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Problem No.1

Find the natural frequencies and modal shapes for the three-degree of freedom shear
building in figure 1.

Solution:
a. Single-column model and free-body diagram.

b. The values of mass (M) and stiffness (K) is given below.

s2 lb
m1 ≔ 150 lb ⋅ ― k1 ≔ 30000 ―
in in

s2 lb
m2 ≔ 100 lb ⋅ ― k2 ≔ 20000 ―
in in
MDOF PS 2_Natural freq and Modal shapes.mcdx Page 1 of 5
 s2 lb
m2 ≔ 100 lb ⋅ ― k2 ≔ 20000 ―
in in

s2 lb
m3 ≔ 50 lb ⋅ ― k3 ≔ 10000 ―
in in

c. Determine the mass and stiffness matrices.

⎡ m1 0 0 ⎤ ⎡ 150 0 0⎤ 2
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ s
M ≔ 0 m2 0 = 0 100 0 ⎥ ―⋅ lb
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ in
⎢⎣ 0 0 m3 ⎥⎦ ⎣ 0 0 50 ⎦

⎡ k1 + k2 -k2 0 ⎤ ⎡ 50000 -20000 0⎤

d. Solve for the natural frequencies.

from the reference (Structural Dynamics Theory and Computation 5th Ed. by Mario Paz and
William Leigh, Equation (7.10) is used to determine the Natural Frequency ω.
That is det|[K]-w^2*[M]|=0.
Let x=w^2.

p ((x)) ≔ -m1 ⋅ m2 ⋅ m3 ⋅ x 3 + ⎛⎝⎛⎝k1 + k2⎞⎠ ⋅ ⎛⎝m2 ⋅ m3⎞⎠ + ⎛⎝k2 + k3⎞⎠ ⋅ m1 ⋅ m3 + k3 ⋅ m1 ⋅ m2⎞⎠ ⋅ x 2 - ⎛⎝⎛⎝k1 + k2⎞⎠ ⋅ ⎛⎝k2 + k3

⎡ ⎛⎛k ⋅ ⎛k + k ⎞ ⋅ ⎛k + k ⎞⎞ + ⎛k + k ⎞ ⋅ k 2 + k 2 ⋅ k ⎞ ⎤
⎝⎝ 3 ⎝ 1 2⎠ ⎝ 2 3⎠⎠ ⎝ 1 2⎠ 3 2 3⎠
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎛⎛k + k ⎞ ⋅ ⎛k + k ⎞ ⋅ m + ⎛k + k ⎞ ⋅ m ⋅ k + k ⋅ ⎛k + k ⎞ ⋅ m + k 2 ⋅ m + k 2 ⋅ m ⎞ ⎥
v≔ ⎝⎝ 1 2 ⎠ ⎝ 2 3 ⎠ 3 ⎝ 1 2 ⎠ 2 3 3 ⎝ 2 3 ⎠ 1 3 1 2 3 ⎠
⎢ ⎛⎝⎛⎝k1 + k2⎞⎠ ⋅ ⎛⎝m2 ⋅ m3⎞⎠ + ⎛⎝k2 + k3⎞⎠ ⋅ m1 ⋅ m3 + k3 ⋅ m1 ⋅ m2⎞⎠ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎣ -m1 ⋅ m2 ⋅ m3 ⎦

finding the root of the equation above will be the natural frequencies of the structure:
⎡ -136.581 - 101.32i ⎤
1
(
r ≔ polyroots (v)) r = ⎢ -136.581 + 101.32i ⎥ ―
⎢ ⎥ s2
⎣ 1106.496 ⎦
1
x ≔ 1106.496 ⋅ ― ω ≔ ‾‾
x
s2

rad
ω = 33.264 ―― Fundamental Frequency of the Structure
s

or in cycles per second (cps):

ω 1
f ≔ ―― = 5.294 ― cps
2⋅π s

and the corresponding natural periods:

MDOF PS 2_Natural freq and Modal shapes.mcdx Page 2 of 5

1
T ≔ ―= 0.189 s
f

e. Solving for the amplitude

from the reference (Structural Dynamics Theory and Computation 5th Ed. by Mario Paz and
William Leigh, Equation (7.9) is used to determine the Mode Shape ϕ .
That is |[K]-w^2*[M]|{ ϕ }={0}.
Let x=w^2.

⎡ -115974.4 -20000 0 ⎤
lb
K - (x ⋅ M) = -20000 -80649.6 -10000 ⎥ ―
( ) ⎢
⎢ ⎥
⎣ 0 -10000 -45324.8 ⎦ in

Established 3 equations for 3 unknowns, and assuming a unity value of ϕ31 .

