Forced harmonic vibration: SDOF system

The vibrations in a dynamic system caused by the presence of a time-varying force is

called forced vibration response. When damping is absent such vibrations are called
undamped forced vibrations. When damping is present the term damped forced
vibrations is used.

When the exciting force is of short duration, the response is also of short duration. After
the applied force has ceased acting, damping in the system brings the system to rest. The
response is then referred to as transient response.

When the applied force is of long duration, the system keeps vibrating as long as the
force is acting. Such vibrations have two components: a transient component and a
steady state component.

The transient component is present at the beginning of the vibrations, its magnitude is
determined by the initial conditions. Damping in the system causes it to decay rapidly
Forced harmonic vibration: SDOF system
 After the transient component has died only the steady state component remains. Under
certain conditions this component may reach very large amplitudes. When such conditions
exist, system is said to have achieved resonance.
Solution of forced vibration equation
The equation governing forced vibration response is
(1)
As discussed earlier, when m, c, and k do not vary with time and the response is of low
magnitude, the system is said to be linear. The principle of superposition holds for a linear
system. Thus let the applied force be given by
(2)
Now suppose the response to force alone is and the response to is , then the response of
a linear system to the combined force is given by
+ (3)
Forced harmonic vibration: SDOF system

 If the forcing function is harmonic in nature, for example , the equation of motion is

(4)
For linear systems, the solution of Eq. 1 consists of two parts, referred to as complementary
function and particular integral. The complementary function is obtained by solving the
equation with set to zero. The particular integral depends on the nature of forcing function.
The sum of the two parts should satisfy the initial conditions.

Undamped harmonic vibrations

When damping is absent, Eq. (4) becomes
(5)
 Undamped harmonic vibrations
 The complementary function is obtained by solving

(6)
We know from our previous work that the solution of this equation is
(7)
where is the natural frequency of the system and A and B are arbitrary constants, whose
values have yet to be determined.
For finding the particular integral we use the method of trial. In other words, we try a
solution and substitute the solution in Eq. 5 to see whether it works and under what
conditions. In this case we try . Substitution in Eq. 5 gives
(8)
Thus, the equation will be satisfied and our trial solution valid only if
(9)

where is the frequency ratio

Undamped harmonic vibrations
 The complete solution is now given by

(10)
We obtain constants A and B by substituting the initial conditions

The complete solution becomes

(11)
In Eq. 11 the transient part is
(12)
The steady state part of the solution is
(13)
 Undamped harmonic vibrations
 The transient part given by Eq. 12 dies out soon with the slightest amount of damping.
The steady state part lasts so long as lasts.

Figure 1 shows the transient, steady

state, and total response under
harmonic load.

Note that by themselves the

transient part and steady state part
do not satisfy the two initial
conditions. It is only the total
response that satisfies them.

 Fig. 1: Transient, steady-state, and total response of an undamped

system under harmonic load,
Undamped harmonic vibrations
 Let us examine the steady start part

(13)
The amplitude of the response, which is also its
maximum value, is
(14)
The static deflection under a load would be
(15)

Fig. 2: Amplitude ratio versus frequency ratio

  amplitude of or its maximum value is The ratio of the dynamic amplitude to the static
The
amplitude is referred to as amplitude ratio and is given by
(16)
Figure 2 shows a plot of versus .
Undamped harmonic vibrations

 Figure 2 shows the following

1. For , that is when the exciting frequency matches the natural frequency, the response
is infinite. This phenomenon is called resonance

2. As approaches zero the amplitude ratio approaches 1, or dynamic displacement

becomes equal to static displacement. In this case the load is varying so slowly that
response is almost the same as the static response.

3. When is less than 1 the amplitude ratio is positive, that is the displacement is in the
same direction as the applied force. When is greater than 1, the amplitude ratio is
negative, or displacement is opposite to the applied force.

