ME 5000 PROJECT

Qualitative Analysis of a Spring Mass System

Problem Formulation
This project will analyze the above diagram and equations. This will consist of describing the
displacement of the block, an approximation of the phase diagram of said block, as well as the
description of the snubber force and modifications of it. This will be described over a range of F0 and Ω
values.

Initial Case
The block is moved by the force F0cosΩt, on a spring with spring constant k1. The snubber force is
described by the above equations for F and H. Below, f(x,v) describes the velocity of the block, and g(x,v)
describes the acceleration of the block.
Displacement of the Block

Snubber Force
Approximate Phase Diagram
Modification of Snubber Force
By modifying the snubber force with the following equations, it is possible to remove the negative spikes
in the force (shown in graph of F).
Varying F0 and Ω
In addition to the initial case of steadily increasing displacement of the block until it reaches its
maximum amplitude, other responses can be modeled by varying 0.01 < F0 < 1 and 0.8 < Ω < 1.2.

Critical F0

For F0 of about .4 (with Ω=1), the block motion goes straight to the limit cycle. Meaning that the block
roughly reaches maximum amplitude as fast as possible, and displacement is roughly constant as t
increases. This can be seen the displacement and parametric plots.
Large F0

For F0>.4 the initial force on the block is so great, that the block surpasses the maximum amplitude
before returning to the limit cycle. It can also be seen that by increasing F0 that the force on the snubber
also increases as one would expect.

F=.6
F=1 (note the increase in the snubber force)
No Snubber Contact

For values of Ω higher and lower than 1, and low values of F0, the block may not contact the snubber.
There also seems to be somewhat of a beats resonance.

Ω=.8, F0=.01
Ω=1.2, F0=.01
Expanding Ω beyond the .8 down to .1 more clearly shows the two competing oscillations. The larger
magnitude and longer period is the general oscillation of the block due to the spring it is attached to.
The noise in the position (high frequency) is due to the forcing function.

Conclusions
In varying F0 and Ω, varying responses in the block can be observed. For low enough F0 coupled with Ω
differing enough from 1, the block will not contact the snubber. There exists an F0 which causes the
block to go straight to the maximum amplitude. The parametric plot goes directly to the limit cycle
without overshooting. For large enough F0 the block can overshoot the maximum amplitude, however,
due to the snubber force, it returns to the repeatable amplitude. The initial case shows a steadily
growing displacement of the block until it reaches the snubber causing repeatable amplitude. These are
the four cases of the block motion.