CEE490b Jan.

23, 2002

Review of Modal Analysis Concepts

A method which describes the response of a dynamic system by the

summation of its response in its various orthogonal modes of
vibration.

STEP1

Carry out a “eigenvalue analysis” of the simultaneous equations

which describes the free vibration of the structure. This gives
a) Eigenvalues or natural frequencies
b) Eigenvectors or mode shapes of the modes of vibration

STEP2

Solve equations of motion and determine response due to a given

type of excitation

[m]{u&&}+ [c ]{u&}+ [k ]{u} = {P} (1)

[m], [c ] and [k ] are mass, damping and stiffness matrices

{u} = the displacement vector
{P}= the vector of excitation.
The response of the system is evaluated one mode at a time, then
summed over all modes Φ ij ,

n
u i (t ) = ∑ Φ ijη j (t ), i = 1,2 … n (2)
j =1

in which:

- u i (t ) is the total response at location i as a function of time

- Φ ij are modal coordinates of the jth mode.
- η j (t ) are the generalized coordinates describing the magnitude and
time dependence of the response in each mode.

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CEE490b Jan. 23, 2002

Eq. 2 can be rewritten in matrix form to include all nodes, i = 1, 2..., n:

{u} = [Φ ]{η}, {u&} = [Φ ]{η&}, {u&&} = [Φ ]{η&&} (3)

where

 Φ11 Φ12 ... Φ n1 

Φ Φ ... Φ 2n 
[Φ] =  21 22 (4)
 ... ... ... ... 
 
Φ n1 Φ n 2 ... Φ nn 
j= 1 2 … n

Each column in Eq. 4 represents one mode of free vibrations that is

obtained from the Eigenvectors (modes).
{η} is the vector of generalized coordinates of j th mode
The equations of motion under the action of load {P (t )} are

[1
Φ4]T 2
[m4
][3
Φ ]{η&&}+ [Φ ] [c ][Φ ]{η&}+ [1
T
Φ4]T2
[k4
][3
Φ ]{η} = [Φ ] {P (t )}
T
(5)
[M * ] [K * ]
The Generalized Mass The Generalized Stiffness
(by orthogonality) (by orthogonality)

The damping term also becomes a diagonal matrix only when the
damping matrix, [c], is proportional to either

[c ] = 2α [m] then [Φ ]T [c ][Φ ] = [Φ ]T 2α [m ][Φ ] = 2α [M *]

or

[c ] = β [k ] then

[Φ ]T [c ][Φ ] = [Φ ]T β [k ][Φ ] = β [Φ ]T [ω 2j ][m ][Φ ] = β [ω 2j ][M *]

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CEE490b Jan. 23, 2002

If the damping terms can be uncoupled, then we have n independent

equations of the form

M j η&&j + 2αM j η& j + ω 2j M j η j = {Φ j } {P (t )}

T
(11)

or

p j (t )
η&&j (t ) + 2αη& j (t ) + ω 2j η j (t ) = , j = 1,2,3 … n (12)
Mj

where
n
p j (t ) = {Φ j } {P (t )} = ∑ Φ ij Pi (t )
T
(13)
i =1
is the generalized force for mode j

Solve the “n” equations each in only one generalized coordinate, one
at a time

7.1 HARMONIC EXCITATION

Assume harmonic excitation with frequency was in the case of un-

balanced masses of machines, vortex shedding etc. Such forces can
be described as:

Pi (t ) = Pi cos ωt , or {P (t )} = {P}cos ωt (14)

The generalized forces for mode j, are from Eq. 13

n
p j (t ) = cos ωt ∑ Φ ij Pi p j (t ) = L j cos ωt (15 & 16)
i =4
1 1 24
3
the force
participation
factor, L j

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CEE490b Jan. 23, 2002

the Force Participation Factor in mode j

The generalized equation of motion, Eq. 12, is

Lj
η&&j (t ) + 2αη& j (t ) + ω 2j η j (t ) = cos ωt (17)
Mj

The solution of Eq. 17 follows from the SDOF solution found

previously,

Steady State Response

η j (t ) = η j cos(ωt + φ j ) (18)
1442443
Steady State

As in the SDF system, the amplitude becomes:

Lj Lj
η j (t ) = ε j = (η st )j ε j
ε =
2 j
M jω j Kj
The total response or steady motion at location, i is:

n n
u i (t ) = ∑ Φ ij η j = ∑ u ij cos(ωt + φ j ) (21)
j =1 j =1

where the amplitude in mode j is

Lj
u ij = Φ ijη j = Φ ij εj
M j ω 2j

the phase shifts in each mode are:

2D j ω
ωj
φ j = − tan −1 2
 
1−  ω 
 ωj 

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CEE490b Jan. 23, 2002

7.2 RESPONSE TO GROUND MOTION

Analogous to SDF equations of motion can be written in terms of

each generalized coordinate

p j (t ) Lj
η&&j + 2αη& j + ω 2j η j = = u&&g (t ) (26)
Mj Mj

n
Lj = ∑ mi Φ ij = Earthquake Participation Factor
i =1

n
M j = ∑ mi Φ 2 ij = Generalized Mass
i =1

Determine the response in each mode using the Duhamel Integral, as

in the case of SDF

1 Lj t − D ω ( t −τ )
η j (t ) = ∫ u&&g (τ ) e j j sin ω j (t − τ )dτ
ωj Mj 0
1 Lj
= V j (t )
ωj Mj
as in SDF, V j ,max = Sv ( j ) , the Spectral Velocity for mode “ j ”

As in SDF:

Sv
Sd = , Sa = ω j Sv
ωj

Lj
uˆ ij = Φ ij Sd ( j )
Mj
Lj
Force at mi : q ij = mi Φ ij Sa( j )
Mj

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CEE490b Jan. 23, 2002

n Lj n L2j
Total Shear: Q j = ∑ q ij = Sa( j ) ∑ mi Φ ij = Sa( j )
i =1 Mj i =1 Mj

Total Response obtained by summing the responses of all “ n ”

modes

uˆ i ,max ≅ ∑ uˆ i2, j
j

All responses (force, moment, acceleration or displacement) are

evaluated in the same way. The responses in the various modes are
independent and the square of the total response is equal to the sum
of the squares of the responses in each mode.

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