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CVNG3004STRUCTURALDYNAMICS
ByR.Clarke
1.0

Introduction

Thepracticeofstructuraldynamicsisessentiallytheformulationthensolutionofequationsofdifferent
typesapplicabletodifferentconditions.Anewstudentofthetopictypicallyfindsthemselvesabit
overwhelmedandthesignificanceofthedifferentaspectsofthetopicquicklybecomesdifficulttograsp.
However,itisthissignificance,whichariseswhentheunderstandingofthesubtopicsaresynthesizedinto
awhole,thatismostrequiredforeffectivemodelingandanalysis.

Theaimofthisintroductionistoputthevariouspartsofstructuraldynamicsintoperspectiveabirds
eyeview,whichmayhelpthestudentmoreeasilydevelopafeelfortherelativesignificanceofthe
varioussubtopicsofstructuraldynamics.

1.1
TheCriticalPhenomenaofStructuralDynamics

Input=F(t)
System
Output=DAFxF(t)

Figure1

Consideraphysicalsystemastructuralsystem,amechanicalsystem,anelectricalcircuit,etc.At
somepointorpointsinthesystem,atimevaryingexcitationisimposedasaninput,andwedesire
toknowhowthesystemwillrespond,asoutput.Dynamics,orVibrationTheory,enablesusto
determinetheresponseandischaracterizedbyjusttwothingsthephenomenaarefunctionsof
time,andaresuchthattheresponseismagnifiedoramplifiedrelativetotheinput.Thatis,ifthe
inputisF(t),theoutputisDAFxF(t),whereDAFisthedynamicamplificationfactor.This
amplificationtakesplacebecausetheoutputactuallyreinforcestheinputsotherefore,dynamicsis
afeedbackphenomenon.

StructuraldynamicsistheapplicationofVibrationTheorytostructurestypicallyencounteredincivil
engineering,andtheamplificationisduetothegenerationofinertiaforcesthatactonthesystem,
asanadditionalforce.Henceinstructuraldynamicsthedependantvariableiswithrespecttothe
equationsofmotionassociatedwithNewtonsSecondLaw.Therefore,thevariablesare
displacement,x(t),velocity(i.edx/dt),andacceleration(i.e.d2x/dt2).Theinputistypicallyaloador
forceF(t),andtheoutputisthedisplacement,x(t),fromwhichtheotherresponsequantitiesof
interestaredetermined(i.evelocity,acceleration,inertiaforce,etc).

ThisalsoappliestoMechanicalEngineeringbutinthisarena,thestructureisamachineorpartofa
machine.VibrationTheoryalsoappliestocertainaspectsofElectricalEngineering,sosomeofthe
terminologyofstructuraldynamicsoriginatesfromthisfieldsincethegoverningequationsarethe
same.

1.2

StructuralDynamicsinCivilEngineeringDesign

Structuraldynamicsisencounteredincivilengineeringasthetimevaryingloadsimposedonthe
variousstructurescommontocivilengineering,andtheresultingbehaviorofthosestructures.

Ingeneral,structuraldesigncanbedefinedasthecontrolofphenomenawithinthestructural
systembydeterminingthevaluesofitsappropriateproperties,suchthattheresponseofthesystem

isacceptable.Acceptabilityisintermsof:(1)thesafetyofthestructureagainstcollapse,and(2)the
comfortoftheuserduringtheservicelifeofthestructure.Thatis,thecollapseorultimatelimit
state,andtheserviceabilitylimitstate,respectively.

Regardingtheultimatelimitstate,thestructureiseconomicallysafeifthestressdemandsonthe
structurearejustlessthanthecapacitiesofthestructure.Thestressdemandsaretypicallyinterms
ofthestressresultantswithinthesystemthemoments(M),shears(V),axialforces(P),andtorsion
(T),collectivelycalledthedesignactions.

Instructuresunderdynamicloading,thestressesareamplifiedwhenitsratioofitsmasstostiffness
(i.e.M/K)iswithinacertainrangeforagiventhecharacteristicsoftheload.Thedesignerhasthe
followingoptionstocontrolthestresstoacceptablelevels.(1)Accepttheamplifiedloadand
proportionthestructuresothatithasthecapacitytoresistit.(2)AltertheM/Kratiosothatthe
responseisnotsignificantlyamplified.(3)Separatethestructurefromthesourceofthedynamic
load.Lastly,(4)adddevicestothestructuretoabsorbtheforceinthosedevicesinsteadofwithin
thestructuralelements.

