Mathematical Methods for Engineers 2, MATH1064

Group project
Due no later than 4pm Wednesday 5th October, 2016
Graduate Qualities:
This project is designed to help develop Graduate Qualities 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, namely body of
knowledge, life-long learning, effective problem solving, work autonomously and collaboratively,
and social responsibility.
Assessment:
The assessment will take into account all of your documentation of the mathematical analysis
of the problem, your Matlab or Excel file(s) (including proper parameter entry), your output,
the correctness of the final solutions and the presentation of your whole report.
Ground rules for internal students
1. This is a group project, and each group should have exactly two students.
2. The two students must share the work equally between them. Each group member will
be awarded individually the mark allocated to the report. If the group members have
not made an equal contribution according to the details provided on the Peer Assessment
form, the Course Coordinator may adjust the marks accordingly.
3. We cant have a group where one student works in Excel and the other in Matlab .
Students in the same group must be learning the same platform.
4. If at all possible, you should partner with someone from your same Computer Practical.
We will be using the pracs to work on the project.
5. We will keep a list of all groups. Please advise your prac supervisor who you will partner
with.
6. Each team member must participate in all aspects of the project: mathematical calculations, Matlab/Excel work, and report writing.
7. It sometimes happens that a student will come to me close to the end of the project and
say Oh, I dont have a group yet. Dont be that person. It is in your interest to find a
partner in good time preferably before prac 3 in week 6.
8. It sometimes happens that one partner feels as though they are carrying the group and the
second partner is not contributing. If that happens, I need to be informed immediately.
9. It sometimes happens that two partners do not get along, even through both are contributing to the project. If you feel uncomfortable in your group, let me know as soon as
possible.
10. If you wish, you may submit a peer assessment which can be found on the course webpage.
Details for submission of the peer assessment can be found on the peer assessment sheet.

11. Under exceptional circumstances, we can allow a student to carry out the project individually. In this case, approval must be given by me. If a student elects to do the project
individually, the that student must take full responsibility for the extra workload.
12. The University policy on plagiarism will apply between different groups.
Ground rules for external students
1. All of the previous rules apply, with the exception of Rule 4. Collaboration between
partners will take place online, through email, OneDrive, and Lync (a virtual classroom
tool). If there is someone you wish to work with, please advise the Course Coordinator.
Anyone who does not form a group will be randomly allocated a partner.
2. The University provides resources for online collaboration, found at the UniSA Anywhere
site. Here is the link:
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/ists/new/students/software-apps/unisa-anywhere.htm
Internal students may also use these tools if they wish!

Presenting your work:

Use a group coversheet.
Staple your project in the top left corner. Do not put it in a binder or plastic sleeve.
You should include:
1. A brief introduction (description of the problem, objectives of your report, etc).
2. Written worked answers to all numbered Questions where this is required. Some
Tasks will also require you to write something in your report (this is clearly indicated).
3. Appropriately labelled figures where required. Any necessary diagrams may be neatly
hand-drawn.
4. A brief conclusion.
5. Matlab: An appendix should be included at the end of your report with (1) a
printout of your final Matlab script file, and (2) a printout of your Matlab output.
Excel: An appendix with a printout of a landscape view of the top left hand page of
your Excel file showing all parameter values and the top of each (labelled) column.
Your Matlab or Excel files should include: code relating to each Task outlined below,
together with appropriate explanatory comments. Be sure to list all group members at the top
of the file(s).

Submission:
You should submit one hardcopy of your report in the MME2 assignment hand-in box in
the OC building before the due date/time. External students need not submit a hardcopy.
One member of your group should submit your groups working Matlab or Excel files
via learnonline. Your project report should also be uploaded.
Further information and instructions for pieces of assessment (from the Course Outline)
1. Keep a copy! Occasionally projects go missing during submission and return. Also,
you may want access to your work while the project is being marked. It is your responsibility
to keep a photocopy of each project you submit, and to keep your marked project until final
course grades have been released.
2. Late penalties: 10% of your project mark will be deducted if the project is submitted
after the appropriate time on the due date, but before the same time the following business
day. A further 10% will be deducted for each further day late, up to 40%. Work more than four
days late will not be accepted without the prior agreement of the Course Coordinator, except
in unexpected circumstances.
Note:
Your answers to questions 3 and 4 must be shown to your prac supervisor before the end
of your prac in week 6. These questions are worth a total of 6 marks (out of 100) and 10% of
this mark will be deducted for each late day (after your prac).

Vibration of a vehicle passing a speed bump

Consider a car passing over a speed bump. We can model this situation by imagining a
single mass on top of a spring (think of a unicycle, but with a spring!) the mass represents
the car, the spring represents the suspension, the damping mechanism represents the shock
absorber.

