THEORY OF MACHINES AND

MECHANISMS II

Mechanical IV/I
Vibration of Single Degree of Freedom
Systems
Un-damped Free Response of a SDOF
System
2022
Learning Objectives

• Define generalized coordinates and degree of freedom

of a system.
• Make able to determine the response of an undamped
single degree of freedom (SDOF) system.
4. Generalized Coordinates and Degree of Freedom
1. Generalized Coordinates
Position of a particle or a point of a rigid body undergoing
vibration continuously changes with time. Therefore response of
any vibrating system is given by an expression in which time is
used as an independent variable. To define any instantaneous
position of the system, few dependent variables should be used and
these variables are called generalized coordinates.

Generalized coordinates: , x or
y
 Generalized coordinate: x

Two masses connected by two springs where x1 and x2

are kinematically independent.

Two masses connected by two springs where x1 and x2

are kinematically dependent.
6.4.2 Degrees of Freedom

Degree of freedom of any vibratory system is defined as the

minimum number kinematically independent coordinates required
to define the motion of every particle of the system..

A set of kinetically independent coordinates is defined by a set of

appropriate generalized coordinates.

Degree of freedom of any system is unique but the set

of
generalized coordinates may not be unique.
A particle on space can have a maximum of three degrees of
freedom, i.e., three displacements u, v and w along the three
mutually perpendicular directions x, y and z. If its motion is
constrained, then its degree of freedom will be less than three.

DOF = 1

DOF = 1
Any rigid body on space can have a maximum of six degrees of
freedom, i.e., three displacements u, v and w along the three
mutually perpendicular directions x, y and z and three rotations x,
y and z about the three mutually perpendicular directions x, y and
z.

Similarly, any rigid body undergoing general plane motion can

have a maximum of three degrees of freedom, i.e., two
displacements u and v along the two perpendicular directions x and
y and one rotation z about the z axis.

If these rigid bodies are subjected to some constrains then

there
will be reduction in their number of degrees of freedom.
If any system consists of a number of particles or rigid bodies each
having some definite degrees of freedom, overall degrees of
freedom of the complete system may be equal to or less than the
sum of degrees of freedom of each particle or rigid body.

This reduction in degrees of freedom is due to kinematic

dependency between the particles or rigid bodies.

DOF = 2

DOF = 1
DOF = 1

DOF = 
6.5 Undamped Free Vibrations of SDOF Systems
A system is said to be a single degree of freedom (SDOF) system if
it requires only one variable to give its kinematic description.

The simplest model of a vibrating system is a single degree of

freedom (SDOF) system and basic procedure of vibration analysis
can be understood through a SDOF model which can be further
extended for higher degree of freedom systems.

Response of a system due to its inherent properties and in the

absence of damping is called the un-damped free response of the
system.
Consider a spring-mass system shown in Figure as a representative
model for an un-damped single degree of freedom system.

The deformation (∆) of the spring under such static condition

is called static displacement..
With reference to the free-body diagram of the mass under static
condition shown in Figure, equilibrium equation can be written as
𝑊 = 𝑘∆ …(6.7)
With reference to free-body diagram of the mass undergoing
vibration shown in Figure, Newton's second law of motion can be
applied as

∑ 𝐹 =𝑚ẍ

𝑊−𝑘 ∆+𝑥 =𝑚ẍ

𝑊 − 𝑘∆ − 𝑘𝑥 = 𝑚 ẍ
Substituting 𝑊 = 𝑘∆,
−𝑘𝑥 = 𝑚 ẍ

𝑚 ẍ + 𝑘𝑥 = …(6.8)
0
Equation (6.8) is a homogeneous second order linear ordinary
differential equation with constant coefficients and which has the
general solution of the following form
𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑠𝑡 …(6.9)
Differentiating Equation (6.8) twice, we get
𝑥¨ = 𝑠2 𝑒 𝑠𝑡 …(6.10)
Substituting 𝑥 and 𝑥¨ from equations (6.9) and (6.10)
respectively into Equation (6.8), we get
𝑘
𝑠2 + 𝑒 𝑠𝑡 = 0 …
𝑚 (6.11)
Since 𝑒 𝑠𝑡 ≠ 0, Equation (6.11) leads to
𝑘 …(6.12)
𝑠2 + 𝑚 = 0
which is the characteristic equation of the system.
Substituting
𝑘
= 𝜔𝑛 2 …(6.13)
𝑚
Equation (6.13) reduces to