Regardingtheserviceabilitylimitstate,thefollowingaregenerallyundesirable.Thevibrationofa
floorordeckassomeoneorsomethingmovesonit,forexample,inbuildingsandbridges.In
buildingsthemovementcanbeduetoapersonwalking,agroupofpersonsdancing,acrowd
jumpingasinastadium,oramachinelocatedonthesamefloor.Thefeelingofnauseawhena
structureswaysunderwindloadingisalsoundesirableandoccurswhenthestructureisina
particularrangeofacceleration.Ifthestructurevibratestoomuchintheeventofanimpact,say
duetothecollisionofavehicle,orablast,thiscanalsobedisturbingtotheoccupants,andcause
thebeliefthatthebuildingisunsafe,henceaffectingtheirabilitytofunctionnormally.Toavoid
suchoccurrences,thedesignercanusethesameapproachesdescribedabovefortheultimatelimit
state.

Thefollowinggraphicallydescribesthevarioustypesofdynamicloadinggenerallyfoundincivil
engineering.Foreachtypeofdynamicloading,graphsofadifferentshapearepossible.

Force
Force

Time
Time

Figure2a.PeriodicHarmonicLongDuration
Figure2b.PeriodicNonHarmonicLongDuration

Force
Force

Time
Time

Figure2c.NonPeriodicLongDuration

Figure2d.NonPeriodicShortDuration (Transient)

1.3

Root

Mean

Square
Force

Frequency

Figure2e.Spectrum

Examplesofthesetypesofdynamicloadingareasfollows.Periodicharmoniclongdurationloading
(usuallyjustcalledharmonic)canbeduetomachineryonafloor.Periodicnonharmoniclong
durationloading(usuallyjustcalledperiodic)canbeduetoacrowdjumpingatastadiumduringa
game.Nonperiodiclongdurationloading(usuallycallednonperiodic)canbeduetoan
earthquakerecordingataspecificpointforaspecificearthquake.Nonperiodicshortduration
loading(usuallycalledtransient),canbeduetoawavecrashingagainstaseawall,orablast,ora
collision.

Figures2ato2ddescribedeterministicloadings.Thatis,thevalueoftheloadisexactlyknownata
pointintime,t.However,thereareothersituationswhereatanytime,t,itisnotpossibletoknow
theexactvalueoftheloadasthereisarangeofpossiblevaluesattime,t.Suchaphenomenonis
calledarandomprocess,orastochasticprocess,andstatistics/probabilitytheoryisusedinorderto
quantitativelydescribethephenomenon.

Anexampleofarandomprocessisearthquakeloadingonastructure.Wecanobtainarecordingof,
say,theaccelerationofastructureduringanearthquake,suchasshowninFigure2c.However,for
thesamestructurebutatadifferentpoint,thegraphwillnotbethesame.Likewise,apointlocated
onanotheridenticalstructureduetothesameearthquake,willresultinyetanothergraph.Andif
anotherearthquakeoccurs,thenanothersetofdifferentgraphswillbeobtained.Theengineer
mustthereforeconsidertheloadingasinherentlyrandom.Togetdesigninformation,theengineer
considersasuitablylargecollectionofrecordings,calledanensemble,andexaminestheirstatistical
properties.

Ifforalltherecordings,attimet,thestatisticalpropertiesoftheloadingarethesameasatany
othertimet,thephenomenoniscalledastationaryprocess.Anergodicprocessisaspecialcaseof
astationaryprocess.Foranergodicprocess,notonlyarethestatisticalpropertiesthesameateach
timet,butforeachrecordingthestatisticalpropertiesoftheloadingarethesame.Forrandom
processestheloadingistypicallydescribedusingaspectrumwhich,asshowninFigure2e,has
frequencyonthexaxisratherthantime.

DynamicEquilibrium

Ineveryproblemofstructuraldynamics,regardlessofthecomplexityofthemodel,theprincipal
factisthattheforcesinvolvedareinequilibriumatanytime,t.ThisiscalledDAlmbertsPrincipleof
DynamicEquilibriumandcanbedemonstratedsimply,asshowninthediagrambelow.

