20

Modal Analysis
of MDOF Unforced
Undamped Systems

201
Lecture 20: MODAL ANALYSIS OF MDOF UNFORCED UNDAMPED SYSTEMS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
20.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
20.2 Modal Analysis of Unforced Undamped MDOF System . . . . . 203
20.2.1 Natural Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
20.2.2 Vibration Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
20.2.3 Generalized Mass and Stiffness . . . . . . . . . . . 205
20.2.4 Eigenvector Mass Orthonormalization . . . . . . . . . 205
20.2.5 Generalized Coordinates and Modal Matrix . . . . . . . 206
20.2.6 Modal Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
20.2.7 Modal Initial Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
20.3 Unforced Response Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

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 20.2 MODAL ANALYSIS OF UNFORCED UNDAMPED MDOF SYSTEM

20.1. Introduction
This subject of this Lecture and of the next one is modal analysis. This is a technique by which the
equations of motion (EOM), which are originally expressed in physical coordinates, are transformed
to modal coordinates using the eigenvalues and eigenvectors gotten by solving the undamped
frequency eigenproblem. The transformed equations are called modal equations. In a mathematical
context, modal coordinates are also called generalized coordinates, or principal coordinates. For
structural dynamics they can be interpreted as response amplitudes of orthonormalized vibration
modes.
The distinguishing feature of modal equations is that for an undamped system they uncouple.
Consequently, each modal equation may be solved independently of the others. Once computed,
modal responses may be transformed back to physical coordinates and superposed to produce the
physical response of the original system.
The method is a particular case of what is known in applied mathematics as orthogonal projection
methods. Instead of tackling the original equations directly, they are projected onto another space
(the modal space in the case of dynamics) in which equations decouple.
20.2. Modal Analysis of Unforced Undamped MDOF System
Here we retake the two-DOF example introduced in 19.1. As numerical values we take*
m 1 = 2, m 2 = 1, c1 = c2 = 0, k1 = 6, k2 = 3, p1 = p2 = 0. (20.1)
The resulting undamped and unforced system is displayed in Figure 20.1. The known matrices and
vectors in the general EOM: Mu + Cu + Ku = p, become
       
2 0 0 0 9 3 0
M= , C= , K= , p= . (20.2)
0 1 0 0 3 3 0
and the equations become
       
2 0 u 1 9 3 u1 0
+ = . (20.3)
0 1 u 2 3 3 u2 0
20.2.1. Natural Frequencies
The free-vibration eigenproblem associated with (20.3) is
          
9 3 U1 2 2 0 U1 9 22 3 U1 0
= , or = . (20.4)
3 3 U2 0 1 U2 3 3 2 U2 0
The characteristic polynomial equation is
 
9 22 3
det = 18 152 + 24 = (3 22 )(6 2 ) = 0. (20.5)
3 3 2
The roots of (20.5) give the two squared frequencies
3
12 = = 1.5, 22 = 6. (20.6)
2

* Note that no units are specified; being tacitly understood that a consistent set of physical units, SI or English, is used
throughout.

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Lecture 20: MODAL ANALYSIS OF MDOF UNFORCED UNDAMPED SYSTEMS

(a) (b)

k1 = 6
Static equilibrium
position Fs1 = k1 u1

u 1 = u1(t)
Mass m 1 = 2

..
Fs2 FI1 = m 1 u1
Static equilibrium k2 = 3
position
Fs2 = k2 (u2u1)

u 2 = u2(t)
Mass m 2 = 1

..
x FI2 = m 2 u 2

Figure 20.1. Two-DOF, unforced, undamped spring-mass example system: (a) configuration, (b) DFBD.

20.2.2. Vibration Modes

To get U1 , replace 12 = 3/2 into the second of (20.4), set its first entry U11 to one, and solve for
the second entry U12 :
         
92 (3/2) 3 U11 6 3 U11 0 1
= = U1 = . (20.7)
3 33/2 U12 3 3/2 U12 0 2
To get U2 , replace 22 = 6 into the second of (20.4), set its first entry U21 to one, and solve for the
second entry U22 :
         
92 6 3 U21 3 3 U21 0 1
= = U2 = . (20.8)
3 36 U22 3 3 U22 0 1
We now apply the first normalization method described in 19.3.3, by forcing the largest entry to
be +1:    
1/2 1
1 = 2 U1 =
1
, 2 = U2 . (20.9)
1 1
The vibration modes are pictured in Figure 20.2. Note that in the first mode the masses oscillate in
phase while in the second one they are 180 out of phase, moving opposite to each other.
It is convenient at this point to verify the orthogonality property: iT M j = 0 and iT K j = 0
for i
= j. Here only one combination, namely i = 1 and j = 2, needs to be tested:
     
2 0 1 9 3 1
1 M 2 = [ 1/2 1 ]
T
= 0, 1 K 2 = [ 1/2 1 ]
T
= 0. (20.10)
0 1 1 3 3 1

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20.2 MODAL ANALYSIS OF UNFORCED UNDAMPED MDOF SYSTEM

Mode 1, 21 = 3/2 Mode 2, 22 = 6

1/2 Mass m 1 1

Red lines mark the

static equilibrium
positions of the masses

1
1 Mass m 2

Figure 20.2. Vibration modes for example system.

