Free Vibration _ PREVIEW A structure is said to be undergoing free vibration when it is disturbed from its static equi- librium position and then allowed to vibrate without any external dynamic excitation, In this chapter we study free vibration leading to the notions of the natural vibration frequency and damping ratio for an SDF system. We will see that the rate at which the motion decays in free vibration is controlled by the damping ratio. Thus the analytical results describing free vibration provide a basis to determine the natural frequency and damping ratio of a ‘Structure from experimental data of the type shown in Fig. 5 Although damping in actual structures is due to several energy-dissipating mech- anisms acting simultaneously, a mathematically convenient approach is to idealize them by equivalent viscous damping, Consequently, this chapter deals primarily with viscously damped systems. However, free vibration of systems in the presence af Coulomb friction forces is analyzed toward the end of the chapter.40 Free Vibration Chap, 2 Free vibration is initiated by disturbing the system from its static equilibrium position by imparting the mass some displacement (0) and velocity d(Q) at time Zero, defined as the instant the motion is initiated: nau) &= a0) 12) Subject to these initial conditions, the solution to the homogencous differential equation js obtained by standard methods (see Derivation 2.1): o ur) wwii couagt ee a it Q43) where k = Re (2.4) Equation (2.1.3) is plotted in Fig, 2.1.1. It shows that the system undergoes vibra- tory (or oscillatory) motion about its static equilibrium (or undeformed, « = 0) position; and that this motion repeats itself after every 2 /wy seconds. In particular, the state (dis- placement and velocity) of the mass at two time instants, ry and ¢) + 27/0. is identical: w(1)) = wity + 2r/ea,) and a(t) = a(t) + 27 /u_). These equalities can easily be proved, starting with Eq. (2.1.3). The motion described by Eq. (2.1.3) and shown in Fig. 2.1.1 is known as simple harmonic motion. ‘The portion a—b-c-d-c of the displacement—time curve describes one cycle of free vibration of the system. From its static equilibrium (or undeformed) position at a, the mass moves to the right, reaching its maximum positive displacement u,, at b, at which time the velocity is zero and the displacement begins to decrease and the mass retums back to its equilibrium position c, at which time the velocity is maximum and hence the‘Sec. 2.1 Undamped Free Vibration “1 mass continues moving to the Jet, reaching its minimum displacement —a, att, ut which lime the velocity is again zero and the displacement begins to decrease again and the mass Felurns to its equilibrium position ate. At time instant ¢, 27/m, seconds. after tin 4, the state (displacement and velocity) of the mass is the same as it was at time i and the mass is ready to begin another cycle of vibration ‘The time required for the undamped system to complete one cycle of free vibration is the nufera! period of vibration of the system, which we denote as T,, in units ‘of sec- ads. is related to the narurat circular frequency of vibration, at, in units of radians per second: ax Dy = Gis) A system executes 1/T, cycles in 1 sec. This natural cyclic frequency of vibration is denoted by =. (2.1.6) ‘The units of f, are hertz (Hz) [cycles per second (eps)|; fa is obviously related to a, through cn i= rea) The term natural frequency of vibration applies to both ox, and f,. The natural vibration properties «, Te, and f, depend only on the mass and stiffness of the structure; see Eqs. (2.1.4) to (2.1.6). The stiffer of two SDF systems having the same mass will have the higher natural frequency and the shorter natural period, Similarly, the heavier (more mass) of two structures having the same stiffness will have the lower natural frequency and the longer natural period. The qualifier natural is used in defining T., wy. and jf, to emphasize the fact that these are natural properties of the system when it is allowed to vibrate freely without