THUNDER BIRD PRESENTS

D AM P I N G H AR M O N I C O SC I LL AT
AN D I TS AP P L I C ATI O N

HARMONIC OSCILLATOR

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The harmonic oscillator is a common model used in physics because of the
wide range of problems it can be applied to. For example atoms in a lattice
(crystalline structure of a solid) can be thought of as an in¯nite string of
masses connected together by springs, whose equation of motion is
oscillatory. In fact, the solutions can be generalized to many systems
undergoing oscillations, of which the mass spring system is just one
example. Since the mass-spring system is easy to visualize it will serve as
the primary example as we develop a more complete general theory
describing harmonic motion.

In classical mechanics, a harmonic oscillator is a system which, when

displaced from its equilibrium position, experiences a restoring force, F,
proportional to the displacement, x according to Hooke's law:

where k is a positive constant.

If F is the only force acting on the system, the system is called a simple
harmonic oscillator, and it undergoes simple harmonic motion sinusoidal
oscillations about the equilibrium point, with a constant amplitude and a
constant frequency (which does not depend on the amplitude).

If a frictional force damping proportional to the velocity is also present, the

harmonic oscillator is described as a damped oscillator. Depending on the
friction coefficient, the system can:

• Oscillate with a frequency smaller than in the non-damped case, and

an amplitude decreasing with time (underdamped oscillator).
• Decay exponentially to the equilibrium position, without oscillations
(overdamped oscillator).

If an external time dependent force is present, the harmonic oscillator is

described as a driven oscillator.

Mechanical examples include pendula (with small angles of displacement),

masses connected to springs, and acoustical systems. Other analogous

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systems include electrical harmonic oscillators such as RLC circuits. The
harmonic oscillator model is very important in physics, because any mass
subject to a force in stable equilibrium acts as a harmonic oscillator for small
vibrations. Harmonic oscillators occur widely in nature and are exploited in
many manmade devices, such as clocks and radio circuits. They are the
source of virtually all sinusoidal vibrations and waves.

SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION

The simple harmonic oscillator is one of the central problems in physics. It

is useful in understanding springs, small amplitude pendulums, electronic
circuits, quantum mechanics, and even cars that shake at 53 MPH.
Furthermore, many problems can be considered the sum of a large number,
or infinite number, of harmonic oscillators.

In physics, simple harmonic motion (SHM) is the motion of a simple

harmonic oscillator, a periodic motion that is neither driven nor damped. A
body in simple harmonic motion experiences a single force which is given
by Hooke's law; that is, the force is directly proportional to the displacement
x and points in the opposite direction.

The motion is periodic: the body oscillates about an equilibrium position in a

sinusoidal pattern. Each oscillation is identical, and thus the period,
frequency, and amplitude of the motion are constant. If the equilibrium
position is taken to be zero, the displacement x of the body at any time t is
given by

where A is the amplitude, f is the frequency, and φ is the phase.

The frequency of the motion is determined by the intrinsic properties of the

system (often the mass of the body and a force constant), while the

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amplitude and phase are determined by the initial conditions (displacement
and velocity) of the system. The kinetic and potential energies of the system
are also determined by these properties and conditions.

Simple harmonic motion. In this graph, the vertical axis represents the
coordinate of the particle (x in the equation), and the horizontal axis
represents time (t).

Simple harmonic motion can serve as a mathematical model of a variety of

motions, such as the oscillation of a spring. Other phenomena can be
approximated by simple harmonic motion, including the motion of a
pendulum and molecular vibration.

Simple harmonic motion provides the basis of the characterization of more

complicated motions through the techniques of Fourier analysis.

EXAMPLE
A typical example of a system that undergoes simple harmonic motion is an
idealized spring–mass system, which is a mass attached to a spring. If the
spring is unstretched, there is no net force on the mass (that is, the system is
in mechanical equilibrium). However, if the mass is displaced from
equilibrium, the spring will exert a restoring force, which is a force that
tends to restore the mass to the equilibrium position. In the case of the
spring–mass system, this force is the elastic force, which is given by Hooke's
Law,

F = − kx,

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where F is the restoring force, x is the displacement, and k is the spring
constant.

Any system that undergoes simple harmonic motion exhibits two key
features.