Note that there is no need to explicitly check that 2T M 1 = 0 and 2T K 1 = 0 because

(1T M 2 )T = 2T MT 1 = 2T M 1 , since M = MT if M is symmetric. Likewise for K.
The vibration modes (20.9) are orthogonal but not orthonormal with respect to the mass matrix.
To achieve that property it is necessary to rescale them so that generalized masses are unity. This
is done next.
20.2.3. Generalized Mass and Stiffness

Next we compute the generalized masses and stiffnesses associated with the modes (20.10):

 
2 0 1/2
M1 = M 1 = [ 1/2 1 ]
1T = 3/2,
0 1 1
  
2 0 1
M2 = 2 M 2 = [ 1 1 ]
T
= 3,
0 1 1
   (20.11)
9 3 1/2
K 1 = 1 K 1 = [ 1/2 1 ]
T
= 9/4,
3 3 1
  
9 3 1
K 2 = 2 K 2 = [ 1 1 ]
T
= 18.
3 3 1

Quick check:
K1 9/4 K2 18
12 = = = 3/2, 22 = = = 6, (20.12)
M1 3/2 M2 3
as expected. Note that should eigenvectors be normalized in a different way, M1 , M2 , K 1 , K 2 will
be generally different, but the ratios i2 = K i /Mi remain invariant.

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Lecture 20: MODAL ANALYSIS OF MDOF UNFORCED UNDAMPED SYSTEMS

20.2.4. Eigenvector Mass Orthonormalization

Next we renormalize 1 and 2 to get unit generalized masses. These rescaled vectors will be
1 and
initially denoted by 2 , respectively. After renormalization the tildes are dropped.

Suppose T M
1 = c1 1 . To find c1 , insert this into 1 = 1 = (c1 T ) M (c1 1 ) = c2 T M 1 =
1 1 1 1
c12 3/2, whence c1 = 1/ 3/2 = 2/3. Likewise c2 = 1/ 3. Dropping the tildes for brevity,
the mass-orthonormalized vibration modes are
         
2 1/2 0.4088 1 1 0.5773
1 = = , 2 = = (20.13)
3 1 0.8165 3 1 0.5773

After this renormalization,

3
1T M 1 = 1, 2T M 2 = 1, 1T K 1 = = 12 , 2T K 2 = 6 = 22 . (20.14)
2
20.2.5. Generalized Coordinates and Modal Matrix
We will express the displacement vector u(t) in terms of normal coordinates 1 (t) and 2 (t), as
follows:
   
u 1 (t) def 1 (t)
u= = 1 1 (t) + 2 2 (t) = [ 1 2 ] = . (20.15)
u 2 (t) 2 (t)

In a mathematical context, the i (t)s are called generalized coordinates or principal coordinates.
They represent the amplitude of the orthonormalized mode shapes, or modal amplitudes for short.
Equation (20.15) is an instance of modal superposition, which is a general feature of linear dynamical
systems.
Two new matrix symbols appear in (20.15). The normal coordinate vector collects 1 (t) and
2 (t) as its entries. The modal matrix is formed by stacking the mass-orthogonal eigenvectors
as columns: 1
1  
6 3 0.4082 0.5773
= [ 1 2 ] = = . (20.16)
2 1 0.8165 0.5773
6 3
Note that u = and u = , because does not depend on time. With the help of , the
orthonormality conditions can be expressed compactly as
   2   
1 0 1 0 3/2 0
M = Mg = I =
T
, K = Kg = diag[i ] =
T 2
= .
0 1 0 22 0 6
(20.17)
Here Mg and Kg denote the generalized mass matrix and generalized stiffness matrix, respectively.
If is built with mass-orthogonalized eigenvectors, as in (20.16), Mg reduces to the identity matrix
while Kg becomes a diagonal matrix with squared frequencies stacked along its diagonal.
This is a consequence of the so-called expansion theorem for MDOF systems; in the applied mathematics context it is
known as the spectral decomposition. See Section 10.1.9 of the Craig-Kurdila textbook for details.
The Craig-Kurdila textbook uses bold italics symbols for generalized mass and stiffness matrices. Since those fonts are
not available to the TEX document processor used for these Lectures, we shall use g subscripts to denote those quantities.

