2.

Free response of the SDOF system

We begin our theoretical discussion of vibration by studying a very simple system: a mass and spring.
This is the same system you discussed in Math for Eng, so much of this first section should be
review.

k frictionless
m

We study this system for three major reasons:

1. It’s simple
2. It exhibits similar phenomena to larger, more complex systems
3. It corresponds to a surprising number of real systems

How many examples can you name in five minutes?

m m

k kt J
person at end
of diving board
Automotive suspension Gear/shaft

C
m

+
L
k
-
beer bottle
(Helmholtz resonator) LC circuit

buoyancy force
(stiffness)

pendulum

The main thing that these systems have in common is that they may be modeled using second-order
differential equations. Let’s look at the mass/spring system first.

1
 fk
k m
m
x

Drawing a free-body diagram of the mass produces the figure at right. The spring force is given by

𝑓𝑘 = 𝑘𝑥

Summing forces on the mass gives:

∑ 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑥̈ = −𝑘𝑥

Or, moving everything to one side of the equals sign

𝑚𝑥̈ + 𝑘𝑥 = 0 (1)

The equation above is the equation of motion for the system, if no external force acts on the system.
This is called the “free vibration” problem. The equation is a second-order, homogeneous
differential equation. We can try something simple to solve it.

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑)

We choose this because the sine function is periodic, and we expect the mass to oscillate periodically.
Differentiating gives

𝑥̇ (𝑡) = 𝜔𝑛 𝑋 cos(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑)
𝑥̈ (𝑡) = −𝜔𝑛2 𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑)

Substitute this into equation (1)

−𝑚𝜔𝑛2 𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑) + 𝑘𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑) = 0

(−𝑚𝜔𝑛2 + 𝑘) sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑) = 0

Since sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑) ≠ 0 for most times, we must have

−𝑚𝜔𝑛2 + 𝑘 = 0

Or

𝑘
𝜔𝑛 = √𝑚 (2)

Let us call ωn the “natural frequency” of the system. If we give the system an initial displacement, it
will oscillate sinusoidally at this frequency.

2
 X

t t

-X
T

Vibration Terminology
The figure above shows a typical oscillatory response of a vibrating system. The curve can be
described by the equation

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑)

We say that

 It oscillates with amplitude X.

𝜔
 It oscillates at frequency ωn, or 𝑓𝑛 = 2𝜋𝑛
1 2𝜋
 It has period 𝑇 = 𝑓 = 𝜔
𝑛 𝑛
 It has phase angle φ. More on this below.

Note that the function

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑋 sin 𝜔𝑛 𝑡

starts at zero, when t = 0. The phase angle, φ allows us to shift the sine function along the time axis.
This creates a lag or a lead in the sine function, depending upon the sign of φ. A positive φ results in
a lead (as shown in the figure above) and a negative φ results in a lag (or delay). The time differential
created by the phase angle is

𝜑 𝜑 𝜑
∆𝑡 = 𝑇= =
2𝜋 2𝜋𝑓𝑛 𝜔𝑛

X X

t t t
t

-X -X
T T

Positive : lead Positive : lag

3
 Initial Conditions
We still don’t know what the constants X and φ are. Since our differential equation is second order,
we require two initial conditions to solve it completely. Let us denote

x0 – initial displacement
v0 – initial velocity

Substituting these into the solution gives

𝑥0 = 𝑥(0) = 𝑋 sin(𝜔 ∙ 0 + 𝜑) = 𝑋 sin 𝜑

𝑣0 = 𝑥̇ (0) = 𝑋𝜔𝑛 cos(𝜔 ∙ 0 + 𝜑) = 𝑋𝜔𝑛 cos 𝜑

Solving the second equation for X gives

𝑣0
𝑋=𝜔 (3)
𝑛 cos 𝜑

Substituting this into the first equation gives

𝑣0 sin 𝜑
𝑥0 =
𝜔𝑛 cos 𝜑

Solving for φ:
𝑥0 𝜔𝑛
tan 𝜑 =
𝑣0

x02 n2  v02
x0

v0

From the definition of the tangent function, we can draw the triangle above. From this figure we can
see that

𝑣0
cos 𝜑 =
√𝑥02 𝜔𝑛2 + 𝑣02

Thus, from equation (3) above we have

𝑣0 √𝑥02 𝜔𝑛2 + 𝑣02

𝑋=
𝜔𝑛 𝑣0

4
 𝑣02
𝑋 = √𝑥02 + ⁄ 2
𝜔𝑛

To summarize, the total solution to the free vibration problem is

𝑣02 𝜔𝑛 𝑥0
𝑥(𝑡) = √𝑥02 + ⁄ 2 sin (𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + tan−1 (
𝜔𝑛 ))
𝑣0

5
 4

x( t )

v( t ) 0
a( t )

4
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
t

Position, Velocity and Acceleration

Let us re-examine the relationships between position, velocity and acceleration:

𝑥 = 𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑)
𝑥̇ = 𝜔𝑛 𝑋 cos(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑)
𝑥̈ = −𝜔𝑛2 𝑋 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑)

A few things to note here

1. The position, velocity and acceleration have 90° phase difference between them.
2. The position and acceleration have 180° phase difference. That is, accel is maximum when
position is minimum.
3. The amplitude of the velocity is ωn times the amplitude of the displacement

|𝑥̇ | = 𝜔𝑛 |𝑥|

4. The amplitude of the acceleration is 𝜔𝑛2 times the amplitude of the displacement.

|𝑥̈ | = 𝜔𝑛2 |𝑥|

For example, if we have an acceleration of 1g = 9.81m/s2 at 159.16 Hz (1000 rad/s)

m
|𝑥̈ | 9.81 2
𝑋= 2= s = 9.807 μm
𝜔𝑛 (2𝜋 ∙ 159.16Hz)2

At 10,000Hz the amplitude is even smaller

6
 m
|𝑥̈ | 9.81 2
𝑋= 2= s = 2.484nm
𝜔𝑛 (2𝜋 ∙ 10000Hz)2

For comparison, this length is approximately 20 times the diameter of a carbon atom. Thus, even
for appreciable accelerations, displacements are very, very small!