𝑠2 + 𝜔𝑛 2 = 0 …(6.14)

Roots of Equation (6.14) are given as

𝑠1, 2 = ±𝑖𝜔𝑛 …(6.15)
Since the roots of characteristic equation are complex conjugate
pair, the general solution of Equation (6.8) is given by

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝐵 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜔𝑛 𝑡 …(6.16)

where A and B are the arbitrary constants which can

be determined form the initial conditions.
 𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝐵 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜔𝑛 𝑡 …(6.16)
Equation (6.16) is the expression of the free response of an un-
damped SDOF system and is the sinusoidal or oscillating function
and 𝜔𝑛 represents the natural frequency of oscillation. It can be
noted from Equation (6.13) that natural frequency (𝜔𝑛 ) of the
system depends on stiffness (𝑘) and mass (𝑚). Equation (6.13) can
also be expressed for the natural frequency in rad/s as
𝑘 …(6.17)
𝜔𝑛 =
𝑚

Natural frequency 𝑓𝑛 of the system, in Hz, can be expressed as

𝜔𝑛
𝑛 1 …(6.18)
𝑘
𝑓 = =
2𝜋
Similarly, the time period 𝑇 of free vibration is given by
1 2𝜋
𝑚 …(6.19)
𝑇= = = 2𝜋
𝑓𝑛 𝜔𝑛
The expressions for 𝑘the natural frequency and time period can also
be expressed in terms of static displacement as
𝑔
𝜔𝑛 = …(6.20)
∆
1
𝑛 …(6.20)
𝑔
𝑓 =
2𝜋
∆ …(6.21)
𝑇 = 2𝜋
∆ 𝑔
Solution with initial condition
Free vibration in any system is initiated due to initial disturbance in
the form of initial displacement or initial velocity or combination
of both initial displacement and initial velocity. Assume that the
system is subjected to an initial displacement 𝑥0 of and initial
velocity of 𝑣0 respectively, i.e.,

At 𝑡 = 0 𝑥 0 = 𝑥0 and 𝑥˙0 = 𝑣0. …(6.22)

Substituting 𝑡 = 0 and 𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑥0 into Equation (6.16), we get
𝑥0 = 𝐵 …(6.23)

Differentiating Equation (6.16) with respect to 𝑡 and

substituting
𝑡𝑣= =0 𝐴and
𝜔
𝑥˙(𝑡) = 𝑣0, we
𝑣0 get …
0 𝑛 ∴ 𝐴 = 𝜔𝑛
(6.24)
Substituting 𝐵 and 𝐴 from Equations (6.23) and (6.24) respectively
into Equation (6.16), we get the expression for the free response of
a SDOF system with initial conditions as
𝑣0
𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝑥0 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜔𝑛 𝑡 …(6.25)
𝜔𝑛
•Equation (6.25) can be expressed in terms of 𝑠𝑖𝑛 function only as

• 𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔 𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜙1 …(6.26)

1

•where
2
𝑣0 2 ...(6.27)
𝐴1 = + 𝑥0
𝜔𝑛
and
𝑥0
𝜙1 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ...(6.28)
𝑣0/𝜔𝑛
Equation (6.25) can be expressed in terms of 𝑐𝑜𝑠 function only as
𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴1 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜔 𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜙1 …

(6.29)
2
where 𝑣0 2
𝐴1 = + 𝑥0 …(6.30)
𝜔𝑛
and
𝑥0
𝜙1 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ...(6.31)
𝑣0/𝜔𝑛
Review Questions
1. What do you mean by kinematically dependent and kinematically
independent displacement variables?
2. Define generalized coordinates and degree of freedom
of a dynamic system.
3. What is the maximum possible degree of freedom of a particle?
4. What is the maximum possible degree of freedom of a rigid body?
5. What is the maximum possible degree of freedom of a rigid body
undergoing a general plane motion?
6. What effect does a decrease in mass have on the frequency of a
system?
7. What effect does a decrease in the stiffness have on the natural
period?
8. Derive the response of an un-damped vibration of single degree of
freedom system.