BIT Mesra Off Campus Patna: MO23: CE412: STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS Assignment – 1

(50 Marks) (Date of Submission 31/08/2023 till: 11:59 PM)

Question: 1 [8 Marks]

Find the expressions for the effective stiffness of the springs and write the equations of motion
for each mass-spring systems shown in Fig 1.

u t  u t 
k1
k1 k2
k2 p t 
p t 

u t  u t 
k1 k1 k1
k3 k3
k2
p t 
k2 k2

Fig 1. Spring mass system

Question: 2 [2 Marks]

A 0.5 kg mass is suspended by a spring having a stiffness of 0.2533 N/mm. Determine its
frequency in cycles per second. Find its statical deflection (Δ) also?

Question: 3 [2 Marks]

A 0.553 kg mass attached to a light spring elongates the spring 8.87 mm. What will be the
natural frequency of the system in cycles per second.

Question: 4 [3 Marks]

An unknown mass m kg attached to the end of an unknown spring k has a natural frequency of
96 cpm (cycles per minute). When 0.553 kg mass is added to mass m, the natural frequency is
lowered to 78.7 cpm. Determine the unknown mass m in kg and spring constant k in N/m.

Question: 5 [3 Marks]

A spring mass system k1, m has a natural frequency of f1. If a second spring k2 is added in series
with the first spring, the natural frequency is lowered to 0.6 f1. Determine k2 in terms of k1.

Dr. Angshuman Mandal, Asst. Prof., BIT Patna Page 1

BIT Mesra Off Campus Patna: MO23: CE412: STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS Assignment – 1
(50 Marks) (Date of Submission 31/08/2023 till: 11:59 PM)
Question: 6 [3 Marks]

Determine the natural frequency (in cps), angular frequency (in rad/s) and time period (s) of the
system shown in Fig 2. The weight of 250 N is connected to a cantilever beam AB through the
spring K. The modulus of elasticity of the beam material is 2.0 x 10 5 MPa. Neglect the mass of
the beam.

Fig 2. Cantilever beam with spring mass system

Question: 7 [3 Marks]

Determine the natural period for the system shown in Figure 3. Assume that the beam and
springs supporting the weight ‘W’ are massless.

Figure 3 Cantilever beam with two spring weight system

Dr. Angshuman Mandal, Asst. Prof., BIT Patna Page 2

BIT Mesra Off Campus Patna: MO23: CE412: STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS Assignment – 1
(50 Marks) (Date of Submission 31/08/2023 till: 11:59 PM)
Question: 8 [6 Marks]

If in question 7., L = 150 cm, EI = 3 x 109 N-cm2, W = 15000 N and K = 4000 N/cm. Find the
following:

1. Natural period
2. Angular frequency
3. If the weight ‘W’ has an initial displacement y0 = 2.5 cm and an initial velocity v0
= 50 cm/s then determine the displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the
system after 1 second.
4. Find the amplitude of the vibration.

Question: 9 [3 Marks]

A wooden block of mass 10 kg is attached to a spring with stiffness 10 kN/m, as shown in Figure
4. An object weighing 0.5 kg is fired at a speed of 75 km/hr into the block and gets embedded in
the block. What will be the displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the system after 1 second.

Fig 4. Spring mass system under the action of sudden impact

Question No: 10. [ 3 Marks]

Determine the free vibration responses (displacement, velocity, and acceleration) of a single
degree of freedom system shown in Fig. 5 at time t = 0.20 s for the following data:

Fig 5. Spring mass damper system under free vibration

1. Natural circular frequency, ω = 12 rad/s.

2. Damping ratio ξ = 0.15
3. Initial displacement x (t = 0) = 5 cm
4. Initial velocity v (t = 0) = 10 cm/s

Dr. Angshuman Mandal, Asst. Prof., BIT Patna Page 3

BIT Mesra Off Campus Patna: MO23: CE412: STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS Assignment – 1
(50 Marks) (Date of Submission 31/08/2023 till: 11:59 PM)
Question No: 11. [ 2 Marks]

The damped vibration record of a spring mass dashpot system shows the following data.
Determine the damping coefficient of the system.
i. Amplitude on second cycle = 12 mm
ii. Amplitude on third cycle = 10.5 mm
iii. Stiffness (k) = 7.84 kN/m
iv. Mass (m) = 2 kg.

Question No: 12. [ 3 Marks]

An empty elevated tank is pulled by a steel cable by applying a 30 kN force. The tank is pulled
horizontally by 5 cm. The cable is suddenly cut, and the resulting free vibration is recorded. At
the end of five complete cycles, the time is 2.0 seconds, and the amplitude is 2 cm. Determine
the critical damping coefficient, damping ratio, natural period of undamped vibration, effective
stiffness, effective weight, and damping coefficient for the given data.

Question No: 13. [ 3 Marks]

A vibrating system consisting of a weight of W = 50 N and a spring with stiffness of K = 4

N/mm is viscously damped. The ratio of two successive amplitudes is 1:0.85. Compute
a) The natural frequency (undamped) of the system in cycles per second.
b) Logarithmic decrement.
c) Approximate damping ratio from logarithmic decrement.
d) Critical damping coefficient.
e) Approximate damping coefficient
f) Approximate damped natural frequency of the system in cycles per second.

Question No: 14. [ 4 Marks]

A platform weighing 20,000 N is supported on four equal columns which are fixed to the
foundation as well as to the platform. Experimentally it is found that a force of 5000 N applied
horizontally to the platform produces a displacement of 0.2 cm. It is estimated that damping in
the structures is of the order of 5 % of the critical damping. Determine (a) undamped natural
frequency, (b) damping coefficient, (c) logarithmic decrement and (d) the number of cycles and
the time required for the amplitude of motion to be reduced from an initial value of 0.2 cm to
0.02 cm.

Question No: 15. [ 2 Marks]

Show that for an underdamped system in free vibration the logarithmic decrement may be written as:

𝛿 = 𝑙𝑛

Where, k is the number of cycles separating two measured peak amplitudes y i and yi+k.

Dr. Angshuman Mandal, Asst. Prof., BIT Patna Page 4