coefficients. The stiffness, mass (or mass
moment of inertia), and damping coefficient are formulated as lumped-parameter (or
pointlike) element properties in terms of the related forces/moments, as well as in terms
of the associated energy. Flexible, distributed-parameter stiffness, and inertia of mem-
bers such as bars and beams are rendered into equivalent, lumped-parameter elements.
Examples are also offered of transferring basic lumped-parameter mechanical element
properties into equivalent ones through motion transformers such as levers and gears.
2.1 SPRING ELEMENTS

Springs serving as elastic support for translatory and rotary motion are studied in
this section in relation to their lumped-parameter stiffness (or spring constant) k.
The stiffness and elastic energy of basic springs and springs connected in series
or parallel are presented.
System Dynamics for Engineering Students. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804559-6.00002-6 23

24 CHAPTER 2 Mechanical Elements
2.1.1 Basic Spring Elements and Stiffness

Springs are mechanical elements that generate elastic forces in translatory motion
and elastic torques in rotary motion; these elastic reactions oppose the spring defor-
mation and are proportional to the spring linear or angular deformation.
Figure 2.1 sketches one of the most common spring configurationsdthe helical
springdwhich can be used for either axial (translatory) deformation or torsion-
generated (rotary) deformation. The parameters defining the helical spring are the
mean diameter D, the wire diameter d, the number of active turns N, and the material
shear and Young’s moduli, G and E. For a general spring whose end points undergo
the displacements x1 and x2 (as shown in Figure 2.1), the elastic force developed in
the spring, fe, is proportional to the spring deformation, which is the difference be-
tween the two end point displacements. The elastic force is expressed in Table 2.1,
where kt is the translatory spring stiffness.
Similarly, an elastic torque is generated by a spring in rotation whose end points
undergo the rotations q1 and q2 (see Figure 2.1). The elastic torque me is also pro-
vided in Table 2.1 where kr is the rotary spring stiffness. These equations assume
the springs are linear and therefore the stiffness is constant. A deformed spring stores
Translation Rotation
x1 x2 θ1 θ2
kt kr
FIGURE 2.1
Helical Spring With Symbols for Translatory and Rotary Motion.
Table 2.1 Elastic Force/Moment and Elastic Potential Energy for

Translatory and Rotary Springs
Elastic force/ fe ¼ kt $ Dx ¼ kt $ ðx1 x2 Þ me ¼ kr $ Dq ¼ kr $ ðq1 q2 Þ
moment
Elastic Ue ¼ 12 $ kt $ ðDxÞ2 ¼ 12 $ kt $ ðx1 x2 Þ2 Ue ¼ 12 $ kr $ ðDqÞ2 ¼ 12 $ kr $ ðq1 q2 Þ2
potential
energy
2.1 Spring Elements 25
elastic potential energy (Ue) and equations corresponding to a translatory spring as

well as to a rotary spring are included in the same Table 2.1.
Because we are interested only on the relative displacement of the end pointsd
that connect the spring to other elementsdthe stiffness is lumped and is known as
lumped-parameter stiffness. Tables 2.2 and 2.3 give the description, symbols, and
corresponding stiffnesses of a few of the most utilized springs in translation/rotation
applications, whereas the companion website Chapter 2 provides mathematical
demonstrations of these stiffnesses. In these tables, A represents the member’s
cross-sectional area, Iz is the cross-sectional (or second) moment of area about the
Table 2.2 Basic Translatory Springs and Their Lumped-Parameter

Stiffnesses
Configuration Model Stiffness
Cantilever beam
Fixed end
Free end
fy, uy
E, Iz
kt ¼ 3El3$ Iz
l l
fy, uy
Fixed-guided beam
kt
f y, u y
Gudied end
Fixed end
E, I z
kt ¼ 12El3 $ Iz
l
Bridge (fixed-fixed beam)

fy, uy
l/2
Fixed end
Fixed end
fy, uy
E, I z
kt kt ¼ 192E
l3
$ Iz
l/2
l l
Fixed-free bar
Fixed end Free end
E, A
fx, ux
kt ¼ E $l A
l
kt fx, ux
Fixed-free helical spring
G, I t l
Free end
Fixde end
4
kt ¼ 8N
G$d
$ D3
l fx, ux
Table 2.3 Basic Rotary Springs and Their Lumped-Parameter Stiffnesses

Configuration Model Stiffness
Cantilever beam with end mz, θz
bending moment
kr
kr ¼ E $l Iz
Fixed end
Free end
mz, θz
E, Iz
l
Fixed-free spiral spring
mz, θz kr ¼ Elt$ I ¼ p $64l

4
E $d
E, I z, l Free end
t
kr lt, total wire length; d,
Fixed end cross-section diameter
Fixed-free helical spring

in torsion
E, I z l Free end
Fixed end
4
kr ¼ p E$ N$ I$z D ¼ 64N
E $d
$D
kr mx, θx
mx, θx
l
l
Fixed-free bar in torsion
mx, θx
Fixed end
Free end
G, I p G $ Ip
kr ¼ l
I
z-axis (axis perpendicular on the xy plane of drawings), and Ip is the polar moment of
area of the circular cross section.
Note that the rotary stiffness of a helical spring is identical to that of a spiral
spring in Table 2.3 because the total wire length of a helical spring is lt ¼ N$p$D.
2.1.2 Series and Parallel Spring Connections