any external excitation, Because the system is linear, these vibration properties are independent of the displacement and velocity. The ‘natural frequency and period of the various types of structures of interest to us Vary over a wide range, as shown in Figs. 1.10.1, 1.10.2, and 2.1.2a-f. ‘The natural circular frequency a, natural cyclic frequency f,, and natural period Ty defined by Eqs. (2.1.4) to (2.1.6) can be expressed in the alternative form42 Free Vit Figure 2.1.2. Transamerica Building. Sa” Francisco. California, The fundamental avural vitvation perions of this 60st steel building, tapered in elevatioa, are 20 See For north-south vibeation aad also ovation. These vibrato Propertics mere detexnined by forced Vibration tests, (Courtesy of Ieacrmational Structural Stiles.) eastwestrl Free Vibratio Cha “4 ‘chimney, located in, Arama, Prasce, Tht fandarmedtal natural «ibration periced of this 2S0-m-high chimney is 4.87 soe; it was determined from reconts of wind-induced Vibeation. (Courtesy of Chimney ‘Consultants, ine. and SITES $A.)Sec. 2.1 Undamped Free Vibration a ‘The undamped system oscillates back and forth between the maximum displacement a, and minimum displacement —u,. The magnitude «, of these two displacement values is the same; it is called the amplitude of motion and is given by fino + [2] ‘The amplitude w,, depends on the initial displacement and velocity. Cycle after cycle it remains the same; that is, the motion does not decay. We had mentioned in Section 1.1 this unrealistic behavior of a system if a damping mechanism to represent dissipation of energy is not included. ‘The natural frequency of the one-story frame of Fig. 1.3.24 with lumped mass m and ‘columns clamped at the base is 19) fk MEI. 1204+1 = /— = 2.1.10) ENS Re+4 ee where the lateral stiffness comes from Eq. (1.3.5) and p = 1,/4/,. For the extreme cases of a rigid beam, o = oo, and a beam with no stiffness, o = 0, the lateral stiffnesses are given by Eqs. (1.3.2) and (1.3.3) and the natural frequencies are EI es = 2.0.1 Sane mit po {a pag = ‘The natural frequency is doubled as the beam-to-column stiffness ratio, p, increases from 0 to 00; its variation with p is shown in Fig. 2.1.3. ‘The natural frequency is similarly affected by the boundary conditions at the base of the columns. If the columns are hinged at the base rather than clamped and the beam ‘is rigid, ©, = V6EI.Jmh, which is one-half of the natural frequency of the frame with clamped-base columns.6 Free Vibration Chap. 9 Derivation 2.1 ‘The solution of Eq. (2.1.1), « linear, homogeneous, second-order differential equation with comstaml coefficients, has the form amet rr ‘where the constant « is unknowe, Substitution into Eq. (2.1.1) gives (nis? + ke = 0 The exponential term is never rero, so the characteristic equation is (ms? +h) 0 2 = thoy tb) where i = y/—1. The general solution of Eq. (2.1.1) is wit) me Aye" + Age which after substituting Eg, (b) becomes wtf) = Aye + Are! te) where Aj and Ap are constants yet undetermined. By using de Moivre's theorem, tte i & a core ie Equation (c) can be rewritten as Wt) = ACOs at + BIN Ot ‘dy where A and B are constants yet undetermined. Equation (d) is differentiated to obtain HUY = aay A SHB Gg + Oy B COS yt & Evaluating Eqs. (d} and (e) at time zero gives the constants A and # in terms of the initial displacement w(f) and initial velocity (0); j wi A (0) = oy 0 Substituting for A and # from Eq, (f) into Eq. (d) leads to the solution given in Eq. (2.1.3) ‘Example 2.1 Schatten aad 1.2, determine the natural circular ‘eaves and natural prio of vibration i (a) the nowth-south(a8 (oh Iw = coe ee Caw = 2 0.124 20 Uniiow = aig = 8.060 ‘Observe that the natural frequency is much higher (and the natural period much shoner) in the east-west direction because the vertical bracing makes the system much stiffer, although F the columns of the frame are bending about their weak axis; the vibrating mass is the same in : both directions. Example 2.2 For the three-span box girder bridge of Example 1.3, determine the natural