Mechanical Vibrations (ME-65)

Session 1 date: (27/2/07)

Additional references
Mechanical Vibrations,Grover. G.K . , Nemchand and Bros. Roorkee
Mechanical Vibrations, V.P.Singh, Dhanpat Rai and Co., Delhi.
Vibrations and Noise for Engineers, K. Pujara, Dhanpat Rai and Sons, New
Delhi.
Mechanical Vibrations, J.B.K. Das and P.L. Srinivasamurthy, Sapna book
House, Bangalore.
.

Introduction:
Vibration is defined as a motion which repeats after equal interval of time and is
also a periodic motion.The swinging of a pendulum is a simple example of
vibration.Vibration occurs in all bodies which are having mass and elasticity. They are
caused due to several reasons such as presence of unbalanced force in rotating machines,
elastic nature of the system, external application of force or wind loads and earthquakes.
Vibrations are undesirable as they induce high stresses in system components leading to
noise and failure, in such cases they are to be minimized if not totally eliminated.. The
desirable effects are seen in musical instruments and cement compactors used in
construction work.
From subject point of view the following notations and definitions are very
important:
Periodic Motion:
It is a motion which repeats itself after equal intervals of time, e.g., the oscillations
of simple pendulum
Time Period (T) :
It is the time required for one complete cycle or to and fro motion.The unit is
seconds.

Frequency (f or ) :
It is the number of cycles per unit time. The unit are radians/sec. or Hz.
Amplitude (X or A) :
It is the displacement of a vibrating body from its equilibrium position. It has units
of length in general
.
Natural Frequency (fn):
It is the frequency with which a body vibrates when subjected to an initial external
disturbance and allowed to vibrate without external force being applied subsequently.
Fundamental Mode of Vibration:
A vibrating body may have more than one natural frequency and when it vibrates
with the lowest natural frequency ,it is the Fundamental mode of vibration.

Degrees of Freedom:
It is the minimum number of coordinates required to describe the motion of system.
Typically in our discussions 1DOF system will have one mass, e.g., a spring attached with
one mass , 2 DOF system will have two masses and likewise we have 3DOFsystem. A
continuous system like a beam or plate consisting of infinite number of particles with mass,
are systems with infinite number of DOF.
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM):
It is a periodic motion with acceleration always directed towards the equilibrium
position. It can also be defined as projection of motion of a particle along a circle with
uniform angular velocity on the diameter of circle.
Damping:
It is the resistance offered to the motion of a vibrating body by absorbing the
energy of vibrations. Such vibrations are termed as damped vibrations
.
Forced Vibrations:
It is the vibration of a body when subjected to an external force which is periodic in
nature and vibrations occur as long as external force is present.
Resonance:
It is said to occur in the system when the amplitude of vibrations are excessive
leading to failure. This occurs in forced vibrations when the frequency of externally applied
force is same as that of natural frequency of the body.
Linear and Non Linear Vibrations:
When the vibrations are represented by linear differential equations and laws of
superposition are applicable for the system, we have Linear systems. Non linear vibrations

are experienced when large amplitudes are encountered and laws of superposition are not
applicable.
Longitudinal, Transverse and Torsional Vibrations:
When the motion of mass of the system is parallel to the axis of the system, we
have Longitudinal vibrations. When the motion of mass is perpendicular to the system axis
the vibrations are Transverse vibrations and when the mass twists and untwists about the
axis the vibrations are Torsional vibrations. Up and down motion of mass in a spring mass
system represents Longitudinal vibrations. Vibration of a cantilever beam represents
Transverse vibrations. The twisting and untwisting of a disc attached at the end of a shaft
represents Torsional vibrations.
Vector representation of SHM:
Any SHM can be represented as by the equation , x = A Sint ---(1) , where x is the
displacement , A is the amplitude , is the circular frequency and t is the time.
Differentiating eqn.1 w.r.t. t we have velocity vector and differentiating eqn 1
twice we have the acceleration vector. If x1 and x2 are two displacement vectors with same
frequencies then the phase difference between them is given by .
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Session 2 date : (28/2/07)

Principle of Superposition:
When two SHM of same frequencies are added the resulting motion is also a
harmonic motion. Consider two harmonic motions x1 = A1Sint and x2 = A2 Sin(t + ) .
Then if x is the resultant displacement , x = x1 + x2. The resultant amplitude x = A Sin (t
+), where A is the resultant amplitude and is acting at an angle w.r.t vector x1.
The above addition of SHMs can also be done graphically.
**********
Sample Problems:
1) Add the following harmonics analytically and check the solution graphically
x1= 3Sin (t + 30) , x2 = 4 Cos(t +10)

Solution:
Given : x1= 3Sin (t + 30) , x2 = 4 Cos(t +10)