To vary the stiffness properties of a mechanical system, springs can be combined in
series or in parallel, as sketched in Figure 2.2(a) and 2.2(b) where it is assumed that
the serial and parallel translatory spring chains are fixed at one end and acted on at
the opposite end by a force f. However, the analysis that follows is also valid when
both ends are mobile, as well as for rotary springs.
For springs connected in series, the force is the same in each component and is
equal to f, whereas the total deformation is the sum of individual spring deforma-
tions. Conversely, for parallel spring combinations, the spring displacements are
x1 x2 x x
k1
k1 k2
f f
k1 k2 f
k2
(a) (b) (c)
FIGURE 2.2
Translatory Spring Combinations: (a) Series; (b) and (c) Parallel.
identical, whereas the sum of individual spring forces equals the force f. The spring
combination of Figure 2.2(c) is a parallel one with respect to the reference x because
the two springs undergo the same deformation at that point. The equivalent series
stiffness ks and the parallel stiffness kp corresponding to n spring elements of stiff-
nesses k1, k2, ., kn are derived in the companion website Chapter 2 as:
1 1 1 1
¼ þ þ / þ ; kp ¼ k1 þ k2 þ / þ kn (2.1)
ks k1 k2 kn
nn
Example 2.1
Four identical translatory helical springs are combined in two arrangements, and in each of the two
combinations there are both series and parallel connections. When the same force is applied sepa-
rately to each spring arrangement at the free end (the other one being fixed), the free-end displace-
ment of one arrangement is maximum, whereas the free-end displacement of the other arrangement
is minimum. Identify the two spring configurations, determine the ratio of their free-end displace-
ments, and calculate the equivalent stiffness for each when d ¼ 1 mm, D ¼ 12 mm, N ¼ 10, and
G ¼ 160 GPa.
Solution
The largest displacement is obtained when all four springs are coupled in series because the stiffness
is minimum, namely ks ¼ k/4dsee Eq. (2.1). Conversely, the smallest displacement corresponds to a
full parallel spring connection when the stiffness is maximum, kp ¼ 4k, as also indicated in Eq. (2.1).
However, these connections are not allowed in this example. Two spring configurations (1 and 2) are
sketched in the top row of Figure 2.3, which are candidates satisfying this example’s requirement to
mix series and parallel pairs. Configuration 1 results in the maximum stiffness among all possible
designs of four springs, with at least two connected in series. Similarly, Configuration 2 yields the
minimum stiffness of all four-spring variants with at least two springs coupled in parallel.
The two springs of the top branch in Figure 2.3(a) are combined in series and the two springs in
the portion at the free end at the top in Figure 2.3(b) are connected in parallel; as a consequence, the
original designs on the top row of Figure 2.3 become the equivalent configurations shown in the bot-
tom row of the same Figure.
The equivalent stiffnesses of the spring connections shown in Figure 2.3 are:
8
>
> k 5
>
< k1 ¼ 2 þ k þ k ¼ 2 $ k
(2.2)
>
> 1 1 1 1 5 2
>
: ¼ þ þ ¼ or k2 ¼ $ k
k2 k k 2k 2k 5
Configuration 1 Configuration 2
x1
k k x2
k
k f k k f
k
k
x1
k/2 x2
k f k k 2k f
k
(a) (b)
FIGURE 2.3
Translatory Spring Combinations With: (a) Three Parallel Branches; (b) Three Series
Portions.
where the subscripts 1 and 2 identify configurations 1 and 2, respectively. Because f ¼ k1$x1 ¼ k2$x2,
Eq. (2.2) yield:
x2 k1 ð5kÞ=2 25
¼ ¼ ¼ (2.3)
x1 k2 ð2kÞ=5 4
By using the equation of a translatory helical spring given in Table 2.2 and the specified numerical
values, the following results are obtained: k ¼ 1157.4 N/m, k1 ¼ 5k/2 ¼ 2893.5 N/m, and
k2 ¼ 2k/5 ¼ 462.96 N/m. nn
nn
Example 2.2
The symmetric shaft-disk system of Figure 2.4(a) consists of identical and mirrored portions, each
formed of two shaft segments that are anchored at their distant ends and connected to the middle
rigid gear at their opposite ends. The fixed-end shafts have a diameter d1 ¼ 0.004 m and a length
l1 ¼ 0.1 m, whereas the other shafts have a diameter d2 ¼ 0.005 m and a length l2 ¼ 0.14 m. The
shear modulus is G ¼ 80 GPa.
(i) Calculate the torsion moment mx that has to be applied at O to produce a maximum rotation angle
qx,max ¼ 5 degrees at the same point.
(ii) Calculate the number of active turns N of a rotary helical spring with fixed-free ends to replace all
the actual shafts of Figure 2.4(a). The single spring produces the angle qx,max of (i) under the ac-
tion of the same moment mx. The spring is formed of a wire with diameter d ¼ 0.005 m, Young’s
modulus E ¼ 210 GPa, and mean diameter cannot exceed Dmax ¼ 0.03 m.
Solution
(i) As illustrated in Figure 2.4(b), the two shaft segments to the left of point O are serially connected,
and the same applies for the two mirrored and identical shafts to the right of O; the stiffness of
θx, mx
Flexible shaft Flexible shaft
Anchor
d2 d2 d θx, mx keq θx, mx
d1 k1 k1
Anchor
O x x x
k2 k2
Gear O O
l1 l2 l2 l1
(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 2.4
Symmetric Shaft-Disk System: (a) Schematic Configuration; (b) Lumped-Parameter
Spring Model; (c) Equivalent Rotary Spring Model.
each of these two segments is calculated with respect to O based on Eq. (2.1) as:
ks ¼ k1 $ k2 =ðk1 þ k2 Þ. Because these two serial portions are jointed at O, they undergo the
same rotation and therefore are coupled in parallel with respect to O. A single-spring model is
shown in Figure 2.4(c) and the equivalent stiffness with respect to O is:
k1 $ k2
keq ¼ 2ks ¼ 2 $ (2.4)
k1 þ k2
Based on Table 2.3 (the particular design of a fixed-free bar in torsion), the rotary stiffnesses of the

two flexible shaft segments are expressed as k1 ¼ G $ Ip1 l1 ; k2 ¼ G $ Ip2 l2 where the polar

area moments of the two bars are (see Appendix F): Ip1 ¼ pd14 32; Ip2 ¼ pd24 32. As a
consequence, the equivalent spring stiffness of Eq. (2.4) becomes:
2G $ Ip1 $ Ip2 pG $ d14 $ d24

keq ¼ ¼ (2.5)
Ip1 $ l2 þ Ip2 $ l1 16 l $ d 4 þ l $ d4
1 2 2 1
As per Table 2.1, the maximum torque to be applied at the midpoint O is maximum because the
rotation angle at that point is maximum, namely:
pG $ d14 $ d24 $ qx;max

mx ¼ mx;max ¼ keq $ qx;max ¼ (2.6)
16 l1 $ d24 þ l2 $ d14
With the numerical values of this example, the equivalent stiffness is keq ¼ 25.557 N m and the
maximum moment is mx,max ¼ 2.23 N m.
(ii) The single rotary spring to replace all the elastic shaft portions of the original system connects to
the shaft at one end and is fixed at the other end, as shown in Figure 2.4(c). The equivalent stiff-
ness value (determined at (i)) should be matched by the stiffness of a torsional helical spring as
provided in Table 2.3, namely: keq ¼ kr ¼ Ed4/(64ND). The number of active turns of the helical
spring is therefore evaluated as:
E $ d4 E $ d4
N¼ or Nmin ¼ (2.7)
64D $ keq 64Dmax $ keq
With D ¼ Dmax and the numerical value of keq obtained at (i), the minimum number of active turns
is Nmin ¼ 2.675. The first integer larger than Nmin is 3; as a consequence, N ¼ 3 is a value that
satisfies the requirements. nn
nn
Example 2.3
The microscale mechanism of Figure 2.5(a) is formed of a serpentine springdwhose details are
provided in Figure 2.5(b)dand a bridge (a beam that is fixed at both ends). The two components
are initially separated by a gap Dy.
(i) Find the minimum force fmin acting at A along the y axis, which needs to be applied to the serpen-
tine spring to close the gap Dy to the midpoint B of the bridge.
(ii) Calculate the deflection at the bridge midpoint when a force f1 ¼ 3$fmin is applied at A on the
serpentine spring along the y direction with the device in its original (detached) position. All flexible
segments are of identical circular cross section with diameter d and of identical material proper-
ties. Known are: d ¼ 2 mm, l ¼ 100 mm, Young’s modulus E ¼ 160 GPa, and Dy ¼ 5 mm.
2l y
y
l fmin y
l
Rigid connector A
B ks
Long beam
Δy f Bridge
kl
A ks
Short beam
Serpentine spring O
l
Anchor
(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 2.5
Translatory Microspring System: (a) Serpentine Spring and Bridge; (b) Serpentine Spring;
(c) Equivalent Lumped-Parameter Model of the Serpentine Spring.
Solution
(i) The three beams of the serpentine unit of Figure 2.5(b) act as springs in series and the lumped-
parameter model of the serpentine spring alone is that of Figure 2.5(c). The stiffness of the
serpentine spring is:
1 1 1 1 2 1
¼ þ þ ¼ þ (2.8)
kse ks kl ks ks kl
where ks and kl are the stiffnesses of the short and long beams, respectively. It should be noted
that in terms of their end-point deformations, the three beams are fixed-guided, and therefore,
their stiffnesses are calculated based on Table 2.2 and Appendix F as:
E $ Iz E p $ d 4 3p $ E $ d 4 E $ Iz
ks ¼ 12 $ ¼ 12 $ $ ¼ ; kl ¼ 12 $
l 3 l 3 64 16l3
ð2lÞ3
E p $ d 4 ks
¼ 12 $ 3
$ ¼ (2.9)
ð2lÞ 64 8
By combining Eqs. (2.8) and (2.9), the stiffness of the serpentine spring becomes:
1 2 8 10 ks 6E $ Iz 3p $ E $ d4
¼ þ ¼ or kse ¼ ¼ ¼ (2.10)
kse ks ks ks 10 5l3 160l3
The force fmin to be applied at the free end of the serpentine spring (as shown in Figure 2.5(a)) to
close the gap Dy is fmin ¼ kse $ Dy . The numerical values of the serpentine spring stiffness and
minimum force are kse¼ 0.151 N/m and fmin ¼ 0.754 mN.
2.2 Inertia Elements 31
f1 kb y N
f1
Applied at A A B
kse M
fmin P
O Δy Δy1 Δy
(a) (b)
FIGURE 2.6
(a) Lumped-Parameter Model of Coupled Serpentine Spring and Bridge; (b) Spring
Characteristics Before and After Contact.
(ii) Once point A on the serpentine has been moved to coincide with the midpoint B of the bridge, the
resulting spring system is shown in Figure 2.6(a).
From this stage on, the force f1 works against both the serpentine spring and the bridge (because
the two springs are coupled in parallel with respect to point A h B) and therefore the resulting
equivalent stiffness is:
6E $ Iz 192E $ Iz 126E $ Iz
keq ¼ kse þ kb ¼ þ ¼ ¼ 21 $ kse (2.11)
5l3 ð2lÞ3 5l3
where kb is the bending stiffness of the bridge with respect to its midpoint and is provided in
Table 2.2. The two spring characteristics, corresponding to the serpentine alone (deformation
between 0 and Dy) and then to the coupled serpentine-bridge springs (deformation between
Dy and Dy1), are illustrated in Figure 2.6(b). The total deformation Dy1 is calculated as:

fmin f1 fmin fmin 2fmin 1 2
Dy1 ¼ Dy þ kMPk ¼ þ ¼ þ ¼ fmin $ þ
kse keq kse keq kse kse þ kb

