Non-dimensionalisation

Start with differential equation:

𝑑2 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑚 2
+𝑐 + 𝑘𝑥 = 𝐹0 sin⁡
(𝜔𝑡)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Define non-dimensional variables by dividing dependent variable (x) and independent variable (t) by
intrinsic variables (xc andtc respectively) with the same units so that:

𝑥 𝑡
𝜒= , 𝜏=
𝑥𝑐 𝑡𝑐

This will allow the substitution:

𝑥 = 𝜒𝑥𝑐 , 𝑡 = 𝜏𝑡𝑐

Also, it can be shown that:

𝑑𝜏 1
=
𝑑𝑡 𝑡𝑐

This leads to:

𝑑 𝑑𝜏 𝑑 1 𝑑
= =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝜏 𝑡𝑐 𝑑𝜏

And:
2 2
𝑑2 𝑑 1 𝑑 1 𝑑2
= = =
𝑑𝑡 2 𝑑𝑡 𝑡𝑐 𝑑𝜏 𝑡𝑐 2 𝑑𝜏 2

Substituting all this into the differential equation gives:

𝑥𝑐 𝑑2 𝜒 𝑥𝑐 𝑑𝜒
𝑚 2 + 𝑐 + 𝑘𝑥𝑐 𝜒 = 𝐹0 sin⁡
(𝜔𝑡𝑐 𝜏)
𝑡𝑐 𝑑𝜏 2 𝑡𝑐 𝑑𝜏
𝑥
Dividing through by 𝑚 𝑡 𝑐2 gives:
𝑐

𝑑2 𝜒 𝑐 𝑑𝜒 𝑘 2 𝐹0 𝑡𝑐 2
+ 𝑡 + 𝑡 𝜒= sin⁡
(𝜔𝑡𝑐 𝜏)
𝑑𝜏 2 𝑚 𝑐 𝑑𝜏 𝑚 𝑐 𝑚𝑥𝑐

To determine the intrinsic variables, normalize the zeroth order term. i.e.:

𝑚
𝑡𝑐 =
𝑘

And use this to normalise the forcing function:

𝐹0 𝑡𝑐 2 𝐹0 𝐹0
= = 1 ⇒ 𝑥𝑐 =
𝑚𝑥𝑐 𝑘𝑥𝑐 𝑘
The differential equation becomes:

𝑑2 𝜒 𝑐 𝑑𝜒
+ + 𝜒 = sin⁡
(𝜔𝑡𝑐 𝜏)
𝑑𝜏 2 𝑚𝑘 𝑑𝜏

Or:

𝑑2 𝜒 𝑑𝜒
2
+ 2𝜁 + 𝜒 = sin⁡
(Ω𝜏)
𝑑𝜏 𝑑𝜏

Where:
𝑐
2𝜁 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 Ω = 𝜔𝑡𝑐
𝑚𝑘

NB: 𝜁is usually termed the damping ratio.

Differential equations describing RLC circuits such as:

𝑑2 𝑄 𝑑𝑄 𝑄
𝐿 2
+𝑅 + = 𝑉0 sin⁡
(𝜔𝑡)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝐶

Become:

𝑑2 𝜒 𝑑𝜒
2
+ 2𝜁 + 𝜒 = sin⁡
(Ω𝜏)
𝑑𝜏 𝑑𝜏

When:

𝑄 = 𝜒𝑥𝑐 = 𝜒𝐶𝑉0 , 𝑡 = 𝜏𝑡𝑐 = 𝜏 𝐿𝐶

And:

𝐶
2𝜁 = 𝑅 𝑎𝑛𝑑 Ω = 𝜔𝑡𝑐
𝐿