Figure 3 also illustrates the above characteristics. As well, it shows the use of rotating
vector representation.
 Rotating vector representation

 Imagine a rotating vector of length

starting at an angle 0 from X axis and
rotating anticlockwise at angular
velocity of radians per second. At
time t the vector has rotated by an
angle and its vertical projection is
equal to the displacement
For the static case
For
For

 
Figure 3: Steady-state displacement response: (a) static
displacement; (b) response for (c) response for
Damped harmonic vibrations

 The equation of motion for a system with viscous damping vibrating under a harmonic force
is given by
(17)
The transient solution or complementary function is obtained by solving Eq. 17 with forcing
term set to zero
(18)

where
For steady state solution or particular integral we try a solution
(19)

Substituting and its derivatives in Eq. 17 we get

(20)
Damped harmonic vibrations
 
Equation 20 should be valid for all values of , specifically when so that and , also when , so that and . These
conditions lead to the following two equations:

(21a)
(21b)

On substituting and in Eq. 21 we get the following 2 equations

(22a)
(22b)
On solving Eqs. 22a and 22b for and we get

(23a)
(23b)
Damped harmonic vibrations

 On substituting Eq. 23 in Eq. 19 we get the steady state solution

(24)
Equation 24 can be written in the following alternative form
(25)
where
(26)
(27)
The total solution is now
(28)
where A and B are obtained by using initial conditions
Damped harmonic vibrations

 The following values are obtained for

constants A and B
(29a)
(29b)

Figure 4 shows the transient, steady state,

and total response for a system with
and zero initial conditions. The transient
part diminishes with time because of
damping. Neither the transit nor the steady
state part satisfies the initial condition. The
total response does

  4: Transient, steady-state, and total response

Fig.
of a damped system to harmonic load; =0.5,
ξ =0.1, u0 =0, v0=0.
Damped harmonic vibrations
 The ratio of the steady state dynamic deflection to the static deflection is called dynamic
load factor or D(t) and is given by
(30a)
where
(30b)
Term Ad depends on both and . For a given we can determine the value of for which Ad is
maximum by equating the differential of Eq. 30 to zero. This gives
(31)
When this is substituted in Eq. 30b we get
(32)
Resonance is said to occur when The maximum value is however not at resonance but at a
value of slightly less than 1. For small , the peak is approximately at and the maximum is
approximately equal to
Damped harmonic vibrations

 Amplitude Ad is plotted in Fig. 5 as

function of for different values of
The peak is seen to be slightly to the
left of and the maximum is
approximately

Fig. 5: Variation of the amplitude of dynamic

load factor with frequency ratio and viscous
damping ratio.
Damped harmonic vibrations

 Equation 25 shows that the steady state

response of a damped system subjected
to a harmonic load is itself harmonic, with
a frequency equal to that of the exciting
force but lags the latter by an angle called
the phase angle. The phase angle, given
by Eq. 27, is a function of both ξ and . It is
plotted in Fig. 6 as a function of for
different values of ξ . At resonance, that
is, when , is equal to 90◦ for all values of
the damping ratio. This can also be
verified from Eq. 27.
Fig. 6: Variation of phase angle with
frequency ratio and damping
Damped harmonic vibrations

 To illustrate the nature of steady-state

response, the static displacements are
compared in Figure 7 with the steady-state
displacements for three different values of:
0.5, 1.0 and 2.0. and ξ =0.1.
For = 0.5 the amplitude of displacement is
1.322 p0/k The phase angle is 0.133 rad or
7.6◦. On the time axis this translates to a lag
of (t/T)=0.133/ΩT = 0.133/(2π) = 0.042.
For = 1.0, the displacement amplitude is
5p0/k. The phase angle is π/2 rad or 90◦,
which translates to a lag of t/T = 0.25 on the
time axis. For = 2 the displacement
amplitude is 0.330 p0/k. The phase angle is
3.01 rad or 172.4◦, which is equivalent to a
lag of t/T = 0.24 on the time axis.   7: Steady-state response of a damped system with ξ =
Fig.
0.1 to harmonic load: (a) = 0.5; (b) = 1.0; (c) =2.0.
Example
The seating in a football stadium is mounted on precast prestressed concrete T-beams simply
supported on a span of 11.7 m. The cross-sectional properties of a T-beam are indicated in
Figure 8. The superimposed load due to fixed seats and spectators can be taken as 2.4 kN/m2.
Clapping and stamping by spectators during a sporting event impress a harmonic dynamic
load on the beams. Previous field observations have shown that the frequency of the harmonic
load due to stamping is 3 Hz, the load amplitude is 0.4kN/m2, and the damping is 3% of critical.