2kse 23
¼ 1þ $ Dy ¼ $ Dy
kse þ kb 21
(2.12)
which is Dy1 ¼ 5.476 mm. Eq. (2.12) took into account that the extra deformation equal to the
length of segment MP is produced by a force equal to f1 fmin ¼ 3fmin fmin ¼ 2fmin. nn
2.2 INERTIA ELEMENTS

For rigid bodies, inertia properties can be considered pointlike; therefore, inertia
features corresponding to either translatory or rotary motion are naturally lumped.
Inertia is represented by mass (usually denoted by m) in translatory motion and me-
chanical (or mass) moment of inertia (generally symbolized by J to avoid confusion
with the cross-section moment of area identified by I in this book) in rotary motion,
as sketched in Figure 2.7. Lumped-parameter inertia can also be obtained from elas-
tically deformable members such as bars or beams, whose inertia is distributed, by
means of energy-equivalence methods.
Guide θ Rotor Shaft

x
Body m
J
Bearings
Central axis
l
x θ d
θ
Δ
dm r Offset parallel axis
m m J
(a) (b) (c) (d)

FIGURE 2.7
(a) Lumped-Parameter Mechanical Inertia and Related Symbol for Translatory Motion;
(b) and (c) Lumped-Parameter Mechanical Inertia and Related Symbol for Rotary Motion;
(d) Schematic for the Parallel-Axis Theorem.
2.2.1 Basic Inertia Elements

The mechanical moment of inertia of a body of mass m rotating about an axis,
Figure 2.7(c), is calculated as:
Z
J ¼ r 2 dm (2.13)
m
where r is the distance from the rotation axis to an element of mass dm. Table 2.4
provides the mass moments of inertia for a mass particle, a heavy rod, a solid cyl-
inder/disk, and a plate (out-of-plane thickness is h)dfor the latter two bodies, the
x-axis is the central axis.
The parallel-axis theorem, which is illustrated in Figure 2.7(d), calculates the
mechanical moment of inertia of a body rotating around an axis D that is offset
from the body’s central axis in terms of the distance d between axes and the body
mass m as:
JD ¼ J þ m $ d 2 (2.14)
where J is the mechanical moment of inertia of the body about its central axis.
Table 2.4 Mass Moments of Inertia for a Few Mechanical Parts

Mechanical Mass particle Heavy rod Cylinder Plate
part l O m m m
Thick: h
O m l/2 l/2 2R w
x x

Mass moment JO ¼ m $ l 2 JO ¼ 12
1 $ m $ l2 Jx ¼ 12 $ m $ R2 Jx ¼ 12
1 $ m $ w 2 þ h2
of inertia
Table 2.5 Inertia Force/Moment and Kinetic Energy for Translatory and
Rotary Motion
Inertia force/moment fi ¼ m $ a ¼ m $ x€ €
mi ¼ J $ a ¼ J $ q
Kinetic energy T ¼ 12 $ m $ v2 ¼ 12 $ m $ x_2 T ¼ 12 $ J $ u2 ¼ 12 $ J $ q_
2
For translation, the mass is included in the inertia force, which is proportional to
the acceleration (the second time derivative of displacement) and is calculated as
shown in Table 2.5 where fi has the same direction as x in Figure 2.7(a).
Similarly, an inertia moment (or inertia torque) is defined in rotary motion as a
function of the mass moment of inertia and the angular acceleration (the second time
derivative of rotation angle)dsee Table 2.5 where mi has the same direction as q in
Figure 2.7(b) and 2.7(c). Bodies in motion possess kinetic energy, denoted by T,
which is expressed for translation and rotation as a function of the corresponding
velocity in the same Table 2.5.
The mass moment of inertia is an additive/subtractive amount, and this property
is used in calculating the mass moment of inertia of compound bodies formed of
several elementary bodies whose moments of inertia are readily available.
nn
Example 2.4
(i) Calculate the mass moment of inertia about the centroidal (symmetry) axis of the solid right cir-
cular cone frustum shown in Figure 2.8(a) in side view and in a cross-section. The frustum is
defined by d1, d2, and l. The material is homogeneous with a mass density r. Use the obtained
result to also calculate the mass moment of inertia of a cylinder, both about its centroidal axis and
about a parallel axis that is offset at a distance d ¼ d2 from the centroidal axis.
l
A Section A– A
d1 dx d2 r d22 d21 d3 d1
rx
dr
x
dx l2 l1
A
(a) (b)
FIGURE 2.8
(a) Frustum of Right Circular Conical Solid in Side View and Cross-Section; (b) Simplified
Longitudinal Section of a Bevel Gear.
(ii) Calculate the mass moment of inertia of the simplified bevel gear of Figure 2.8(b) with respect to
its longitudinal axis in terms of the given dimensions. Numerical application: d1 ¼ 0.015 m,
d21 ¼ 0.016 m, d22 ¼ 0.024 m, d3 ¼ 0.008 m, l1 ¼ 0.01 m, l2 ¼ 0.015 m, and r ¼ 7800 kg/m3.
Solution
(i) For a homogeneous cone frustum of mass density r, such as the one of Figure 2.8(a), the
mechanical moment of inertia is expressed as:
0 1
Z Z h Z
J ¼ r$ r 2 dV ¼ r $ @ r 2 dAAdx (2.15)
V 0 A
As shown in Figure 2.8(a), the area of an elementary circular strip of width dr and inner radius r is
dA ¼ 2prdr. By substituting dA into Eq. (2.15), the mass moment of inertia of the cone frustum
becomes:
0 1
Z Z Z
l
@
rx
pr l
J ¼ 2pr $ r 3 dr Adx ¼ $ rx4 dx (2.16)
0 0 2 0
The variable external radius rx of Figure 2.8(a) is calculated as:

d1 d2 d1
rx ¼ þ $x (2.17)
2 2l
Symbolic mathematical calculations can be performed by using MATLAB Symbolic Math Toolbox.
Integrals are evaluated by means of the int(expr, x, a, b) MATLAB command, where
expr is the expression to be integrated, x is the integration variable, and a and b are the integra-
tion limits. The following MATLAB sequence is used to calculate the mass moment of inertia of
Eq. (2.16):
>> syms d1 d2 r l x rho %defines r1, r2, r, x, l, rho as symbolic

>> rx = d1/2+(d2-d1)/(2*l)*x;
>> J = simplify(pi*rho/2*int(rx^4, x, 0, l))
which returns:
pr $ l 4
J¼ $ d1 þ d13 $ d2 þ d12 $ d22 þ d1 $ d23 þ d24 (2.18)
160
When d1 ¼ d2 ¼ d, the cone frustum becomes a cylinder and Eq. (2.18) simplifies to:
2
pr $ l 4 1 d4 1 pd2 d 1 1
J¼ $ 5d ¼ $ pr $ l $ ¼ $ l $ r $ ¼ $ m $ d2 ¼ $ m $ r2
160 2 16 2 4 4 8 2
(2.19)
with m being the mass of the cylinder. The cylinder’s mass moment of inertia about an axis
situated at d ¼ d2 from its centroidal axis is found from Eq. (2.19) by means of the
parallel-axis theorem, Eq. (2.14), as:
1 9
JD ¼ J þ m $ d22 ¼ $ m $ d2 þ m $ d2 ¼ $ m $ d2 (2.20)
8 8
(ii) The bevel gear sketched in Figure 2.8(b) is geometrically formed by adding a cylinder to a conical
frustum and subtracting another cylinder. Similarly, the mass moment of inertia of the gear shown
in Figure 2.8(b) is calculated by algebraic addition of the moments of inertia defining the three
abovementioned elements, namely:
J ¼ J1 þ J2 J3

