Tutorial of

Formulation of Equation Of
Motion for MDOF System
Formulation of the MDOF Equations of Motion

Four types of forces will be involved at any DOF i:

 the externally applied load pi(t)
 the inertia force fIi,
 the damping force fDi,
 the elastic force fSi.
The dynamic equilibrium:

For all DOFs, they should be in matrix form:

The elastic forces

The elastic forces

The stiffness influence coefficients kij :

force required at DOF i due to unit displacement at DOF
j (while displacements at all other DOFs are zero).
The inertia forces
The inertia forces

The mass influence coefficients mij :

force required at DOF i due to unit acceleration at DOF j
(while accelerations at all the other DOFs are zero).
The damping forces

The damping forces

f Di  ci1u1  ci 2u2    ciN u N

The damping influence coefficients cij :
force required at DOF i due to unit velocity at DOF j
(while velocities at all other DOFs are zero)
Typical methods to derive EOM

• Three typical methods to derive EOM

 Direct Equilibration using d’Álembert’s Principle
 Principle of Virtual Displacements
 Hamilton’s Principle (Optional)
Question 1

Derive the equations of motion for the damped spring-

mass system shown in the following figure.

u1 (t ) u2 (t )
k1 k2 k3
m1 m2
c1 c2
 Solution 1
m1u1 m2u2
k2 (u2  u1 ) k2 (u2  u1 )
k1u1
k3u2
m1 m2
c1u1
c2 (u2  u1 ) c2 (u2  u1 )

Step1: Dynamic Equilibrium

The dynamic balance is reached under these forces.
For m1 :
k2 (u2 (t )  u1 (t ))  k1u1 (t )  m1u1 (t )+c2 (u2 (t )  u1 (t ))  c1u1 (t )  0

For m2 :
k2 (u2 (t )  u1 (t ))  k3u2 (t )  m2u2 (t )  c2 (u2 (t )  u1 (t ))  0
 Solution 1
Step2: The equations of motion.
Sorting the formulas:
m1u1 (t )+(c1  c2 )u1 (t )  c2u2 (t )  (k1  k2 )u1 (t )  k2u2 (t )  0
m2u2 (t )  c2u1 (t )  c2u2 (t )  k2u1 (t )  (k2  k3 )u2 (t )  0

The linear equations of motion for this structure can be

obtained as:

 m1 0  u1  c1  c2 c2  u1   k1  k2 k2  u1 

 0 m  u    c   + 
c2  u2   k2   0
k2  k3  u2 
 2 2  2
 Solution 1

 M u  C u +  K u  P

In which,
 m1 0   k1  k2 k2 
M     , K     ,
 0 m2    k2 k 2  k3 
c1  c2 c2 
C    
  c2 c 2 

 u1   u1  0 
u    , u    , P   
u2  u2  0 
Question 2
Derive the equation of motion for two-storey shear
building shown below by assuming that
• Beams and floors are rigid
• Neglect axial deformation of all members
• Masses are lumped at floor levels
Solution 2
 Solution 2

Step1: The elastic resisting force:

The elastic resisting forces {fS} are related to the floor
displacements {u} For this purpose we introduce the lateral
stiffness kj of the j th story; it relates the story shear Vj to the story
deformation or drift, j = uj − uj−1, by

V j  k j j (1.1)
 Solution 2
Step1: The elastic resisting force:

The story stiffness is the sum of the lateral stiffnesses of all

columns in the story. The lateral stiffness of a column with clamped
ends, implied by the shear-building idealization, is 12EIc /h3. Thus
the story stiffness is
12 EI c
kj   3 (1.2)
columns h
 Solution 2
The elastic resisting force:

With the story stiffnesses defined, we can relate the elastic

resisting forces fS1 and fS2 to the floor displacements, u1 and u2.
The force fS1 at the first floor is made up of two contributions: f aS1
from the story above, and f S1 from the story below. Thus:

f S1  f  f
b
S1
a
S1 (1.3)
 Solution 2
The elastic resisting force:

fS1, after substituting Eq. (1.1) and noting that 1 = u1 and 2 = u2

− u1, becomes
f S 1  k1u1  k2  u1  u2  (1.4)

The force fS2 at the second floor is

f S 2  k2  u2  u1  (1.5)
 Solution 2
The elastic resisting force:

f aS1 and fS2 are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction because
both represent the shear in the second story. In matrix form Eqs.
(1.4) and (1.5) are
 f S 1   k1  k2 k2  u1 
     (1.6)
 f S 2    k2 k2  u2 
The elastic resisting force vector {fS} and the displacement vector
{u} are related through the stiffness matrix [K] for the structure.
 Solution 2

The damping forces

The damping forces fD1 and fD2 are next related to the floor velocities
and 2.The j th story damping coefficient cj relates the story
shear Vj due to damping effects to the velocity j associated with the
story deformation by
V j  c j j (2.1)
 Solution 2
The damping forces

