On Free Mechanical Vibrations

As derived in section 4.1( following Newtons 2nd

law of motion and the Hookes law), the D.E. for
the mass-spring oscillator is given by:
my"by ' ky Fe (t ), where
m : is the mass attached to the spring
k : is the Hooke' s constant (stiffness)
b : the is the damping coefficient (friction)
Fe : all other external forces to the system.
y : is the displacement from equilibrium.

In the simplest case, when b = 0,

and Fe = 0, i.e. Undamped, free
vibration, we can rewrite the D.E:

As

k
y" y 0, where
, a general solution
m
is clearly : y (t ) c1 cos t c2 sin t . Which can
2

also be written as : y (t ) A sin( t .), with

c1
2
2
A c1 c2 and tan
.
c2
This is called Simple harmonic motion with
2

period
, and frequency
.

2
is known as the angular frequency.

When b 0, but Fe = 0, we have

damping on free vibrations.
The D. E. in this case is:
my"by ' ky 0 , and the auxiliary eq. is
mr br k 0 , the roots are easily seen as
2

b
1
2

b 4mk . The solution clearly

2m 2m
depends on the discriminant b 2 4mk .
We have three possible cases :
3

Case I: Underdamped Motion (b2 < 4mk)

b
1
We let :
and
4mk b 2 , hence
2m
2m
the roots are i . A general solution is
y (t ) e t (c1 cos t c2 sin t ) or y (t ) Ae t sin( t ).
This is a sinusoidal wave with a damping factor Ae t .

Case II: Overdamped Motion (b2 > 4mk)

In this case, we have two distinct real roots, r1 & r2.
Clearly both are negative, hence a general solution:
y (t ) c1e r1t c2 e r2t 0 as t . Since
y ' (t ) 0 has at most one zero, it follows that
the solution does not oscillate.
One local max
No local
max or min

One local
min

Case III: Critically Damped Motion (b2 = 4mk)

We have repeated root -b/2m. Thus the a general
solution is:

y (t ) c1e

bt / 2 m

c2te

bt / 2 m

. Again we see

that lim y (t ) 0 as t , and

y ' (t ) 0 has at most one solution, its
solutions behave similar to that of Overdamped
motions.
6

Example
The motion of a mass-spring system with damping
is governed by

y" (t ) by ' (t ) 64 y (t ) 0 ;
y (0) 1 , and y ' (0) 0 .
This is exercise problem 4, p239.
Find the equation of motion and sketch its graph
for b = 10, 16, and 20.
7

Solution.
1. b = 10: we have m = 1, k = 64, and
b2 - 4mk = 100 - 4(64) = - 156, implies = (39)1/2 .
Thus the solution to the I.V.P. is
5
5t
y (t ) e (cos 39 t
sin 39 t )
39
8 5t

e sin( 39 t ) , where
39

c1
tan

c2

39
.
5

When b = 16, b2 - 4mk = 0, we

have repeated root -8,
thus the solution to the I.V.P is

y (t ) (1 8t )e

8t

y
1

t
9

When b = 20, b2 - 4mk = 64, thus

two distinct real roots are
r1 = - 4 and r2 = -16, the solution to the I.V.P. is:
4 4t 1 16t
y (t ) e e . The graph looks like :
3
3
y
1

10

Next we consider forced vibrations

with the following D. E.

my"by ' ky F0 cos t .

(*)

We assume that F0 0 , 0 and

0 b 4mk (i.e. underdamped).
Solution to (*) can be written in the form
2

y yh y p , where
y p stands for a particular solution to (*), &
yh is a genernal solution of the associated
homogenenous equation of (*).

11

We know a solution to the above

equation has the form
y yh y p

where:

y h (t ) Ae

(b / 2 m )t

sin

4mk b 2
t ,

2m

and by the method of undetermined coefficients,

we know that
y p (t ) B1 cos t B2 sin t ,

In fact, we have
2
F0 (k m )
F0b
B1
, B2
.
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2 12
(k m ) b
(k m ) b

Thus in the case 0 < b 2 < 4mk

(underdamped), a general
solution has the form:
y (t ) yh (t ) y p (t ) , where
yh (t ) Ae
y p (t )

( b / 2 m ) t

4mk b
t , and

2m

sin

F0

(k m ) b
2 2

sin( t ).
13

Remark on Transient and SteadyState solutions.

