Vibration Engineering Coursework 1

Question 1
System 1 System 2
fn,1 = 4.5 Hz m = 6500 kg fn,1 = 0.2 Hz m = 6500 kg
ω1 = fn,1 * 2 * π = 28.27 rad / sec ω1 = fn,1 * 2 * π = 1.256 rad / sec
0.5
ω1 = ( k1 / m1 ) ω1 = ( k1 / m1 )0.5
k1 = 5196285 N / m k1 = 10254 N / m

Question 2

System 1

With the initial conditions : x(0) = 0.05 m and v(0) = 1m/s

The first 5 seconds of the displacement, velocity and the acceleration graphs are :

The absolute values of the velocities are ω times the absolute value of the displacements and the
absolute value of the accelerations are ω2 times the absolute value of the displacements. This is
because the function of the motion is given by a sinusoidal function, and because the velocity is the
derivate of the displacements, and accelerations are the second derivate, the natural frequency
value comes out of the brackets of sinusoidal function, and because we have a natural frequency
greater than 1 rad / seconds, the results are in this way. Also the maximum displacement is
somewehere about 0.06 meters this is because of the 0.05 meters initial displacement and plus the
initial velocity that is applied to the system.
The spring force, inertial force and the sum for the 5 five seconds are :

Since there is no external force acting, the only energy in the system is given by the initial
displacement and the velocity. Also because there is no damping force, i.e. energy loss, the total
energy in the system never changes.
Question 3

With the initial conditions : x(0) = 0.05 m and v(0) = -1m/s

Care must be taken to the x and y axis’s when observing the two graphs of system 1 (on the left) and
the system 2 (on the right). The high frequency system completes one cycle in around 0.22 seconds,
whereas the low frequency system completes one cycle in five seconds.

There is a great difference between ( about x13 times ) the maximum displacements the two
different systems make. This is caused by the initial velocities applied to the systems. If only initial
displacements were to be applied, the maximum displacements the systems make would be both
same and equal to the initial displacement that is applied.

However, having in mind that the systems have the same mass, the same velocities the masses have
means that the same amount of Kinetic Energy the masses have. However, system 2 has a much
lower stiffness compared to system 1( which also causes the low frequency with the same mass
values), it is not hard to imagine, that it will make much more displacement.

When the maximum displacement happens, it is where the Kinetic Energy gets the lowest value, and
the Potential Energy gets the highest. Lower stiffness needs a larger displacement to be equal to the
initial Kinetic Energy.

Also, if only ( and equal ) initial displacements were to be applied, much more energy would be
needed for applying the initial condition for the high frequency system. This also verifies why they
would have the same amount of displacements if only initial displacements were to be applied, from
the energy point of view.