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PhysicalInterpretationofModeShapesandOscillationsw/Examples

Introduction EigenValuesandVectors VibratingSystems Interpretation Printable

PhysicalInterpretationofModeShapesandOscillationsw/
Examples
Contents
Asecondordersystem
Athirdordersystem
Afifthordersystem
Whilethepreviouspagesdescribedhowtomathematicallysolveforthetransientresponseofalossless
system(i.e.,nofrictionorresistance),therewasverylittleinsightgiven.Thispagewilldevelopphysicalinsight
intothesolutions.Itanswersthequestion:"Justwhatdotheeigenvaluesandeigenvectorsrepresent?".

SecondOrderSystem
Thesecondordersystemconsideredherewasanalyzedintheexampleatthebottomofthepreviouspage,
andtheimportantinformationisrepeatedhere.Withk 1=k 2=m=1,thesystemisdefinedbythesecondorder
matrixdifferentialequation

ThematrixAhaseigenvaluesandeigenvectorsgivenby

Theeigenvaluescorrespondtofrequenciesofand1=1.73=3,2=1.Thegeneralsolutionofthesystem
startingfromzerovelocityisgivenby

Todeterminethecoefficients1and2weusetheinitialconditions(t=0)so

Ifwenowdefineamatrix,v,whosecolumnsaretheeigenvectorsweget:

Theeigenvectorsdeterminethemodeshapes,shownbelow.

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Toreadthisgraphnotethat

sov1(inblue)hasaheightof0.707forthefirstelement,and0.707forthesecondelement.Theother
eigenvector,v2,hasaheightof0.707forboth.Thedottedlineistheresimplytoguidetheeye(becausesome
elementsoftheeigenvectorsmaybehiddenbehindanother,asinthecaseofthefirstelementofv1.
Letusnowtrytogetadeeper,morephysicalunderstandingofjustwhatthisequationrepresents.Let'ssee
whathappenswithinitialconditions

Wecanwrite

Byinspection(orbysolvingtheequation

weseethat1=0and2=2.Inthiscasetheinitialconditionswereamultipleofv2,sonocontributionfromv1
wasnecessarytosolvetheequation

Inthissituationwesaythatmode1(correspondingtov1))isnotexcited.Settheinitialconditionsintheboxes
belowtox 1(0)=1andx 2(0)=1,thenhitthe"SetInitialConditions"boxandthen"Start."Note:inthisdiagramthe
endsofthearrowslabeledx 1andx 2correspondtotheequilibriumpositionsofthemass(whenx 1=0andx 2=0)
Enterinitialconditions
x 1(0): 1

x 2(0): 1

SetInitialConditions Redefinir

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m
x1

m
x2

1.2

x1
x2

1.2

Theresultisasexpected.Bothmassesmoveinphasewitheachother.Thisisdepictedinthemodeshapesby
thefactthattheelementsofv2depictedareequal.Thismeansthatifonlymode2(associatedwithv2)is
excited,thenthemassesmovetogetherinphase(andtheinnerspringhasnoeffect).
Nowtrysettingtheinitialconditionstox 1(0)=1andx 2(0)=1andrunning(hit"SetInitialConditions"followedby
"Start").Inthiscasetheinitialconditionswereamultipleofv1,soonlythatmodewasexcited(1=2and2=0)
mode2isunexcitedbytheseinitialconditions.Accordingtothemodeshape,theamplitudesoftheoscillations
ofthemassesshouldbeequalinmagnitudebutoppositeindirection.Notethatthefrequencyofthese
oscillationsishigherthanthoseassociatedwiththesecondmode.Thisisexpectedmathematically
(1=1.73=3,2=1),butalsophysically.Inmode2,theinnerspringhasnoeffectsoonlytheoutersprings
matter.Inmode1,allspringscontributesothattheforcesonthemasseswillgenerallybehigher(forthesame
displacementfromequilibrium),resultingingreateraccelerationsandfasteroscillation.
Ifyoutryinitialconditionscloseto,butnotequalto,oneofthemodes,(e.g.,x 1(0)=0.8andx 2(0)=1)youwillget
motionthatisclosetothatmodealone.Thisisbecauseonlyasmallcontributionfromtheothermodeisneeded
tomeettheinitialconditions.
Nowtrysomeotherinitialconditions(e.g.,x 1(0)=0andx 2(0)=1).Somecomplicatedmotionscanresult,butthe
motionisalwaysjustthelinearcombinationofthetwomodesofthesystem.