1. When the system is displaced from equilibrium there must exist a

restoring force that tends to restore it to equilibrium.
2. The restoring force must be proportional to the displacement, or
approximately so.

The spring-mass system satisfies both.

Once the mass is displaced it experiences a restoring force, accelerating it,

causing it to start going back to the equilibrium position. As it gets closer to
equilibrium the restoring force decreases; at the equilibrium position the
restoring force is 0. However, at x = 0, the mass has some momentum due to
the impulse of the force that has acted on it; this causes the mass to shoot
past the equilibrium position, in this case, compressing the spring. The
restoring force then tends to slow it down, until the velocity reaches 0,
whereby it will attempt to reach equilibrium position again.

As long as the system does not lose energy, the mass will continue to
oscillate like so; thus, the motion is termed periodic motion. Further analysis
will show that in the case of the spring-mass system the motion is simple
harmonic.

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SIMPLE HARMONIC OSSCILATOR
A simple harmonic oscillator is an oscillator that is neither driven nor
damped. Its motion is periodic repeating itself in a sinusoidal fashion with
constant amplitude, A. Simple harmonic motion SHM can serve as a
mathematical model of a variety of motions, such as a pendulum with small
amplitudes and a mass on a spring. It also provides the basis of the
characterization of more complicated motions through the techniques of
Fourier analysis.

In addition to its amplitude, the motion of a simple harmonic oscillator is

characterized by its period T, the time for a single oscillation, its frequency,
f, the reciprocal of the period f = 1⁄T (i.e. the number of cycles per unit time),
and its phase, φ, which determines the starting point on the sine wave. The
period and frequency are constants determined by the overall system, while
the amplitude and phase are determined by the initial conditions (position
and velocity) of that system. Overall then, the equation describing simple
harmonic motion is

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Alternatively a cosine can be used in place of the sine with the phase shifted
by π⁄2.

The general differential force equation for an object of mass m experiencing

SHM is:

where k is the spring constant which relates the displacement of the object to
the force applied to the object. The general solution for this equation is given
above with the frequency of the oscillations given by:

.
The velocity and acceleration oscillate with a quarter and half a period delay

The velocity and acceleration of a simple harmonic oscillator oscillate with

the same frequency as the position but with shifted phases. The velocity is
maximum for zero displacement, while the acceleration is in the opposite
direction as the displacement.

The potential energy of SHM is

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MASS SPRING DAMPER SYSTEM
Mass-spring-damper

A mass attached to a spring and damper. The damping coefficient, usually c,

is represented by B in this case. The F in the diagram denotes an external
force, which this example does not include.

An ideal mass-spring-damper system with mass m (in kilograms), spring

constant k (in newtons per meter) and viscous damper of damping
coefficient c (in newton-seconds per meter or kilograms per second) is
subject to an oscillatory force

and a damping force

Treating the mass as a free body and applying Newton's second law, the total
force Ftot on the body is

where a is the acceleration (in meters per second squared) of the mass and x
is the displacement (in meters) of the mass relative to a fixed point of
reference.

Since Ftot = Fs + Fd,

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This differential equation may be rearranged into

The following parameters are then defined:

The first parameter, ω0, is called the (undamped) natural frequency of the
system . The second parameter, ζ, is called the damping ratio. The natural
frequency represents an angular frequency, expressed in radians per second.
The damping ratio is a dimensionless quantity.

The differential equation now becomes

Continuing, we can solve the equation by assuming a solution x such that:

where the parameter γ is, in general, a complex number.

Substituting this assumed solution back into the differential equation,

Solving for γ,

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MASS SPRING SYSTEM

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DAMPING STRUCTURE
A damped oscillations generic structure is simply a sustained oscillations
generic structure with an additional negative feedback loop. In Figure 1, for
example, the negative feedback loop between “Stock Two” and “outflow”
gradually drains “Stock Two.” As “Stock Two” decreases, “change in stock
one” decreases, so “Stock One” does not quite grow as much as it would in a
sustained oscillations structure. The damped growth of “Stock One” hinders
positive “change in stock two.” A reduced flow limits the
growth of “Stock Two,” and the effect propagates in the system until the two
stocks approach equilibrium. The graph in Figure 2 illustrates the behavior
of a damped oscillations generic structure (simulated with arbitrary
parameter values and initial values).