At time t = 0, the car reaches a speed bump that has a profile of a half-sine curve with
length b and height h, y0 (x) = h sin(x/b). After the speed bump, the road is flat and y0 = 0.
To set up the equation of motion for the vertical displacement of the car, we consider the
free-body diagram in the figure above. When the car is driving along the smooth road before
it hits the speed bump, we consider it to be at its equilibrium position above the road. We
model its vertical motion by considering changes to this equilibrium position. We denote the
vertical difference in its position to be z(t) when in the equilibrium position, z = 0; if the
spring is compressed, z < 0; and if the spring is stretched, z > 0. The actual motion of the
car is given by its difference in height from equilibrium, plus the change in height of the road
surface, z(t) + y0 (t).
Using Newtons second law, we discover that the equation of motion for the vehicles difference in height from its equilibrium position is
d2 z
dz
d2 y 0
m 2 + c + kz = m 2
dt
dt
dt

(1)

Part 1: On the speed bump

If the vehicle is travelling forwards at a constant horizontal speed, v, the profile of the speed
bump can be written in terms of time since x = vt, so that
y0 (x) = h sin

 
x for 0 x b
b

y0 (t) = h sin

 v 
t
b

Equation (1) can then be written

m

 v 
d2 z
dz
2 v 2 mh
+
c
+
kz
=
sin
t
dt2
dt
b2
b

(2)

The initial conditions for our problem are

z 0 (0) = 0.

z(0) = 0

(3)

Question 1 Carefully explain what each of these initial conditions mean. What is the vertical
motion of the car before it hits the speed bump?
Question 2 At what time will the car reach the end of the speed bump? Well call this time T.
In this project, we will solve equation (2) numerically using the technique of finite differences.
For this technique, we must discretise in time using t (a small step in time), starting from
the moment the car hits the speed bump. The time at the j th time step can then be written
as t = jt so that at the zeroth time step, j = 0 and t = 0; at the first time step, j = 1 and
t = t; and so on.
The technique of finite differences relies on approximate expressions for the derivatives in
the problem. The first and second derivatives at time t can be approximated by
z 0 (t)

z(t + t) z(t t)
,
2t

and z 00 (t)

z(t + t) 2z(t) + z(t t)

t2

(4)

where t2 = (t)2 is the square of the time step, z(t t) is the value of the function at
time t t, and z(t + t) is the value of the function at time t + t. These expressions can
be substituted into the equation of motion and then rearranged to obtain an expression for
z(t + t) in terms of z(t t) and z(t). Then, providing the behaviour at the two previous
time steps is known (ie z(t t) and z(t)), the behaviour at the next step z(t + t) can be
calculated.
As an example, well derive the finite difference equation for a simpler equation, z 00 + z = 0,
here. Substituting the equation for the second derivative (i.e. the second expression in equation
(4) above) into z 00 + z = 0 at the j th time step gives
z 00 + z =

z(t + t) 2z(t) + z(t t)

+ z(t) = 0
t2

After rearranging, we can obtain

z(t + t) = (2 t2 )z(t) z(t t)

(5)

Therefore, if the solution at z(t) and z(t t) is known, the solution at z(t + t) can be
calculated. In order to get the calculation going, we need to know the first two values of z
these values come from our initial conditions. In our example, lets assume z(0) = 0 and
z 0 (0) = 1. From this, we can deduce the values of z at the first two steps (ie j = 0 and j = 1),
z(0) = 0 (easy!) and z(t) = t (this one is found using the (less accurate) first order finite
difference expression for the first derivative: z 0 (t) = [z(t + t) z(t)]/t and substituting t = 0
and z 0 (0) = 1). From there, we use equation (5) to calculate the rest of the solution for all time
(or at least for as long as were interested).

Question 3 Derive the finite difference equation for z(t + t) for our governing equation (2).
k
c
,=m
, and = v
.
Write your equation using the derived parameters = 2m
b
Question 4 Use the initial conditions to determine the first two values for z(t), ie z(0) and
z(t).
Note: You must show your answer for questions 3 and 4 to your prac supervisor before the
end of your prac in week 6. This question is worth 6 marks (out of 100) and 10% of this mark
will be deducted for each late day.
To begin with, well use the parameter values
h = 10cm,

b = 50cm,

k = 35 104 kg s2 ,

v = 1.8km hr1 ,

c = 3800kg s1 ,

m = 1000kg

Task 1
(a) Using either Matlab or Excel, enter the parameters of the problem and calculate and
. Be sure to convert all parameter values to standard units (if necessary).
(b) Create a vector (Matlab) or a column (Excel) for the time discretisation, beginning at
zero and finishing at time T , using a step size of t = 0.02.
(c) Use your finite difference formula to calculate how the car deviates from its equilibrium
position above the road while it goes over the speed bump, ie find z(t) for 0 t T .
(d) Plot the cars deviation in height from equilibrium for 0 t T , ensuring that the figure
is appropriately labelled. Include this figure in your report (Figure 1).