1 d12 pr $ l2 4
¼ $ r p $ $ l1 $ d12 þ d21 þ d21
3
$ d22 þ d21
2 2
$ d22 þ d21 $ d22
3
þ d22
4
8 4 160
1 d2
$ r p $ 3 $ ðl1 þ l2 Þ $ d32
8 4
(2.21)
and its numerical value is J ¼ 2.29$106 kg m2. nn
2.2.2 Lumped-Parameter Inertia of Distributed-Parameter

(Elastic) Members
Elastic members possess distributed inertia properties; for them, the distributed
inertia can be transformed into approximate equivalent lumped-parameter inertia pa-
rameters (either a point mass, meq, if the member’s deformation is translatory or a
mechanical moment of inertia, Jeq, if the elastic member undergoes rotary deforma-
tions) by equating the kinetic energies of the actual and equivalent systems when the
two systems undergo identical motions.
The distributed inertia of beams in bending and bars under axial load or in torsion
can be substituted by equivalent pointlike (lumped-parameter) inertia properties,
which are located at convenient points on the original flexible members. Tables 2.6
and 2.7 illustrate this process. The companion website Chapter 2 gives the deriva-
tions of these lumped-parameter inertia properties. In Table 2.6 m is the member’s
actual mass, l is the length, and r is the mass density. In Table 2.7, Jp is the polar
mass moment of inertia of the bar undergoing torsion with respect to its longitudinal
axis.
nn
Example 2.5
The mechanical system of Figure 2.9(a) uses a piezoelectric actuator in the form of a fixed-free, cir-
cularecross-section flexible bar (diameter is d1 ¼ 0.008 m) of length l1 ¼ 0.03 m and a pointlike ball
of mass m3 ¼ 0.005 kg at its tip. By linear expansion, the bar actuator pushes the midpoint of a bridge
with rectangular cross section (dimensions are h ¼ 0.001 m and w ¼ 0.014 m) and of length
l2 ¼ 0.04 m. Find the lumped-parameter mass meq that is inertially equivalent to the actual system
and that is placed at A when considering the x-axis translatory motiondsee Figure 2.9(b). Determine
the error in this equivalent mass when ignoring the inertia contribution from the bridge. Known are also
the mass densities of the bar r1 ¼ 7500 kg/m3 and bridge r2 ¼ 7800 kg/m3.
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Indian’s own game, they knew, a tremendously difficult one for mere
whites to succeed at undetected. To make a big detour and come
down by way of the sheep corral would be fatal, for the dogs there
would surely give a warning. Niltci would undoubtedly be guarded. If
they overpowered the guards, it would be known who had kidnaped
the prisoner. That would never do!
“As I see it, fellows, the only stunt for us is for one of us to entice
Niltci’s guards away for a time, while the other two get to him and cut
him loose,” said Sid in low tones as they crept through the sage.
“Anyone got any notion of what might attract a Navaho’s curiosity?”
he inquired.
There was a silence as the others shook their heads. Then Big John
spoke up. “I got a better layout than that, Sid. These Injuns are
superstitious, an’ thar’s one thing they’re scairt of wuss than anythin’
else. You-all got plenty of matches?” he asked suddenly.
The boys stopped and got out their emergency kits. Out of each they
produced a bundle of about fifty matches. “Ef these was the good old
brimstone sticks they’d go better,” said Big John enigmatically, taking
them in his big paw, “but I’ll make out with them, all right. You boys
run along, now, an’ git as near Niltci’s tree as ye kin. Then lay low
and watch my smoke.”
He disappeared into the sage without a further word. Sid and Scotty
looked at each other, puzzled, but they knew Big John had a mighty
good head on him, and he would be unlikely to try anything that
would not work. As they drew near Neyani’s hogan they redoubled
their caution, crawling through the sage and taking advantage of
every little ridge of rock. At length they were quite near Niltci’s tree
and well concealed in a patch of scrub bear grass. They could make
out the Indian boy’s blurred form, now, bound upright to the tree.
Beside him on the ground squatted two Navaho guards, silent,
motionless. They might be dead, for all the movement either made;
but that they were quite awake and on watch the boys could not
doubt.
For a long time nothing happened. All the desert was still as death,
shrouded in the gloom of a faint mist that hung over the barren
ground. Overhead the stars swung in their great courses, but their
light penetrated but feebly through the dust and mist and haze of
smoke that drifted over from the ashes of the great fire.
Then—“Hist!” whispered Scotty, at length, gripping Sid’s arm.
“What’s that?”
There, quite near,—over by a little nest of bowlders—something
moved! Dim, dark, hardly discernible, a round, black head peered
out, advancing fearsomely, with two phosphorescent disks of fire
glaring at them, balefully!—Then a wild, mortal shriek rent the night!
It was the Black Panther, himself!
The boys tugged feverishly at their revolvers, their hair standing on
end with fright. As for the two Navahos, one wild leap, one terror-
stricken grunt of dismay, and they were off like the wind, bolting out
into the sage. It was not until they were some distance away that
they raised terrified screams of fright, running like deer as they
yelled.
The panther crept nearer, and, just as Sid was about to fire, Big
John’s low voice called out to them reassuringly.
“Don’t shoot!—Up an’ git young Niltci, boys!” he gritted.—“How did
my fox-fire look?”
Sid went nearly hysterical with the reaction. “Was that you, John? It
was great! Simply great!” he chuckled, springing forward to wring the
cowman’s hand. Bubbling with delight, they all dashed for Niltci.
Swiftly his thongs were cut, and then, each grabbing an arm, they
started for the canyon.
“Run, fellers—I’m a good kitty, all right, but we ain’t got no time to
lose!” whispered Big John, hoarsely.—“Listen!”
Voices and yells came from hogans all about them. The night was
hideous with uproar—then it suddenly ceased and all was silent
again.
“Well, I’ll be derned!” grunted Big John, as they hustled along, “what
d’ye make of that?—I’m wise, boys!” he laughed. “Them brave bucks
has told the hogans that their friend, Mister Black Panther, has come
and took Niltci—an’ they’re all stickin’ close to home, scairt to death!
Hep, boys—hep!”
CHAPTER VIII
SILENT PINES AND YELLOW CRAGS
“SHORE I’m shy a good hat!” exclaimed Big John whimsically, as