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Depending on the parameter values and initial values of the system, a
damped oscillations generic structure can produce behavior of varying
amplitude, degree of damping, and period of oscillations.

Amplitude of Oscillations

• The maximum amplitude of the damped system depends on the

initial imbalance in the system, that is, the gap between the
equilibrium and initial stock values.
• The maximum amplitude of the damped system is lower than that of
the undamped system.
• Altering parameter values other than desired stock values does not
change the
equilibrium point.

Degree of Damping

• The amplitude of each successive peak in the damped oscillations

system is determinedby the strength of the additional negative
feedback loop.

• Changing the strength of the negative feedback loop produces under-

damped, Critically-damped, or over-damped oscillations. A system is
critically-damped when the value of its damping factor (“parameter
three” in Figure 1) is the square root of four times the product of
“parameter one” and “parameter two.”
• A system is under-damped when “parameter three” is smaller than the
critically damped value and over-damped when “parameter three” is
larger than the critically damped value.

Period of Oscillations
• The period of oscillations in a damped oscillations system is greater
than the period in the corresponding sustained oscillations system.

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DAMPING MOTION

While the undamped system provides a measure of elegant beauty and

simplicity in its solution it is to a certain extent boring. Once the initial
conditions are set it will continue to oscillate forever, never deviating from
its simple sinusoidal pattern. This is also unrealistic as any physical system
will eventually come to rest. To create a more accurate model a damping
(resistive) force must be added. It does not make sense for this to be a
constant force. If a mass-spring system is sitting at rest at its equilibrium
point it will not all of a sudden begin moving under the in°uence of some
mysterious force. It also does not make sense for the force to depend on the
displacement, or position, of the mass. If the entire system were to be
translated intuition says the motion will be the same, simply moved to
another location. It then makes sense to model the damping force as a
function of the objects velocity. This adds an additional force of the form Fd
= bv, so that our equation of motion is

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Damped LC Oscillator
In practice there is some resistance in the circuit, which causes the energy to
burn away as heat over time. Usually this resistance is undesirable, like
friction in general, but if it is significant, the oscillator must be modelled as
an LCR oscillator.

It's important to note that the LC frequency formula below does not properly
apply to damped circuits, unless the resistance is small.

There are two distinct kinds of damped oscillator, with the borderline being
known as "critical damping". Light damping occurs when the resistance is
low. The system still oscillates but dies away. High resistance causes heavy
damping (or overdamping). In this case there is no oscillation; any energy
simply dissipates.

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Mechanical Damped Harmonic Motion
The simple harmonic motion relates to the motion of a body acted on by a
special kind of force and in friction-free conditions. The amplitude of SHM
is a constant. If the amplitude of the oscillation gradually decreases to zero
as a result of friction, the motion is said to be damped harmonic motion. The
magnitude of the frictional force usually depends on the speed.

The equation of motion of the damped harmonic motion is given by

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Electromagnetic Damped Oscillation
The resistance in the LC circuit will dissipate the energy. The variation of
voltage across the capacitor is shown in the following figure.

Using a square wave

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Apply a square wave to the LC-series combination, at each rising edge of the
square wave, the capacitor would be charged. Since the charging current also
passes through the inductor, oscillation would occur. At the falling edge, the
charged capacitor would be discharged through the inductor. Again,
oscillation would occur.

In the following figure, the first diagram represents the variation of

voltage across the capacitor and the second diagram represents the variation
of voltage across the inductor.

APPLICATIONS
Inertial Pendulum Systems
Almost all seismometers are based on damped inertial-pendulum systems of
one form or another. Simple vertical and horizontal seismometer designs are
illustrated in Figure. The frame of the seismometer is rigidly attached to the
ground, and the pendulum is designed so that movement of the internal
proof mass, m, is delayed relative to the ground motion by the inertia of the
mass. Each pendulum system has an equilibrium position in which the mass
is at rest and to which it will return following small transitory disturbances.
The orientation of the pendulum further determines which component of
ground motion will induce relative pendulum motion.

