Forced vibration with damping

The behavior of the spring mass damper model varies with the addition of a harmonic
force. A force of this type could, for example, be generated by a rotating imbalance.

Summing the forces on the mass results in the following ordinary differential
equation:

The steady state solution of this problem can be written as:

The result states that the mass will oscillate at the same frequency, f, of the
applied force, but with a phase shift

The amplitude of the vibration “X” is defined by the following formula.

Where “r” is defined as the ratio of the harmonic force frequency over the
undamped natural frequency of the mass–spring–damper model.

The phase shift, is defined by the following formula.

The plot of these functions, called "the frequency response of the

system", presents one of the most important features in forced
vibration. In a lightly damped system when the forcing frequency
nears the natural frequency () the amplitude of the vibration can
get extremely high. This phenomenon is
called resonance (subsequently the natural frequency of a
system is often referred to as the resonant frequency). In rotor
bearing systems any rotational speed that excites a resonant
frequency is referred to as a critical speed.

If resonance occurs in a mechanical system it can be very harmful

– leading to eventual failure of the system. Consequently, one of
the major reasons for vibration analysis is to predict when this
type of resonance may occur and then to determine what steps to
take to prevent it from occurring. As the amplitude plot shows,
adding damping can significantly reduce the magnitude of the
vibration. Also, the magnitude can be reduced if the natural
frequency can be shifted away from the forcing frequency by
changing the stiffness or mass of the system. If the system cannot
be changed, perhaps the forcing frequency can be shifted (for
example, changing the speed of the machine generating the
force).

The following are some other points in regards to the forced

vibration shown in the frequency response plots.

 At a given frequency ratio, the amplitude of the vibration, X, is

directly proportional to the amplitude of the force (e.g. if you double
the force, the vibration doubles)
 With little or no damping, the vibration is in phase with the forcing
frequency when the frequency ratio r < 1 and 180 degrees out of

 When r ≪ 1 the amplitude is just the deflection of the spring under

phase when the frequency ratio r > 1

when r ≪ 1 the effects of the damper and the mass are minimal.
the static force This deflection is called the static deflection Hence,

 When r ≫ 1 the amplitude of the vibration is actually less than the

static deflection In this region the force generated by the mass
(F = ma) is dominating because the acceleration seen by the mass
increases with the frequency. Since the deflection seen in the
spring, X, is reduced in this region, the force transmitted by the
spring (F = kx) to the base is reduced. Therefore, the mass–spring–
damper system is isolating the harmonic force from the mounting

reduces the effects of vibration isolation when r ≫ 1 because the

base – referred to as vibration isolation. More damping actually

damping force (F = cv) is also transmitted to the base.

 Whatever the damping is, the vibration is 90 degrees out of phase
with the forcing frequency when the frequency ratio r = 1, which is
very helpful when it comes to determining the natural frequency of

 Whatever the damping is, when r ≫ 1, the vibration is 180 degrees

the system.

 Whatever the damping is, when r ≪ 1, the vibration is in phase with

out of phase with the forcing frequency

the forcing frequency

Resonance causes
Resonance is simple to understand if the spring and mass are
viewed as energy storage elements – with the mass storing kinetic
energy and the spring storing potential energy. As discussed
earlier, when the mass and spring have no external force acting
on them they transfer energy back and forth at a rate equal to the
natural frequency. In other words, to efficiently pump energy into
both mass and spring requires that the energy source feed the
energy in at a rate equal to the natural frequency. Applying a force
to the mass and spring is similar to pushing a child on swing, a
push is needed at the correct moment to make the swing get
higher and higher. As in the case of the swing, the force applied
need not be high to get large motions, but must just add energy to
the system.

The damper, instead of storing energy, dissipates energy. Since

the damping force is proportional to the velocity, the more the
motion, the more the damper dissipates the energy. Therefore,
there is a point when the energy dissipated by the damper equals
the energy added by the force. At this point, the system has
reached its maximum amplitude and will continue to vibrate at this
level as long as the force applied stays the same. If no damping
exists, there is nothing to dissipate the energy and, theoretically,
the motion will continue to grow into infinity.

