NUMERICAL EVALUATION OF DUHAMELS INTEGRAL

UNDAMPED SYSTEM

In many practical cases the applied loading function is known only from experimental data as in the case
of seismic motion and the response must be evaluated by a numerical method. For this purpose we use
the trigonometric identity t t t e w wt w wt t sin cos cos sin ) ( sin = , in Duhamels integral.

Assuming zero initial conditions, we obtain Duhamels integral, eq. (4.4), in the form

t et t
e
e t et t
e
e d F
m
t d F
m
t t y
t
t
t
t
} }
=
0 0
sin ) (
1
cos cos ) (
1
sin ) ( (4.14a)
or
{ } t t B t t A
m
t y e e
e
cos ) ( sin ) (
1
) ( =

(4.14b)

where

( ) t et t d F t A
t
}
=
0
cos ) ( ) (

(4.15a)
( )
}
=
t
d F t B
0
sin ) ( ) ( t et t

(4.15b)

The calculation of Duhamels integral thus requires the evaluation of the integrals A(t) and B(t)
numerically.
Several numerical integration techniques have been used for this evaluation. The most popular of
these methods are the TRAPEZOIDAL RULE and the SIMPSONS RULE. Consider the integration of a
general function I(t)

t t d I t A
t
}
=
0
) ( ) (
For trapezoidal rule

( )
n n O
I I I I I t A + + + + + A =
1 2 1
2 2 2
2
1
) ( t

(4.16)

and for Simpsons rule
( )
n n O
I I I I I t A + + + + + A =
1 2 1
4 2 4
3
1
) ( t

(4.17)

where
t A
=
t
n must be an even number for Simpsons rule.

An alternative approach to the evaluation of Duhamels integral is based on obtaining the exact
analytical solution of the integral for the loading function assumed to be given by a succession of linear
segments. This method does not introduce numerical approximations for the integration other than
those inherent in the round off error, so in this sense it is an exact method.
In using this method, it is assumed that ) (t F , the forcing function may be approximated by a
segmentally linear function as shown.
To provide a complete response history, it is more convenient to express the integrations in eq.
(4.15) in incremental form, namely
( ) t et t d F t A t A
i
i
t
t
i i
}

+ =

1
cos ) ( ) ( ) (
1
(4.18)
( )
}

+ =

i
i
t
t
i i
d F t B t B
1
sin ) ( ) ( ) (
1
t et t (4.19)

Where A(t
i
) and B(t
i
) represent the values of the integrals in eq. (4.15) at time t
i
. Assuming that the
forcing function F(t) is approximated by a piecewise linear functions as shown in Fig. 4.6, we may write
i i i
i
i
i
t t t
t
F
t F F s s
A
A
+ =

), ( ) ( ) (
1 1 1
t t t (4.20)
) ( ) (
1
= A
i i i
t F t F F
1
= A
i i i
t t t
The substitution of eq. (4.20) into eq. (4.18) and integration yield
( ) ( ) t et t d t
t
F
t F t A t A
i
i
t
t
i
i
i
i i i
}

A
A
+ + =

1
cos ) ( ) ( ) (
1 1 1
(4.20a)
( ) ( ) ( )
} }



A
A
+ + =
i
i
i
i
t
t
i
i
i
t
t
i i
d t
t
F
d t F t A
1 1
cos cos ) ( ) (
1 1 1
t et t t et (4.20b)
( ) ( ) ( )
} } }


A
A

A
A
+ + =
i
i
i
i
i
i
t
t
i
i
i
t
t
i
i
t
t
i i
d t
t
F
d
t
F
d t F t A
1 1 1
cos cos cos ) ( ) (
1 1 1
t et t et t t et (4.20c)
Consider the 1
st
and 3
rd
integrals and let et = u and t ed du =
( )
i
i
i
i
i
i
t
t
i
t
t
i
t
t
i
t F du
u t F d t F
1
1 1
sin
) (
cos ) ( cos ) (
1
1 1

