6.

Base Excitation
Now that we can find the FRF for a mass/spring/damper system, let us
tackle something slightly more complicated:

x(t)
m
k

y(t)

Here, the system is excited by movement in the base, y(t). This is analagous
to a car driving down the road bumps in the road cause the contact patch
of the tire to move up and down. These vibrations are transmitted through
the suspension into the chassis.

road excitation

First, let us draw a free-body diagram of the system

x(t)
m

fk

f k =k ( x y )
m x =f k f c

m x +c ( x y ) +k ( x y )=0

fc

f c =k ( x y )
m x +c x +kx=c y + ky

Now, let us assume that the base excitation is harmonic

1

y=Y e

jt

y = jY e jt

also, let
x=X e jt

x = j X e jt

x =2 X e jt

Then
m 2 X e jt + jc X e jt + k X e jt = jc Y e jt + k Y e jt
Factoring out the exponential gives

(m 2+ jc+ k ) X= ( jc+ k ) Y
X
jc+ k
=
Y m 2 + jc +k
This function is similar in form to the FRF found earlier, and is in fact
another type of FRF.
X output displacement
=
=displacement transmissibility
Y input displacement
X/Y is a measure of how much motion we get for a given input motion at the
base. You can see by this example that the complex exponential method is
very powerful and simple to use.

Measurement Devices
We turn now to a practical application of some of this theory. Assume that
we have a device as shown below:
V0
x(t)

m
k

y(t)

The device produces a voltage proportional to the movement of the mass

relative to the base.
v out x y
Define
z=x y

Then the equation of motion derived earlier becomes

m x +c ( x y ) +k ( x y )=0
m ( z + y ) +c z + kz=0
m z +c z + kz=m y
Assume as before
z=Z e jt

z = j Z e jt

z =2 Z e jt

also, let us assume that

y = A base e jt
Then
2

jt

jt

jt

m Z e + jc Z e + k Z e =m A base e

jt

(m 2+ jc+k ) Z=m A base

Z=

A base
jc
2+
+ 2n
m

If <<n (that is, if we drive the base at much less than the natural
frequency) then
Z

Abase
2

Thus, the output voltage is proportional to the acceleration of the base we

have created an accelerometer! Now, note that
A base= 2 Y
if >>n, then
2

Y
=Y
2

Thus, the output is proportional to the displacement we have created a

seismometer!

x(t)
m
k

y(t)

0.2m
6m

Example Base Excitation Problem (Problem 2.43 in text)

A very common example of base motion is the single-degree of freedom
model of an automobile driving over a road or an airplane taxiing over a
runway, indicated in the figure above. The road surface is approximated as
sinusoidal in cross-section providing a base motion displacement of
y (t )= ( 0.01m ) sin b t
We will examine two cars: one with a mass of 1007kg (sports car) and the
other with a mass of 1585kg (sedan). Both cars have a suspension stiffness
of 40kN/m and a damping coefficient of 2000kg/s
1. Determine the effect of speed on the amplitude of displacement. .
2. At what speed do the cars experience resonance?
3. What is the displacement of each car at resonance?

1. Effect of speed on amplitude

The car encounters a bump every 6m. The frequency at which it encounters
bumps can be calculated as
f b=

v
6m

if v is in m/s. To express v in km/hr we must do a little unit conversion

v
f b=

( kmhr ) 1000 m
6m

1 km

1 hr
=0.046 v Hz
3600 s

To convert this into rad/s, we multiply by 2

5

 b=0.291 v

rad
s

Earlier in the notes we derived an expression for the displacement

transmissibility
j b c +k
X
=
Y m 2b + j b c+ k
We wish to solve for displacement amplitude, so we rearrange
X=

j b c +k
2

m b + j b c+ k

Next, we must determine the amplitude of the base excitation.

given the base excitation in the form

We are

y (t )= ( 0.01m ) sin b t
But we must convert it to the form
y (t )= { Y e j t }
b

From an earlier example problem, this is true if

Y =0.01 j m
Thus, we can write
X=

j b c +k
2

m b + j b c+ k

(0.01 j)

2. Speed of resonance
For car 1, the natural frequency is

N
k
m
rad
n1=
=
=6.303
m1
1007 kg
s

40000

and for car 2

N
40000
k
m
rad
n2 =
=
=5.024
m2
1585 kg
s

We must now find the speeds that generate the above natural frequencies.
For car 1
v 1=

n1
km
=21.7
0.291
hr

v 2=

n 2
km
=17.3
0.291
hr

3. Amplitude of displacement at resonance

First, let us simplify the amplitude equation by dividing through by m.
j b c
2
+ n
m
X=
(0.01 j)
j b c
2
2
b+
+ n
m

At resonance b = n, so that the denominator simplifies to

j n c
+ 2n
m
X=
(0.01 j )
j n c
m

jc
+ n
m
X=
(0.01 j )
jc
m

X=

jc+m n
(0.01 )
c

X = j+

m n
(0.01 )
c

For car 1, we have

1007 kg 6.303

X 1= j+

rad
s

(0.01 )

rad
s

(0.01 )

kg
2000
s

X 1= (0.0320.01 j ) m
And for car 2,

1585 kg 5.024

X 2= j+

kg
2000
s

X 2= (0.040.01 j ) m
In both cases we are asked for the amplitude of the displacement

|X 1|=0.033 m
|X 2|=0.041 m
8

In both cases, the amplitude at resonance is larger than the amplitude of

the excitation!