Ground displacements, U(t\ are communicated to the proof mass via the
attached springs or lever arms, with favorably oriented motions perturbing
the system from its equilibrium position, leading to periodic oscillation of
the mass. Friction or viscous damping, represented by the dashpots, is
generally proportional to the velocity of the mass and acts to restore the
system to its equilibrium position. Small scale fluctuations in the springs and
damping elements determine the intrinsic instrument noise level, below
which actual ground motions cannot be detected. Although many early
seismometers were designed empirically without mathematical analysis, the
equation of motion for simple, damped harmonic oscillators provides insight
into instrument characteristics.

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Ground displacements, U(t\ are communicated to the proof mass via the
attached springs or lever arms, with favorably oriented motions perturbing
the system from its equilibrium position, leading to periodic oscillation of
the mass. Friction or viscous damping, represented by the dashpots, is
generally proportional to the velocity of the mass and acts to restore the
system to its equilibrium position. Small scale fluctuations in the springs and
damping elements determine the intrinsic instrument noise level, below
which actual ground motions cannot be detected. Although many early
seismometers were designed empirically without mathematical analysis, the
equation of motion for simple, damped harmonic oscillators provides insight
into instrument characteristics.

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The motion of the pendulum mass in an inertial reference frame is given by
the sum of the ground motion plus the deviation of the mass from its
equilibrium state, y(t). For the vertical seismometer in Figure, the forces on
the mass must act through the spring and dashpot, with recording-system
friction effects included in the dashpot. The force from the spring is –K(t),
which is directly proportional to movement of the mass from its equilibrium
position and which must involve stretching or contraction of the spring,
which has a spring constant K. The damping force, -Dy(t), is directly
proportional to the velocity of the mass, with D being a damping coefficient.
Newton's law (F = ma) is then.

ROLE OF DAMPING IN EARTHQUAKE STATION

The damping of the oscillator in Figure generally, but not always, reduces
the response to earthquake excitation. Because of the change in frequency
that the damping introduces, it is possible for very small values of damping
to increase the response over the undamped case and for spectral curves for
different dampings to cross. In practice, this happens rarely and the amounts
are insignificant. If earthquake acceleration were a stationary random
process, the average square of steady-state responsewould be inversely
proportional to the damping (Crandall and Mark, 1963; Lutes and Sarkani,
1997).

This dependence appears to approximate the effects of damping in most

cases of response to earthquakes of significant duration (several natural
periods, Tn); that is, response spectra in such cases tend to vary as the
inverse square root of the damping value. Damping is less effective in
reducing the response to pulse-like excitations. For example, if the
oscillator, Figure is subjected to a half sine pulse at its natural frequency, 5%
damping only reduces the peak response by about 7.5% from the undamped
case. In
the limiting case of a very short pulse (of unit area).

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This result shows that small values of damping are relatively
ineffective in reducing the maximum response to this type of
excitation; for all natural frequencies the maximum response
for  = 0.05 is only 7.6% less than that for  = 0. Doubling
the damping from 0.05 to 0.10 decreases the response only
by another 7.3%, whereas for steady-state response to
stationary random excitation, the reduction would be 29%.
Truly viscous damping can
appear in the mounting systems for mechanical equipment
and in some special structures such as passively damped
buildings and bridges, but it is not present in typical
buildings. In the case of typical buildings, viscous damping is
usually used in analysis and design to approximate the
combined effects of such mechanisms as material damping,
nonstructural damage, and low levels of yielding and
structural damage.

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EQUATIONS TO SATISFY DAMPING IN SEISMOMETER

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DAMPING IN REAL STRUCTURES

It is possible to estimate an “effective” viscous damping ratio directly from

laboratory or field tests of structures. One method is to apply a static
displacement by attaching a cable to the structure and then suddenly
removing the load by cutting the cable. If the structure can be approximated
by a single degree of freedom, the displacement response will be of the form
shown in Figure, For multi-degree of freedom structural systems, the
response will involve the response of more modes and the test and the
analysis method required to predict the damping ratios will be
more complex

It should be pointed out that the decay of the typical displacement response
only indicates that energy dissipation is taking place. The cause of the
energy dissipation may be due to many different effects such as material
damping, joint friction and radiation damping at the supports. However, if it
is assumed that all energy dissipation is due to linear viscous damping, the
free vibration response is given by the following equation.

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Free Vibration Test of Real Structures, Response vs. Time

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