they slackened speed and began to look about through the gloom for
some sign of the Colonel and the pack train. He took off his old
Montana Stetson and twirled it ruefully in his hands. It was black as
the night, where it had been gray, and out of two holes up near the
crown he stuck two fingers and wiggled them at the boys. “I shore
oughtta go on the stage after that panther stunt, boys,” he drawled,
his face breaking into a slow grin. “When I left you, I worked around
to whar the Injuns hed their big fire an’ got me some charcoal. Then I
crep’ over to them rocks an’ lay thar, waitin’ till you come, and
blackin’ up the ole cage all over good. Then I cuts two holes in her,
an’ dolls her up with yore matches tied in two round bundles. Arter a
while, when I thinks you-all shore must be hyarabouts, I spits on me
hands and rubs them matches good. Shore ’twas funny!” he
chuckled. “I looks me ole sombrero over an’ like to hev scairt myself
to death with them two fox-fire eyes glarin’ at me out’n thet black hat!
But ’twan’t a fleabite to the way them redskins lit out, an’ you two
boys allowed to sell yore lives dear when I lets out that yelp intended
to represent a panther’s call an’ oozes out into the scenery!”
“I was just frozen stiff with fright,” admitted Scotty frankly. “We
thought it was the Old Boy, himself, coming for us!—I’m not sure
about it, even now!”
Niltci grunted and stopped, transfixed with astonishment. “You?” he
asked, incredulously, pointing his finger at Big John.
“Shore ’twas me, Injun. Shore!” cackled the latter, facetiously.
“No!”
“Thunder, yes!” came back Big John, raising his voice all he dared.
“NO!—Heap big lie!” squeaked Niltci. “Dsilyi’s panther him come!” he
insisted.
“I tell you, it was a stroke of genius, John!” laughed Sid; “the Indians
must think it’s all over, or inside, with Niltci, now! That idea came to
me, back there when we were freeing him; so I kept his thongs so
they wouldn’t find anything. Makes it all the more miraculous, you
see. They won’t think of following us.”
Big John’s jaw dropped and he stopped dead. “Sid, you shore has a
headpiece on you!” he declared, admiringly. “I never thought of that
myself. My idee was jest to heave a gosh-almighty scare into ’em—
but I never thought I’d get you boys, too!” and he broke into a huge
chuckle again.
A tiny point of light winked twice out of the gloom ahead, and then all
was impenetrable darkness again.
“Over this way, fellows,” whispered Scotty, who had noticed it, “that’s
the Colonel’s flasher. He must have heard us.”
They headed over, and presently the dim outlines of the horses
showed up. Colonel Colvin greeted them delightedly and then
explained briefly to Niltci his plan. The Indian boy agreed,
submissively, and they all set off down into the canyon. A mile further
they broke into a trot with Niltci hanging to the Colonel’s stirrup.
“Of course there’s plenty of good hunting, boys, all over this
wonderful Arizona,” said the Colonel as they rode along. “All through
the canyons of the pine belt south of Flagstaff there is deer and bear,
and we could reach it by riding southwest from here. But I want you
to see the Grand Canyon,—the big sight that no American should
permit himself to miss,—and the way to get it all, and first-class big
game hunting besides, is from that vast network of canyons and
crags back of the north rim. It’s a desert ride, either way we decide to
go, southwest to the pine belt or west to the Ferry. We’ll take the
latter. It’s eighty miles from here and just one drink the whole way.
Here’s where our oats-and-water scheme scintillates, for we can do
it in three days, with good grain feed and water enough to keep the
horses full of pep.”
As they debouched from Canyon Cheyo the pack train was halted to
make these adjustments. All the pannier water cans were filled from
the brook and a full bucket of oats taken out of them was fed to each
horse. The rest was put in gunny sacks and the loads redistributed
so that there was an extra cayuse for Niltci to ride. They fixed up an
improvised saddle made of a tarp, a folded blanket and a cinch strap
for him, and then all the spare stuff was cached. Bidding the running
stream a last good-by, the train started climbing up a mighty ravine
that led out to the vast desert plateau to the west.
Arrived at the head of it, a high mesa greeted them, stretching for
miles to the northwest. Under its flanks the party rode, while the soft,
cold desert wind sifted the desert sand in a faintly audible ticking
around the horses’ feet. It was a tired and sleepy party that saw the
sunrise, five hours later, with thirty miles of travel behind them. Bare
desolation, and color, color, color, everywhere the eye roamed! Blue
cliffs, red cliffs, yellow cliffs, black buttes; and, to the west, the
enchanted walls of the ghostly White Mesa.
During the heat of the day the train halted under the shade of a rocky
nest of bowlders as high as a house, and the horses were fed and
watered and picketed out to nibble what sparse vegetation they
could find. The four men spread out bed rolls, and, with the four dogs
insisting on bunking in their midst, slept in an indescribable huddle,
too tired to boot them off.
It was black night and cold when Sid awoke again. The others slept
around him. A distant coyote raised his piercing cry, soft and
plaintive in the vast solitude; the blurred forms of the horses dotted
the little swale in front of their camp. Then came the false dawn of
the moon, and Big John awoke and nudged Niltci, whom he had
elected assistant horse wrangler, and they began silently to pack the
animals.
The sight of them at work was too much for Sid; he awoke his father
and Scotty, for at least they could attend to the saddle horses and
help break camp. They were nearly ready to mount when an
enormous red moon rose slowly over the mesas to the east. Higher
and higher it soared, becoming smaller, rounder and more silvery as
it quitted the haze over the desert. Then, in a splendor of white light,
clear as daylight and pricking out the buttes in staring porcelain and
inky shadows, the pack train headed west. It was all weirdly
beautiful; color was there none, but of sharp contrast, of strangely
rugged and distorted rock formations, of vague and ghostly desert
distances there was such a play as to place one in imagination in
some selenitic valley of the moon.
The afternoon of the third day found the pack train climbing down the
frightful escarpments of a high red butte that abutted on the
Colorado. There had been no adventure, no sandstorm, no thirst
torture, no accident; but all were weary, the men silent, the dogs
limping painfully, the horses plodding on persistently. A ringing
whoop from Big John and the roar and rumble of waters announced
the sighting of the famous Red River. Out of the gray ramparts of
Cataract Canyon it swept, to flood past them in boiling riffles,
majestic and purposeful in its headlong drive for the sea—the river
that has more to show for its labors than any other river in the whole
world.
Pistol shots brought ferrymen down to the opposite bank, to man the
flatboat which crosses here by an overhead wire and trolley wheel
tackle. Swiftly it came over, driven by the rapid current impinging on
its sides. It was big enough to accommodate the whole party, and,
paying the toll, the horses were ridden onto its capacious flat floor.
The reluctant dogs were booted aboard and then the boat set out for
its return trip across the Colorado. As the water boiled and swirled
around its gunwales Sid looked downstream at the mighty chasm of
black gneiss into which the river plunged with a dull and ceaseless
boom like the thunder of a distant Niagara. He could not keep his
eyes off it. From there on the canyon would become inconceivably
grander and more majestic, one of the seven wonders of the world,
—yet what was it, in the infinite program of Nature, but an
inconsiderable trickle in an inconspicuous crevice on the enormous
round globe which is our world? If this remnant of a stream was so
awe-inspiring to man, what must it have been when that whole vast
inland sea which reached clear up to Wyoming was flooding out
through these same gates to the ocean! The very thought gave Sid a
glimpse,—like a rift through the clouds at some mountain top,—of
the unapproachable dignity of Nature. Man, at his best, is but a mere
insult in her presence, an audacious, unspanked microbe, that has
occupied and will occupy but a brief period in her cosmic processes,
even when his whole history is told from start to finish.
A day was spent resting up at the ranch and giving the horses
unlimited oats and water once more, and then they pushed
southwest through a bare and sparse country to where Buckskin
Mountain dominated the Kaibab Plateau, huge, gray and imposing in
his nine thousand feet of snow-topped height. Once around its flanks
they were in a fine country of tall western pine, with every ravine
leading to the rocky buttes and parapets and pinnacles that
overhung the enormous slopes of the Grand Canyon basin. Back in
the pines a short distance from the rim they established camp. The
boys’ little green five-by-six-foot wall tent was set up, with a pair of
shears in front and its ridge rope run back to encircle the trunk of a
pine three feet thick. The little tent was a wonder of a forest home,
for its five pounds of weight. High enough to stand up in, it had a
gauze window in the rear wall, with a flap to it which could be guyed
out in fine weather and closed in when it stormed; it had a netting
front door over a sill a foot high, and the cover flap of the front door
was V-shaped, so that it formed a porch when held out horizontally
by two upright poles, making a shady place to sit under and one
sheltered from rain for a cooking space when needed.
The boys piled spruce and fir browse on the floor of their tent,
sealing up its sod cloth, rolled out their sleeping bags, and hung wall
pockets at the head of each bed to hold all their small camp
belongings. Then they went out to inspect the Colonel’s bivouac.
Near their own tent it was, a classic of comfort and lightness for one
lone hiker. A stretcher bed hung on two stout poles, which were
lashed to a pair of shears about a foot above the soil, and over the
shears ran a ridge rope, with the tarp thrown over it and pegged
down behind to form a windbreak. Its front edge was guyed out in a
gentle slant, so that the Colonel had a cooking space in front of his
bed, in out of the rain; and he could sit on the bed and tend his meal
or clean his rifle, or just loaf or lie at ease on it. As the boys
approached he was filling the bottom of the stretcher bed with fine fir
browse.
“Learned that trick in the Army, long ago, boys. The Service camp
cot is the coldest thing to sleep on ever devised by the brain of man,
—unless you put a layer of hay or browse in the bottom of it. Then it
is good, and comfortable and warm.”
He rolled out his canvas bed roll on it and lay down, to dream
indolently in the sunny, pine-scented glade, while through a rift in the
foliage his eyes drank in the hazy, purple splendor of the Canyon.
“This is good enough, for the present, boys,” he grunted, stretching
his arms in lazy happiness. “I haven’t any idea when we’ll ever
bother to leave here again, but to-morrow we’ll hang up a deer and
try to get the dogs on a cougar.”
Sid and Scotty wandered on to inspect the rest of the camp. The
tinkle of horse bells came from a little mountain meadow where their
ponies had been turned out. Up near them a gray and black
patterned blanket, hanging in a tree, told where Niltci had staked out
