Equations of motion of

basic dynamic system

 Single DOF system
The essential physical properties of any linearly elastic system
subjected to an external source of excitation or dynamic
loading are its mass, elastic properties and damping. The
simplest model is a SDOF system in which each of these
properties is assumed to be concentrated in a single physical
element.
D’Alembert’s principle:
A system may be set in a state of dynamic equilibrium by adding
to the external forces a fictitious force that is commonly known
as “inertial force”.
f  mu  f  mu  0
Consider a SDOF system. The entire mass m of this system
is included in the rigid block which is constrained by rollers so
that it can move only in simple translation; thus the single
displacement coordinate u(t) completely defines its position.
The elastic resistance to displacement is provided by the
weightless spring of stiffness k, while the energy loss
represented by the damper c. The external dynamic loading
producing the response of this system is the time-varying
force p(t).
 Single DOF system

The forces acting in the direction of the displacement are the

applied load p(t) and three resisting forces resulting from the
motion are inertial foces fI(t), the damping force fD(t) and the
spring force fs(t). By equilibrium
 Single DOF system (Equation of motion)

In accordance with d’Alembert’s principle, the inertial force is the

product of the mass and acceleration
Assuming a viscous mechanism, the damping force is the product
of the damping constant c and the velocity
The elastic force is the product of the spring stiffness and the
displacement
f I  t   f D  t   f s  t   p t 
f I  t   mu  t 
f D  t   cu  t 
f s  t   ku  t 
mu  t   cu  t   ku  t   p t 
 Influence of gravitational forces, single DOF
system (Equation of motion)
Consider the system where the forces of gravity acts in the
direction of the displacement.
Now the equilibrium of the forces

mu  t   cu
  t   ku  t   p t   W
 Influence of gravitational forces, single DOF
system (Equation of motion)
Consider the system where the forces of gravity acts in the
direction of the displacement. Now the equilibrium of the
forces  st  static displacement caused by weight W
u  t   Dynamic displacement
u  t    st  u  t  ...........(1)
f s  t   ku  t   k st  ku  t  ( 2)
mu  t   cu
  t   k st  ku  t   p t   W ..(3)
but W  k st .........(4)
Thus
mu  t   cu   t   k st  ku  t   p t   k st
mu  t   cu   t   ku  t   p t  ..............(5)

With reference to static Differentiating (1)

Equilibrium position   t  u
u   t

Of the dynamic u  t   u  t 

system Thus eq (5) becomes
is not affected by mu  t   cu   t   ku  t   p  t 
Thus same as
gravity forces.
mu  t   cu
  t   ku  t   p t 
Influence of support excitation, single DOF system
(Equation of motion)
Dynamic stresses and deflections can be
induced in a structure not only by a time-
varying applied load, but also by motions of
its support points, e.g. the motions of a
building foundation caused by an
earthquake.
Consider the case a simplified model of the
earthquake excitation problem in which the
horizontal ground motion caused by the
earthquake is indicated by the
displacement ug(t) of the structure’s base
relative to the fixed reference axis.
The horizontal girder in this frame is assumed
to be rigid and to include all the moving
mass of the structure. The vertical columns
are assumed to be weightless and
inextensible in the vertical direction.
The equilibrium of forces for this system
Influence of support excitation, single DOF system
(Equation of motion)
f I  t   f D  t   fs  t   0
f I  t   mu t  t 
mu t  t   cu
  t   ku  t   0
Before this equation can be solved, all forces must be expressed in terms of
a single variable, which can be accomplished by noting that the total
motion of the mass can be expressed as the sum of the ground motion
and that due to column distortion.
u t  t   u t   u g  t 
mu  t   mu g  t   cu
  t   ku  t   0
Since the ground acceleration represents the specified dynamic input to the
structure, the same equation of motion can be written
mu  t   cu
  t   ku  t    mu g  t   p eff  t 
 Damping
 Damping is the process of dissipation of energy of vibration

 There are many sources of damping and different mechanism of energy

dissipation in a structure. The sources of damping are classified into two types,
namely material or internal damping and non-material or external damping.
Material damping, usually caused by the viscoelastic property of materials, is
one of the properties of the material of which the structure is composed of.
Whereas, non-material damping is caused by external sources such as friction
at the connection of members or at the supports of structures and fluid damping
caused by the surroundings like water, air, soil etc.
Mechanism or sources of damping
Non-material or
Material or External damping
internal damping
Opening/closing of
microcracks
Steel Friction with
Concrete atmosphere(air, water)
Joint friction etc.
Damping
 Damping
 All of these damping sources may contribute to the total damping characteristics of the structure, although the contribution of each source could be different. It is,
therefore, usually very difficult to model the damping of structures precisely.

 The most common and simplified model of damping is a viscous damper

which the following characteristics.

f D  t   cu

 fD is the damping force, c is the damping coefficient, and du/dt is the velocity
and minus sign indicates that the direction of the damping force is opposite
to that of the velocity of motion.
 As all of the damping sources mentioned above can not be directly modelled
as viscous damping, an equivalent viscous damping coefficient is
considered in order to simplify and model the complicated daming
mechanism in the structure.