ThirdOrderSystem
Itcanbeshownthatthesystemshown

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canberepresented(withKr =J 1=J 2=J 3=1)byasecondordermatrixdifferentialequationas

Wecanfindeigenvalues(andassociatedfrequencies)andeigenvectors(andassociatedmodeshapes)usingthe
MatLabcodefromthepreviouspage.WeneedonlychangethelinesdefiningtheAmatrixandtheinitial
conditions(inthiscasetheinitialconditionsthemselvesaren'timportant,buttheymustbeinamatrixofthe
propersizesothecoderuns).

A=[210121011]%3flywheels
...
x0=[100]'%Initialcondition
Theoutputofthecodegivesustheresults

Amatrix
210
121
011
Eigenvalues
3.24701.55500.1981
Eigenvectors(eachcolumnisaneigenvector)
0.59100.73700.3280
0.73700.32800.5910
0.32800.59100.7370
Frequencies,omega=1.80,1.25,0.45,
InitialConditions,x(0)=1.00,0.00,0.00,
Unknowncoefficients,gamma=0.59,0.74,0.33,
andthemodeshapes

Inthiscasetherearethreemodes,sothegeneralformofthesolutionbecomes

butwecanstillgettheunknowncoefficientsinthesameway

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Aswedidwiththetwomasssystem,let'strysomeinitialconditions.Try1(0)=72,2(0)=90,3(0)=40
Enterinitialconditions
1(0): 40

2(0): 72

3(0): 90

SetInitialConditions Redefinir

theta_1

Kr

theta_2

Kr

J1

theta_3

Kr

J2

J3

120

theta_1
theta_2
theta_3

120

For1(0)=72,2(0)=90,3(0)=40weget

Clearlythissetofinitialconditionsisveryclosetomode3(theslowestmode),andsoonlymode3isexcitedto
anyextent.Youcanseethat(asexpectedfromthemodeshapes)thethreeflywheelsareinphasewitheach
other,andthatJ 3movesthemostandJ 1theleast.
Ifyoutryinitialconditions1(0)=90,2(0)=40,and3(0)=72,onlymode2isexcited(andthefrequencyis
about2.8timesfasterthanmode3).ThemotionofJ 3isoutofphaseby180fromthatofJ 1andJ 2,andinthis
casethemagnitudeofthemotionofJ 1isgreatestandJ 3isleast(checkv3fortheexactratios).
Forinitialconditions1(0)=72,2(0)=90,3(0)=40onlymode3isexcited(andthefrequencyisabout4times
fasterthanmode3).ThemotionforJ 2isoutofphaseby180withthatofJ 1andJ 3,andthemagnitudeofJ 2's
oscillationsaregreatestwithJ 3'sthesmallest.
Otherinitialconditions(trysome)resultincomplicatedmotions,butthemotioncanalwaysberepresentsas
thelinearcombinationofthesystem'smodes.
Aswiththetwomasssystem,thefrequencyofmode3wastheslowest(3=0.45),followedbymode2
(2=1.25)andmode1(1=1.8).Wecanexplainthisphysicallyinthesameway.Formode3thereisverylittle
torsionofthesprings,thereforelowforces,lowaccelerationandlowfrequency.Formode3,thereisthemost
torsion(eachisoutofphasewithallofitsneighbors).Thisresultsinhighoscillationfrequencies.Theshape,
andbehavior,ofmode2isbetweenthese.
Note:Thesemodesaresimilar(butnotidentical)tothefirstthreemodesofawoodwindorbrassinstrument(seefigure2athyperlink).This
isbecausethelastelementnotattachedtoafixedelement(likeawall)whichisanalogoustotheopenendofathoseinstruments.

