CE3031

Mechanical Vibrations

Chapter 3
Forced Vibration of Single-Degree-of-Freedom Systems
3.1 Undamped Forced Vibration
• Undamped forced vibration is one of the most important types of
vibrating motion in engineering.
• Its principles can be used to describe the motion of many types of
machines and structures.
• Periodic Force. The block and spring shown in Fig. a provide a
convenient model which represents the vibrational characteristics
of a system subjected to a periodic force F = F0 sin 0t. This force
has an amplitude of F0 and a forcing frequency 0.
• The free-body diagram for the block when it is displaced a distance
x is shown in Fig. b. Applying the equation of motion, we have

(a)
• This equation is a nonhomogeneous second-order differential equation.
The general solution consists of a complementary solution, xc , plus a
particular solution, xp .
• The complementary solution is determined by setting the term on the right
side of Eqn. (a) equal to zero and solving the resulting homogeneous
equation. The solution is defined by

(b)

• where n is the natural frequency as

• Since the motion is periodic, the particular solution can be determined by assuming a solution of the form
(c)

• where X is a constant. Taking the second time derivative and substituting it into Eqn. (a) yields

• Factoring out sin 0 t and solving for X gives

(d)

• Substituting into Eqn. (c), we obtain the particular solution

(e)
• The general solution is therefore the sum of two sine functions having different frequencies

(f)

• The complementary solution xc defines the free vibration, which depends on the natural frequency
𝜔𝑛 = 𝑘/𝑚 and the constants C and .
• The particular solution xp describes the forced vibration of the block caused by the applied force
𝐹 = 𝐹0 sin 𝜔0 𝑡.
• Since all vibrating systems are subject to friction, the free vibration, xc , will in time dampen out. For
this reason, the free vibration is referred to as transient, and the forced vibration is called steady-
state, since it is the only vibration that remains.
• From Eqn. (d) it is seen that the amplitude of forced or steady-state vibration
depends on the frequency ratio 0/n .
• If the magnification factor MF is defined as the ratio of the amplitude of
steady-state vibration, X, to the static deflection, F0/k, which would be
produced by the amplitude of the periodic force F0 , then, from Eqn. (d),

• This equation is graphed as shown. Note that if the force or displacement is

applied with a frequency close to the natural frequency of the system, i.e.,
0/n  1, the amplitude of vibration of the block becomes extremely large.
This occurs because the force F is applied to the block so that it always
follows the motion of the block. This condition is called resonance, and in
practice, resonating vibrations can cause tremendous stress and rapid failure
of parts.
• Periodic Support Displacement. Forced vibrations can also arise from the
periodic excitation of the support of a system. The model shown in Fig. a
represents the periodic vibration of a block which is caused by harmonic
movement  = 0 sin 0t of the support.
• The free-body diagram for the block in this case is shown in Fig. b. The
displacement  of the support is measured from the point of zero
displacement, i.e., when the radial line OA coincides with OB. Therefore,
general deformation of the spring is (x - 0 sin 0t).
• Applying the equation of motion yields
• By comparison, this equation is identical to the form of Eqn. (a), provided F0
is replaced by k0 .

• If this substitution is made into the solutions defined by Eqns. (d) to (f), the
results are appropriate for describing the motion of the block when subjected
to the support displacement  = 0 sin 0t.
continued on next slide
3.2 Viscous Damped Forced Vibration
• The most general case of single-degree-of-freedom vibrating motion occurs
when the system includes the effects of forced motion and induced damping.
The analysis of this particular type of vibration is of practical value when
applied to systems having significant damping characteristics.
• If a dashpot is attached to the block and spring shown in Fig., the differential
equation which describes the motion becomes

• A similar equation can be written for a block and spring having a periodic
support displacement, which includes the effects of damping. In that case,
however, F0 is replaced by k 0 .
 (f)

• Since Eq. (f) is nonhomogeneous, the general solution is the sum of a complementary solution, xc , and a
particular solution, xp .
• The complementary solution is determined by setting the right side of Eq. (f) equal to zero and solving the
homogeneous equation, which is equivalent to Eq. (a). The solution is therefore given by Eq. (c), (d), or (e),
depending on the values of the roots of characteristic eqn. 1 and 2 .
• Because all systems are subjected to friction, then this solution will dampen out with time. Only the particular
solution, which describes the steady-state vibration of the system, will remain. Since the applied forcing
function is harmonic, the steady-state motion will also be harmonic. Consequently, the particular solution will
be of the form
• The constants X ’ and  ’ are determined by taking the first and second-time derivatives and substituting
them into Eq. (f), which after simplification yields

• Since this equation holds for all time, the constant coefficients can be obtained by setting 0t -  ’ = 0 and
0t -  ’ = /2, which causes the above equation to become
• The amplitude is obtained by squaring these equations, adding the results, and using the identity
sin2  ’ + cos2  ’ = 1, which gives

• Dividing the first equation by the second gives

• Since 𝜔𝑛 = 𝑘/𝑚 and 𝑐𝑐 = 2𝑚𝜔𝑛 , then the above equations can also be written as

• The angle  ’ represents the phase difference between the applied force and the resulting steady-state vibration
of the damped system.
• The magnification factor MF has been defined as the ratio of the
amplitude of deflection caused by the forced vibration to the
deflection caused by a static force F0 . Thus,

• The MF is plotted versus the frequency ratio 0 / n for various

values of the damping factor c/cc .
• It can be seen from this graph that the magnification of the
amplitude increases as the damping factor decreases.
• Resonance obviously occurs only when the damping factor is
zero and the frequency ratio equals 1.
example_22_08

continued on next slide

Problems
Problem 1
Problem 2
Problem 3
Problem 4
Problem 5
Problem 6
Problem 7
Problem 8
Problem 9
Problem 10
Problem 11
Problem 12
Problem 13
Problem 14
Problem 15
Problem 16
Problem 17
Problem 18
Problem 19