circular frequency, natural cyctic frequency, and natural period of vibration for longitudinal motion. Solution &_ /25,nn0 om = = y Frag = 1097 asec ay f° aa = 0.573 sec 1 Sa = ayy = 1S HeFree Vibration Chap. g ‘Example 24 ‘Consider the system described in Example 1.7 = OLE kipvtt?, and the lateral stiffness of each vith b= 30 f, d= 200, b= 12h slab weighy, collume in the x and y directions isk, = 19 and ky = 1.0, both im kipslin. Determine the natural frequency and period of torsional motion, about the vertical axis. Solution From Example 1.7, the torsional stiffness ky and the By = hyd? 4467 15120020)" + 1.00121 moment of inertia fo are 2 = 18,000 kip-fhirad ] = 201.86 kip-see? fi = j= =944rad/scc fp =149He Te = 0.67 sec fo 2.2 VISCOUSLY DAMPED FREE VIBRATION Setting pir) = 0 in Eq, (1.5.2) gives the differential equation governing free vibration of SDF systems with damping: mii + ci + ku =O (2.2.1a) Dividing by m gives f+ 2fe,0 + atu =0 (2.2.1b) where w, = 4/E7m as defined earlier and t=;—-= (222) We will refer to a car = 2a, = Vin = 23) as the critical damping coefficient, for reasons that will appear shortly; and ¢ is the damp- _ing ratio or fraction of critical damping. The damping constant c is a measure of the ‘energy dissipated in a cycle of free vibration or in a cycle of forced harmonic vibration, Critically damped, § = 1 Overdamped, § = 2 safe) Ft) ~ Underdamped, § = 0.1 Figure 2.2.1 Free vibration of underdamped. critically damped, and overdamped sy3- ems. equilibrium position, as in the ¢ = | case, but at a slower rate. Ife < eq or € < 1, the system oseillates about its equilibrium position with a progressively decreasing amplitude. ‘The damping coefficient ¢, is called the critical damping coefficiem because it is the smallest value of ¢ that inhibits oscillation completely. lt represents the dividing line between oscillatory and nonoscillatory motion. ‘The rest of this presentation is restricted to waderdamped systems (c < ¢,,) because structures of interest—buildings, bridges, dams, nuclear power plants, offshore structures, etc. —all fall into this category. as typically, their damping ratio is less than 0.10, There- fore, we have little reason to study the dynamics of critically damped systems (¢ = c.,) OF overdamped systems (c > cq). Such systems do exist, however; fore le, recoil mech- anisms, such as the common automatic door closer, are overdamped; and instruments used to measure steady-state values, such as a scale measuring dead weight, are usually criti- cally damped. Even for automobile shock absorber sysiems, however, damping is usually Jess than half of critical. ¢ < 0.5. 22.2 Underdamped Systems ‘The solution to Eq. (2.2.1) subject to the initial conditions of Eq. (2.1.2) for systems with © <6 Off < 1 is (see Derivation 2.2) rayne [orcovns + 8 Le sina] 24a Free Vibration Chap. 2 | peti k T= ina, Tp= 2R'oy Figure 2.2.2 Effects of damping 08 free vibration, vibration response of the same system but without damping. presented earlier in Fig. 2.1.1. Free vibration of both systems is initiated by the same initial displacement w(0) and ve- locity (0), and hence both displacement-time plots start at 1 = 0 with the same ordinate and slope. Equation (2.2.4) and Fig. 2.2.2 indicate that the narwral frequency af damped vibration is co, and it is related by Eq, (2.2.5) to the natural frequency a, of the system without damping, The natural period of damped vibration, Ty = 27 fap. is related to the natural period 7, without damping by eee (226) vt = ‘The displacement amplitude of the undamped system is the same in all vibration cycles, but the damped system oscillates with amplitude, decreasing with every cycle of vibration. ‘Equation (2.2.4) indicates that the displacement tude decays exponentially Mid ig 222 Ths etalipe cars costs bah‘Soc. 2.2 — Viscously Damped Free Vibration st FE — Range of daring for 1 vost structures ax _ O85 Koay fogs + = 1 we a) ad 02 0 Ppa OA, 08.1 Figure 2.2.8 Effects of damping om the Damping ratio ¢ halural vibeataon frequency, The more important effect of damping is on the rate at whieh free vibration decays. This is displayed im Fig. 2.2.4, where the free vibration due to initial displacement (0) is ploued for four systems having the same natural period 7, but differing damping ratios: ¢ = 2.5, 10, and 20%. en | \ NWA a ut, ut, Figure 2.24 Free vibration of systems with four levels of damping: ¢ = 2, 5, 10, and 20%, Derivation 2:2 ¢ solution of the differential equation (2.2. 