Module 4: Oscillator with external forcing-I

Lecture 4: Oscillator with external forcing-I

In this chapter we consider an oscillator under the influence of an external

sinusoidal force F = cos(ωt + ψ). Why this particular form of the force? This
is because nearly any arbitrary time varying force F (t) can be decomposed
into the sum of sinusoidal forces of different frequencies
∞
X
F (t) = Fn cos(ωn t + ψn ) (4.1)
n=1,...

Here Fn and ψn are respectively the amplitude and phase of the different
frequency components. Such an expansion is called a Fourier series. The be-
haviour of the oscillator under the influence of the force F (t) can be determined
by separately solving
mx¨n + kxn = Fn cos(ωn t + ψn ) (4.2)
for a force with a single frequency and then superposing the solutions
X
x(t) = xn (t) . (4.3)
n
We shall henceforth restrict our attention to equation (4.2) which has a
sinusoidal force of a single frequency and drop the subscript n from xn and
Fn . It is convenient to switch over to the complex notation
¨ + ω02 x̃ = f˜eiωt
x̃ (4.4)
where f˜ = F eiψ /m.

4.1 Complementary function and particular in-

tegral
The solution is a sum of two parts
x̃(t) = Ãeiω0 t + B̃eiωt . (4.5)

23
24 CHAPTER 4. OSCILLATOR WITH EXTERNAL FORCING-I

π PHASE
−φ
0
10
AMPLITUDE
8
f= ω =1
0
6 Resonance
|x|
4

f/ ω 0
2
2 2
f/ ω
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
ω

Figure 4.1: Amplitude and phase as a function of forcing frequency

The first term Ãeiω0 t , called the complementary function, is a solution to equa-
tion (4.4) without the external force. This oscillates at the natural frequency
of the oscillator ω0 . This part of the solution is exactly the same as when there
is no external force. This has been discussed extensively earlier, and we shall
ignore this term in the rest of this chapter.
The second term B̃eiωt , called the particular integral, is the extra ingredient
in the solution due to the external force. This oscillates at the frequency of the
external force ω. The amplitude B̃ is determined from equation (4.4) which
gives
[−ω 2 + ω02 ]B̃ = f˜ (4.6)
whereby we have the solution

f˜
x̃(t) = eiωt . (4.7)
ω02 − ω 2

The amplitude and phase of the oscillation both depend on the forcing
frequency ω. The amplitude is

f
| x̃ |= . (4.8)
| ω02 − ω2 |

and the phase of the oscillations relative to the applied force is φ = 0 for
ω < ω0 and φ = −π for ω > ω0 .
Note: One cannot decide here whether the oscillations lag or lead the
driving force, i.e. whether φ = −π or φ = π as both of them are consistent
with ω > ω0 case (e±iπ = −1). The zero resistance limit, β → 0, of the damped
forced oscillations (which is to be done in the next section) would settle it for
φ = −π for ω > ω0 . So in this case there is an abrupt change of −π radians
in the phase as the forcing frequency, ω, crosses the natural frequency, ω0 .
The amplitude and phase are shown in Figure 4.1. The first point to note
is that the amplitude increases dramatically as ω → ω0 and the amplitude
blows up at ω = ω0 . This is the phenomenon of resonance. The response of
4.2. UNDAMPED FORCED OSCILLATIONS AND RESONANCE 25

the oscillator is maximum when the frequency of the external force matches
the natural frequency of the oscillator. In a real situation the amplitude is
regulated by the presence of damping which ensures that it does not blow up
to infinity at ω = ω0 .
We next consider the low frequency ω ≪ ω0 behaviour

f˜ iωt F i(ωt+φ)
x̃(t) = e = e , (4.9)
ω02 k

The oscillations have an amplitude F/k and are in phase with the external
force.
This behaviour is easy to understand if we consider ω = 0 which is a
constant force. We know that the spring gets extended (or contracted) by
an amount x = F/k in the direction of the force. The same behaviour goes
through if F varies very slowly with time. The behaviour is solely determined
by the spring constant k and this is referred to as the “Stiffness Controlled”
regime.
At high frequencies ω ≫ ω0

f˜ iωt F i(ωt+φ)
x̃(t) = − 2
e =− e , (4.10)
ω mω 2
the amplitude is F/m and the oscillations are −π out of phase with respect
to the force. This is the “Mass Controlled” regime where the spring does not
come into the picture at all. It is straight forward to verify that equation
(4.10) is a solution to
mẍ = F ei(ωt+φ) (4.11)
when the spring is removed from the oscillator. Interestingly such a particle
moves exactly out of phase relative to the applied force. The particle moves
to the left when the force acts to the right and vice versa.

4.2 Undamped forced oscillations and resonance

We shall now assume a sinusoidal time dependence (F (t) = F0 sin ωt) of forc-
ing. The angular frequency ω appearing in the driving force is called the
driving frequency. Why we would like to study the sinusoidal forcing will
become clear as we proceed. So the equation we are interested in solving, is
F0
ẍ + ω02 x = sin ωt = f0 sin ωt, (4.12)
m
where, F0 /m = f0 . We already know the complementary function for the
above equation. The particular solution is given by (from equation 4.7)

f0
A= sin ωt. (4.13)
(ω02 − ω2)
26 CHAPTER 4. OSCILLATOR WITH EXTERNAL FORCING-I

The general solution can now be written as by adding the complementary

function
f0
x(t) = 2 sin ωt + B cos ω0 t + C sin ω0 t. (4.14)
ω0 − ω 2

We fix B and C using some initial conditions. Let us choose x(t = 0) =

ẋ(t = 0) = 0. The condition x(0) = 0 fixes B = 0 and ẋ(0) finds C =
− ω0 (ωf02 ω−ω2 ) = −Aω/ω0 . Hence the solution (4.14) becomes,
0

ω
x(t) = A(sin ωt − sin ω0 t) (4.15)
ω0

Figure (4.2) is a sample plot of behaviour away from resonance,

ω=1
0.15 f 0= 1
ω0=3
x(t) 0.1
0.05
t
5 10 15 20 25 30
-0.05
-0.1
-0.15

Figure 4.2: Undamped forced oscillations away from resonance

20 ω ∼∼ ω0
10

x(t)
10 20 30 40 50
t
-10

-20

Figure 4.3: Undamped forced oscillations, behaviour near resonance

4.2. UNDAMPED FORCED OSCILLATIONS AND RESONANCE 27

We would now like to investigate the behaviour of general solution (4.14)

near resonance. Let us take ω = ω0 − ∆ω,
ω
x(t) = A(sin ω0 t cos ∆ωt − cos ω0 t sin ∆ωt − sin ω0 t) (4.16)
ω0
!
(ω0 − ω)
x(t) = A sin ω0 t − ∆ωt cos ω0 t (4.17)
ω0

where in equation (4.17) we have used cos ∆ωt ≈ 1 and sin ∆ωt ≈ ∆ωt.
Substituting the value of A from (4.13) we get,

f0
x(t) = (sin ω0 t − ω0 t cos ω0 t) (4.18)
ω0 (ω0 + ω)
f0
≈ (sin ω0 t − ω0 t cos ω0 t) (4.19)
2ω02

The second term in equation (4.19) grows with time making the amplitude
grow as well. Figure ( 4.3) shows the behaviour of the undamped forced oscil-
lator near the resonance. One sees that the amplitude grows indefinitely and
the oscillator reaches a point where it cannot sustain any further oscillations
and it breaks.