In a manner similar to Eqs. (1.4) and (1.5), we can derive

f D1  c1u1  c2  u1  u2  f D 2  c2  u2  u1  (2.2)
In matrix form Eq. (2.2) is
 f D1  c1  c2 c2  u1 
     (2.3)
 f D 2   c2 c2  u2 
The damping resisting force vector {fD} and the velocity vector {u}
are related through the damping matrix [C] for the structure.
 Solution 2

The inertia force

The inertia force f I 1  m1u1 f I 2   m2u2 (2.4)

In matrix form Eq. (2.4) is  f I 1   m1 0  u1 

    
 f I 2   0 m2  u2 
 Solution 2

The equation of motion

Newton’s second law of motion then gives for each mass:
p j  f Sj  f Dj  m j uj or m j uj  f Dj  f Sj  p j (t )

in matrix form  m1 0  u1   f D1   f S 1   p1 (t ) 

 0 m  u    f    f    p (t ) 
 2 2  D2   S 2   2 
 Question 2
The equation of motion

The equation of motion can be written compactly as

 M u  C u   K u   p

where the system parameter matrices and load vector are as
follows
 m1 0   c1  c2 c2 
M     ， C    
 0 m2   c2 c 2 

 k1  k2 k2   p1 (t ) 
K     ，  p(t )   
  k2 k2   p2 (t ) 
Question 3
A massless cantilever beam of length L supports two lumped
masses mL/2 and mL/4 at the midpoint and free end as shown in
the following figure. The flexural rigidity of the uniform beam is EI.
Considering only the translational DOFs u1 and u2 (i.e., the
rotational DOFs will be excluded and the applied forces p1(t) and
p2(t), formulate the equations of motion of the system. Axial and
shear deformations as well as damping effects in the beam are
neglected.
Two ways of d’Alembert’s Principle

The method to formulate equation of motion (EOM) using d’Alembert’s

Principle can be classified into Stiffness method and Flexibility method:

• Stiffness method——formulating equilibrium equation of force; F=ma

• Flexibility method——formulating equilibrium equation of displacement

 Solution 3

In a statically determinate structure such as the one in figure

above, it is usually easier to calculate first the flexibility matrix
and invert it to obtain the stiffness matrix. The flexibility
influence coefficient ij is the displacement in DOF i due to
unit force applied in DOF j (Fig. c and d). The deflections are
computed by standard procedures of structural analysis to
obtain the flexibility matrix:
Solution

The flexibility influence coefficient were determined as follows:

The cantilever beam The vertical

model displacement

16 L3
11 = ，
fs1 =1 48EI
fs2 =0 5 L3
 21 =
48 EI

5 L3
 21 = ，
fs1 =0 48 EI
fs2 =1
2 L3
 22 =
48 EI
Solution

According to the flexibility method, the EOM can be formulated according to the e
quilibrium of displacement for each DOF:
u1 (t )  11  p1 (t )  m1u1 (t )   12  p2 (t )  m2u2 (t )  Displacement

u2 (t )   21  p1 (t )  m1u1 (t )   22  p2 (t )  m2u2 (t ) 
equilibrium
It can be reformed as matrix forms:
 u1  11 12   p1 (t )  11 12   m1 0   u1 
      0  
u 
 2   21  p
22   2 (t ) 
  21  22   m2  u2 
By pre-multiplying the inverse of flexibility matrix, the EOM can be obtained:
0   u1 
1 1 1
11 12   u1  11 12  11 12   p1 (t )  11 12  11 12   m1
   u          p (t )         0  
m2  u2 
 21 22   2   21 22   21 22   2   21 22   21 22  

0   u1  11 12   u1   p1 (t ) 

1
 m1
0        
 
m2  u2   21  22  u2   p2 (t ) 

Stiffness matrix=inverse of flexibility matrix

 Solution 3
Determine the stiffness matrix
The flexibility matrix is given by:
11 12  L3 16 5 
        5 2
 21 22  48 EI  
By inverting the flexibility matrix, the stiffness matrix is obtained:
1
11 12  48 EI  2 -5 
 K       3 -5 16
 21 22  7L  
The EOM can be obtained as:

 mL / 4 0   u1  48 EI  2 5  u1   p1 (t ) 
 0     5 16  u    p (t ) 
 mL / 2 
u
 2 7 L3
  2  2 
Flexibility coefficients and Stiffness coefficients

Flexibility coefficients 𝒊𝒋 : when a unit load or a couple of magnitude , is exerted at , the

structure deforms and in particular there is a displacement at . Likewise, we have the
flexibility coefficient or which is the displacement at (along ) due to a unit load at .

Stiffness coefficients 𝒊𝒋 : force at displacement DOF due to a unit displacement at DOF

(i.e., 𝑗 ) with all other displacement DOF equal to zero (i.e., 𝑖 for
).
Relationship of Stiffness and Flexibility