𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐶1 𝑒 𝑖𝜔𝑛𝑡 + 𝐶2 𝑒 −𝑖𝜔𝑛𝑡 …(8) 𝑓𝑛 = 𝜔𝑛 /2𝜋 …(16)

CHAPTER 2: FREE VIBRATIONS OF SINGLE DEGREE OF FREEDOM

SYSTEM Where C1 and C2 are some constants. And the natural period is:

1. Free Vibration Of An Undamped Translational System Eq. (8) can be written as: 𝜏𝑛 = 2𝜋/𝜔𝑛 = 𝑓𝑛−1 …(17)

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴1 cos(𝜔𝑛 𝑡) + 𝐴2 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡) …(9)

Appling the initial conditions at t=0 to Eq. (9) yields:

𝑥(𝑡 = 0) = 𝐴1 = 𝑥0

𝑥̇ (𝑡 = 0) = 𝜔𝑛 𝐴2 = 𝑥̇ 0 …(10)

Thus the solution of Eq. (3) subject to the initial conditions

of Eq. (10) is given by:

The equation of motion for this system is:
𝑥̇
𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑥0 cos(𝜔𝑛 𝑡) + 𝜔0 sin(𝜔𝑛 𝑡) …(11)
𝑚𝑥̈ + 𝑘𝑥 = 𝐹(𝑡) …(1) 𝑛 2. Free Vibrations Of An Undamped Torsional System
This system is vibrating about its equilibrium state freely (no Eq. (9) can be expressed in different form by introducing the
The only difference between the translational and torsional systems
external forces acting, only an impulse to cease equilibrium, that is: notation:
is that the mass 𝑚 element in the translational system is replace by
𝐴1 = 𝐴 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑 the mass inertia 𝐽 in the torsional system. So Eq. (3) can be rewritten
𝐹(𝑡) = 0 …(2)
as:
So, 𝐴2 = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜑 …(12)
𝐽𝜃̈ + 𝑘𝜃 = 0 …(18)
𝑚𝑥̈ + 𝑘𝑥 = 0 …(3) Where 𝜑 and A are the new constants, which can be expressed in
terms of 𝐴1 and 𝐴2 . And so on for the rest.
The solution of Eq. (3) can be found by assuming:
3. Free Vibrations Of Damped System
𝑠𝑡 𝑥̇ 0
𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐶𝑒 …(4) 𝐴𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 = 𝐴 = √𝐴12 + 𝐴12 = √𝑥02 + ( )2
𝜔𝑛 The difference between the damped system and the undamped
Substituting Eq. (4) into (3) gives: system is only the dampening element that constrain the vibration.
𝐴 𝑥̇ 0
𝑃ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 = 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 (𝐴2 ) = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 (𝑥 ) …(13) Hence the damper dissipates the vibratory system energy by
2 0 𝜔𝑛
𝐶(𝑚𝑠 + 𝑘) = 0 …(5) 1
applying some sort of friction (viscous or coulomb).
Introducing Eq. (12) into Eq. (8), the solution can be written as:
Since C cannot be zero, we have:
𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴 cos(𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + 𝜑) …(14)
𝑚𝑠 2 + 𝑘 = 0 …(6)
Where 𝜔𝑛 is the natural frequency of any system.
And hence:

