Topic 5 Virtual work
5/1. Introduction. The force- and moment- equilibrium eq-s are not sufficient to
establish equilibrium stability of bodies composed of interconnected members which
can move relative to each other. In this case is used the method of virtual work
based on the concept of the work done by a force.
5/2. Work of a force. By definition the work U done
by the constant force F acting on the body is
U = (Fcos ∝)∆S = F(∆Scos ∝ ¿ ¿ ∆S – displacement
Because the result does not depend on the direction
in which the vectors are resolved we conclude that
work U is a scalar.
Work is positive when the working component of
the force is in the same direction as the
displacement (Fig.7/1) and is negative in the
opposite case (Fig.7/2).
To generalize the definition of work consider
Fig.7/3,a. Point A is located by its position vector r
measured from some arbitrary origin O. The
infinitesimal displacement is given by the differential
change dr of r. Then the work on the displacement
dr is
dU = F∙dr = Fdscos ∝ ds- magnitude of the dr.
Fig.7/3,b shows the same interpretation of work
Fcos ∝ ∙ ds=¿dscos ∝∙ F
If we express F and dr in terms of their rectangular
components we have
dU=(Fxi+Fyj+Fzk)∙(dxi+dyj+dzk)=Fxdx+Fydy+Fzdz
and to obtain the total work U done by F during a
finite movement of point A from A1 to A2 , we
integrate dU between these positions:
U=
∫ F ∙ d r = ∫ ¿ ¿ ¿+ F ydy+ F z dz ) or
U =∫ Fcos ∝∙ds
Work of a couple. Suppose the couple M acting on the
body changes its angular position by dƟ. We represent M
by two equal and opposite forces F and –F acting at two
arbitrary points A and B such that F=M/B. From
Fig.7/4,b is seen that no work is done by a couple during a
translation:
F∙drB=-F∙drA , since drA=drB.
During the rotation F does work dU=F∙drAB , where
drAB =bdθ, dƟ – infinitesimal angle of rotation in radians
and dU= FbdƟ= MdƟ.
The total work of a couple during a finite rotation will be
the integral between the corresponding positions
U=∫ Md Ɵ
The work is positive if M has the same sense as dƟ and is negative in the opposite
case.
Unit of work in SI units – joule, J, Nm;
In the US customary system: ft-lb.
The dimensions of the work of a force and the moment (couple) are the same. In the
US system, to distinguish between these two quantities they normally use the
sequence ft-lb for force and lb-ft for moment.
Virtual work. Consider a particle in the static equilibrium under action of the applied
forces. Any assumed small displacement δr away from this equilibrium position and
consistent with the system constraints is called a virtual (not real, but assumed)
displacement.
The work done by any force F acting on the particle during the virtual displacement
δr is called virtual work
δU=F∙ δr or δU = Fδscos ∝
∝ - angle between F and δr ; δs – magnitude of δr.
By analogy, the virtual work done by a couple M during a virtual angular
displacement δƟ is δU= MδƟ.
The difference between dr and δr is that dr can be integrated while δr cannot
be integrated as being an infinitesimal virtual or assumed displacement.
5/3.Equilibrium. We now express the equilibrium conditions in terms of virtual work.
Equilibrium of a particle. Consider the particle which attains an equilibrium position
as a result of the forces in the attached springs.
For an assumed virtual displacement δr the total virtual work is
δU=F1∙ δr +F2∙ δr +F3 ∙ δr + ∙ ∙ ∙ = ∑ F ∙δr
We now express ∑ F in terms of its scalar sums and δr in terms
of its component virtual displacements along coordinate axes
δU=(i∑ F x+j∑ F y +k∑ F z)∙(iδx+jδy+kδz)=¿ ∑ F x δ x +∑ F y δ y +
∑ Fzδ z = 0
The sum is zero since ∑ F =0, or ∑ F x=0, ∑ F y =0 and ∑ F z=0
The equation δU=0 is therefore an alternative statement of the
equilibrium conditions for a particle.
Though δU=0 and ∑ F =0 provide the same information, we
introduce the concept of virtual work for a particle so that we
can later apply it to systems of particles.