FI (t)
F (t)
F(t)
F(t)
FD(t)

FS(t)

Figure3b. Physicalmodel
Figure3c.Freebodydiagram(FBD)

oridealization

Figure3a.Physicalsystem

Figure3ashowsasimpleinvertedpendulumunderatimevaryingforce,F(t).Itisbasicallya
cantilever.Sincethisisadynamicsituation,inertiaforcesaregeneratedthatactonthemass.
Figure3bshowsamodeloridealizationofthedistributionofthemassitisidealizedas
concentratedorlumpedintheball.Thatis,themassofthestickportionofthependulumis
includedinthelumpedmass,andthemodelconsistsofjustthismass.Figure3cshowsalltheforces
inthemodel.Clearly,atanytimet,

(1.1)
FI(t)+FD(t)+FS(t)=F(t)

FI(t)istheinertiaforce.FD(t)isthedampingforce.Thisrepresentstheeffectofinternalfriction,
orthesurroundingairmass,thatcausesthevibrationtodieawaywithtimeifthevibrationis
stopped.FS(t)isthespringforce.Itrepresentsthespringynessofthesystemsincethesystemis
essentiallyacantilever.ThetimevaryingforceF(t),iscalledtheforcingfunction,ortheexcitation.

Equation1.1expressesthedynamicequilibriumofthesystemandiscalledtheequationofmotion,
orthegoverningequation.Bychoosingacoordinatesystem,eachoftheforcescanbeexpressedin
termsofthedisplacementofthesystemandsoequation1.1canbesolvedforthisdisplacement,
knowingwhich,alltheforcesonthelefthandside(LHS)canbedetermined.

1.4

ModelingandAnalysisFundamentals

Theprevioussectiondescribesinanutshell,whatisinvolvedinsolvingdynamicsproblems.
However,inthisexampleonlyonesetofpossibleapproacheswasusedtosetupthemodelandits
equationsforsolution,aprocesscalledformulation.

Ingeneral,theengineerhasaspecificsetofdecisionstobemadethatcanaffectboththeaccuracy
andeconomy(i.e.timeandresourcesrequired)oftheentiresolutionprocess.Thesearebriefly
describedinthefollowingsections,aswellastheemphasisthatwillbehighlightedinthistext.It
shouldbeunderstoodhowever,thatinmanyinstances,especiallywiththereadyavailabilityof
powerfulcomputersandsoftware,thefinalapproachusedmaybejustamatterofpersonal
preference.

1.4.1

LumpedmassvsDistributedMass

Inthesimpleinvertedpendulumexamplediscussedpreviously,themassofthesystemwas
idealizedasasinglelumpedmass.Thisisbecause,sincetheinertiaforceisacentralcharacteristic
ofdynamicanalysis,andinertiaisapropertyofmass,itisimportanttorepresentthemassandmass
propertieswithsufficientaccuracy.Incontrasttoalumpedmassidealization,theengineercanuse
adistributedmassidealization.Thisisclosertothephysicalrealityofthesystem.However,the
resultingmathematicalmodelisconsiderablymorecomplexcomparedtoifalumpedmass
approachisused.Theaccuracyrelativetocomplexityissufficientlyhighifalumpedmass
idealizationisused,thatformanyproblemsofpracticalinteresttothecivilengineer,thisapproach
issufficient.Itistheprincipalapproachutilizedinthistext,thoughadistributedmassapproachis
usedforanalyzingabeaminChapter4.

Anotherimportantidealizationshouldbementionedhere,whichisalsomadewhenthemass
idealizationismade.Thisiscalledthekinematicidealization.Recalltheinvertedpendulumexample
oncemore.Itwasmentionedthatacoordinatesystemmustbeemployedsothatwecandefinethe
displacementofthemass.Thedisplacementiscalledadegreeoffreedomofthemass,soour
modeliscalledasingledegreeoffreedom(i.e.SDOF)model.Itispossibleforamasstohavemore
thanoneDOF.Forexample,thefloorofabuildingcanbeidealizedasasinglemass,with3DOF:a
displacementinthexdirection,adisplacementintheydirection,andtherotationofthefloorin

plan.SuchamodeliscalledanMDOFormultipledegreeoffreedommodel.AnothertypeofMDOF
modelisforexample,a2dimensionalbuildingframewhereeachfloorisidealizedasalumped
mass,withitsownsingledisplacement.ThebulkofthistextisaboutSDOFmodelsandispresented
inChapter2.MDOFmodelsarediscussedinChapter3.Itisinterestingtonotethatformany
problemsofpracticalinterest,anMDOFproblemcanbesolvedbyusingSDOFsolutions.