1b) has the form, rec ae52 Free Vibration Chap 2 Equation (b), which is known as the charuicterisric eqmation, has two nats: sa ean(-c4ivT-07) ® | Hence the general satution is § a(t) = Aye™ + Aze™ which after substituting Eq. (c} becomes andy =e E(ApePe + Ape) dy where Aj and A; are constants as yet undetermined and wp = omy ~o ro) ‘As in Derivation 2.1, the term in paremheses in Eq. (d} can be rewritten in terms of trigomo- metric Functions to abwain ait) = °F" (A cosmpr + Bsinarpt) th where A and A are constants yet undetermined. These can be expressed in terms of the initial ‘conditions by proceeding along the lines of Derivation 2.1: (a HO) + Lary atO) op Substituting for A and 8 im Eq. (f) leads to the solution given in Eg. (2.2.4). 2.2.9 Decay of Mation A="i0) 8B In this section a relation between the ratio of two successive peaks of damped free vibration and the damping ratio is presented. The ratio of the displacement at time to its value a full vibration period Ty later is independent of 1. Derived from Eq. (2.2.4), this ratio is given by the first equality in eM ei ang ur+Tp exp(CamTp) oo( 5) 2a and the second equality is obtained by utilizing Eqs. (2.2.6) and (2.1.5). This result also Ee gives the ratio «;/u;., of successive peaks (maxima) shown in Fig. 2.2.5, because these ‘Peaks are separated by period Tix: :Figure 2.2.5 Figure 2.2.6 shows a plot of the exact and approximate relations between 5 and ¢. It is clear that Eq. (2.2.11) is valid for ¢ < 0.2, which covers most Practical structures. Ifthe decay of motion is slow, as is the case for lightly damped systems such as the aluminum model in Fig. 1.1.4, it is desirable to relate the ratio of two amplitudes several cycles apart, instead of successive amplitudes, to the damping ratio, Qver j cycles the motion decreases from 1) to u/.;. This ratio is given by eel ML AL Myer ME My yt yy Therefore, B= (1/ A) In ues fj) = Be (22.12) To determine the number of cycles elapsed for a 50% reduction in lisplacement amplitude, we obtain the following relation from Eq. (2.2.12): joe = ONE (2.2.13) This equation is plotted in Fig. 2.2.7.oo Of GIS 02 Figure 22:7 Number of eycles requined wo Damping ratio reduce the fe sibeation amplitude by 8, 2.2.4 Free Vibration Tests Because it is not possible to determine analytically the damping ratio ¢ for practical struc- tures, this elusive property should be determined experimentally, Free vibration exper ments provide one means of determining the damping. Such experiments on two one-story models led to the free vibration records presented in Fig. 1.1.4; a part of such a record is shown in Fig. 2.2.8. For lightly damped systems the damping ratio can be determined from 1 my => or (2.2.14) do Mis The first of these equations is equivalent to Eq. (2.2.12), which was derived from the equation for uit), The second is a similar equation in terms of accelerations, which are ‘easier to measure than displacements. It can be shown to be valid for lightly damped‘Sec 22 — Viscously Damped Froe Vibration ‘The natural period Tp of the system can alse be determined from the free vibration record by measuring the time required to complete one cycle of vibration. Comparing this with the natural period obtained from the calculated stiffness and mass of an idealized sys- tem tells us how accurately these properties were calculated and how well the idealization fepresents the actual structure, Example 26 ‘Determine the natural vibration period and damping ratio of the plexiglass frame model (Fig, 1.1.44) from the acceleration record of its free vibration shown in Fig, 1.1.4, Solution The peak values of