𝑘 𝑔
𝑘
𝑠 = ±√𝑚 = ±𝑖𝜔𝑛 …(7) 𝜔𝑛 = √ = √ …(15)
𝑚 𝛿𝑠𝑡

The general solution of Eq. (3) can be expressed as: The natural frequency in cycles per second 𝑓𝑛 is given by:
Thus the equation of motion becomes: The nature of the s1 and s2 and hence the behavior of the solution, The solution is then:
Eq. (27) depends on the magnitude of damping. From that we can
𝑚𝑥̈ + 𝑐𝑥̇ + 𝑘𝑥 = 0 …(19) 2 −1)𝜔 2 −1)𝜔
recognize 4 cases. 𝑥 (𝑡 ) = 𝐶1 𝑒 (− 𝜉+√𝜉 𝑛𝑡
+ 𝐶2 𝑒 (− 𝜉−√𝜉 𝑛𝑡
…(34)
The solution of Eq. (19) can be found by the assumption made in *Case 1: Undamped system (𝜉 = 0), as it has been explained above. And by applying the same initial conditions which were applied in
equation (4).
case 3, C1 and C2 are:
*Case 2: Underdamped system (𝜉 < 1), the damping frequency is:
And then Eq. (6) can be written as:
𝑥0 𝜔𝑛 (𝜉 + √𝜉 2 − 1) + 𝑥̇ 0
𝜔𝑑 = 𝜔𝑛 √1 − 𝜉 2 …(28) 𝐶1 =
𝑚𝑠 2 + 𝑐𝑠 + 𝑘 = 0 …(20) 2𝜔𝑛 √𝜉 2 − 1
The solution of this system is:
And the hence the root for Eq. (20) is: −𝑥0 𝜔𝑛 (𝜉 − √𝜉 2 − 1) − 𝑥̇ 0
𝐶2 =
𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑋𝑒 −𝜉𝜔𝑛𝑡 cos(√1 − 𝜉 2 ) 𝜔𝑛 − 𝜑) …(29) 2𝜔𝑛 √𝜉 2 − 1
−𝑐±√𝑐 2 −4𝑚𝑘
𝑠1,2 = …(21)
2𝑚
Where 𝑋 is the amplitude and 𝜑 is the phase angle, and they are Eq (34) shows that the motion is aperiodic regardless of the initial
The roots give two solution to Eq. (19): determined from the initial conditions. conditions imposed on the system. Since roots s1and s2 are both
negative, the motion diminishes exponentially with time, as shown
𝑥1 (𝑡) = 𝐶1 𝑒 𝑠1 𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥2 (𝑡) = 𝐶2 𝑒 𝑠2 𝑡 …(22) in Figure below that compares the 4 cases.
Damping
Thus the general solution of Eq. (19) is given by a combination of the envelope
two solutions from Eq. (22):

𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐶1 𝑒 𝑠1 𝑡 + 𝐶2 𝑒 𝑠2 𝑡

−𝑐+√𝑐2−4𝑚𝑘 −𝑐−√𝑐2 −4𝑚𝑘

𝑡 𝑡 Eq. (29)
𝑥 (𝑡 ) = 𝐶1 𝑒 2𝑚 + 𝐶2 𝑒 2𝑚 …(23)

In damped vibrations, it is of a great significance to define the terms *Case 3: Critically damped (𝜉 = 1), in critically damped systems the
related to the damping. roots are identical, that is:

𝑐 𝑐
The critical damping constant 𝑐𝑐 : 𝑠1 = 𝑠2 = − 2𝑚 = −𝜔2 …(30) 4. Logarithmic decrement:
The logarithmic decrement represents the rate at which the
𝑘 And the solution is: amplitude of a free-damped vibration decreases. It is defined as
𝑐𝑐 = 2𝑚√𝑚 = 2√𝑘𝑚 = 2𝑚𝜔𝑛 …(24)
the natural logarithm of the ratio of any two successive
𝑥(𝑡) = (𝐶1 + 𝐶2 𝑡)𝑒 −𝜔𝑛𝑡 …(31) amplitudes.
The damping ratio 𝜉 is defined as the ratio of the damping constant 𝑥1 2𝜋 𝑐
𝛿 = 𝑙𝑛 = 𝜉𝜔𝑛 𝜏𝑛 = ∙ …(35)
to the critical damping constant: The application of the initial conditions 𝑥(𝑡 = 0) = 𝑥0 𝑥2 𝜔𝑑 2𝑚
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥̇ (𝑡 = 0) = 𝑥̇ 0 gives 𝐶1 = 𝑥0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶2 = 𝑥̇ 0 + 𝜔𝑛 𝑥0 and the
For small damping, Eq. (35) can be approximated:
𝜉 = 𝑐⁄𝑐𝑐 …(25) solution becomes:
𝛿 = 2𝜋𝜉 𝑖𝑓 𝜉 ≪ 1 …(36)
And hence Eq. (21) and Eq. (22) can be written as: 𝑥(𝑡) = [𝑥0 + (𝑥̇ 0 + 𝜔𝑛 𝑥0 )𝑡]𝑒 −𝜔𝑛𝑡 …(32)
It is also possible to write the damping ratio as a function of the
𝑠1,2 = (− 𝜉 ± √𝜉 2 − 1)𝜔𝑛 …(26) *Case 4: Overdamped system (𝜉 > 1) that the roots s1 and s2 are
logarithmic decrement:
real and distinct and are given by:
2 −1)𝜔 2 −1)𝜔
𝑥 (𝑡 ) = 𝐶1 𝑒 (− 𝜉+√𝜉 𝑛𝑡
+ 𝐶2 𝑒 (− 𝜉−√𝜉 𝑛𝑡
…(27) 𝜉=
𝛿
…(37)
𝑠1,2 = (−(𝜉 ± √(𝜉 2 − 1) 𝜔𝑛 …(33) √(2𝜋)2 +𝛿 2