ϕ31 ≔ 1

-45324.8 ⋅ ϕ31
ϕ21 ≔ ――――― = -4.532
10000

-20000 ⋅ ϕ21
ϕ11 ≔ ――――= 0.782
115974.4

f. Plot the mode shape

Problem No. 2

Use the results of Problem 1 to write the expression for the free vibration displacement y1,
y2, and y3 of the shear building in Figure 1 in terms of constants of integration.

The total motion of the system, that is, the total solutiom of the equations of motion, eq.
(7.7), is given by the superposition of the modal harmonic vibrations which in terms of
arbitrary constants of integration may be written as:MDOF PS 2_Natural freq and Modal shapes.mcdx Page 3 of 5
Problem No. 2

Use the results of Problem 1 to write the expression for the free vibration displacement y1,
y2, and y3 of the shear building in Figure 1 in terms of constants of integration.

The total motion of the system, that is, the total solutiom of the equations of motion, eq.
(7.7), is given by the superposition of the modal harmonic vibrations which in terms of
arbitrary constants of integration may be written as:
y1 ((t)) ≔ C'1 ⋅ y11 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t - α1⎞⎠ + C'2 ⋅ y12 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t - α2⎞⎠ + C'3 ⋅ y13 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω3 ⋅ t - α3⎞⎠

y2 ((t)) ≔ C'1 ⋅ y21 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t - α1⎞⎠ + C'2 ⋅ y22 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t - α2⎞⎠ + C'3 ⋅ y23 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω3 ⋅ t - α3⎞⎠

y3 ((t)) ≔ C'1 ⋅ y31 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t - α1⎞⎠ + C'2 ⋅ y32 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t - α2⎞⎠ + C'3 ⋅ y33 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω3 ⋅ t - α3⎞⎠

Here, C'i and αi are six constants of integration to be determined from four initial
conditions which are the initial displacement and velocity for each mass in the system. For a
three-degree-of-freedom system, these initial conditions are:

y10 ≔ y01 y'10 ≔ y'01

y20 ≔ y02 y'20 ≔ y'02

y30 ≔ y03 y'30 ≔ y'03

For computational purposes, it is convenient to eliminate the phase angles αi in favor of

y1 ((t)) ≔ C1 ⋅ y11 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C2 ⋅ y11 ⋅ cos ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C3 ⋅ y12 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C4 ⋅ y12 ⋅ cos ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C5 ⋅ y13 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω3 ⋅

y2 ((t)) ≔ C1 ⋅ y21 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C2 ⋅ y21 ⋅ cos ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C3 ⋅ y22 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C4 ⋅ y22 ⋅ cos ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C5 ⋅ y23 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω3 ⋅

y3 ((t)) ≔ C1 ⋅ y31 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C2 ⋅ y31 ⋅ cos ⎛⎝ω1 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C3 ⋅ y32 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C4 ⋅ y32 ⋅ cos ⎛⎝ω2 ⋅ t⎞⎠ + C5 ⋅ y33 ⋅ sin ⎛⎝ω3 ⋅

in which C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6 are the new renamed constants of integration. From the
first two initial conditions, we obtain the following two equations:

y01 ≔ C2 ⋅ y11 + C4 ⋅ y12 + C6 ⋅ y13

y02 ≔ C2 ⋅ y21 + C4 ⋅ y22 + C6 ⋅ y23

y03 ≔ C2 ⋅ y31 + C4 ⋅ y32 + C6 ⋅ y33

Since the modes are independent, these equations can always be solve for C2, C4 and C6.
Similarly, by expressing the velocities at time equal to zero, we find:

y'01 ≔ ω1 ⋅ C1 ⋅ y11 + ω2 ⋅ C3 ⋅ y12 + ω3 ⋅ C5 ⋅ y13

y'02 ≔ ω1 ⋅ C1 ⋅ y21 + ω2 ⋅ C3 ⋅ y22 + ω3 ⋅ C5 ⋅ y23

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y'02 ≔ ω1 ⋅ C1 ⋅ y21 + ω2 ⋅ C3 ⋅ y22 + ω3 ⋅ C5 ⋅ y23

y'03 ≔ ω1 ⋅ C1 ⋅ y31 + ω2 ⋅ C3 ⋅ y32 + ω3 ⋅ C5 ⋅ y33

The solution of these three sets of equations, allows us to express the motion of the system
in term of the three modal vibrations, each proceeding at its own frquency, completely
independent of the other, the amplitudes and phases being determined by the initial
conditions.

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