acceleration and the time instants they accur cam be read from the free vibration record oF obtained from the comesponding data stored in a computer during the experiment. The later provides the following data: Peak Time, 1, (sec) Peak, dij (g) 1 1.110 ‘O95 u Be 0.076 3.844 — 1.110 1 O.915g = ——— or = in eo To ig Ore f= bie 0.0396 oF 3.96% Example 2.6 A free vibration fest is conducted on an empty clevated water tank such as the one in Fig. 1.1.2. A cable attached to the tank applies a lateral (horizontal) foree of 16.4 kips andl pulls the tank ‘by 2 im. The cable is suddenly cut and the resulting free vibration is recorded. At the end of four complete cycles, the time is 2.0 sec and the amplitude is: | in, From these daia compute the following: (a) damping ratio; {b) natural period of undamped vibration; (c) stiffness; (d) weight; (e) damping coefficient; and (Cf) number of cycles required for the displacement amplitude to decrease 10 0.2 in. Solution (a) Substituting n) = 2in, j = 4, and wis) = | in, in Eg, (2.2.14a) gives 1 z C= ae T = 0.0276 = 2.76% ‘Assumption of small damping implicit in Eq. (2.2. 14a) is valid. | Tom Ba ossc: = Tp a0,cz 1 z = —— in > = 1B. cycles ~ 13 cycles, Seay) = Deena aa = i ‘Example 2.7 ‘The weight of water required to fill the tank of Example 2.6 is 80 kips. Determine the nanan vibration period and damping ratio of the structure with the tank full ‘Solution w= 20.03-+ 80 = 100.03 kips _ 100.03 = 0.2501 kip-sec” sis >, fm 0.2591 220 = ny ay ble xa = oe 2vin 2V 8202591) ‘Observe that the damping ratio is now smaller (1.23% compared to 2.76% in Example 2.6) because the mass of the full tank is larger and hence the critical damping coefficient is larger. = 0.0123 = 1.23% 2.3 ENERGY IN FREE VIBRATION ‘The energy input to an SDF system by imparting to it the initial displacement w(0) and initial velocity 4(0) is. 1 By = SHaOv? + SmticOyF ean At any instant of time the total energy in a freely vibrating system is made up of two parts, kinetic energy Fy of the mass and al of pm Fee potential energy equal to the strain energy Es I Bx = ym? ey = Letueny! ona ‘Substituting s(r) from Bq. (2.1.3) for an undamped system leads to Ext)= 30 [-mrsinanr + SO cosa] (2 a aeSee. 24 — Coulomb-Damped Free Vibration oT ‘Thus, the total enerpy is independent of time and equal to the input energy of Eq. (2.3.1), implying conservation of energy during free vibration of a system without damping, For sysiems with viscous damping the kinetic energy and potential energy could be determined by substituting wir) from Eq. (2.2.4) and its derivative a(¢) into Eq. (2. ‘The total energy will now be a decreasing function of time because of energy dissipated in viscous damping, which over the time duration © to 1 is Eo = f foe = [wianar= f oii dt (2.3.6) All the input energy willl eventually get dissipated in viscous damping; as 4) goes to oo, the dissipated enengy, Eq. (2.3.6), tends to the input energy, Eq. (2.3.1). 2.4 COULOMB-DAMPED FREE VIBRATION In Section 1.4 we mentioned that damping in actual structures is due to several energy- dissipating mechanisms acting simultancously, and a mathematically convenient approach is to idealize them by equivalent viscous damping. Although this approach is sufficiently accurate for practical analysis of most structures, it may not be appropriate when special friction devices have been introduced in a building to reduce its vibrations during earth- quakes. Currently, there is much interest in such application and we retum to them in Chapter 7. In this section the free vibration of systems under the presence of Coulomb friction forces is analyzed. ‘Coulomb damping results from friction against sliding of two dry surfaces. The fric- tion force F = «NV, where jc denotes the coefficients of static and kinetic friction, taken to be equal, and N the normal force between the sliding surfaces. The friction force is assumed to be independent of the velocity once the motion is initiated. The direction of the friction force opposes motion, and the sign of the friction force will