= =
} }
et
e e
t et (4.20d)
( )
1
1
sin sin
) (

=
i i
i
t t
t F
e e
e
(4.20e)
( ) ( )
i
i
i
i
i
i
t
t
i
i
i
t
t
i
i
i
t
t
i
i
i
t
t
F du
u t
t
F
d t
t
F
1
1 1
sin cos cos
1 1 1

A
A
=
A
A
=
A
A
} }
et
e
t et (4.20f)
( )
1 1
sin sin


A
A
=
i i i
i
i
t t t
t
F
e e
e
(4.20g)

To evaluate the 2
nd
integral we use integration by parts.
Let t = u ( ) t et d dv cos =
t d du =
( )
e
et sin
= v
( )
( ) ( )
|
|
.
|

\
|

A
A
=
A
A
} }

i
i
i
i
i
i
t
t
t i
i
t
t
i
i
d
t
F
d
t
F
1
1
1
sin sin
cos t
e
et
e
et t
t et t (4.20h)
( ) ( ) | |
(

A
A
=
}

i
i
t
i i i i
i
i
du
u
t t t t
t
F
1
sin
sin sin
1 1
e
e e
e
(4.20i)
( ) ( ) ( )
(
(

+
A
A
=

i
i
t
t
i i i i
i
i
t t t t
t
F
1
cos
1
sin sin
1 1
et
e
e e
e
(4.20j)
( ) ( ) { } ( ) ( ) | |
1 1 1 2
cos cos sin sin

+
A
A
=
i i i i i i
i
i
t t t t t t
t
F
e e e e e
e
(4.20k)
Therefore
( )
+

|
|
.
|

\
|
A
A
+ =


e
e e
1
1 1 1
sin sin
) ( ) ( ) (
i i
i
i
i i i i
t t
t
F
t t F t A t A
{ } | |
1 1 1 2
sin sin cos cos

+
A
A
i i i i i i
i
i
t t t t t t
t
F
e e e e e
e
(4.21)
By the same token
( )
+

|
|
.
|

\
|
A
A
+ =


e
e e
i i
i
i
i i i i
t t
t
F
t t F t B t B
cos cos
) ( ) ( ) (
1
1 1 1

{ } | |
1 1 1 2
cos cos sin sin


A
A
i i i i i i
i
i
t t t t t t
t
F
e e e e e
e
(4.22)
Equations (4.21) and (4.22) are recurrent formulas for the evaluation of the integrals in eq. (4.15) at any
time
i
t t = .


Determine the dynamic response of a tower subjected to a blast loading. The idealization of the
structure and the blast loading are shown. Neglect damping.























NUMERICAL EVALUATION OF DUHAMELS INTEGRAL
UNDAMPED SYSTEM


The response of a damped system expressed by the Duhamels integral is obtained in a manner entirely
equivalent to the undamped analysis except that the impulse producing an initial velocity is substituted
into the corresponding damped free-vibration equation.
( )
( ) t e
e
t t
t e
=

t
m
d F
e t dy
D
D
t
sin
) (
) ( (4.23)
Summing these differential response terms over the entire loading interval results in
( )
( )
}
=

t
D
t
D
d t e F
m
t y
0
sin ) (
1
) ( t t e t
e
t e
(4.24)
Which is the response for a damped system in terms of the Duhamels integral. For numerical
evaluation, we proceed as in the undamped case and obtain from eq. (4.24)
{ }
D
t
D D D D
m
e
t t B t t A t y
e
e e
e
= cos ) ( sin ) ( ) ( (4.25)
where
}

+ =

i
i
t
t
D
t
i D i D
td e F t A t A
1
cos ) ( ) ( ) (
1
t e t
e
(4.26)
}

+ =

i
i
t
t
D
t
i D i D
td e F t B t B
1
sin ) ( ) ( ) (
1
t e t
e
(4.27)