7.

Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree

of Freedom Systems
7.1 Equations of motion

 The objective of this section is to show how to

derive the equations of motion of damped multi
degree of freedom systems under the action of
externally applied dynamic forces.
 This will be done with the help of Fig. 7.1, which
shows a damped two-degree-of freedom system.
 The system is set in motion by two externally
applied dynamic loads F1( t ) and F2 ( t )

1
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.1 Equations of motion

X1(t) X2(t)

F1(t) F2(t)
k1 k2 m2
m1
c1 c2

Fig. 7.1: Model for a Damped 2 Degree-of-Freedom system 2

 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.1 Equations of motion

 Using D’Alembert’s Principal the equations

of motion can be obtained with the help of
the following Free Body Diagrams

3
7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.1 Equations of motion

F 1(t )
k1 x1 m1x1 k 2( x2  x1)
c1 x1 c 2 ( x2  x1 )

F 2(t )
k 2( x2  x1) m2 x2
c 2 x2  x1 
Fig. 7.2: Free Body Diagrams of the masses 4
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.1 Equations of motion

Equilibrium requirements for the 2 masses give:

m1x1c1  x1  c2  x2  x1   k1  x1  k2  x2  x1   F1(t ) [7.1]
m2 x2 c2  x2  x1   k2  x2  x1   F2 (t ) [7.2]

Using matrices eq.[7.1] and [7.2] take the form:

 m1 0   x1  c1 c2  c2   x1   k 1 k2  k2   x1   F1(t ) 

 0 m2    x2     c2 c 2    x2     k2 k 2    x2    F2 (t ) [7.3]
             

5
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.1 Equations of motion
In general, for a system with n degrees of freedom the
equations of motion have the form:
M  X  C  X  K  X  F [7.4]
 m11 . . m1n 
 . . . 
Where: M 
.
 = Mass Matrix
 . . . . 
 
 mn1 . . mnn 

 c11 . . c1n   k11 . . k1n 

 .  . . 
.  . .
= Damping Matrix
. . =
C K
 . . 
Stiffness Matrix
 . . . .  . .
   
cn1 . . cnn   kn1 . . knn 
6
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.1 Equations of motion

 x1   x1 
. .
   
X   .  = acceleration vector X   .  = velocity vector
   
. .
 xn   xn 

 x1   F1 (t ) 
.  F2 (t )
   
X  . = Displacement vector F   . = Force vector
   
.  . 
 xn   Fn (t ) 7
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

 We have seen that the solution of the homogeneous

un-damped equation

M  X  K  X  0 [7.5]

leads to the eigenvalues and eigenvectors that

describe the normal modes of the system and the
modal matrix .

8
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

 We have also seen that the with the help of the modal
matrix the geometric coordinates can be transformed
to the generalized coordinates via:
X (t )    Y (t ) See eq.[5.35]

 Where: X(t) = The Displacement vector in eq.[7.4]

 = Modal Matrix (see section 5.5)
Y(t) = Natural coordinates
(also called Normal coordinate
or generalized coordinates) 9
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

 Substituting eq.[5.35] into eq.[7.4] gives:

M    Y  C    Y  K    Y  F [7.6]

 Pre-multiply eq.[7.6] by T to get:

T  M    Y  T  C    Y  T  K    Y  T  F [7.7]

10
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

 In sect. 5.6 we saw that the eigenvectors are

orthogonal with respect to the mass and the stiffness
matrices. Therefore T∙M∙ and T∙K∙ are diagonal
matrices.

 Furthermore in sect.6.2 we saw that if Rayleigh

damping is assumed, T∙C∙ is also a diagonal
matrix.

11
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

 Taking into account how the modal matrix is built as

well as the above mentioned observations (i.e.
T∙M∙, T∙C∙ and T∙K∙ t are diagonal
matrixes ), it follows from, matrix algebra:

1T M1 0 0 0 0 
 
 0  0 0 0 
T  M     0 0 iT Mi 0 0  [7.8]
 
 0 0 0  0 
 0 0 0 0  nT M n 

12
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion
1T C1 0 0 0 0 
 
 0  0 0 0 
T  C     0 0 iT Ci 0 0  [7.9]
 
 0 0 0  0 
 0 0 0 0  nT C n 
and
1T K1 0 0 0 0 
 
 0  0 0 0 
T  K     0 0 iT Ki 0 0  [7.10]
 
 0 0 0  0 
 0 0 0 0  nT K n  13
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

 Remember that in eqs.[7.8], [7.9] and [7.10]

 xˆ1,i 
 xˆ 2,i 
N.B. The 2nd index shows that it is
  the i th eigenvector
i    
 
  
 xˆ n ,i 
 Substituting eqs.[7.8], [7.9] and [7.10] into eq.[7.7]
gives: 14
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

1T M1 0 0 0 0   y1  1T C1 0 0 0 0   y1  1T K1 0 0 0 0   y1   F1(t ) 

             F2 (t )
 0  0 0 0    0  0 0 0    0  0 0 0    
 0 0 i Mi
T
0 0    yi    0 0 iT Ci 0 0    yi    0 0 iT Ki 0 0    yi   
T
  
             
 0    0 0 0  0    0 0 0  0     
 0 0 0
 0  0 0  nT C n   y n   0 0  nT K n   y n   Fn (t )
0 0 0  nT M n   yn  0 0 0 0

[7.11]

 Taking into account how the modal matrix () is built,

eq.[7.11] above gives for the ith eigenform:

iT  M  i  yi (t )  iT  C  i  yi (t )  iT  K  i  yi (t )   Ti  F [7.12]

 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

 Eq.[7.12] can be written in the form:

mi  yi (t )  ci  yi (t )  ki  yi (t ) 
* * * *
fi (t ) [7.13]

where mi*  iT  M  i = generalized mass

*
ci  i
T
 C  i = generalized damping coefficient

ki*  iT  K  i = generalized stiffness coefficient

fi*
 i
T
F = generalized load
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion
 Eq.[7.13] is the equation of motion of a single
degree of freedom system under the action of a
force (t ) whose complementary solution is given
*
f i

by eq.[6.15] or eq.[6.16] which are:

 c *

 c t 
* 
y io  i
y io 
2  mi*
 sin  Di  t  See eq.[6.15]
i

yi (t )  e 2m  yio  cos Di  t 

*
i

  Di 
 
 
  t  yio  i  i  yio
yi (t )  e i

 yio  cos Di  t 
i
 sin  Di  t  See eq.[6.16]
  Di 
 In general the particular integral is given by the
Duhamel’s integral as:
 7. Forced Vibrations of Damped Multi Degree
of Freedom Systems
7.2 Solution of the Equations of motion

yi (t )  * 1
t
    ( t  )
sin Di  (t   ).d [7.14]

*
f i ( ) e i i

mi  Di 0
 Where ωi , ωDi , ξi are modal natural frequency,
Damped modal frequency and modal damping ratio
Respectively and yi(t), mi and are the normal
* *
f i
coordinate, generalized mass and the generalized
load respectively.
 The displacements expressed in geometrical
coordinates are given by the normal-coordinate
transformation i.e. by eq.[5.35]
X ( t )   Y( t ) 18