his claim for sleeping quarters. Under a nest of big pines lay Big
John’s bed roll on a thick bank of needles. Down near a tiny spring in
the ravine, that facetious child of Montana was at work making a
stone fireplace, and already he had a saddle and horse gear rack
built to keep their leather above the rodent zone.
It was all good; too good to be true; too wild and beautiful and
sublime, and filled to the brim with Nature’s plenty for any but very
honest men to live there at all, thought Sid. A healthy, natural
lassitude had come over the boys. Nature gives these periods, when
she is in her mild and genial moods, for times of recuperation to her
children. They are not wise who waste them, unheeding. Sid and
Scotty sauntered down the ravine and then climbed a tall, round
pinnacle of yellow rock, invited by the mists of immense distance that
lay beyond it. On its brink they lay down, beside a stunted pinyon
that had found a lodgment there. Below and before them stretched
the vast gulf of the canyon, clear to its south rim twelve miles away.
They had no wish to do anything but lie there and look. There are
spectacles of Nature that man never tires of dreaming over, like the
ocean and its ever-tumbling surf. This canyon is one of them. For a
long time neither youth said a word.
“It’s just the Canyon, yet,” said Sid, at length. “Wait till we get down
into it—then we’ll begin to appreciate it!”
Early next morning Sid and Scotty turned out refreshed and ready to
perform prodigies. The horses were saddled and the dogs
unchained. Off through a high table-land of tall pines the horses
galloped, with Ruler and the pups all over the timber, running in wide
casts around the main course of the cavalcade. Down into the
shallow gulches and across wooded promontories leaped and
sprang the ponies. These ravines were the gentlest beginnings of
that vast shore line which once rimmed the course of the Colorado.
Each gulch sloped downward, to fade in long wooded ravines into
the blue depths below. Always the great physical fact of the Canyon
was there. You couldn’t get away from it, couldn’t forget it for a
moment.
Then Ruler gave tongue. It was a musical bellow, a houndy song that
told the world he had found something. The pups dashed over at his
call. Big John, on the fast, white mustang, clattered over and
dismounted in a single leap. Ruler was already unraveling the trail,
his long, ropy tail swinging in circles as he snuffed along, yelping at
intervals as he ran. The party gathered around the track, while Niltci
bent down with his face almost in it. A faint impression was there, in
the leaves, large and round, but without any particular formation.
“Cougar. Beeg!” pronounced the Navaho boy after a careful
examination.
“I told you they was lion-broke!” exulted Big John. “Them runs we
had after the Black Panther spiled ’em for small stuff,—Ruler’s
broke, anyway.”
A ringing, resounding chime of hound voices rang up from the
depths of the ravine below. All four of them were in that chorus, even
Lee who was proving backward and slow in his development.
“Ride, boys! They’ve started him!” whooped Colonel Colvin, vaulting
into his saddle. He thundered off down the ravine, with Sid and Niltci
hard after him.
Big John headed his horse up across the slope. “Come on, son!” he
called to Scotty. “We’ll ooze for a point an’ watch which way the
varmint goes. He mought turn an’ come back up, an’ he’d git away if
no one was up here.”
Immediately they topped the slope, the white mustang began to race
off through the dense young timber that covered the promontory.
Scotty drove in his spurs and hung low over his saddle, guarding his
eyes from the slap of branches. It took some riding to keep up with
Big John! After a time the ground pitched down dizzily. Through the
trees Scotty got glimpses of the purple void out there, and above him
rose the long lines of pinnacles of yellow buttes. Far down below he
could hear the constant chiming of the hounds. The chase was
crossing their front. Then the trees grew suddenly sparse and short
below them, and Big John reined the white mustang sharply up on
his haunches where he slid with all four hoofs braced in the crumbly
soil.
It was awful, on ahead! The land seemed to end nowhere, with
unheard-of voids below. Looking up, Scotty could see the yellow
cliffs frowning high above him, now, while the clayey rock they were
standing in was reddish.
“Right yere’s whar we ties up and takes to shank’s mare!” said Big
John, dismounting, tethering his mustang to a stout sapling and
taking off his lariat coil. Scotty followed suit, wondering how they
were ever going to get up again. And then a queer shiver of
realization burst upon him. This red rock was only the next below the
top of all those long bars of color that line the infinite slopes of the
Grand Canyon!
They slid down to the brink of the ledge and looked over. A great
slope, acres in area and covered with sparse timber, appeared
below. Ruler was streaking down through it, volleying his approval of
the trail. Almost vertically below Scotty was Pepper’s sturdy back,
the hound hesitating over the passage of some shelf below him.
Bourbon and Lee were far up the slope, while the small figures of the
Colonel, Sid and the Navaho could be seen far above to the left,
sliding down a high roof of yellow clay.
A sheer fall of two hundred feet lay directly in front of them. It
seemed nothing at all in this abyss of infinite distances. Big John ran
along the brink of it, dislodging stones which shot out, to hit the slope
below after a tense interval of fall, and then go bounding on down to
disappear from sight over the brink of shelves that led on down to yet
lower depths. Scotty worked after him, somewhat more cautiously,
but with none of the respect that he would have had for such a
precipice as this anywhere else. His sense of proportion was utterly
lost here.
A crumbled corner of the shelf gave them a steep slide, down which
without a second’s hesitation Big John plunged. Whizz! Ankle-deep
in red earth, accompanied by a cloud of big and little stones, he shot
down the slope. Scotty followed, giving himself no time to let his
imagination work. They tore on after the hounds, through thick,
bushy pines and spruces that covered the slope. Without any
warning at all, save the interminable blue distance ahead, it suddenly
ended in another frightful precipice. Scotty brought up on the brink of
it, hugging a sapling and glad to see that for once Big John had
stopped.
Over to the right the trees trailed down to a point, terminated by a tall
red cliff, craggy-faced, indented with great slabs and bowlders, which
threw huge shadows of themselves on the next cliff beyond. A sort of
chasm or chimney led down its side, a mighty cleft full of bowlders in
which all the skyscrapers in the world could be piled and never be
found. Down this impossible, preposterous thing the dogs were
climbing, as their voices proclaimed.
Scotty looked up. Already the entire world seemed to have been
stood up on end above him. The green pines and yellow pinnacles of
the rim above looked like a line of mere dents in it, with a little dark
moss covering their tops. It would be days and days of work getting
up there again! But Big John had only paused to get the location of
the dogs in mind before he set off again along that precipice wall.
Scotty followed. He might as well be killed sticking close to Big John
as be killed anyhow, by some fall which could only end up in the
Colorado itself, perhaps half a mile yet below him in a vertical line!
Ruler had charged out of the bottom of the chimney, barking a
regular hullabaloo of a treeing call. If the dogs had slid down this
cleft, men could climb down it, the boy reasoned as he began
descending an almost perpendicular chimney, hanging to small,
stout pines and catching his toes in crevices in the rock. They came
upon Lee, whining piteously, afraid of being left behind, afraid to
make the jump that would land in a sort of chute already worn with
dog and cougar tracks where the others had gone down. Big John
picked him up unceremoniously and tossed him into the chute,
where he sprawled and slid with lightning speed down to the slope
below. Without a word the man climbed on down after him, with
Scotty panting and laboring behind.
Once on the slope below a columnar yellow pine loomed up far down
the slide. It had survived avalanches, rock slides, ice rifts—was
Nature’s survival of the fittest, to seed the slopes beneath it and
below it. Upon one of its branches the tawny body of the cougar
crouched, treed, spitting at the dogs prancing below, twitching his tail
angrily, ready to spring on the instant.
“Shoot, you little wart—if you miss I’ll pisen yore grub!” barked Big
John at Scotty, holding his own rifle at the ready. Scotty braced
himself and poised the heavy .405. He had always prided himself on
his shooting, but never in any such condition as this. His whole body
shook with fatigue; he was covered with a scalding perspiration. Hold
as he might, the bead refused to steady. Its square white patch
nearly covered the cougar at that range, yet it could not have been
over two hundred yards. Scotty finally attempted trigger release on
the swing. The rifle went off, driving his shoulder back a foot with its
recoil and, as they watched, a huge spall of bark flew out of the tree
trunk above the cougar’s back. Instantly he sprang down among the
yelping dogs. A whirlwind of unbelievably swift action ensued. Yellow
and brown were inextricably mixed as the cougar struck this way and
that, the dogs darting in from every angle, the cat turning to strike as
each grabbed a new hold. Big John raced forward, his rifle at
shoulder, ready to put in a shot at the first possible instant.
Then the cougar made a sidewise swipe of his paw, so swift that the
eye could not follow it. The steel hooks of his claws caught in Ruler’s
ear and the cat pulled him towards a snarling open mouth, towards
the glistening white fangs that awaited him. But with a furious tug the
dog tore himself loose, his ear slitting to ribbons. Big John fired at
that tense instant when dog and cougar were braced in the fixed
rigidity of their tug of war. The cat leaped in the air, high above the
whole mob of dogs, landed running, and darted like a squirrel over
the brink of the ledge.
The dogs tore after him. Big John and Scotty raced down the slope
in giant strides, that for Scotty kept getting longer and longer as his
momentum gained. He finally threw himself sideways to the ground
as he felt himself falling downhill rather than running.
“Thar he is!—Mark left!” rasped Big John hoarsely, pointing below.
The ledge was a mere escarpment, and along its base the cougar
was flying, his tail erect and bushy like a scared household tabby.
Pepper clung like a viper to his hock, while Ruler was trying to forge
ahead and get a throat hold. Then the cat disappeared into a rock
crevice taking the dogs with him.
Putting in their last burst of speed, Scotty and Big John threw
themselves over to it. The huge rocky knife-edge that made the cleft,
stuck up like a fan,—one of those little insignificant spalls on the cliff
faces, as seen from El Tovar. Here it was enormous, and led down to
no one knew where. A hoarse, snarling murmur and the worrying
and fighting of dogs came up from inside it.
“Run down to the lower edge, Scotty!” yelled Big John. “I’ll drop a
rock in here an’ he’ll come out to you like a bat out of hades.”
Scotty slid down, arriving torn and bruised at the lower edge of the
