3.

Viscous Damping
In the spring-mass systems we have studied so far, the response will continue to infinity; that is, it
will never die out. Real systems, of course, do die out eventually, and it is important that we account
for this in our mathematical model.

To create a response that dies out over time, we typically add damping to the system.

k fk
m
c m frictionless
fc
x

The damping force is usually taken to be proportional to the velocity; that is:

𝑓𝑐 = 𝑐𝑥̇

As velocity increases, so does the damping force.

Damping is usually the result of one type of friction or another.

m m

Sliding Friction Air resistance Fluid flow

The equation of motion for the damped case is

𝑚𝑥̈ + 𝑐𝑥̇ + 𝑘𝑥 = 0

This is also a second-order, homogeneous differential equation. The general solution to this type of
equation is

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡
𝑥̇ (𝑡) = 𝜆𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡
𝑥̈ (𝑡) = 𝜆2 𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡

Substitute this into the equation of motion

1
 𝑚𝜆2 𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡 + 𝑐𝜆𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡 + 𝑘𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡 = 0

(𝑚𝜆2 + 𝑐𝜆 + 𝑘)𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡 = 0

Here we have the same situation as earlier. Since

𝑎𝑒 𝜆𝑡 ≠ 0

we have

𝑚𝜆2 + 𝑐𝜆 + 𝑘 = 0

Using the quadratic formula, we find

−𝑐 ± √𝑐 2 − 4𝑘𝑚
𝜆1,2 =
2𝑚

This is called the “characteristic equation” of the system. Observing this equation, we see that there
are three possible solution types:

1. 𝑐 2 − 4𝑘𝑚 > 0 → 𝜆1,2 are real

2. 𝑐 2 − 4𝑘𝑚 < 0 → 𝜆1,2 are complex
𝑐
3. 𝑐 2 − 4𝑘𝑚 = 0 → 𝜆1,2 = − 2𝑚 (real)

Let us define the “critical damping coefficient”

𝑐𝑐𝑟 = 2√𝑘𝑚

Then

2
2 − 4𝑘𝑚 = √(2√km) − 4𝑘𝑚 = 0
√ccr

Thus, ccr is the damping necessary to produce case 3.

Also, let us define the “damping ratio”

𝑐 𝑐
𝜁= =
𝑐𝑐𝑟 2√𝑘𝑚

Then, we can rewrite the characteristic equation as

2
 −𝑐 ± √𝑐 2 − 4𝑘𝑚
𝜆1,2 =
2𝑚

𝑐 𝑐 2 − 4𝑘𝑚
𝜆1,2 = − ±√
2𝑚 4𝑚2

𝑐√𝑘 𝑘 𝑐 2 − 4𝑘𝑚
𝜆1,2 = − ±√ ( )
2√𝑚 ∙ √𝑘𝑚 𝑚 4𝑘𝑚

𝜆1,2 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 ± 𝜔𝑛 √𝜁 2 − 1

Again, we have three cases

1. ζ > 1 λ→ real
2. ζ < 1 λ→ complex
3. ζ = 1 λ→ “critically damped”

3
 Case 1: ζ > 1
In the case where ζ > 1, the λ are real

𝜆1 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 − 𝜔𝑛 √𝜁 2 − 1
𝜆2 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 + 𝜔𝑛 √𝜁 2 − 1

Since we have two distinct roots, the solution to the equation of motion is a linear combination

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑎1 𝑒 𝜆1 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑒 𝜆2 𝑡

where we can solve for a1 and a2 using initial conditions

𝑥(0) = 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 = 𝑥0
𝑣(0) = 𝜆1 𝑎1 + 𝜆2 𝑎2 = 𝑣0

Solving both of these equations simultaneously gives

−𝑣0 + 𝑥0 𝜆2
𝑎1 =
𝜆2 − 𝜆1

𝑣0 − 𝑥0 𝜆1
𝑎2 =
𝜆2 − 𝜆1

Substituting the expressions for λ1,2 given above results in

−𝑣0 + (−𝜁 + √𝜁 2 − 1)𝜔𝑛 𝑥0

𝑎1 =
2𝜔𝑛 √𝜁 2 − 1
𝑣0 + (𝜁 + √𝜁 2 − 1)𝜔𝑛 𝑥0
𝑎2 =
2𝜔𝑛 √𝜁 2 − 1

This type of response is not oscillatory. The response decays back to its initial state exponentially.

x
high damping

low damping

Since λ1 and λ2 are negative, the response decays with time. This case is called the “Overdamped”
case.

4
Case 2: ζ < 1
Recall

𝜆1,2 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 ± 𝜔𝑛 √𝜁 2 − 1

If ζ < 1, then ζ2 – 1 < 0, and we are left with a complex solution. Let us rearrange

√𝜁 2 − 1 = √(−1)(1 − 𝜁 2 ) = 𝑗√1 − 𝜁 2

then

𝜆1 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 − 𝑗𝜔𝑛 √1 − 𝜁 2
𝜆2 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 + 𝑗𝜔𝑛 √1 − 𝜁 2

Let 𝜔𝑑 = 𝜔𝑛 √1 − 𝜁 2 = “damped natural frequency”. Then

𝜆1 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 − 𝑗𝜔𝑑
𝜆2 = −𝜁𝜔𝑛 + 𝑗𝜔𝑑

The general solution is still

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑎1 𝑒 𝜆1 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑒 𝜆2 𝑡

but the λ values are complex. We can again solve for a1 and a2 using initial conditions