After the speed bump

After the car has gone over the speed bump, the road is smooth again so that y0 (x) = 0
and therefore y0 (t) = 0. The car is free to bounce up and down.
Question 5 Write down the new equation of motion. Hint: the equation will be similar to the
previous equation of motion, but there will be no forcing term.
Question 6 Using the same technique as before, right down an appropriate finite difference
formula for this new equation of motion.
Task 2
(a) Extend your time vector or column to t = 3 and calculate the vertical motion of the car
as it bounces up and down after it leaves the speed bump.
(b) Plot the cars deviation in height from equilibrium for 0 t 3, ensuring that the figure
is appropriately labelled. Include this figure in your report (Figure 2).

Question 7 Which two values of z(t) did you use for the initial conditions here? (or which
two values of z(t) did you use to start the finite difference formula?)
6

Analysing your solution varying the parameters

Vary the parameters in the problem one at a time and answer the following questions.
Question 8
1. What happens if the car has stiffer springs (i.e. the value of k is higher)?
2. What happens if the car has overdampened shocks (i.e. the value of c is higher)?
3. What happens if the shape of the speed bump changes (i.e. keep the sinusoidal shape but
vary its height and length)? Be careful this will change the value of T .
4. What happens if the car is travelling ten times as fast (i.e. 18km hr1 )?

Analysing your solution comparison with an exact solution

Set all parameters back to their original values for this section.
During lectures in week 12, well learn how to solve equations like (2), and the one you
developed for the car motion after the speed bump. But for now, I will tell you that the
analytic solution of equation (2) is
z = et (A1 cos(t) + A2 sin(t)) + a sin(t ),

0tT

(6)

and the solution to the equation you developed for after the car passes the bump is
z = et (B1 cos(t) + B2 sin(t)),

tT

(7)

where , and have already been defined, and

p
= 2 ,

h 2

a= p
,
( )2 + 42 2

= arctan

2
2


,

and the constants A1 , A2 , B1 , and B2 , can be determined from the initial conditions for z(t).
Question 9 Use the initial conditions given in equation (3) to find expressions for A1 and A2 .
Task 3 Write some Matlab code or use Excel to calculate the values of A1 and A2 . The
values of A1 and A2 and should be included in your Matlab or Excel output in your appendix.
We will also need to calculate the values of B1 and B2 . The values of z(t) and z 0 (t) at t = T
(ie z(T ) and z 0 (T )) can be used as the initial conditions for the solution after the car has gone
over the speed bump we can find these values by evaluating z(T ) and z 0 (T ) using equation
(6). This is because equations (6) and (7) must give the same values for the cars position and
vertical velocity at t = T .

Question 10 Write an expression that will enable us to find the unknown constants B1 and
B2 by following these steps.
(i) Calculate z(T ) using the solution in equation (6) (valid for 0 t T ).
(ii) Using the solution in equation (7) (valid for t T ), write down an expression for z(T ).
This expression will contain the unknown constants B1 and B2 .
These two expressions/values must be equal this will give you one equation in which the
only unknowns are B1 and B2 .
(iii) Calculate z 0 (T ) using the first solution (equation (6), valid for 0 t T ) (dont forget
to differentiate before substituting t = T ).
(iv) Using the second solution (equation (7), valid for t T ), write down an expression for
z 0 (T ). This expression will contain the unknown constants B1 and B2 .
These two expressions/values must be equal this will give you a second equation in which
the only unknowns are B1 and B2 .
(v) You now have 2 equations with 2 unknowns. This can always be solved by writing in the
form Ax = b, or perhaps in this case CB = d, where B = [B1 B2 ]t . Write the system of
equations in matrix form.
Task 4 Write some Matlab code or use Excel to calculate the values of B1 and B2 . The
values of B1 and B2 should be included in your Matlab or Excel output in your appendix.
Task 5 Write some Matlab code or use Excel to calculate the exact deviation of the car from
equilibrium for 0 t 3. Plot the result on a new figure (Figure 3). On the same figure but
using a different colour, plot your numerical solution that you found using the finite difference
technique.
Question 11 How does the exact solution compare with the numerical solution you found using
the finite difference technique? Which is the most accurate? Why?
Task 6 Decrease the time step size for your numerical finite difference solution. How small
must t be in order for the numerical solution to appear to match the (exact) analytical solution?
(Write the answer in your report.) Plot another figure with both solutions (Figure 4).