Figure 8 :
Dynamics of stadium
seating: (a) cross section
of precast concrete T-
beam; (b) equivalent
single-degree-of-freedom
system.
Example

 By assuming that the vibration shape function is

convert a T-beam and the seating supported by it into an equivalent single-degree-of-freedom

system. Then determine the natural frequency of the system, the maximum dynamic
deflection at midspan, and the magnitude of the maximum acceleration experienced by the
spectators.
Solution
The generalized mass m∗, generalized stiffness k∗, and the generalized load p∗ are given by
L
Example
 Mass per unit length, m.

Due to mass of the beam: 0.1587 × 2400 = 380.9 kg/m

Due to seats and spectators: kg/m
kg/m
kg
kN/m
The uniformly distributed harmonic load caused by stamping and clapping is
obtained from
kN/m
The effective force is obtained from
kN
Example
 The equivalent single degree of freedom is shown in Fig. 8b. Its motion is governed
by the following equations

The solution is given by

The frequency ratio is obtained from

rad/s = 7.38 Hz
Example
 We have

m
The mid span deflection is now obtained from

m
The maximum mid span deflection is m. The maximum acceleration at mid-span is m/s2 =
1.38 % g
The equivalent static load that will produce a deflection m is obtained from
which gives kN/m
The precast beam should thus be designed for superimposed load of 0.3648 + 2.4 × 0.762 =
2.19 kN/m besides the self weight
Rotating unbalanced force
 Consider a rotating motor as shown in Fig.
7. The motor has an unbalanced mass m0
and is rotating at a constant speed of The
support of the motor experiences a
centrifugal force Its two components are
given by
(34)
and
(35)
If the motor is free to move in the vertical
Fig. 7: Unbalanced rotating mass.
direction its motion is governed by
  (36)
where m is the total mass of the motor including the unbalanced mass m0
Rotating unbalanced force
 The steady state motion of the motor as obtained from Eq. 36 is

where
(37a)
(37b)
In Eq. 37 is the frequency ratio and is the natural frequency of the motor and its support
system
By equating the derivative of Eq. 37 to zero it can be shown that is maximum when
, and the maximum value is given by
(38)
For small values of , the amplitude is maximum when and its value is
(39)
Rotating unbalanced force

 The amplitude ratio is plotted in Fig. 8 as a

function of for various values of . The
peaks of the curves are slightly to the right
of . As becomes large approaches .

Thus to keep the vibration amplitude small

resonance should be avoided and kept as
small as possible. In practice this is
achieved by mounting the motor on a
heavy frame or a massive concrete base.

Fig. 8: Variation of amplitude with frequency ratio

and damping in an unbalanced rotating system
Example 2
A steel frame consisting of four legs,
each a steel wide-flange section
W200×27, supports a rigid steel table as
shown in Figure E6.3a. A rotating motor
with an unbalanced mass of 200 kg at
an eccentricity of 50mm is mounted on
the table. If the total mass of the table
and the motor is 2500 kg, find the range
of speed of the motor over which the
maximum flexural stress in the legs will
exceed 100 MPa. Assume that the legs
have a negligible mass, are fixed at the
foundation as well as at the table, and
neglect damping.
Example 2

 Solution

The lateral stiffness of the four legs is

N/m
The natural frequency of the system is obtained from
rad/s = 9.64 Hz

For a lateral deflection of table Δ the maximum moment M at the base is . The
maximum stress is where S is the section modulus. Thus

or

or mm
Example 2
 For zero damping Eq. 37a gives

For

or
For
or

 The lower limit of motor speed is Hz = 464 rpm. The upper limit is Hz = 865 rpm
Transmitted motion due to support movement
A system mounted on a moving support will have some motion transmitted to it. Our
objective is to assess the magnitude and nature of the transmitted motion. This will be
useful in one of the following ways:
1. Develop a design to minimize transmitted motion
2. To estimate the support motion from measurement of the transmitted motion
 Consider the mass m supported by a frame
fixed to the ground thorough a spring and a
damper. The ground is moving in the vertical
direction, its motion is described by
. (40)
The vertical displacement of the supported
mass relative to the ground motion is and
its total displacement is . The 3
displacements are related, thus
Fig. 9: Harmonic support excitation: (a) frame supporting a
(41) mass; (b) free-body diagram of supported mass.
Transmitted motion due to support movement

 Referring to the free body diagram in Fig. 9, the equation of motion is

(42a)
or
(42b)

The steady state response is given by Eq. 25 and 26 with replaced by . Thus
(43)
where
(44)
(45)
Transmitted motion due to support movement
 The total displacement is obtained by using Eqs. 41 and 24
(46)

 Equation 46 can be reduced to the form

where
(47a)
(47b)
Figure 10 shows a plot of versus for
several different values of . All curves pass
through , 1. To keep less than 1, should
be > and damping as low as is reasonable.