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FifthOrderSystem
Nowconsiderasystemthatconsistsof5massesonastringthatisunderuniformtension,T.Eachmass,mi,
hasanassociatedposition,x i,thatiszeroatequilibrium.Themassesareequallyspacedatadistancefrom
eachother.

Todeveloptheequationsofmotion,considerthecasewhenthemassesaredisplacedfromequilibrium.

Nowlet'sexaminem1closelysowecanwriteitsequationofmotion.

Theforcefromeachstringintheverticaldirectionisgivenbythetensionmultipliedbythesineoftheangle
betweenthemassandthestring.Thereisalsoaninertialforce.

Ifweassumethatthewidthofthemassesaswellastheirverticaldisplacementarebothsmallcomparedtothe
distancethenwecanwrite

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Wecanrepeatform2.Theimageshowsm2connectedtom1andm3ontheleft,withafreebodydiagramon
theright.

Likewiseform3,m4andm5

Ifweletm1=m2=m3=m4=m5=T=1,weget

AsbeforewecanuseMatLabcodetogeteigenvalues(andfrequenciesofvibration)andeigenvectors(and
modeshapes).NotetheAandx0matricesintheMatLabcodemustbechanged,asbefore.

Amatrix
21000
12100
01210
00121
00012
Eigenvalues
3.73213.00002.00001.00000.2679
Eigenvectors(eachcolumnisaneigenvector)
0.28870.50000.57740.50000.2887
0.50000.50000.00000.50000.5000
0.57740.00000.57740.00000.5774
0.50000.50000.00000.50000.5000
0.28870.50000.57740.50000.2887
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Frequencies,omega=1.93,1.73,1.41,1.00,0.52

Wecanimmediatelymakesomecomments.Asbeforethelowestfrequencymode(mode5)hasthe"smoothest"
shape.Theshapesgetincreasinglyoscillatoryfrommode4,tomode3,tomode2,tomode1ineachcase,the
frequencyofoscillationincreases.
Ananimationisincludedbelow.Becauseofthesoftwareused,thestringisnotshownthoughitisn'tshown,
thesystembehavesasifthestringwasthere.
Enterinitialconditions
x 1(0): 1

x 2(0): 0

x 3(0): 0

x 4(0): 0

x 5(0): 0

SetInitialConditions Redefinir

m1
m2

1.2

m3

m4

m5

x1
x2
x3
x4
x5

1.2

Notethefollowing:
Trysettingtheinitialconditiontothelowestfrequencymode(mode5,therightmostcolumnoftheeigenvector
matrixwhichisgivenattheendofMatLaboutput),orsomemultipleofit.
Trysettingtheinitialconditionstotheothermodes.
Trysettingtheinitialconditionscloseto,butnotequalto,oneofthemodes.Thebehaviorshouldbecloseto,but
notequalto,thebehaviorofthatmodealone(i.e.,theothermodesareonlyminimallyexcited).
Tryarbitraryinitialconditions.
Youcanseethatthemodeshapesformodes1,3,and5aresymmetricaboutthemidpoint,whilemodes2and4
areantisymmetric.Therefore,iftheinitialconditionsaresymmetric,onlymodes1,3and5willbeexcited.If
theyareantisymmetriconlymodes2and4willbeexcited.
Trysettingx 1(0)=1,andtheotherequaltozero.Nowwhenmotionstartsyoucanseem1moves,thenm2,then
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m3...asa"wave"propagatesdownthestring(themotiongetsmorecomplexwhenthewavegetstotherightside
andispropagatedback).
Dependingontheinitialconditionscomplicatedbehaviorscanarise,butthemotionisalways(asintheother
cases)alinearcombinationofthemodesofthesystem.
Note:Thesemodesaresimilar(butnotidentical)tothefirstfivemodesofastringedinstrument.Thisisbecausethebothendsarefixed
whichisanalogoustoastringinaguitarorpiano.

References

Copyright2005to2015ErikCheeverThispagemaybefreelyusedforeducationalpurposes.
Comments?Questions?Suggestions?Corrections?
ErikCheeverDepartmentofEngineeringSwarthmoreCollege

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