Analytical method:
We know that, x = x1 + x2 = A Sin (t+ )
Make x1 and x2 to have same Sin terms always , i.e., x2 = 4 cos(t +10 + 90) = 4Sin
(t +100 )
Hence, A Sin (t+ )= 3 Sin (t + 30) + 4 Sin (t +100 )
Expanding LHS and RHS
ASin t Cos + A cos t Sin =3 Sin t cos 30 + 3Cos tSin30 + 4 Sin t cos 100
+ 4 Sin t sin 100
A Sin t Cos + A cost Sin = Sin t(1.094) + Cos t (5.44)
Comparing the coefficients of A Cos and A Sin in the above equation
ACos = 1.094, ASin = 5.44 , tan = ASin / ACos = 5.44/1.904
Therefore , = 70.7 and A = 1.094/Cos 70.7 = 5.76 .
Graphical Method.:
Draw ox the reference line. With respect to ox, draw oa equal to 3 units in length at an
angle of 30 to ox and ob equal to 4 units at an angle of 100 to ox. Complete the vector
polygon by drawing lines parallel to oa and ob to intersect at point c. Measure oc which
should be equal to A and the angle oc makes with ox will be equal to . All angles
measured in anticlockwise direction.

c
b

x
x
x

2) Repeat the above problem given , x1 = 2Cos(t + 0.5) and x2 = 5Sin(t + 1.0) . The
angles are in radians.
(Hint: In the above problem the angles are to be converted to degrees. Ans. A = 6.195,
= 73.49 )

3) Add the following harmonic motions analytically or graphically.

x1 = 10 Cos(t + /4) and x2 = 8 Sin(t + /6) .
4) A body is subjected to 2 harmonic motions
x1 = 15sin(t + /6) , x2 = 8 cos(t + /6), what harmonic is to be given to the
body to it to equilibrium.
Solution :
Let the harmonic to be given to the two harmonics to make it to be in equilibrium be
Asin (t + )
Therefore, Asin (t + )+ x1 + x2 = 0
Hence, Asint cos +A cost sin +15sint cos/6+15cost sin/6+8 cost cos/6+8
sint sin/6 = 0
sint (A cos +8.99038)+ cost(A sin +14.4282) = 0
Therefore, A cos = -8.99038
A sin = - 14.4282
Therefore, tan = A sin / A cos = 14.4282/8.99038 , = 58.062
From , A cos = -8.99038, substituting for = 58.062, A = 17.00
Therefore, the motion is x= 17sin(t + 58.062)
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Beats Phenomenon:
Consider two harmonics x1 and x2 of slightly different frequencies and the A cos
resulting motion will not be a SHM. Due to existence of different frequencies the phase
difference of the two vectors keeps on changing and shifting w.r.t time. The two
harmonics when in phase have their resultant amplitude to be sum of individual
amplitudes and when they are out of phase the resultant amplitude is difference of
individual amplitudes. This phenomenon of varying of resultant amplitude is called as
Beats and this occurs at a frequency given by the difference of the individual
frequencies of the two vectors.

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
time

Resultant amplitude variation during one cycle w

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Session 3 date: (2/3/07)

Fourier Theorem:
Any periodic motion can be represented in terms of sine and cosine terms called as
Fourier series. The process of obtaining the Fourier series of a periodic motion is called
Harmonic analysis, i.e.,

F(t) a periodic function can be represented as

F(t) = a0 + a1cost + a2cos2t + a3cos3t +.an cosnt
+ b1sint + b2sin2t + b3sin3t +.. bn sinnt
The constants a0,a1,a2,,,,,and b1,b2,b3. etc., are obtained using the following
formulae:
a0 = (/2) F(t), in the limits 0 to 2/

an=(/) F(t)cos(nt) dt, in the limits 0 to 2/

bn= =(/) F(t)sin(nt) dt, in the limits 0 to 2/

A
2cm
2cm
B
.2
4) Represent the above periodic motion using harmonic series
Sol: Mathematically for one complete cycle we have the eqn for AB as
x(t) = -20t +2 for 0<t<0.2
T=0.2, = (2/T) = 10
0.2
a0=(/2) x(t)dt
0
0.2
a0= (10/2) (-20t +2 ) dt = 0
0
0.2
an = (/) x(t)cos(nt)dt
0
=0
0.2
bn = (/) x(t)sin(nt)dt
0
= (4/n)
Thus, the harmonic series is , x(t) = 4/ (1/n) sin10nt , for n =1,2,..

5) A periodic motion is represented by a saw tooth wave form, the amplitude is 0 at t=0 and
rises to 10 cm, at t=0.3, it then drops down to zero at t = 0.3 ,and remains
zero for next 0.2 seconds and one cycle is completed. The next cycle again starts at t=0.5
secs. Represent the above cycle in form of a harmonic series.
X,
c
m
s

10

Sec.
0.3

0.2

Further problems refer the texts given in the additional references.

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