Mechanical Vibration Worksheet

1. Determine the equivalent spring constant of the system

Fig. 1
2. a uniform rigid bar of mass m that is pivoted at point O and connected by springs of stiffnesses
|k1 and K2. Considering a small angular displacement of the rigid bar about the point O,
determine the equivalent spring constant associated with the restoring moment.

Fig. 2
3. Find the equivalent spring constant of the system shown in Fig. 1.85 in the direction of the
load P.

Fig. 3
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4. A slider-crank mechanism is shown in Fig. 4. Derive an expression for the motion of the
piston P in terms of the crank length r, the connecting-rod length l, and the constant angular
velocity of the crank. Discuss the feasibility of using the mechanism for the generation of
harmonic motion.

Fig. 4
5. Three springs and a mass are attached to a rigid, weightless bar PQ as shown in Fig. 5 Find the
natural frequency of vibration of the system.

Fig. 5
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6. Find the natural frequency of vibration of a spring-mass system arranged on an inclined plane,
as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6
7. Derive the expression for the natural frequency of the system shown in Fig. 6. Note that the
load W is applied at the tip of beam 1 and midpoint of beam 2.

Fig. 7
8. A mass m is supported by two sets of springs oriented at 30 and 120 with respect to the X-axis,
as shown in Fig.7. A third pair of springs, each with a stiffness of K3 is to be designed so as to
make the system have a constant natural frequency while vibrating in any direction x. Determine
the necessary spring stiffness K3 and the orientation of the springs with respect to the X-axis.

Fig. 7
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9. An automobile is found to have a natural frequency of 20 rad/s without passengers and 17.32
rad/s with passengers of mass 500 kg. Find the mass and stiffness of the automobile by treating it
as a single-degree-of-freedom system.
10. A steel cantilever beam is used to carry a machine at its free end. To save weight, it is
proposed to replace the steel beam by an aluminum beam of identical dimensions. Find the
expected change in the natural frequency of the beam-machine system.
11. An oil drum of diameter 1 m and a mass of 500 kg floats in a bath of salt water of density .
Considering small displacements of the drum in the vertical direction (x), determine the natural
frequency of vibration of the system.
A uniform slender rod of mass m and length l is hinged at point A and is attached to four
linear springs and one torsional spring, as shown in Fig. 8. Find the natural frequency of the
system if k = 2000 N/m, kt and l = 5 m. = 1000 N-m/rad, m = 10 kg
12.

Fig.8
13. The free-vibration responses of an electric motor of weight 500 N mounted on different types
of foundations are shown in Figs. 9 (a) and (b). Identify the following in each case: (i) the nature
of damping provided by the foundation, (ii) the spring constant and damping coefficient of the
foundation, and (iii) the undamped and damped natural frequencies of the electric motor.

Fig. 9
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14. The maximum permissible recoil distance of a gun is specified as 0.5 m. If the initial recoil
velocity is to be between 8 m/s and 10 m/s, find the mass of the gun and the spring stiffness of
the recoil mechanism. Assume that a critically damped dashpot is used in the recoil mechanism
and the mass of the gun has to be at least 500 kg.
15. The system shown in Fig. 10 has a natural frequency of 5 Hz for the following data: When
the system is disturbed by giving it an initial displacement, the amplitude of free vibration is
reduced by 80 percent in 10 cycles. Determine the values of k and c.

Fig. 10
16. A weight of 50 N is suspended from a spring of stiffness 4000 N/m and is subjected to a
harmonic force of amplitude 60 N and frequency 6 Hz. Find (a) the extension of the spring due
to the suspended weight, (b) the static displacement of the spring due to the maximum applied
force, and (c) the amplitude of forced motion of the weight.
17. A spring-mass system, resting on an inclined plane, is subjected to a harmonic force as
shown in Fig. 11. Find the response of the system by assuming zero initial conditions.

Fig. 11
18. A three-bladed wind turbine (Fig. 3.40(a)) has a small unbalanced mass m located at a radius
r in the plane of the blades. The blades are located from the central vertical (y) axis at a distance
R and rotate at an angular velocity of If the supporting truss can be modeled as a hollow steel
shaft of outer diameter 0.1 m and inner diameter 0.08 m, determine the maximum stresses
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developed at the base of the support (point A). The mass moment of inertia of the turbine system
about the vertical (y) axis is Assume

Fig. 12
19. A steel cantilever beam, carrying a weight of 0.1 lb at the free end, is used as a frequency
meter. The beam has a length of 10 in., width of 0.2 in., and thickness of 0.05 in. The internal
friction is equivalent to a damping ratio of 0.01. When the fixed end of the beam is subjected to a
harmonic displacement the maximum tip displacement has been observed to be 2.5 in. Find the
forcing frequency.
20. The landing gear of an airplane can be idealized as the spring-mass-damper system shown in
Fig. 13. If the runway surface is described determine the values of k and c that limit the
amplitude of vibration of the airplane (x) to 0.1 m.

Fig. 13