Applying "complex" forces to the mass–spring–damper

model
In a previous section only a simple harmonic force was applied to
the model, but this can be extended considerably using two
powerful mathematical tools. The first is the Fourier transform that
takes a signal as a function of time (time domain) and breaks it
down into its harmonic components as a function of frequency
(frequency domain). For example, by applying a force to the
mass–spring–damper model that repeats the following cycle – a
force equal to 1 newton for 0.5 second and then no force for
0.5 second. This type of force has the shape of a 1 Hz square
wave.
 How
a 1 Hz square wave can be represented as a summation of sine waves
(harmonics) and the corresponding frequency spectrum. Click and go to full
resolution for an animation.

The Fourier transform of the square wave generates a frequency

spectrum that presents the magnitude of the harmonics that make
up the square wave (the phase is also generated, but is typically
of less concern and therefore is often not plotted). The Fourier
transform can also be used to analyze non-periodic functions such
as transients (e.g. impulses) and random functions. The Fourier
transform is almost always computed using the fast Fourier
transform (FFT) computer algorithm in combination with a window
function.

In the case of our square wave force, the first component is

actually a constant force of 0.5 newton and is represented by a
value at 0 Hz in the frequency spectrum. The next component is a
1 Hz sine wave with an amplitude of 0.64. This is shown by the
line at 1 Hz. The remaining components are at odd frequencies
and it takes an infinite amount of sine waves to generate the
perfect square wave. Hence, the Fourier transform allows you to
interpret the force as a sum of sinusoidal forces being applied
instead of a more "complex" force (e.g. a square wave).

In the previous section, the vibration solution was given for a

single harmonic force, but the Fourier transform in general gives
multiple harmonic forces. The second mathematical tool,
the superposition principle, allows the summation of the solutions
from multiple forces if the system is linear. In the case of the
spring–mass–damper model, the system is linear if the spring
force is proportional to the displacement and the damping is
proportional to the velocity over the range of motion of interest.
Hence, the solution to the problem with a square wave is
summing the predicted vibration from each one of the harmonic
forces found in the frequency spectrum of the square wave.

Frequency response model

The solution of a vibration problem can be viewed as an
input/output relation – where the force is the input and the output
is the vibration. Representing the force and vibration in the
frequency domain (magnitude and phase) allows the following
relation:

is called the frequency response function (also referred to as

the transfer function, but not technically as accurate) and has
both a magnitude and phase component (if represented as
a complex number, a real and imaginary component). The
magnitude of the frequency response function (FRF) was
presented earlier for the mass–spring–damper system.

The phase of the FRF was also presented earlier as:

Frequency response model

For example, calculating the FRF for a mass–spring–
damper system with a mass of 1 kg, spring stiffness of
1.93 N/mm and a damping ratio of 0.1. The values of
the spring and mass give a natural frequency of 7 Hz
for this specific system. Applying the 1 Hz square wave
from earlier allows the calculation of the predicted
vibration of the mass. The figure illustrates the resulting
vibration. It happens in this example that the fourth
harmonic of the square wave falls at 7 Hz. The
frequency response of the mass–spring–damper
therefore outputs a high 7 Hz vibration even though the
input force had a relatively low 7 Hz harmonic. This
example highlights that the resulting vibration is
dependent on both the forcing function and the system
that the force is applied to.

The figure also shows the time domain representation

of the resulting vibration. This is done by performing an
inverse Fourier Transform that converts frequency
domain data to time domain. In practice, this is rarely
done because the frequency spectrum provides all the
necessary information.

The frequency response function (FRF) does not

necessarily have to be calculated from the knowledge
of the mass, damping, and stiffness of the system—but
can be measured experimentally. For example, if a
known force over a range of frequencies is applied, and
if the associated vibrations are measured, the
frequency response function can be calculated, thereby
characterizing the system. This technique is used in the
field of experimental modal analysis to determine the
vibration characteristics of a structure.

Multiple degrees of freedom systems

and mode shapes

Two degrees of
freedom model
The simple mass–spring–damper model is the
foundation of vibration analysis. The model described
above is called a single degree of freedom (SDOF)
model since the mass is assumed to only move up and
down. In more complex systems, the system must be
discretized into more masses that move in more than
one direction, adding degrees of freedom. The major
concepts of multiple degrees of freedom (MDOF) can
be understood by looking at just a two degree of
freedom model as shown in the figure.