7
 v0=1m/s

10cm

Example
A car drives over a curb which is 10cm high. The mass of the car is 1000kg. Determine the
stiffness of the suspension such that the maximum displacement does not exceed 15cm and the
maximum acceleration does not exceed 2g. Assume that at time t = 0, the car is falling at a speed of
1m/s.

Solution
The initial displacement is 10cm and the initial (downward velocity) is 1m/s.

𝑥0 = 10cm
𝑣0 = −1m/s

The amplitude of the motion is

𝑣02
𝑋 = √𝑥02 + ⁄ 2
𝜔𝑛

m 2
(1 s ) ⁄
= √(0.1m)2 + 𝜔𝑛2

but X = 0.15m is the maximum displacement.

m 2
(1
(0.15m)2 = (0.1m)2 + s )⁄
𝜔𝑛2

1
0.0225 = 0.01 +
𝜔𝑛2

rad
𝜔𝑛 = 8.9
s

The natural frequency can also be found from the properties of the system

8
 𝑘
𝜔𝑛 = √
𝑚

𝑘 = 𝜔𝑛2 𝑚
= 80 ∙ 1000kg
kN
= 80
m
Now, calculate the amplitude of the acceleration

|𝑥̈ | = 𝜔𝑛2 𝑋
= 80 ∙ 0.15m
m
= 12 2
s

This is less than 2g, so we are OK!

9
 1m

Baja Car Design Example

After going over a jump, an SAE Baja car is 1m off the ground. Find the overall suspension
stiffness required such that the suspension does not “bottom out”. Assume the car has a mass of
150kg and the suspension has a travel of 25cm. Also, find the acceleration experienced by the driver.

Extended to free state

No force on spring 25cm
Fully compressed

Solution
First, we should examine the physics of the problem a little. When the car is in the air, there is no
force on the spring (neglecting the weight of the wheels). At the lowermost point in the car’s
movement the springs are fully compressed. According to the problem statement, the body of the
car can travel 25cm between the “free state”, in which there is no force on the spring, and the fully-
compressed state.

Free state
v0 m x0
25cm Static ride height
m X
Fully compressed
m

Now consider what happens when the car is on the ground, at rest. The weight of the car
compresses the springs to the “static ride height”. The amount of compression can be found by
considering the force on the spring when the car is at rest

𝑓𝑘 = 𝑚𝑔 = 𝑘𝑥0

10
The deflection of the spring at the static ride height is then

𝑚𝑔
𝑥0 =
𝑘

Since the spring is uncompressed when the car first hits the ground, the static ride height deflection
is the same as the initial displacement.

The static ride height is the equilibrium position for the car; after landing it will oscillate about this
position with amplitude X. As shown in the figure, the initial displacement plus the oscillation
amplitude equals the total travel of the spring.

𝑋 + 𝑥0 = 𝐻

𝑋 = 𝐻 − 𝑥0
𝑚𝑔
=𝐻−
𝑘

where H is the travel of the spring (25cm). The initial velocity can be found through simple physics
formulas

𝑣0 = √2𝑔ℎ

where h = 1m is the height of the drop. The amplitude of oscillation can be found through the
formula derived earlier

𝑣02
𝑋 = √𝑥02 + ⁄ 2
𝜔𝑛

𝑚2 𝑔2 2𝑚𝑔ℎ
𝑋=√ 2 +
𝑘 𝑘

Substituting in the other formula for X, we have

𝑚𝑔 𝑚2 𝑔2 2𝑚𝑔ℎ
𝐻− =√ 2 +
𝑘 𝑘 𝑘

2𝑚𝑔𝐻 𝑚2 𝑔2 𝑚2 𝑔2 2𝑚𝑔ℎ
𝐻2 − + 2 = +
𝑘 𝑘 𝑘2 𝑘

2𝑚𝑔𝐻 2𝑚𝑔ℎ
𝐻2 − =
𝑘 𝑘

11
 2𝑚𝑔(𝐻 + ℎ)
𝑘=
𝐻2
m
2 ∙ 150kg ∙ 9.81 ∙ (0.25m + 1m)
𝑘= s2
(0.25m)2

kN
= 58.8
m
Now, the static ride height can be solved for

𝑚𝑔 150kg ∙ 9.81m/s2
𝑥0 = =
𝑘 58.8kN/m

𝑥0 = 0.025m

The natural frequency of the car is

𝑘 58.8kN/m
𝜔𝑛 = √ = √ = 19.8rad/s
𝑚 150kg

And the amplitude of vibration is

𝑋 = 𝐻 − 𝑥0
= 0.25m − 0.025m
= 0.225m

Thus, the maximum acceleration is

|𝑥̈ | = 𝜔𝑛2 𝑋
= 19.82 ∙ 0.225m
m
= 88.2 2
s
= 9𝑔!

12