FREE VIBRATION OF SDOF SYSTEMS = 57 Although the value of ¢ has an effect on the frequency, w,, the most pronounced effect of damping is on the rate at which the motion dies out, that is, on the e”“ term. This effect will be considered further in Sec. 3.3, which treats mea- surement of damping. [example 3.1 A SDOF system has an undamped natural frequency of 5 rad/s and a damping factor of 20%. It is given the initial conditions u, = 0 and uw, = 20 in./sec. Determine the damped natural frequency, and determine the expression for the motion of the system for ¢ > 0. Solution w= Srad/s, = 0.2 4, = 0, ui, = 20 in./sec From Eq. 3.30 w=, Vi-# a SVE — (0.2)? = 4.90 rad/s 78 2) Sa = 0.78 Hz (3) From Eq. 3.33 or 3.36 u(t) = (2) eo sin wet (4) De Thus, = (22) p-comsor gi at) = ( 3) e089 sin(4.90)4 (5) or u(t) = 4.08e7' sin(4.90)r (6) | A plot of this result is one of the curves of Fig. 3.6. Unless significant amounts of damping are intentionally incorporated into a structural system, the damping will fall into the underdamped category, gen- erally in the range of 0.5% to 5%. However, the critical damping case and the overdamped case will be treated briefly for completeness.60 SINGLE DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM SYSTEMS Example 3.2 Determine the natural frequency of a simple sp ass system by using stati deflection measurements. Solution Liflile LLL > S «> Ly xk \ > x > fs = ky, > Me \ Ww From Eq. 3.4a wo, = kjm q) The equilibrium of the mass as it hangs on the spring is expressed by +h F=0 Q) or w-f=0 (3) From the force-clongation equation for the spring Sf = key (4) Combining Eqs. 3 and 4 gives Sf, = mg = kuy (5) Thus, from Eqs. 1 and 5, 22 & Cn (6) If the damping in the system is small ({ < 0.2), Eq. 3.31 shows that w, is approximately equal to w, Example 3.3. shows how a free vibration experi- ment could be used to determine the natural frequency of a SDOF system.FREE VIBRATION OF SDOF SYSTEMS 61 The natural frequency of a cantilever beam with a lumped mass at its tip is to be determined dynamically. The mass is deflected by an amount 4 = 1 in. and released. The cnsuing motion is shown below and indicates that the damping in the system is very small. Compute the natural frequency in radians per second and in hertz. What is the period? 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 Solution At point (a) the mass has executed 14 cycles. Qa) Q) j 1 pcre ere Te= 5 * 5yqg 7 O82 Q) There are two similar methods for determining the damping factor, ¢, using the decay record of free vibration of a SDOF system: the logarithmic decrement method and the half-amplitude method. Both are based on Eq. 3.34.