1.4.2

ForcevsEnergy

Forourinvertedpendulumexample,thegoverningequationisgivenbyequation1.1.Thisequation
isintermsofforceand,aswillbeshowninsubsequentchapters,isadifferentialequation.This
equationistobesolvedforthedependantvariable,thedisplacement.Forrelativelysimplemodels,
thesolutionofthedifferentialequationisquitestraightforward,butformorecomplicatedmodels,
itbecomesmuchmoredifficult.Inengineeringanalysisingeneral,itisusuallymucheasiertosolve
governingequationsiftheyareexpressedusingintegralsratherthanderivatives.Theintegral
equationsaresaidtobeweaker.Theforceequationscanbeconvertedtoenergyequations(using
forexamplethePrincipleofVirtualWork)inwhichcasethedifferentialequationsnowbecome
integralequations.Itismorecommonhowever,forforce,andhencedifferential,equationstobe
usedforthetypesofdynamicsproblemsoftypicalinteresttocivilengineers,sothisformofthe
governingequationsisusedthroughoutthistext.

1.4.3

TimevsFrequency

Forourinvertedpendulumexample,thegoverningequationanditssolutionarefunctionsoftime
andaresaidtobeinthetimedomain.However,formorecomplicateddynamicloadingsuchas
showninFigures2band2c,thereisimportantinformationorpatternsthatarenotobviouswhen
expressedinthetimedomain.Ratherthaninthetimedomain,alternatively,theloadingand
response(i.e.thesolutionofthedifferentialequation),canbeexpressedasfunctionsoffrequency.
Inthiscase,itissaidthatfrequencydomainanalysisisbeingperformed.Thisismadepossible
duetothebranchofmathematicscalledFourierAnalysis.Solutioninthefrequencydomain
enablestheengineertodeterminethedominantfrequenciesintheloadingandresponseandthis
hasimportantapplicationinthedesignofthesystem,theunderstandingofthebehavior,orthe
classificationofloading.Furthermore,itbecomesrelativelyeasytoreadilydeterminetheDAFof
theresponseforarangeofproblemsofpracticalinterest.

Withtheexceptionoffindingunderlyingpatternshowever,moderncomputertechnology(via
numericalanalysiswhichisdiscussedinthenextsection)enablestimedomainanalysistoprovideall
theinformationasafrequencydomainanalysisbutinasingleformulation.Frequencydomain
analysisalsocannotbereadilyusedfornonlinearproblems.Inthistext,theemphasisisontime
domainanalysisthoughfrequencydomainanalysisispresentedforseveraltypesofdynamic
loading,inChapter2.

1.4.4

AnalyticalvsNumericalAnalysis

Thegoverningequationsofadynamicsproblemcanbesolvedanalytically(i.e.asequations),also
knownasinclosedform,butthisisonlypossibleforrelativelysimpledynamicloadings.Formore
complicatedloading,numericalanalysismustbeusedandthereadyavailabilityofpowerfulmodern
computersandsoftwaremakesthisquitestraightforward.Numericalanalysisalgorithmsarebased
onreplacingacontinuousvariablebyaseriesofsmalldiscretestepsandinthismannerdifferential
orintegralequationsareconvertedtoalgebraicequations,hencethenecessityofcomputer
technology.Theseproceduresarebasedonseriesexpansions(i.e.MaclaurinorTaylorseries)and
severalhavebeendevelopedforthedirectorstepbystepintegrationofthegoverningdifferential
equationsofstructuraldynamics.SomeofthesearediscussedinChapter2.

ForMDOFanalysisbyoneofthemostpopularapproachescalledmodesuperposition,itisfirst
necessarytodeterminethevibrationmodeshapesofthestructureandinengineeringmathematics
thisisrecognizedasaneigenvalueproblem.Numericalanalysisalgorithmshavebeendevelopedfor
thisaswell,andisdiscussedinChapter3.

1.4.5

LinearvsNonlinear

Instructuraldynamicstheissueoflinearityornonlinearityiswithrespecttothethirdterminthe
LHSofequation1.1theFS(t)term.Recallthatthisisthespringforceterm.Formanypractical
rangesoftheperformanceofastructure,thestresscanbeconsidereddirectlyproportionaltothe
strainatanypointinthestructure.HenceforanSDOFsystem,FS(t)=Kx(t),whereK,the
proportionalityconstant,isthespringconstantorstiffnessofthestructure;x(t)isthetimevarying
displacementofthestructure.However,thereareimportantproblemsforwhichthisassumption
cannotbemade.Anexampleistheearthquakeresistantdesignofbuildingsinwhichcase,the
engineerdeliberatelyallowsthestructuretoyieldatanumberofpointswithinthestructure.At
thosepointsthestressstrainrelationshipisnonlinearhenceforthewholestructureaswell.
Thereforeinsuchacase,Kisnolongeraconstantanddependsonx(t).HenceFS(t)=K(x(t))x(t)
whichisclearlyanonlinearterm.

