Equation of motion in mechanical

systems

Name: Mohamed Essam Rashad

ID: 3540
Submitted to DR. Khaled Assem
Introduction
Equation of motion, mathematical formula that describes the
position, velocity, or acceleration of a body relative to a given frame of
reference. Newton’s second law, which states that the force F acting on a
body is equal to the mass m of the body multiplied by the acceleration a of
its centre of mass, F = ma, is the basic equation of motion in classical
mechanics. If the force acting on a body is known as a function of time, the
velocity and position of the body as functions of time can, theoretically, be
derived from Newton’s equation by a process known as integration.

If the force acting on a body is specified as a function of position or

velocity, the integration of Newton’s equation may be more difficult. When
a body is constrained to move in a specified manner on a fixed path, it may
be possible to derive the position-time equation; from this equation the
velocity-time and acceleration-time equations can, theoretically, be
obtained by a process known as differentiation.

Equations of motion
The following equations of motion are valid only when…
 Acceleration is constant and
 Motion is constrained to a straight line.
Where…

s0 = initial position (the position at the beginning of some event)

s = final position (the position at the end of some event)
v0 = initial velocity (the velocity at the beginning of some event)
v = final velocity (the velocity at the end of some event)
a = acceleration
t = time (the duration of the event)

Types of simple harmonic motion

There are three main types of simple harmonic motion:
(a) Free oscillations – simple harmonic motion with a constant
amplitude and period and no external influences
(b) Damped oscillations – simple harmonic motion but with a decreas-
ing amplitude and varying period due to external or internal damping
forces
(c) Forced oscillations – simple harmonic motion but driven externally

(a) Free oscillations

The amplitude remains constant as time passes, there is no damping. This
type of oscillation will only occur in theory since in practice there will always
be some damping. The displacement will follow the formula x = r sin t where
r is the amplitude. It is these types of oscillation that we have looked at
already.

(b) Damped oscillations

These are oscillations where energy is taken from the system and so the
amplitude decays. They may be of two types:

(i) Natural damping, examples of which are:

Internal forces in a spring,

Fluids exerting a viscous drag.

(ii) Artificial damping, examples of which are:

Electromagnetic damping in galvanometers, the coating of panels in cars to

reduce vibrations, shock absorbers in cars, interference damping - gun
mountings on ships.

Artificial damping can be light, in which case the system oscillates about the
midpoint heavy, in which the system takes a long time to reach equilibrium
or critical, where the system reaches equilibrium in a short time compared
 Heavy damping
Light damping

Displacement
Displacement

Time

Figure 3(b)
Time

Figure 3(a)

with T with no overshoot where T is the

natural period of vibration of the system. Critical damping
Displacement

A good example of damping can be seen in

Time

the moving coil galvanometer.

Figure 3(c)
Electromagnetic damping is used here: the
coil moves in a magnetic field and the
current flowing in it can be shorted with a
resistor, thus varying the damping. The system is either

(i) Dead beat — that is, critically damped, or

(ii) Ballistic — the damping is as small as possible.

With reasonably light damping the period is unchanged but as the damping
is increased the time period is increased and the oscillations die away more
rapidly.
Damping is also important in a weighing machine (balance) such as in a shop
or a checkout at a supermarket where a true reading of the mass of an object
placed on the scale pan is needed quickly. If the damping was light and the
pan oscillated you could clearly get a bargain by choosing to pay when the
reading was low. If the damping was heavy you would obviously have to wait

Light damping

Final
correct
reading
Displacement ()

Critical or dead beat

Figure 4
Heavy damping

Time
a long time before the true reading was reached. Some possible variations
of reading (displacement from the final correct reading

The damping of the oscillations of a system can be very important.

Investigate the damping in the two following examples.

(i) Air damping

The effect of air damping on the oscillations of a helical spring may be carried
out using a large disc of light but rigid cardboard fixed to the spring. You
should displace the spring by a given amount and then record the amplitude
of the subsequent oscillations. It may be possible to investigate the
dependence of the damping on the size of the cardboard. Plot suitable linear
graphs to present your results. Would a card with turned-up or turned-down
edges be as good or better than the flat card?

(ii) Liquid damping

Once again a spring may be used, but this time a metal cylinder should be
fixed to the end. This cylinder should be allowed to oscillate in a cylindrical
container of liquid. As before, attempt to record the variation in amplitude
of the oscillations.

Investigate the dependence of the damping on (i) the liquid in the cylindrical
container, (ii) the diameter of the cylindrical container.

(c) Forced oscillations

These are vibrations that are driven by an external force. A simple example
of forced vibrations is a child’s swing: as you push it the amplitude increases.
A loudspeaker is also an example of forced oscillations; it is made to vibrate
by the force on the magnet on the current in the coil fixed the speaker cone.

Free Vibration of an Undamped Translational System

Equation of Motion of a Spring-Mass System in Vertical Position

FREE VIBRATION OF SINGLE-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM SYSTEMS

Case 1. When x is positive and dx/dt is positive or when x is negative and dx/dt is positive.
Case 2. When x is positive and dx/dt is negative or when x is negative and dx/dt is
negative.

Free Vibration of an undamped Torsional System

If a rigid body oscillates about a specific reference axis, the resulting motion is called
torsional vibration.
Equation of motion of First-Order Systems and Time Constant

Consider a turbine rotor mounted in bearings. The viscous fluid (lubricant) in the bearings
offers viscous damping torque during the rotation of the turbine rotor. Assuming the mass
moment of inertia of the rotor about the axis of rotation as J and the rotational damping
constant of the bearings as the application of Newton s second law of motion yields the
equation of motion of the rotor as

Free Vibration with Viscous Damping

Where c is the damping constant or coefficient of viscous damping and the negative sign
indicates that the damping force is opposite to the direction of velocity

Torsional Systems with Viscous Damping

Where moment of inertia of the disc, constant of the system (restoring torque per unit
angular displacement), and displacement of the disc.

Free-Vibration Response of a System with Coulomb Damping