University of San Carlos

BAYOGO, JUNCEL G. Department of Civil Engineering Rodolfo A. Chua, Jr., MEng

MSCE-STRE1 MCE 612 - Dynamics of Structures Lecturer, USC

Date of Submission: December 17, 2016

Reference: Dynamics of Structures by R.W. Clough and J. Penzien, 2nd Ed.

PROBLEM 1.1
The weight of the building is given as W and the building is set into free vibration by releasing it
(at time t=0) from a displacement of v0 . If the maximum displacement on the return swing is
given as v1 at time t1 , determine:

(a) the lateral spring stiffness, k

(b) the damping ratio,
(c) the damping coefficient, c

Given data:
W 200 kip
v0 1.20 in
v1 0.86 in
t1 0.64 s
in
g 386
s2

(a) Lateral Spring Stiffness, k

The period T is given by the formula,

W
T= 2
gk

Isolating k and set T t1 , we have,

2
2 W
k
T g
2
2 200 kip
k =
0.64 s in
386
s2
kip
k = 49.939
in

Using the damping ratio, obtained in (b) ,

49.939 kip
k' k' 50.0
1 5.3% 2 in
 University of San Carlos
BAYOGO, JUNCEL G. Department of Civil Engineering Rodolfo A. Chua, Jr., MEng
MSCE-STRE1 MCE 612 - Dynamics of Structures Lecturer, USC

(b) Damping ratio,

The logarithmic decrement of damping, , is defined by

vn
= ln
vn + 1

v0
ln
v1

1.20
ln = 0.333
0.86

can also be expressed in terms of the damping ratio, ,

2
=

1 2

Isolating ,
1


2
2
+1

1
= 0.053
2
2
+ 1
0.333

The damping ratio, , can also be approximated using the formula,

0.333
= 0.053
2

Therefore,
5.3%
 University of San Carlos
BAYOGO, JUNCEL G. Department of Civil Engineering Rodolfo A. Chua, Jr., MEng
MSCE-STRE1 MCE 612 - Dynamics of Structures Lecturer, USC

(c) damping coefficient, c

The damping coefficient, c, is expressed by the formula,

c = 2m

2 W
we know that, = and m = , so
T g

4 W
c
T g

s
c = 0.539 kip
in

(All computations are done using PTC MathCAD Prime 3.1)