TheeffectofnonlinearityisthatanotherequationorprocedureisrequiredtoevaluateK(x(t))
simultaneouslywiththeothertermsintheequationofmotionandthismakesthesolution
impossiblebyanalyticalprocedures,hencefrequencydomainmethodscannotbeapplied.When
theproblemisnonlinear,thetypicalapproachistousetimedomainmodelingalongwithnumerical
analysis,andthisisexaminedinChapter3.

Itshouldbementionedthatbecauseofthedifficultiesassociatedwithanonlineardynamics
problem,ingeniousmethodshavebeendevisedtoconverttheproblemtoanequivalentlinear
problem.OneapproachistoreplacetheFS(t)termbychangingthedampingtermFD(t)inlinear
problembutinsuchamannerthattheoveralleffectisthesameasforthenonlinearproblem.

1.4.6

DeterministicvsRandom

Insection1.2thespecificationofdynamicloadingasaspectrumwasdiscussed.Recallthatthis
approachisrequiredwhenthedynamicsphenomenonisinherentlyrandom.Insuchacase,and
onlyforlinearproblems,thegoverningequationshaveasthedependantvariable,themomentsof
theresponse(e.g.themeanandstandardvariation).

Fromacivilengineeringdesignperspective,thisinformationcanbeusedtodetermineadesignload
orresponsebutthenumberusedwillbeassociatedwithaselectedconfidencelevel.Forexample,
theloadwitha2%probabilityofbeingexceeded.ThisisdiscussedfurtherinChapter2.

Frequencydomainsolutionsareextensivelyusedforrandomdynamicsproblems,primarilybecause
thegoverningequationsareintegralequations.Thisfieldisparticularlyinterestingforresearchers
andiscalledSpectralAnalysis.

1.5

VibrationTerminology

Certaintermsareusedinstructuraldynamics,inadditiontothosealreadypresented,thatarepart
ofdescribingthevariousaspectsofthetopic.Someofthemorefundamentaltermsaredescribed
asfollows.

Period
ConsidertheverticalcantilevershownbelowinFigure4a,andwhichisvibratinginasimpletoand
fromotion.Thedisplacementatthetip,x(t),ishorizontalandhasamaximumvalueofAwhenit
bendstothefarright,butAtothefarleft.Thehorizontaldisplacementatanytimet,isthe
projectionontoahorizontalaxisofaradiusAofacircle,asshowninFigure4b,astheradiusrotates.
Ifattimet=0,theradiusisinthehorizontalposition,butthereafter,theradiusrotates,say,anti
clockwise,thenthetimetakenfortheradiustomakeonecompleterevolutionistheperiod.The
typicalsymbolfortheperiodisTandtheunitisseconds(sec).

Figure4aVibratingcantilever
Figure4b Vibrationintermsofa

rotatingradius

Frequency
ReferringtoFigure4b,thecircularfrequencyistheanglefromthehorizontalthattheradiusrotates
persecond.Thetypicalsymbolforcircularfrequencyis(or)anditsunitisradianspersecondor
rps.

Therectilinearfrequencyisthenumberofcompleterevolutionsmadepersecondandissometimes
preferred,ratherthanthecircularfrequency,fordescribingthevibration.Whentheradiusmakesa
completecircleitissaidtohavecompletedacycle.Thesymbolforrectilinearfrequencyisf,andits
unitiscyclespersecondorcpsorHertz(Hz).fissimplytheinverseofT,sof=1/T.

Sincetheradiusrotatesradiansintimet,=/t,hence=t.Theradiusmakesonecomplete
circleinTseconds,therefore2=T.So,

=2/T

(1.2)

Thisisafundamentalequationofdynamics.

Onemustbeconsciousaboutwhichfrequencyisbeingreferredtoindynamicsequationssince
manytextssimpleusethewordfrequencyforeitherthecircularorrectilinearfrequency.

