Experiment Number 3 civil

Determination of damping ratio and

damping co-efficient of a model frame.

Damping:
Damping is any effect that tends to reduce the amplitude of oscillations in an
oscillatory system, particularly the harmonic oscillator.

It is the rate at which the motion of a system decays. Damping is any effect that tends
to reduce the amplitude of oscillation of any oscillatory system particularly the
harmonic oscillator. Generally damped harmonic oscillator satisfies the 2nd order
differential equation.

Where ω0 is the undamped angular frequency of the oscillator and ζ is a constant

called the damping ratio. For a mass on a spring having a spring constant k and a
damping coefficient c, Figure 1 Underdamped
spring-mass system with ζ<1

And

The value of the damping ratio ζ determines the behavior of the system. A damped harmonic oscillator
can be:

• Overdamped (ζ > 1): The system returns (exponentially decays) to equilibrium without
oscillating. Larger values of the damping ratio ζ return to equilibrium slower.
• Critically damped (ζ = 1): The system returns to equilibrium as quickly as possible without
oscillating. This is often desired for the damping of systems such as doors.
• Underdamped (0 < ζ < 1): The system oscillates (at reduced frequency compared to the
undamped case) with the amplitude gradually decreasing to zero.
• Undamped (ζ = 0): The system oscillates at its natural resonant frequency (ωo).

Damping ratio and damping co-efficient of a model frame.

υ
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Experiment Number 3 civil

Damped Natural Angular Frequency


It is the frequency at which the oscillation occurs when the system is made damped i.e. ζ < 1 and under

free vibration with regards to damping factor and simple natural angular frequency. 

Damping Ratio

Damping ratio is a dimensionless measure describing how oscillations in a system decay after a

disturbance.

It is the measure of damping of a system.

1 
  ln
2
   

j = no of cycles

 = displacement at time = 0

   = displacement after j number of cycles

Damping ratio and damping co-efficient of a model frame.

φ
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Experiment Number 3 civil

Derivation of the damping ratio

An ideal mass spring damper system with mass ‘m; in kilo
grams and spring constant K in N/metre and damping
coefficient in N-S/m is subjected to an oscillatory force.

Static force =   


Damping force =     

Figure 2 Mass Spring
! " 
F total =    
Damper Model

 "

#$%    
    
      0
 
      0 … . )*+*)*,- ./ 00
 

  #1     0


#  2


  2#   #1   0

2#   

  2# 

  223 4 √ 4 √

6  78 √9:

Damping ratio and damping co-efficient of a model frame.

χ
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Experiment Number 3 civil

System Behavior

Figure 3 The effect of varying damping ratio on a second-order system.

Damping ratio and damping co-efficient of a model frame.

ψ
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