Example

Program: RFEM 5, RF-DYNAM Pro

Category: Geometrically Linear Analysis, Isotropic Linear Elasticity, Dynamics, Member

Verification Verification Example: 0120 – Single-Mass Oscillation with Dashpot

0120 – Single-Mass Oscillation with Dashpot

Description
A single-mass system with dashpot is subjected to a constant loading force F according to Figure 1.
Determine the deflection ux and the velocity u̇x of the dashpot endpoint at test time t = 1 s. The
problem is described by the following parameters.

System Dashpot Stiffness k 2000.000 N/m

Properties
Length L 0.200 m

Damping
c 100.000 Ns/m
Parameter

Mass Weight m 100.000 kg

Load Force F 200.000 N

c ux (t)

x F
k m
z

Figure 1: Problem sketch

Analytical Solution

A damped single-mass system is described by the second-order differential equation1

müx + cu̇x + kux = F . (120 – 1)

Using the damping ratio cr = c

2mu� and the natural angular frequency 𝛺 = √ mk , (120 – 1) can be
rewritten as

F
üx + 2cr 𝛺 u̇x + 𝛺 2 ux = . (120 – 2)
m

The homogeneous solution ux,hom (t) = C1 e u�1 t + C2 e u�2 t of (120 – 2) is then found through the
characteristic equation

1
u̇x and üx denote the first and second time derivative of ux , respectively.

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Verification Example: 0120 – Single-Mass Oscillation with Dashpot

𝜆 2 + 2cr 𝛺𝜆 + 𝛺 2 = 0, (120 – 3)

where the corresponding roots are

𝜆1,2 = −cr 𝛺 ± 𝛺 √cr2 − 1. (120 – 4)

The desired solution is composed of the homogeneous and particular solution

F
ux (t) = C1 e u�1 t + C2 e u�2 t + , (120 – 5)
k

where the constants C1 and C2 are determined from the initial conditions

ux (0) = 0, (120 – 6)
u̇x (0) = 0. (120 – 7)

The resulting solution of the endpoint deflection ux reads then

F ⎛ cr ⎞ (√c 2 −1−cr )u�t

ux (t) = ⎜
⎜1 − ⎟
⎟e r −
2k √cr2 − 1 ⎠
⎝

F ⎛ cr ⎞ (−√cr2 −1−cr )u�t F

⎜
⎜3 − ⎟
⎟e + . (120 – 8)
2k √cr − 1 ⎠
2 k
⎝

The deflection ux and the velocity u̇x of the dashpot endpoint at test time t = 1 s equals to

ux (1) ≈ 122.658 mm, (120 – 9)

u̇x (1) ≈ −263.195 mm/s. (120 – 10)

RFEM 5 Settings

• Modeled in RFEM 5.13.01

• The global element size is lFE = 0.2 m
• Dashpot member entity (Figure 2) is used

Verification Example - 0120 © Dlubal Software 2018

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Verification Example: 0120 – Single-Mass Oscillation with Dashpot

Figure 2: Dashpot representation in RFEM 5

Results

Structure Files Program

0120.01 RFEM 5 – RF-DYNAM Pro

Figure 3: Analytical and RFEM 5 solution - deflection ux (t)

Verification Example - 0120 © Dlubal Software 2018

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Verification Example: 0120 – Single-Mass Oscillation with Dashpot

Figure 4: Analytical and RFEM 5 solution - velocity u̇x (t)

Quantity Analytical Solution RFEM 5 Ratio

RF-DYNAM Pro

ux (1) [mm] 122.658 124.015 1.011

u̇x (1) [mm/s] -263.195 -262.119 0.996

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