𝑥(0) = 𝑎1 + 𝑎2 = 𝑥0
𝑣(0) = 𝜆1 𝑎1 + 𝜆2 𝑎2 = 𝑣0

Solving both of these equations simultaneously gives

−𝑣0 + 𝑥0 𝜆2 −𝑣0 + 𝑥0 (−𝜁𝜔𝑛 + 𝑗𝜔𝑑 )

𝑎1 = =
𝜆2 − 𝜆1 2𝑗𝜔𝑑

𝑣0 − 𝑥0 𝜆1 𝑣0 + 𝑥0 (𝜁𝜔𝑛 + 𝑗𝜔𝑑 )
𝑎2 = =
𝜆2 − 𝜆1 2𝑗𝜔𝑑

Substituting this into the general solution gives

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑎1 𝑒 (−𝜁𝜔𝑛−𝑗𝜔𝑑 )𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑒 (−𝜁𝜔𝑛+𝑗𝜔𝑑 )𝑡

= 𝑒 −𝜁𝜔𝑛𝑡 [𝑎1 𝑒 −𝑗𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑑 𝑡 ]

We next make use of Euler’s identity

𝑒 𝑗𝜃 = cos 𝜃 + 𝑗 sin 𝜃

5
Substituting this into the general solution gives

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑒 −𝜁𝜔𝑛𝑡 [𝑎1 (cos 𝜔𝑑 𝑡 − 𝑗 sin 𝜔𝑑 𝑡) + 𝑎2 (cos 𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + 𝑗 sin 𝜔𝑑 𝑡)]

= 𝑒 −𝜁𝜔𝑛𝑡 [(𝑎1 + 𝑎2 ) cos 𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + 𝑗(𝑎2 − 𝑎1 ) sin 𝜔𝑑 𝑡]

2𝑗𝜔𝑑 𝑥0 2𝑣0 + 2𝜁𝜔𝑛 𝑥0

= 𝑒 −𝜁𝜔𝑛𝑡 [( ) cos 𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + 𝑗 ( ) sin 𝜔𝑑 𝑡]
2𝑗𝜔𝑑 2𝑗𝜔𝑑

𝑣0 + 𝜁𝜔𝑛 𝑥0
= 𝑒 −𝜁𝜔𝑛𝑡 [𝑥0 cos 𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + ( ) sin 𝜔𝑑 𝑡]
𝜔𝑑

In Homework 1, we found that we could express

𝐵 cos 𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + 𝐶 sin 𝜔𝑑 𝑡 = 𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + 𝜙)

Thus

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑋𝑒 −𝜁𝜔𝑛𝑡 sin(𝜔𝑑 𝑡 + 𝜙)

where
𝑥0 𝜔𝑑
tan 𝜙 =
𝑣0 + 𝜁𝜔𝑛 𝑥0

𝑣0 + 𝜁𝜔𝑛 𝑥0 2
𝑋 = √𝑥02 + ( )
𝜔𝑑

What does the solution look like?

6
 6

Envelope
2

x( t )

E( t ) 0
 E( t )

4
Oscillation

6
0 2 4 6 8 10
t

The response oscillates as it decays exponentially.

7
 Case 3: ζ = 1
In the critically damped case, we find that

𝜆1,2 = −1𝜔𝑛 ± 𝜔𝑛 √1 − 1
𝜆1,2 = −𝜔𝑛

The solution takes the form

𝑥(𝑡) = (𝑎1 + 𝑎2 𝑡)𝑒 −𝜔𝑛𝑡

And from the initial conditions

𝑎1 = 𝑥0 𝑎2 = 𝑣0 + 𝜔𝑛 𝑥0

As before, this takes the form of a decaying exponential solution. The solution does not oscillate.

1.5

x( t )

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
t

8
What do each of these responses mean physically? Again, think of the car driving off the curb:

the response oscillates

ζ<1 about an equilibrium

does not oscillate, returns

to equilibrium slowly
ζ>1

ζ=1 does not oscillate, returns

to equilibrium quickly

Underdamped response is desirable in guitar strings.

Critically damped response is desirable in automotive suspensions.

Overdamped response is desirable in a door closing mechanism.

9
 Example
A car with mass 1000kg is to be designed such that its suspension is critically damped. The
suspension deflects 10cm under the car’s weight. Find k and c for this suspension.

Solution
The problem statement gives the static ride height deflection as 10cm. From the Baja car design
example we have

𝑚𝑔
𝑥0 =
𝑘

Rearranging gives

𝑚𝑔 1000kg ∙ 9.81m/s 2
𝑘= = = 98.1kN/m
𝑥0 0.1m

The formula for damping ratio is

𝑐
𝜁=
2√𝑘𝑚

To be critically damped, of course, we must have ζ = 1. Thus

𝑐 = 2√𝑘𝑚 = 2√98,100kN/m ∙ 1000kg = 19,800kg/s

If we add mass to the car by adding a 100kg passenger, what happens?

The damping ratio will change slightly, since we have added to the mass.

19,800kg
𝑐 s
𝜁= = = 0.953
2√𝑘𝑚 98,100N
2√ ∙ 1100kg
m

Thus, the solution is slightly underdamped and will oscillate! It is impossible to design a real-world
system to be critically damped under all situations.

10