Harmonic
ThesimpletoandfromotionofthecantileverinFigure4aiscalledharmonicmotion.Intermsof
therotatingradius,asdescribedpreviously,thedisplacementofthecantileveristhehorizontal
projectionoftheradiussoisgivenby,

x(t)=Acos=Acost

(1.3)

Thevibrationofsimplecontinuasuchasstringscanbeshowntobecomposedofthesummationof
equationssuchas1.3buteachwithadifferentAvalueandvalue.Whenthesecomponents
arearrangedinincreasingorderoffrequency,theyarecalledthefirstharmonic,thesecond
harmonic,etc.

Phase
Thecosineandsinefunctionshaveexactlythesameshape,buttheyhavedifferentvaluesforthe
sameangle,t.Therefore,thecosineandsinefunctionswillbeidenticalifoneisshiftedonthe
angleaxisrelativetotheother.Thisshiftordifferenceinangleiscalledthephasedifference,or
justthephaseforshort.Hencetheobservationfromtrigonometrythatcos=sin(+/2),
where/2isthephasedifferencebetweenthecosineandsinefunctions.

Thephaseangleisveryusefulindynamicsforrepresentingloadingorresponseequationsinthe
mostcompactform.

TimeSeries
TheshowninFigure2,loadingisfrequentlyexpressedasafunctionoftime.Thisisalsothecasefor
systemresponses.Theentiresetofdataissometimesreferredtoasatimeseriesorarecord.

Magnitude
ForthecaseofharmonicmotionshowninFigure4,themagnitudeofthedisplacementisA.The
magnitudeofatimeseriesisitspeakormaximumvalueandisparticularlyimportanttocivildesign
engineerssinceastructuralsystemmustbedesignedforthepeakloadordisplacementthatthe
systemwillexperienceduringitsservicelife.

ForsystemsunderthetypesofloadingshowninFiguresb,c,andd,boththeloadingandresponses
aretypicallymathematicallyrepresentedinthefrequencydomainusingsummationsofharmonics
expressedintermsofacomplexnumberforeachfrequency.Inthiscase,themagnitudeisthe
absolutevalueormodulusofthecomplexnumber.

Average
Inseveralcases,theaverageormeanvalueofatimeseries,ortheaverageofasetofvalues
recordedatdifferentpointsonasystem,butatthesametimet,isuseful.Forexample,inthestudy
ofrandomvibrations,themeanplusxsigmarepresentsacertainprobabilityofbeingexceeded,
wherexistypicallybetween1and3.Also,whenrepresentingatimeseriesassummationsof
harmonics,theaveragevaluemustalsobeaddedtocompletetherepresentation.

RootMeanSquare
Therootmeansquareorrmsvalueofthedisplacementassociatedwithavibrationisameasureof
theenergyofthevibration.Themeansquaredisplacementistheaverageofthesquaredvaluesof
thetimeseries,oroveratimeinterval.Thermsisthesquarerootofthisvalue,andismeasuredin
rmsmeters.

Bandwidth
Abandwidthisarangeoffrequenciesthatmaybeofparticularsignificanceinthedynamicloading
orresponseofasystem.Forexample,aparticularbandwidthmayberesponsibleforcausingthe
highestDAF.Fordynamicloading,itsspectralrepresentationiscalledwidebandiftheordinate
(e.g.rmsvalue)isthehighestandfairlyconstantoverawiderangeofthefrequenciesrelevantto
describingtheloading,asshowninFigure2e.Earthquakeloadingiswideband,whereasloading
fromavibratingmachineistypicallynarrowband.

Octave
Anoctaveisafrequencybandinwhichtheupperlimitistwicethelowerlimit.Soiffrequenciesare
dividedintobandsof1020Hz,2040Hz,4080Hz,theneachofthesebandsisanoctave.

Filter
ThistermisfromthefieldofSignalProcessingwhichsharesmanyofthegoverningequationsof
linearstructuraldynamics.InFigure1,themiddleboxisafilteritconvertstheinputvibrationto
anothertypeofvibrationasoutput.Ahighpassfilterreducesthevaluesinthelowerbandstovery
smallvalues,andalowpassfilterdoestheopposite.

Practicalworkinstructuraldynamicsinvolvestakingmeasurementsastimeseriesfromdifferent
pointsonastructure.However,becauseofcomputertechnologytheequipmentusesdigital
electronicsandthetimeseriesistheresultsofsamplingatacertaintimeinterval.Therefore,the
terminologyofDigitalSignalProcessing(DSP)iswidelyusedinthisaspectofstructuraldynamicsand
becauseofthesampling,certainphenomenamayarisethatthecivilengineermustbeawareoffor
properuseoftheequipment,andinterpretationoftheresultingdata.