crack where the rock fan sprang up ten feet thick from the cliff. The
narrow crack between it and the wall was dark as a pocket; nothing
came from there but the maddening roars of Ruler and the snarling
of the cat. Then Big John whooped, above, and the crash of a falling
rock resounded. Out of the rift, straight at Scotty the cougar
exploded in a frightful cat-spit. His rear was covered with dogs, but
his chest showed clear and tawny as he sprang. Scotty met him with
the heavy .405, himself knocked flat against the cliff with its recoil. A
reeking mass of animals shot past him in a fury of flying paws, rolled
over and over down the slope, and fetched up in a writhing heap in
the midst of a nest of scraggy pinyons.
“Did you git him?” yelled Big John’s voice from above.
“You bet!” crowed Scotty. “Come on down and help me with the
dogs.”
There was a rumble of falling stones and Big John dropped down
beside him.
“I knowed one good poak from thet ole cannon of the Doc’s would
fotch him,” he laughed. “Good shootin’, son! Git some clubs, now, an’
we’ll gentle them pesky dawgs.”
They needed to,—for a glorious dog-fight was in full swing over the
dead body of the cougar.
CHAPTER IX
KAIBAB GRIZZLY
“I ’VE got to turn back, Sid,” gasped Colonel Colvin, as they halted at
the foot of the vast slope that topped the second rim of the canyon
like a house roof. “Climbing up out of here is a job for a young heart;
mine would need half-soling before we’d ever make the rim again!”
From safety holds on tough pinyons that overhung the precipice of
the second rim, they peered down at the chase far below. This
second rim was an ungodly wall, perhaps a thousand feet sheer, and
it no doubt cut a noticeable figure as viewed from El Tovar, where
tourists at that moment were raving in absurd sentimentalities over
the canyon. To the Colonel it meant a terminus, for him, of that
particular cougar chase, for to add its weight to the labors already in
store on the climb back would be foolhardy to one of his age. They
watched the tiny black dots weaving slowly across the lower slope,
that must have been the dogs in hot chase of the cougar, and after
them came two oval specks that were Scotty and Big John as
viewed perpendicularly from their height. Then the whole business
disappeared over a ledge and nothing but the baying of invisible
hounds came floating up from the far depths.
Colonel Colvin shook his head. “It’s their meat, Sid. But there’s room
enough in this country for two or three hunts to be going at the same
time. They’ve got the dogs, but we’ve got Niltci, who’s better than a
dog at forest hunting, I’ll warrant. We’ll climb back to the rim and
start something of our own back in the breaks.”
Sid felt that his place was with his father, anyway, and he did not
care much about being a tailender in a hunt that had already
distanced them.
“Shrewd guess of Big John’s that was, Dad,” he replied. “It cut off at
least half a mile for them. If the cat had gone north, along under the
first rim wall, they’d have been out of it instead of us. Let’s ride back
into the gulches and box canyons of the country behind the rim, and
see what we can see.”
They looked up, seeking a place to climb back. A thousand feet
above them towered the rim of rock, dented with columnar pinnacles,
crowned with dwarfed pines that they knew were themselves at least
a hundred feet high. The Colonel was winded and panting before
they had climbed for fifteen minutes. The crumbly soil slid down
underfoot; even zigzagging was slow and laborious toil,—not at all
eased by ledge after ledge of rock outcroppings that called for
hands, knees and feet to scramble up them. Niltci and Sid pulled and
pushed the Colonel up, but an hour of dizzy, sweating work had
gone by and all were spitting cotton before they stood at the base of
the rim rock precipice.
Five hundred feet sheer it rose above them. For comparison Sid
imagined that if he were looking up the Woolworth building to its very
top and if, at the same time, he were standing on a narrow shelf of
yellow and rotten rock with a slope three times as deep below,
ending in blue nothingness—he would have some of the sensations
that now overcame him as he looked up for some possible chimney
up which to climb and wondered how they were ever going to get his
father up it if they did find one. If he could only manage to stand off
from this thing a little, so as to get some idea of its surface, it would
be easy to find the break in the rim where they had come down.
Which way did it lie, north or south? They discussed it, finally
yielding to Niltci, who was sure that it lay north.
Along under the rim wall they crept. The narrow path was worn deep
with cougar tracks. It was a regular runway for them, for they lived
down here in the canyon and came over the rim at night to hunt in
the deer and wild horse country of the hinterland. At any point they
might come upon a cougar cave, here, and the Colonel, who was in
advance, never passed around a pinnacle base without stepping
warily, with his rifle poised for instant use.
“By George, Niltci, you’re wrong—we should have turned south!”
barked out Sid after perhaps half an hour of this gingerly progress.
“Look at these young Matterhorns coming up out of the canyon
below us! I never noticed them before!”
The party stopped to take bearings. Certainly the lookout was new
and unfamiliar. The canyon jutted out here in a great cape, and on its
slope Nature had dropped, casually, three or four red and yellow
mountains that rose below like pyramids. Anywhere else they would
be objects of wonder and bear grandiloquent names.
But Niltci shook his head vigorously and led on without a word. The
rim cliff ended abruptly a little further on in a huge tower of stone,
and, rounding it, they found themselves in a vast amphitheater, a
mile deep, and a mile across a valley of illimitable depths to its
opposite point. All around it the cliffs rose sheer. Surely they never
came down here! Niltci had to acknowledge that much, himself, but
instead of turning back to retrace their steps he grunted impetuously
and led them on, following the rim into that enormous basin.
“Aw, rats!—what’s the use, Niltci, you’re crazy!” exploded Sid, as
both he and the Colonel balked at going any further. For answer the
Indian boy pointed to a thin fissure that cleft the rim from top nearly
to bottom, up near the head of the basin. It was about half a mile
away. How Niltci could know that that crevice could be practicable for
ascent, Sid could not conjecture, but the red men were wise in the
ways of Nature, so he followed on, albeit incredulously. But he had
no idea what impassable obstacle might await them to the south if
they turned back. This, at least, looked possible!
Arrived at it, they peered up to where the last of it ended in a broken,
jagged path, showing where water had come down during the rains.
For fifty feet this rose up the cliff,—an absurd trail for anything but a
fly to attempt; then began the in-cutting of the fissure.
Niltci started up it, amid a howl of protest from Sid and the Colonel.
Like a creeping cat the Indian lad climbed steadily up until he had
reached the fissure, where he turned with a whoop of triumph.
“Wow! We can’t let him get away with that, Father!” chuckled Sid.
“Shut your eyes and climb! Forget mother, forget your insurance, and
all the rest of it—it’s the only way!—I’ll be right behind you.”
The Colonel groaned, whimsically, and started up. Niltci came down
again by some incredible feat of legerdemain—as they looked back
upon that climb afterwards—and gave him a strong lift over the worst
places, and so they all reached the bottom of the fissure. It was dark
and gloomy, and it curved around a bend above, so that they had no
idea how it was all going to turn out—most likely in some sheer wall,
thought Sid. But the only way to get over these things was to go
ahead and do them, so they climbed up into it. Part of the time Niltci
was straddling both walls of it; part of the climb crawling up vertical
ledges higher than his head. The curve mercifully hid from them the
frightful depths below, should anyone fall. It grew better, once around
it, cutting deeper and deeper into the rim wall and becoming less and
less vertical. Masses of pine roots fringed it overhead, and finally
their feet found a narrow bottom of yellow, crumbled rocks, which led
up in a steep slant to the forest above.
“Great work, Niltci! That’s mountaineering for you!” laughed the
Colonel as they dropped panting on the forest duff. “I suppose you
could visualize this whole water crack, having once seen the fissure
in the rim wall, eh?”
Niltci grunted happily. He had no idea what that speech was all
about, but evidently his adored Lord Colonel was pleased! Sid
rejoined them, a moment later, and all sat and looked ruefully at their
clothing. Their bleeding knees peeped through frayed and torn riding
breeches, their buckskin gloves were out at the fingers; Sid had a
scraped thigh, caked with blood; all the uppers of their cruiser
moccasins gapped open in rent seams. Niltci, in his light cottons and
buckskin leggings, seemed the least frazzled of the three, but his
bare toes poked out from thin moccasins worn through on the rocks.
It was half an hour before the Colonel sat up again.
“And now, where are we?” he queried, briskly. “We’ve got all the rest
of the day, so we’ll find the horses and go hang up a buck for camp
meat.”
They all rose and started off through the forest. A short walk through
the high pines that covered the plateau brought the blue haze
beyond, of the canyon again, and presently they came out on a rock
pinnacle that commanded the whole prospect below. A sheer fall
about a thousand feet lay below them. Beyond that smoky, purple
depths showed beyond over the second rim.
“The place where we came down must lie to the west of here, boys,”
declared the Colonel. “Big John and Scotty are somewhere down in
this valley—they’ll be all day getting back! We’ll start west for
another look-see.”
A second outlook from another point showed them the steep slope
down which they had first come. Up in the ravine at the head of it
would be the horses, for there they had first started the cougar. Soon
they were in it and had remounted.
“Sore and tattered, but still in the game!” ejaculated the Colonel as
he put spurs to the roan and led back up the ravine into the
hinterland.
Back in here they found the huge flanks of Buckskin all cut up with
rocky glades grown up with yellow pines, and gulches which led to
high, walled canyons, all leading out to a discharge into the Grand
Canyon, somewhere. Great pines grew heavily in the swales. It was
a wonderful, rich, plentiful game country! Again and again Niltci
grunted, to point down at deer tracks, wolf tracks, and the round
hoof-prints of wild horses, and there seemed to be a cougar after
every deer, judging from their frequent footprints!
“Hist!” called the Colonel, suddenly, stooping down to whip out his
.35 from its scabbard. The bushes shook, up in a densely grown
ravine that lost itself somewhere in the upper flanks of the mountain.
Gray shapes bounded across it, stiff-legged, flashing into sight
occasionally, to disappear as quickly.
The Colonel’s rifle barked, followed by Sid’s. One of the gray shapes
plunged, and there was a mad scramble in the timber. They were
mule deer, a whole drove of them! Sid fired at another, running
bewilderedly up a bush-strewn slope in full flight. Then all was still
again.
“I nailed mine,” said the Colonel. “We’ll wait a while. Once he lies
down he’ll never get up.—Lord, boys, there must have been thirty in

