MECHANICAL

VIBRATIONS

LUQMAN AHMAD NIZAM

luqman.ahmad@hitecuni.edu.pk
 COURSE OUTLINE
• Introduction to Mechanical Vibrations
• Formulation of governing equations
• Free vibrations
• Forced Vibrations
Chapter-2 W.T Thomson
• Damping
• Rotational Unbalance
• Vibration absorbers
• Vibration measuring instruments
• Compound pendulums
• Coordinate coupling
• Rayleigh & Holzer methods
• Vibrations of continuous systems
• Condition Monitoring
• Mechanical & Electrical analogies
DAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS
 DAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS

Consider the system comprised of a mass m, attached

to a spring of stiffness k, and a viscous damper with
damping coefficient c as shown in figure.

According to Newton’s second law of motion,

 DAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS
Let assume the solution,

The characteristic equation yields the following roots.

The general solution of the equation is as follows.

The final solution is of the form.

 DAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS
Transforming the damping constant term (c) into a new
term known as damping ratio (ζ).

We can write the roots of a characteristic equation in

the form,
ROOT LOCUS PLOT
 DAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS
The damped free vibrations is classified according to
value of the damping ratio (ζ).

• Underdamped free vibrations (ζ<1)

• Critically damped free vibrations (ζ=1)
• Overdamped free vibrations (ζ>1)
 UNDERDAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS

The general solution can be written as,

The final solution after applying initial conditions is of the

form,
 OVERDAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS

The general solution can be written as,

 CRITICALLY DAMPED FREE VIBRATIONS

The general solution can be written as,

The final solution after applying initial conditions is of the

form,
 LOGARITHMIC DECREMENT
(Measurement of damping (ζ))

The general solution can be written as,

 LOGARITHMIC DECREMENT
(Measurement of damping (ζ))

The damping is actually represented in the form of the

natural log of the ratio of two amplitudes called the
logarithmic decrement (δ).

When the value of the damping ratio is very small, then

 LOGARITHMIC DECREMENT
(Measurement of damping (ζ))
 NUMERICAL PROBLEMS
EXAMPLE
A 4 kg mass is attached to a spring of stiffness 400 N/m and a
viscous damper of coefficient 16 N-sec/m. If the mass is
displaced 0.5 m from its equilibrium position and released from
rest, determine the following parameters for this underdamped
system:

• The time-dependent response (x(t))

• The resultant amplitude (A).
• Phase angle (Φ)
• The position of the mass after it has oscillated through 3 cycles
from the point of release.
• Evaluate percentage decay in amplitude after 3 cycles.
 NUMERICAL PROBLEMS
EXAMPLE

A portion of an automobile suspension system consists of an

elastic spring and a viscous damper, as shown. If the spring is
chosen such that k/m = 40, determine the allowable range of
the ratio c/m so that any oscillations that occur will decay by a
factor of 95% within 1 cycle.
 NUMERICAL PROBLEMS
EXAMPLE (Exercise Problem 2.38 (Thomson))
A vibrating system consisting of a mass of 2.267 kg and a spring
of stiffness 17.5 N/cm is viscously damped such that the ratio of
any two consecutive amplitudes is 1.00 and 0.98.

Determine (a) the natural frequency of the damped system, (b)

the logarithmic decrement, (c) the damping factor, and (d) the
damping coefficient.
 NUMERICAL PROBLEMS
EXAMPLE (Exercise Problem 2.47 (Thomson))
A piston of mass 4.53 kg is traveling in a tube with a velocity of
15.24 m/s and engages a spring and damper, as shown in Fig.
P2.47.

Determine the maximum displacement of the piston after

engaging the spring-damper. How many seconds does it take?
 NUMERICAL PROBLEMS

DO YOURSELF
Examples

2.7.1

Exercise Problems

2.34, 2.35, 2.38, 2.39, 2.40, 2.43, 2.44, 2.46, 2.47