1.6

TheBasicToolbox

Thebasictoolboxiscomprisedofthemostfundamentalmethodsorfunctionstheengineerapplying
structuraldynamicsislikelytouse.Thesearepresentedinthefollowingtable.

METHOD/
FUNCTION
FourierSeries(M)

FUNCTIONNAME

NOTES

NotApplicable(NA)

Usedtorepresentaperiodicload, and the


responseduetoaperiodicload,asthesum
ofaseriesatdiscretefrequencies.
CharacterizedbyA,Bcoefficients,whichare
thebasicstructureoftheFourierSeries.
Usedtoobtain frequencydomain response
duetoanonperiodicload.Theforcing
functionispartoftheintegralandthe
forcingfunctioncanbeexpressedasatime
seriesofnumericalvalues,orinclosedform.
Representstheamplitudesofthe
exponentialformoftheFourierSeries.
CanbeusedtogetfunctionsforA,Bofthe
FourierSeriesforclosedformsolutions.The
inputisasymbolicexpressionanditreturns
theintegralasasymbolicexpression.
Givestheabsolutevalueofacomplex
number:a+ib,whichcanbeusedfora
compactformoftheFourierSeries.The
inputisthepairofnumericala,bnumerical
valuesanditreturnsanumericalvalue.
Givesthephase(lag)anglebetweena,b.
Returnsanumericalvalue.Theinputisthe
pairofnumericala,bvaluesofacomplex
numberanditreturnsanumericalvalue.
TheDAF=|H|=Abs(H).Iftheinputtime
seriesisexpressedwithtasacontinuous
function,thenHrepresentsananalogue
filter.Butiftisasetofdiscretetimevalues,
thenHrepresentsadigitalfilter.Inthe
formercase,theMATLABfunctionthat

FourierIntegral(M)

NA

SymbolicIntegration(F,
M)

Int

Absolutevalue(F)

Abs

Phase(F)

Transferfunctionor
ForceResponseFunction
(FRF)(F)

Angle

10

DirectFourierTransform
(M)

P(sometimesF)

FastFourierTransform
(F)

FFT

RungeKutta4thOrder
NumericalIntegration
(M,F)

Ode45

Eigenvalue/Eigenvector
Analysis(M,F)

Eig

GraphicalPlotting(M,F)

Subplot and
Plot

returnsHisfreqs(),andforthelatteris
freqz().Inbothcases,theinputtoHisa
symbolicfraction,andtheyreturnnumerical
values.
Thisistheclosedformfrequencydensityof
atimeseriesandisusedtocalculateits
amplitudespectrum,especiallyforhand
calculations,whichispossibleforsimple
dynamicloading.Cannotbedirectly
calculatedbyasingleMATLABfunction,but
ascriptcanbedeveloped,basedonthe
Int()function,togetP(A,Balso)inclosed
form.
Givesthemagnitudevsfrequencyofa given
timeserieswherethetimeisasasetof
discreteequallyspacedvalues.Thisisthe
numericalversionoffunctionPandis
necessaryformorecomplicatedloading.
Theinputisasetoftimeseriesnumerical
values,anditreturnsthenumericalvaluesof
theamplitudespectrum.
ImplementstheRungeKutta4thor 5th Order
proceduresofnumericalintegrationofaset
of1storderODEs.Theinputisthesymbolic
expressionoftheDEs,theinterval,andthey
valuesattheleftendoftheinterval.It
returnsthenumericalvaluesforyoverthe
interval.CanbeusedtosolvetheODEs
representingtheequationofmotion.
ForlinearMDOFdynamics,themodal
superpositionmethodiswidelyused.An
eigenvalue/eigenvectoranalysisgivesthe
modeshapeanditsfrequency.Theinputis
themassandstiffnessvaluesassociatedwith
eachDOF.
Thoughnotadynamicsmethod,computer
graphicsisindispensiblefordisplayingthe
inputloadsandresponseofdynamic
analysis.

