AE 5332 Professor Dora E.

Musielak

Lecture 8
The 2-D Wave Equation

Let's now consider the vibrating motion of a stretched membrane on the x-y plane (2-D very
thin flexible surface) and find the solution to its governing equation.

Solution of 2-D Vibrating Membrane

Find a solution

of the wave equation

(1)

that satisfies the B.C.

(2)
(zero deflection at the boundary edge of the membrane)
and the I.C.s
(3)

(4)

Step 1:

Use method of separation of variables.

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Let
(5)
Substitute (5) into (1) and obtain

To separate variables, divide by

In order to obtain solutions, we make the above expression equal to a constant. We can
show that only negative values of the constant will lead to solutions that satisfy (2). Thus,

and obtain for

an ODE
(6)

where

And a PDE for

(7)
Equation (7) is the 2-D Helmholtz equation. To solve it, apply the method of separation of
variables. Let
(8)
Substitute (8) into (7) and rearrange

Divide by

So

The above expressions must equal a constant. We can show that only a negative constant,
say
, will lead to solutions that satisfy the B.C. (2).

From this, we obtain 2 ODEs for the

and

functions, respectively,
(9)

(10)

where
Step 2:

Satisfy the B.C.s

The general solutions of (9) and (10) are, respectively,

From (5) and (2) we know that

corresponds to

So,

This yields the condition

on the boundary of the membrane. This

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Clearly, for

we must have

that is

Clearly, for

we must have

that is

and we have found solutions for

and

Thus, the functions

or
(11)

are solutions of (7) that satisfy the B.C. (2).

Now, since

in (10), and

so that to

there correspond values in (6)

in (6), we have

(12)

these values represent the temporal frequencies of the vibrating membrane (in
rad/sec), and the corresponding general solution of (6) is
(13)
We conclude that the functions resulting from (11) and (13),

are solutions of the wave equation (1) that satisfy the B.C. (2). That is,
(14)

Equation (14) gives the eigenfunctions, and (12) gives the eigenvalues of the vibrating 2D membrane.
Step 3:

Solve the entire problem

Find a solution that also satisfies (3) and (4),

Consider the double series

or
(15)

where, from (12), the temporal frequency of the vibrating membrane is

From this and I.C. (3)

(16)

This expression represents a double Fourier series for the expansion of a function
Let's assume
coefficient

in (3) can be developed in such a double series, so the Fourier

in (16) can be determined.

Let's set
(17)
and write (16) as

This is a Fourier sine series representation of

is

, and the coefficient of the expansion

(18)

Also (17) is the Fourier sine series of

with coefficient

Thus, we obtain the generalized Euler formula, by substituting (18) into above expression
(19)

for
Equation (19) is the Fourier coefficient of the double Fourier series (16).
Finally, we apply the second I.C. (4) to (15):

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Assume that
before we obtain

can be developed into this double Fourier series, and proceeding as

(20)

for
Thus, for (15) to satisfy the I.C.s (3) and (4) the coefficients
(19) and (20).

and

Of course, if the initial velocity of the vibrating membrane is

(shape) is given by

where

must be given by
, then its deflection

is determined with (19).

Compare equations (15), (19), and (20) with those in the textbook (chapter 19, section 19.3):

Can you explain the differences?

Example 1. Determine the vibrating motion of a thin rectangular elastic plate of sides
by
, if the tension force applied is
. Assume the density of the
3
material is 2.5 kg/m . The initial displacement of the plate is represented by the function

measured in meters. The motion begins from rest.

Solution:

Since

and the solution reduces to

where

for our case,

We use integration by parts to solve each integral. When we do, the first integral gives

for the second integral we should get

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For even

the integrals are zero.

And from (12) we obtain the eigenvalues or temporal frequencies

and the solution becomes

Using computer software we would find that the coefficients of the double sum decrease
very fast.

Now we use the equations in the textbook to illustrate their use in the solution of a
vibrating membrane.
Example 2. Obtain the solution of a vibrating membrane of size
when
. Assume
Solution: From equation (16a) in the textbook,

where

since

for the case

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comparing RHS and LHS of this we observe that

all other
so the temporal frequency is

and the overall solution is

Governing Equation of Vibrating Beam of length L

Assume a horizontal beam of length L is subjected to small vertical vibrations. Can we
determine its deformation
? Assume the beam is subjected to the following
conditions:

Now, if the beam is clamped at the left and is free at the right end, what are the boundary
conditions?

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The governing differential equation of motion of vibrating beams is given by

Let us examine the physical meaning of the boundary conditions. As noted in class, u is the
dimensionless displacement, the first derivative
is the dimensionless slope, the
second derivative
is the dimensionless moment, and the third derivative
is the dimensionless shear. Four combinations of end conditions are possible:
For hinged end:

For clamped end:

For free end:

For sliding end: :

These conditions are shown in Figure 1 where D, S, M, and Q represent displacement,

slope, moment and shear respectively.