change when the direc- tion of motion changes. This necessitates formulation and solution of two differential equa- tions, one valid for motion in one direction and the other valid when motion is reversed. Figure 2.4.1 shows a mass~spring system with the mass sliding against a dry surface, ‘and the free-body diagrams for the mass, including the inertia force, for two directions of (ay (b) Direction of Motion (¢) Direction of Motion —~-.88 Free Vibration Chap. 3 motion, The equation governing the motion of the mass from right to left is mii +ku = F 44) for which the solution is wit) = Ay COs om! + By Sines! + ay (24.2) where wy = F/R. For motion of the mass from left to right, the governing equation is wit + ku = —F 43) for which the solution is ut) = Azcos ait + By sinagt — ap 4a) ‘The constants Aj, B;, Az, and By depend on the initial conditions of each successive half-cycle of motion: @, = y—/m and the constant wp may be interpreted as the static deformation of the spring due to friction force F. Each of the two differential equations is linear but the overall problem is nonlinear because the governing equation changes every half-cycle of motion. Let us study the motion of the system of Fig, 2.4.1 starting with some given initial conditions and continuing until the motion ceases. At time 1 = 0, the mass is displaced a distance (0) to the right and released from rest such that 1() = 0. For the first half-cycle of motion, Eq. (2.4.2) applies with the constants A, and B, determined from the initial conditions at 1 = 0; Ay = 4(0) — ur B =0 Substituting these in Eg. (2.4.2) gives wit) = [w(0) = np) COs at + up O 801+ (¢ + VET) ota) Amais 216 207 2s 2s “The vertical suspomsion system off an automobile is kicalized as a viscously damped SDP ips. tem, Under the 3000-4 weight of the car the suspension system deflects 2 in. The suspension is designed to be critically damped. {a} Calculate the damping and stiffness coefficients of the suspension. : ¢b) Winh four 160-Ib passengers in the car, what is the effective damping ratio? 4e) Calculate the natural vibration frequency for case (b). “The stiffness and damping properties of a mass-spring-damper system are 10 be determined bby a free vibration test; the mass is given as mt = 0.1 Bb-sec’/in. In this test the mas jy displaced | im. by a hydraulic jack and then suddenly released. At the end of 20 comple eyeles, the time is 3 sec and the amplitude is 0.2 in, Determine the stiffness and damping cociciemts, ‘A machine weighing 250 Ib is mounted oa a supporting system consisting of four springs and four dampers. The vertical deflection of the supporting system under the weight of the machine is measured as 0.8 in, The dampers are designed to reduce the amplitude of vertical vibration to one-eighth of the initial ampliude after two complete cycles of free vibration, FFind the following properties of the system: (a) undamped natural frequency. (b} damping ratio, and (e} damped natural frequency. Comment on the effect of damping on the natural Frequency Determine the natural vibration period and damping ratio of the aluminum frame model (Fig. 1.1 4a) from the acceleration record of its free vibeation shown in Fig, 1.14 Show that the matural vibration frequency of the system in Fig. El.éa is oj, = ap] — Where iy is the natural vibration frequency computed neglecting the action of and ote, is the buckling weight An impalsive force applied to the roof slab of the building of Example 2.8 gives it an initial velocity of 20 inJsee to the right. How far to the right will the slab move? What is the ‘maximum displacement of the slab on its return swing to the left? An SDF system consisting of a weight, speing, and friction device is shown in Fig. P220. ice is shown im Fig. P2. ‘This device sips ata force equal to 10% of the weight and the natural vibration period ofthe ‘system is 0-25 sec. If this system is given an initial displacement of 2 im. and released, what sch caplecement amplinide after six eyeles? In how many cycles will the system comme Free Vibration = Chap. |