14

Introduction
Consider the following interconnected fluid
tanks
B

A
X(t)
6 L/min

8 L/min

Y(t)
24 L

24 L

6 L/min
X(0)= a

2 L/min

Y(0)= b

15

Suppose both tanks, each holding 24 liters of a brine

solution, are interconnected by pipes as shown .
Fresh water flows into tank A at a rate of 6 L/min,
and fluid is drained out of tank B at the same rate;
also 8 L/min of fluid are pumped from tank A to tank
B, and 2 L/min from tank B to tank A. The liquids
inside each tank are kept well stirred, so that each
mixture is homogeneous. If initially tank A contains
a kg of salt and tank B contains b kg of salt,
determine the mass of salt in each tanks at any time
t > 0.
16

Set up the differential equations

For tank A, we have:

dx 2
8

y (t ) x(t )
dt 24
24
and for tank B, we have

dy 8
2
6
x(t ) y (t ) y (t ).
dt 24
24
24
17

This gives us a system of First

Order Equations
1
1
x' x y , and
3
12
1
1
y ' x y . This is equivalent to a
3
3
2nd order equation : since x 3 y ' y implies
x' 3 y" y ' , put them into first equation, we get
1
3 y"2 y ' y 0.
4
18

On the other hand, suppose

We have the following 2nd order Initial Value
Problem:

y" (t ) 3 y ' (t ) 2 y (t ) 0;
y (0) 1, y ' (0) 3

Let us make substitutions:

x1 (t ) y (t ) and x2 (t ) y '(t ),

Then the equation becomes:

19

A system of first order equations

x1 ' (t ) x2 (t )
x2 ' (t ) 3x2 (t ) 2 x1 (t ), with the
initial conditions become:
x1 (0) 1,

and x2 (0) 3

Thus a 2nd order equation is equivalent to a

system of 1st order equations in two unknowns.
20

General Method of Solving System of

equations: is the Elimination Method.
Let us consider an example: solve the system

x' (t ) 3 x(t ) 4 y (t ) 1,
y ' (t ) 4 x(t ) 7 y (t ) 10t.
21

 We want to solve these two equations

simultaneously, i.e.
find two functions x(t) and y(t) which will
satisfy the given equations simultaneously
There are many ways to solve such a system.
One method is the following: let D = d/dt,
then the system can be rewritten as:

22

(D - 3)[x] + 4y = 1, ..(*)
-4x + (D + 7)[y]= 10t .(**)
The expression 4(*) + (D - 3)(**) yields:
{16 + (D - 3)(D + 7)}[y] = 4+(D - 3)(10t), or
(D2 + 4D - 5)[y] =14 - 30t. This is just a 2nd
order nonhomogeneous equation.
The corresponding auxiliary equation is
r2 + 4r - 5 = 0, which has two solution r = -5,
and r = 1, thus yh = c1e -5t + c2 e t. And the
general solution is y = c1e -5t + c2 e t + 6t + 2.
23
To find x(t), we can use (**).

To find x(t), we solve the 2nd eq.

Y(t) = 4x(t) - 7y(t)+ 10t for x(t),
We obtain:
1
x(t ) { y ' (t ) 7 y (t ) 10t}
4
1
{[(5)c1e 5t c2 e t 6] 7[c1e 5t c2 e t 6t 2] 10t}
4
1 5t
t
c1e 2c2 e 8t 5 ,
2
24

Generalization
Let L1, L2, L3, and L4 denote linear differential
operators with constant coefficients, they are
polynomials in D. We consider the 2x2 general
system of equations:
L1[ x ] L2 [ y ] f 1 ,
.........(1)
L3 [ x ] L4 [ y ] f 2
.........(2)
Since Li L j L j Li , we can solve the
above equations by first eliminating the
varible y. And solve it for x. Finally
solve for y.

25

Example:

x"(t ) y ' ( t ) x (t ) y ( t ) 1,
x ' (t ) y ' (t ) x (t ) t 2 .