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 20.3 UNFORCED RESPONSE EXAMPLE

20.2.6. Modal Equations of Motion

To transform the undamped, unforced EOM: Mu + Ku = 0 to modal coordinates, replace u =
and u = into it, and premultiply by T :
T M + T K = T 0 = 0. (20.18)
Using the generalized matrices introduced in (20.17) we get
+ Kg = 0, (20.19)

For the example problem,

       
1 0 1 (t) 3/2 0 1 (t) 0
+ = . (20.20)
0 1 2 (t) 0 6 2 (t) 0
Because the matrices in (20.20) are diagonal, (20.20) uncouples into two homogeneous, second-
order ODE already in canonical form:
1 (t) + (3/2) 1 (t) = 0, 2 (t) + 6 2 (t) = 0. (20.21)
Each ODE models an unforced, undamped SDOF oscillator. As such it may be treated using the
methods of Lecture 17 as long as initial conditions (IC) are known. Once solutions 1 (t) and 2 (t)
are available, they can be combined via the mode superposition relation (20.15) to get the physical
response u(t) = (t). But to solve (20.21) we need their IC in modal coordinates.
20.2.7. Modal Initial Conditions
Suppose that the initial conditions for a MDOF system are
u(0) = u0 ,
u(0) = v0 . (20.22)
Here u0 and v0 denote vectors of initial displacements and velocities, respectively. Because u(t) =

(t) and u(t) = (t)
for any time t, setting t = 0 we get
u0 = u(0) = (0),
v0 = u(0) = (0).
(20.23)
These can be solved for 0 = (0) and 0 = (0)
by inverting the modal matrix:
0 = (0) = 1 u0 , 0 = (0)
= 1 v0 . (20.24)
or equivalently, solving the linear systems (20.23). But there is a more elegant scheme that only
requires matrix multiplication. Postmultiplying both sides of T M = I by 1 gives 1 =
T M, whence
0 = T M u0 , 0 = T M v0 . (20.25)

Remark 20.1. Should the eigenvectors i not be mass-orthonormal, we have the more complicated rela-
tions Mg 0 = T M u0 and Mg 0 = T M v0 , in which Mg = T M is the generalized mass matrix.
Consequently
0 = M1
g M u0 ,
T
0 = M1
g M v0 .
T
(20.26)

Since Mg is always diagonal, so is M1 g . Consequently (20.26) merely amounts to scaling entries of 0 and
0 by reciprocals of the generalized masses.

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Lecture 20: MODAL ANALYSIS OF MDOF UNFORCED UNDAMPED SYSTEMS

1 .
0.6 u1(t)
0.4 u1(t) 0.5
Displacements

0.2

Velocities
0
0
0.2 0.5
0.4 .
u2(t) 1 u2(t)
0.6
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time t Time t
Figure 20.3. Response histories for example system under initial conditions u 1 (0) = 1, others zero.

20.3. Unforced Response Example

The following initial conditions (IC) are specified for the 2-DOF mass-spring system of Figure
20.1: mass m 1 is given a unit initial velocity along +x, while all other initial values are zero. In
matrix form:
   
0 1
u0 = , v0 = . (20.27)
0 0

The modal IC are obtained from (20.25) as

1
  2     
10 2 0 0 0
0 = = M u0 =
T 6 6 = ,
20 1
1 0 1 0 0
3 3 (20.28)
1 2
  2     
10 6 6 2 0 1 6 0.8165
0 = = M v0 =
T
= = .
20 1 1 0 1 0 2 1.1547
3 3 3

The solution of the modal equations (20.20) for the initial conditions (20.28) are

10 2 2
1 (t) = sin 1 t = sin( 6 t) = sin( 3/2 t) = 0.6667 sin(1.2247 t),
1 3 3 3
(20.29)
20 2/ 3 2
2 (t) = sin 2 t = sin( 6t) = sin( 6 t) = 0.4714 sin(2.4495 t).
2 6 3 2

These can be transformed back to physical coordinates via the modal matrix, as per u(t) = (t).
Here are the calculations for the mass displacement responses, with numerical expressions listed

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 20.3 UNFORCED RESPONSE EXAMPLE

to 4-place accuracy:
1
 
  1 2 sin(3/2 t)  1 2
sin(

3/2t) + sin( 6t)
u 1 (t) 3 3
= 6 
3 3
2 sin( 6 t) = 
u 2 (t) 2 1 1 2
2 sin( 3/2t) sin( 6t)
6 3 3 2 3 3

 
0.2722 sin(1.2247t) + sin(2.4495t)
= 
0.2722 2 sin(1.2247t) sin(2.4495t)
(20.30)
Mass velocities are obtained by direct numerical differentiation with respect to t:
 
 
1 cos(3/2t) + 2 cos(6t) 
0.3333 cos(1.2247t) + 2 cos(2.4495t) 
u 1 (t)  = 
3
=
u 2 (t) 2
cos( 3/2t) cos( 6t) 0.6667 cos(1.2247t) cos(2.4495t)
3
(20.31)
The results (20.30) and (20.31) are plotted in Figure 20.3 over 0 t 12. Since there is no
damping, the harmonic oscillation patterns visible in the Figure will repeat with no distortions or
amplitude decay. In other words, the free vibrations will go on forever.* Observe that the initial
conditions (20.27) are correctly reproduced.

* The reason behind the repeating oscillation patterns in Figure 20.3 is that frequency 2 is exactly twice 1 in the example.

209