Equilibrium of a rigid body. Principle of virtual work for a particle can easily be
extended to a rigid body treated as a system of rigidly interconnected particles.
Only the virtual work done by external forces
appears in the eq-n δU=0 since the work
done by the internal forces during any
movement is zero.
As in the case of a particle, the principle of
virtual work does not offer any advantage to
the solution for a single rigid body in
equilibrium: to determine the reaction R for
the hinged plate of negligible weight, the
principle δU=0 gives:
RbδƟ - PaδƟ =0 or Rb - Pa= 0, δƟ – virtual
rotation about O, which is simply the eq-n
of moment equilibrium about O.
Equilibrium of ideal systems of rigid bodies. We now extend the principle of virtual
work to the interconnected ideal system of rigid bodies where energy loss due to
deformations of its members and friction between them is negligibly small.
Three types of forces act in such systems:
1) Active forces are external forces capable of doing virtual
work during possible virtual displacements: forces P and F
in Fig.7/7,a.
2) Reactive forces act at fixed supports of the system, where
no virtual displacement takes place and consequently they
do no work during a virtual displacement: forces FB and F0
in Fig.7/7,b.
3) Internal forces act between members in the connections.
They always exist in pairs of equal and opposite forces and
consequently their total work during a virtual displacement
is zero: forces FA and -FA in Fig.7/7,c.
Principle of virtual work. Since only the external active
forces do work during any possible movement of the system
the principle of virtual work can be stated like this:
The virtual work done by external active forces on an ideal
mechanical system in equilibrium is zero for any virtual
displacement consistent with the constraints: δU=0
Advantages of the method of virtual work in comparison
with the method based on force and moment equilibrium:
a) it is not necessary to dismember ideal systems in order to establish the relations
between the active forces;
b) the relations between the active forces can be determined directly without
reference to the reactive forces.
If internal friction in a mechanical system is significant, the method of virtual work
cannot be used unless the work done by internal friction is included.
When using the method of virtual work a diagram of the isolated system under
consideration should be drawn (so called “active-force diagram”, Fig.7/7,a), where
unlike the FBD only the active forces are shown.
Degrees of freedom. The number of degrees of freedom of a mechanical system is
the number of independent coordinates needed to specify completely the
configuration of the system.
The principle of virtual work δU=0 may be applied as many times as there are
degrees of freedom. With each application
we allow only one independent coordinate to change at a
time while holding the others constant.
Systems with friction. In real systems the friction force does
negative work because its direction is always opposite to the
movement of the body on which it acts. Thus, the kinetic
friction force μkN acting on the sliding member during a
virtual displacement δx does work - μkNδx . The static
friction force acting on the rolling wheel, on the other hand,
does no work if the wheel does not slip as it rolls.
In Fig.7/9,c the moment Mf due to the friction forces acting at
the contacting surfaces does negative work during any relative
angular movement. Thus, for a virtual displacement δƟ
between the two parts, which have the separate virtual
displacements δƟ 1 and δƟ 2 the work done is
- Mf δƟ 1 - Mf δƟ 2 = - Mf (δƟ 1 + δƟ 2 ) = - Mf δƟ
In the case of significant kinetic friction it becomes necessary to dismember the
system to determine the friction forces.
Mechanical efficiency. Because of energy loss due to friction, the output work of a
machine is always less than the input work. The ratio
output work
e = input work
is the mechanical efficiency.
The mechanical efficiency of machines which
have one degree of freedom and which operate
in a uniform manner may be determined by
evaluating the numerator and denominator of
the expression for e during a virtual
displacement.
As an example consider the block being moved
up the inclined plane. For the virtual displacement δs, the output work is that
necessary to elevate the block:
mg δssin Ɵ.
The input work is: Tδs = (mgsin Ɵ +μk mgcos Ɵ ) δs.
The efficiency of the inclined plane will be
mg δ s sin Ɵ 1
e = mg (sin Ɵ+ μ cos Ɵ)δ s = 1+ μ cotƟ
k k
