LESSON 3. Free Vibration With Coulomb Damping
LESSON 3. Free Vibration With Coulomb Damping
LESSON 3. Free Vibration With Coulomb Damping
Where W is the weight of the body, whereas µ is the frictional coefficient, for example, for the
lubricated metal coefficient of friction is 0.1, for the nonlubricated metal coefficient of friction is
0.3.
Static damping occurs when the system does not undergo relative motion, or they are stationery.
Kinetic friction occurs when two bodies slide relative to each other.
2. When ẋ < 0, the sign function is negative and the equation becomes,
Since the mass started with an initial displacement, it moves from right to left with a negative
velocity. Starting in case 2:
This solution is valid for half the cycle only—that is, for
𝜋
When 𝑡 = 𝜔 the mass will be at its extreme left position and its displacement from equilibrium
𝑛
position can be found from
Since the motion started with a displacement of 𝑥0 and, in a half cycle, the value of x became
2𝜇𝑛
The reduction in magnitude of x in time it can be demonstrated that for the other half to the
𝑘
4𝜇𝑛
cycle the reduction is 𝑘
Free Vibration with Coulomb Damping important equations
The amplitude reduces linearly with Coulomb damping and amount of Therefore:
The motion stops when 𝑥n< 𝜇𝑁/ , since the restoring force exerted by the spring (𝑘x) will then
be less than the friction force μN. Thus the number of cycles (n) that elapse before the motion
ceases is given by:
Time to stop:
The effect of Coulomb Damping differs from the effect of viscous damping in these respects:
1. Viscous damping causes a linear term proportional to the velocity in the governing
differential equation, while Coulomb damping gives rise to a nonlinear term.
2. The natural frequency of an undamped system is unchanged when Coulomb damping is
added, but is decreased when viscous damping is added.
3. Motion is not periodic if the viscous damping coefficient is large enough whereas the
motion is always periodic when coulomb damping is the only source of damping.
4. The amplitude decreases linearly because of Coulomb damping and exponentially
because of viscous damping.
5. Coulomb damping leads to a cessation of motion with a resulting permanent
displacement from equilibrium, while motion of a system with only viscous damping
continues indefinitely with a decaying amplitude.
Since the motion of all physical system ceases in the absence of continuing external excitation,
Coulomb damping appears in many forms, such as axle friction in journal bearings and friction
due to belts in contact with pulleys or flywheels. The response of systems to these and other forms
of coulomb damping can be obtained in the same manner as the response of dry sliding friction.
Example. An experiment is run to determine the kinetic coefficient of friction between a block
and a surface. The blocked is attached to a spring and displaced 150mm from equilibrium. It is
observed that the period of motion is 0.5s and that the amplitude decreases by 10mm on
successive cycles. Determine the coefficient of friction.
Solution:
The natural frequency is calculated as
2𝜋 2𝜋
𝜔𝑛 = = = 12.57 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑇 0.5𝑠
The decrease in amplitude is expressed as
4𝜇𝑚𝑔 4𝜇𝑔
𝛥𝐴 = =
𝑘 𝜔𝑛 2
Which is arranged to yield
𝑟𝑎𝑑 2
𝛥𝐴 2 (0.01𝑚)(12.57 𝑠 )
𝜇= 𝜔 = = 0.04
4𝑔 𝑛 9.81𝑚
4( 2 )
𝑠
REFERENCES
Graham K.(2000). Fundamentals of Mechanical Vibration (Second edition). Singapore:
McGraw-Hill Bok Co.