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System Dynamics for Engineering

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Publisher: Katey Birtcher

To all readers coming across this book,

Professor Ephrahim Garcia

Engineering system dynamics is a discipline that focuses on deriving mathematical

of solutions to linear homogeneous ordinary differential equations with constant

• Systematic introduction and comprehensive application of the complex

FOR INSTRUCTORS ONLY

1.1 ENGINEERING SYSTEM DYNAMICS

System Dynamics for Engineering Students. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804559-6.00001-4 1

(response) of these systems, as well as solving these mathematical models and

1.2 MODELING ENGINEERING SYSTEM DYNAMICS

Actual Physical Mathematical System

Simplifying Mathematical Solving

model describing the dynamic behavior of an engineering system consists of a dif-

1.2.1 Modeling Variants

Actual Mathematical System

Specified Mathematical Designed

1.2.2 Dynamical Systems Lumped-Parameter Modeling and

1.3 ELEMENTS, SYSTEM, INPUT, AND OUTPUT

The response of a dynamical system is generated by external causes, such as

1.4 COMPLIANT MECHANISMS AND

(d) (e) (f)

Compliant frame Flexure hinge

Anchor Flexure hinges Output motion

Anchor Output motion

MEMS applications, such as sensors, actuators, pumps, motors, accelerometers,

(a) (b) (c)

1.5 SYSTEM ORDER

1.5.1 Zero-Order Systems

1.5.2 First-Order Systems

1.5.3 Second- and Higher-Order Systems

As detailed in Chapters 2 and 3, the equation of motion is derived by means of

with Km and Ke being constants. By combining Eqs. (1.13)e(1.15), the following

1.6 COUPLED-FIELD (MULTIPLE-FIELD) SYSTEMS

Mechanical deformation Mechanical deformation

therefore, its resistance changes by a quantity proportional to the mechanical defor-

1.7 LINEAR AND NONLINEAR DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

Another nonlinearity type, particularly encountered in electrical components is

1.8 TIME- AND FREQUENCY-DOMAIN SYSTEM DYNAMICS

1.9 FEEDBACK CONTROL OF DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

Input Output Input Output

(real-life) system responses are the errors due to physical/mathematical modeling

2.1 SPRING ELEMENTS

System Dynamics for Engineering Students. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804559-6.00002-6 23

2.1.1 Basic Spring Elements and Stiffness

Table 2.1 Elastic Force/Moment and Elastic Potential Energy for

elastic potential energy (Ue) and equations corresponding to a translatory spring as

Table 2.2 Basic Translatory Springs and Their Lumped-Parameter

Bridge (fixed-fixed beam)

Table 2.3 Basic Rotary Springs and Their Lumped-Parameter Stiffnesses

Fixed-free spiral spring