Studentssometimesconfusethetermsclosedform,numerical,discrete,andcontinuous.A
closedformsolutionmeansthatthevaluescanbecalculatedusingasymbolicexpression.A
numericalsolutionmeansthatthesolutioncanonlybeobtainedasasetofnumbervalues.
Discretemeansthattheyaxisvaluesonlyexistatspecificxaxisvalues.Anexampleisthe
spectrumofaFourierSeries,whichonlyhasvaluesatspecificfrequenciesbutiszeroinbetween.
Continuousmeansthatanyvalueonthexaxishasavalueontheyaxis,hencewhenplotteda
smoothcurveisobtained.AnexampleisthespectrumofaFourierIntegralwhichhasvaluesatall
frequencies.Notethatitispossibletohaveaclosedformsolutionfordiscretespectra.Thismeans
thatatthefrequencyinquestion,thevalueisgivenbyasymbolicexpression.Furthermore,even
thoughasymbolicexpressionmayexist,itisimplementedinacomputerprogrambycalculatingthe
valueatdiscretevalues,usuallyviaaloop.

11

ComputerSoftware

MATLAB
Themethods/functionspresentedaboveareusuallyimplementedusingcomputersoftware,
especiallyforpracticalproblems.ApopularsoftwareframeworkformathcalculationisMATLABby
TheMathworksInc.ThefunctionsinboldtypeinthetableaboveareMATLABcommandnames.
MATLABismainlyasetoffunctionsgroupedintosetsbytopicandeachsetiscalledatoolbox.
MATLABcomeswithabasiccollectionoftoolboxesbutmanyothersareavailableasoptions.
MATLABisaveryhilevellanguagedesignedaroundthematrixasthefundamentaldatatypeso
inputdatashouldbevectorized.MATLABisaninterpretedlanguageandthecommandscanbe
collectedtogetherasascriptfilewithextension.mwhichisineffectacomputerprogram.
MATLABisavailableatmanyuniversitiesbutcanbepricy,evenforthestudentedition.

GNUOctave
OctaveisaMATLABopensource(i.e.free)clonethathasevolvedtoalmost100%compatibility.It
usesthesamecommandsasMATLAB.OctaveforWindowsisrunfromthecommandline.The
installfilesfortheOctaveexes(calledbinaries),canbedownloadedfrom:

http://octave.sourceforge.net/

AnonlinemanualforOctaveisavailablefrom:

http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/doc/interpreter/

MAXIMA
OctavescompatibilitywithMATLABis,however,onlywithrespecttonumericalcomputations.
MAXIMAisanopensourcesymbolicmathematicsprogramthatcanbedownloadedfrom:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/maxima/files/MaximaWindows/5.22.1Windows/maxima
5.22.1.exe/download

ENGLTHA
ENGLHA(EarthquakeNonlinearandGeneralLinearTimeHistoryAnalysis)isacomputerprogram
developedbytheauthorforteachingstructuraldynamics.Itgivesthetimedomainsolutionforany
inputloadingforaSDOFsystem,andcatersfornonlinearityduetoinelasticity,andincluding
hystereticdegradation.

Inthistext,bothMATLABorOctavefornumericalwork,MAXIMAforsymbolicwork,andENGLTHA
areusedtoillustrateproblemsolvinganddemonstrations.

1.7

ProblemSolvingStrategy

Thecharacteristicsofagivendynamicsproblemindicatewhichapproachesarepossibleforsolution.
Thediagramonthefollowingpageisanoverallsummaryofthemainstepsrequiredforsolving
SDOFlineardynamicsproblems.Forthefrequencydomain,theapproachgivespeakvaluesonly.

ThoughcoveringonlytheSDOFcase,aswillbeseeninsubsequentchapters,themostwidelyused
methodofMDOFdynamicanalysissuperimposestheresultsofSDOFanalysis,makingtheSDOF
analysismethodscriticalforthesolutionsofmanytypesofproblems,evenforcontinuum
structures.

12

PROBLEMSOLVINGSTRATEGYMAPFORLINEARSDOFSTRUCTURALDYNAMICS

PROBLEM

ClosedForm
Numerical

PeriodicLoad
NonPeriodicLoad

FrequencyDomain
TimeDomain
FrequencyDomain
TimeDomain

Getafunctionforthe
Integratetogetexpressions
Integratetogetexpressions
Integratetoget
load
expressionforA,BorP
forspectraforload
forspectraforload

forgivenloading

Recallsolutionforload
Recallsolutionforunit
GetH
GetH
impulse
asAcos+Bsin

Multiplyloadspectraby
Sub.Inconvolution
Multiplyloadspectraby
Sub.A,Binsolution
H
integralandintegrate
H

PeriodicorNonPeriodicLoad

TimeDomain
FrequencyDomain

Prepareafileofload,
PerformFFTtogetload
timedata
magnitudespectra

Numericallyintegrate
GetH

theODE(RK,etc)

Multiplyloadspectraby

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