Fig. 10: Variation of the amplitude of transmitted motion

with frequency ratio and damping
Transmissibility and vibration isolation
Transmission of force or vibration is required in the following situations
1. Dynamic force transmitted by a machine to its foundation
2. Vibration from the surroundings transmitted to a supported delicate instrument

Force Isolation
 Consider a machine supported by springs of total stiffness
k and damper with constant c. The machine is subjected
to a harmonic force as shown in Fig. 11. The steady state
response of the machine is where and are given by Eqs.
26 and 27. Force is transmitted to the foundation through
the spring and damper and is

(48)

Fig. 11: Transmitted force under

harmonic excitation
Transmissibility and vibration isolation

 In Eq. 49

(49a)
(49b)
On substituting for from Eq. 26 and noting that we get
(50a)
(50b)
The ratio χ/p0 is called the transmission ratio or transmissibility, and is denoted by TR.
A comparison of Eqs. 47a and 50a shows that Figure 10 should also represent the variation
of transmission ratio with for different values of the damping ratio ξ . It is evident from
Figure 10 that if the force is to be smaller than the applied force p0, the natural
frequency ω should be selected so that the ratio /ω is greater than and damping should be
minimised.
Transmissibility and vibration isolation
 When damping is small Eq. 50a can be simplified as

(51)
We next consider vibration isolation. Our objective is to reduce the total motion experienced
by the supported system when the support undergoes a harmonic motion. Such total
motion is given by Eq. 47a and its variation with is as shown by Fig. 10. Obviously, the design
for vibration isolation is governed by the same consideration as for force isolation.

Measurement of support acceleration

 In Fig. 12 if the support is undergoing a
vertical acceleration then as per Eq. 42b the
equation governing the relative motion of
mass m is
(52)

Fig. 12: Schematic diagram of a seismic instrument

Measurement of support acceleration

 The solution of Eq. 52 is obtained from Eqs. 43, 44 and 45 with replaced by . Ignoring the –ve
sign we have
(53)
where
(54)
(55)
Also is the ratio of the exciting frequency to the natural frequency and the damping constant
of the instrument. Equation 54 shows that if is measured A can be obtained from
(56)
Measurement of support acceleration
 In the design of the instrument we are faced with two challenges. The constant of
proportionality C in Eq. 56 is a function of If the exciting motion comprises of several
harmonic motion with different exciting frequencies C will not be a constant and the
measured motion u cannot give us the input acceleration. We find a solution in Fig. 5
and the following data

Table 1: Characteristics of an acceleration measuring instrument

0.0 1.00 1.000 1.400

0.1 1.01 1.000 1.405
0.2 1.04 1.000 1.419
0.3 1.10 0.998 1.442
0.4 1.19 0.991 1.470
0.5 1.33 0.975 1.502
0.6 1.56 0.947 1.533
Measurement of support acceleration

 The data presented in Table 1 shows that if is 0.7 and is kept to be no greater than 0.6
then an instrument calibrated to read correctly at a very low exciting frequency will be
in error by only 5.3% when the exciting frequency is equal to 60% of the instrument
frequency. Thus if the largest frequency to be read accurately is 10 cps, the instrument
frequency should be 16.67 cps.

Equation 54 shows that the measured amplitude is inversely proportional to the square
of instrument frequency, hence a large will imply very small measurement which
should then be amplified mechanically or electronically to be read.

Equation 53 shows that the actual measurement is a wave form which lags the exciting
wave by , which depends on . If the excitation consists of a single waveform that would
not be a problem. However, when the excitation is composed of several waves each
with a different or , the output will be completely distorted. This means that the
instrument should be designed such as does not vary. Fortunately, with
and is almost constant.