Problem Description.

– Hand calculations and MATLAB

The suspension of a modern car can be modeled by the three-mass mechanical system
depicted in Figure 1. The system also includes springs and viscous damping elements. The
masses are denoted as m1, m2, m3, the spring constants as k1, k2, k3, k4 and the viscous damping
coefficients as η2, η3, η4. The system is excited by a load u(t) as result of an obstacle on the road
surface. The goal of this project is to perfom various dynamic analyses using numerical
approaches for a variety of excitation loads, initial conditions, and parameters for the spring and
viscous damping coefficients!

Question 1. points 10 – Analytical derivations

Derive the differential equations that describe the motion of the three-mass mechanical
system of Fig. 1. You should derive a system of three Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) of
second order with respect to the three mass displacements x1(t), x2(t), x3(t). The system of ODEs
should be a function of the three body masses m1, m2, m3, the four spring constants k1, k2,
k3, k4, the three viscous damping constants η1, η2, η3, and the input excitation u(t) from the
road surface. Call this system of ODEs as (S1). Consider the downwards direction as positive.

1
 x3(t)
m3

k4
k3 η3
x2(t)
m2 η4

k2 η2
x1(t)
m1

k1
u(t)

Figure 1: Quarter Car Suspension as a Three-mass Mechanical System.

Hint: For this question you may want to read section 12.4 of your textbook or any
other textbook in dynamics.

Question 2. points 10 – Analytical derivations

Transform the second order system (S1) to a first order system. For this, you will have to
declare as unknown variables the following six quantities:

y1 = x1; y2 = y˙1; y3 = x2; y4 = y˙3; y5 = x3; y6 = y˙5 (1)

where the superposed dot declares differentiation with respect to time: y˙ = dy/dt.
Then, take the first derivative of every variable with respect to time t. Rearrange the
terms using the equations from system (S1). Then, each of these equations is a first order
ODE. The new system will consist of six first-order ODEs, and can be written in the form:
y˙ (t) = f (y(t); u(t); Θ) (2)
where

[ ] T [ ]
y = y1 y2 y3 y4 y5 y6 and y˙ = y˙1 y˙2 y˙3 y˙4 y˙5 y˙6 T (3)

and Θ is a collective notation for all the system’s parameters:

Θ = {m1, m2, m3, k1, k2, k3, k4, η1, η2, η3} (4) Call
this first-order ODEs system as (S2).

2
Question 3. – Use Matlab

Solve the first-order system of ODEs (S2) you derived in question 2 using MATLAB’s
built-in function ode45 to obtain the displacements x1(t), x2(t), x3(t), and the velocities x˙ 1(t),
x˙ 2(t), x˙ 3(t) of the three masses in the time space t ∈ [ti, tf ], for the following excitation scenarios.
Plot your results in 3x1 figures, in which subfigure 1 will show the displacements, subfigure 2 will
show the velocities, and subfigure 3 will show the excitations.
1. Scenario (1): [ ( )]
A νt
u(t) = 1 − cos 2π (5)
2 L0

2. Scenario (2):
{
+1 for t < tm
u(t) = (6)
−1 for t ≥ tm

3. Scenario (3): {
0 for t < tm
u(t) = (7)
1 for t ≥ tm

4. Scenario (4): {
1 for t < tm
u(t) = (8)
0 for t ≥ tm

5. Scenario (5):
{
At for t ≤ tm
u(t) = (9)
0 for t > tm

6. Scenario (6): {
At for t ≤ tm
u(t) = (10)
A(t − 2tm) for t > tm

7. Scenario (7):

At for t ≤ t1
u(t) = A(−t + 4t1) for t1 ≤ t < 2t1 (11)
A(−t + 3t1) for t ≥ 2t1

8. Scenario (8):
u(t) = A for t1 ≤ t < 2t1 (12)

As initial conditions for all scenarios use the following:

x = 0 and x˙ = 0 (13)
3
For the time constants appearing in the excitation functions, use the following value:

4
 ti = 0, tf = 20, tm = (ti + tf )/2, t1 = tf /4 L0 = 5, ν = 15, A = 0.03 (14)
For the model’s parameters use the following values:
m1 = 55, m2 = 400, m3 = 100
k1 = 230000 k2 = 30000, k3 = 50000 k4 = 3000 (15)
η2 = 1500, η3 = 4000, η4 = 700
Question 4. – Use Matlab

Solve the first-order system of ODEs (S2) you derived in question 2 using Euler’s, Heun’s, and
the 4th-order Runge-Kutta methods. Solve for the displacements x1(t), x2(t), x3(t), and the
velocities x˙ 1(t), x˙ 2(t), x˙ 3(t) of the three masses in the time space t ∈ [ti, tf ], for the
following excitation scenarios. Plot your results in 3x1 figures, in which subfigure 1 will show
the displacements, subfigure 2 will show the velocities, and subfigure 3 will show the excitation.
In these plots, you should also include the results from question (3), for the same cases (scenarios
1 and 6) to compare them.
1. Scenario (1): [ ( )]
A νt
u(t) = 1 − cos 2π (16)
2 L0
2. Scenario (6):
{
At for t ≤ tm
u(t) = (17)
A(t − 2tm) for t > tm

Question 5. – Use Matlab

Now assume that the spring attached between mass m1 and the road surface is nonlinear
and given by the following relation:

k1(x) = kˆ1 + kˆ2x2 (18)

Repeat using all the information and directions in question 4. Compare and discuss the
results from questions 4 and 5.
Question 6. – Analytical derivations and Use of Matlab

Evaluate the natural frequencies of system (S1) for the following cases:
1. Consider no viscous damping effect in the system, that is: η2 = η3 = η4 = 0.
2. Consider viscous damping effects with the values of η2, η3, η4 as given in eq. (15) under
question 3 above.