Rewrite the system in operator form:

(D2 - 1)[x] + (D + 1)[y] = -1, ...(3)
(D - 1)[x] + D[y] = t2 ...(4)
To eliminate y, we use D(3) - (D + 1)(4) ;
which yields:
{D(D2 - 1) - (D + 1)(D - 1)}[x] = -2t - t2. Or
{(D(D2 - 1) - (D2 - 1)}[x] = -2t - t2. Or
{(D - 1)(D2 - 1)}[x] = -2t - t2.
26

The auxiliary equation for the

corresponding homogeneous eq. is
(r - 1)(r2 - 1) = 0
Which implies r = 1, 1, -1. Hence the general
solution to the homogeneous equation is
xh = c1e t + c2te t + c3e -t.
Since g(t) = -2t - t2, we shall try a particular
solution of the form :
xp = At2 + Bt + C, we find A = -1, B = -4, C = -6,
The general solution is x = xh + xp.
27

To find y, note that (3) - (4)

2
2
yields : (D - D)[x] + y = -1 - t .
Which implies y = (D - D2)[x] -1 - t2.

28

Chapter 7: Laplace Transforms

This is simply a mapping of functions to
functions

ff

This is an integral operator.

29

More precisely
Definition: Let f(t) be a function on [0, ).
The Laplace transform of f is the function
F defined by the integral

(*)

F ( s ) : e
0

st

f (t )dt.

The domain of F(s) is all values of s for

which the integral (*) exists. F is also
denoted by L{f}.
30

Example
1. Consider f(t) = 1, for all t > 0. We have

F (s) e
0

st

(1)dt lim e st dt
N 0

st N

e
lim
N
s

1 eN t
lim
N s
s

1

s
0
this holds for all s 0. (Note on the domain
of F(s).) The Laplace Transform is an improper
integral.
31

Other examples,
2. Exponential function f(t) = e t .
3. Sine and Cosine functions say: f(t) = sin t,
4. Piecewise continuous (these are functions
with finite number of jump discontinuities).

t,
f (t ) 2,
(t - 2) 2 ,

0 t 1,
1 t 2,
2 t 3.

32

Example 4, P.375
A function is piecewise continuous on [0,
), if it is piecewise continuous on [0,N] for
any N > 0.
Determine the Laplace tranform of
2,
0 t 5,

f (t ) 0, 5 t 10,
e 4t , 10 t.

33

Function of Exponential Order

Definition. A function f(t) is said to be of
exponential order if there exist positive
constants M and T such that
(*)

f (t ) Me , for all t T .

That is the function f(t) grows no faster than a

function of the form Me t .
For example: f(t) = e 3t cos 2t, is of order = 3.
34

Existence Theorem of Laplace Transform.

Theorem: If f(t) is piecewise continuous on
[0, ) and of exponential order , then L{f}(s)
exists for all s > .
Proof. We shall show that the improper integral
converges for s > . This can be seen easily,
because [0, ) = [0, T] [ T, ). We only need
to show that integral exists on [ T, ).
35

A table of Laplace Transforms can

be found on P. 380
Remarks:
1. Laplace Transform is a linear operator. i.e.
If the Laplace transforms of f 1 and f2 both
exist for s > , then we have
L{c1 f1 + c2 f2} = c1 L{f1 } + c2 L{f2
} for any constants c1 and c2 .
2. Laplace Transform converts differentiation
into multiplication by s.
36

Properties of Laplace Transform

Recall :

L{ f }( s ) e
0

st

f (t )dt .

Theorem : If L{ f }( s ) F ( s ) exists for

s , then for all s a , we have
(1)

L{e at f (t )}( s ) F ( s a ) .

This means that L transform multiplication

by e at to translation (a shift) by a .

Proof.

37

How about the derivative of f(t)?

Theorem : Let f (t ) be continuous on [0, ) and f ' (t) be
piecewise continuous on [0, ) , with both f and f ' of
exponential order . Then for s , we have
(2)
L{ f '}( s ) sL{ f }( s ) f (0) .
Proof.

38

Generalization to Higher order

derivatives.
Since f " (f ')' , we see easily that
L{ f "}( s) sL{ f '}( s ) f ' (0)

s sL{ f }( s ) f (0) f ' (0)

s 2 L{ f }( s ) sf (0) f ' (0) .

In general we have , by induction on n ,

L{ f ( n ) }( s ) s n L{ f }( s ) s ( n 1) f (0) s ( n 2 ) f ' (0) f ( n 1) (0).

39

Derivatives of the
Laplace Transform
Theorem : Suppose f (t ) is piecewise continuous on [0, )
of exponential order . Let F(s) L{f}(s), then for s ,
we have

n
n
d
F
d
L{t n f(t)}(s) ( 1 )n n (s) ( 1 )n n ( L{ f }(s)).
ds
ds

Proof.
40

Some Examples.
1. e -2t sin 2t + e 3t t2.
2. t n.
3. t sin (bt).

41