SHREE

RESPONSE SPECTRUM

A response spectrum is a graphical plot of the frequency of an oscillator and its

damping. The response spectrum plot represents the peak or steady-state response
(velocity, displacement, or acceleration) of a series of oscillators of varying natural
frequency. In vibration analysis of any system, the response spectrum is very useful
as the resulting plot can provide the response of any linear system with respect to its
natural frequency.

Response Spectrum Analysis Method

Response spectrum plot gives the maximum response (that maybe maximum displacement,
maximum velocity, maximum acceleration, or any other parameter of interest) to the natural
frequency (or natural period) subjected to specified excitation for linear single degree of
freedom system oscillators. These plots are subjected to specific damping and it changes as
damping changes.

Here abscissa is natural frequency (or period) of system and ordinate is the maximum
response.

The plot of this type is shown here in figure, in which a one-story building is subjected to a
ground displacement indicated by us (t) and u indicates deflection.

For any linear single degree of freedom system, the response spectrum curve shown in
figure gives the maximum displacement of the mass m relative to the displacement at the
support which is (us-u) here.

Natural frequency of structure can be calculate W¿ √ K / M

❑
Let Consider 3 SDOF System of mass m1, m2, m3, having stiffness k1 K2, k3, damping c1,
c2, c3 and natural frequency w1, w2, w3 respectively.
Thus, to determine the maximum response of a linear single degree of freedom system
from the available spectral chart, for specified earthquake excitation, is important to
know the natural frequency of the system and damping.
If the natural frequency of structure coincides with the frequency of earthquake ground
motion, it leads to a resonance condition, which creates substantial damage to the
system. That’s the main reason, not all buildings collapse during an earthquake. The
natural frequency of building/structure is a property of height, stiffness, material, etc.
Buildings whose natural frequency matches with earthquake frequency collapse during an
earthquake while remaining are not experiencing major damage.

Parameters aff ecti ng Response Spectra

The response spectral values are dependent on various factors like,

 Soil condition
 Energy release mechanism
 Damping in the system
 Epicentral distance
 Focal depth
 Richter magnitude
 Time period of the system

Construction of Response Spectrum Plot

The construction of Response Spectrum requires the solution of a single degree of

freedom systems, for a sequence of natural frequency values and damping ratio in the
range of interest. Every solution provides only one point (with the maximum value) of the
response spectrum. All of these maximum response values are plotted against natural
frequency to construct a single response spectrum.
Since a large number of systems must be analysed in order to fully plot each response
spectrum, the task is lengthy and time-consuming. But once these curves are constructed
and available for the excitation of interest, the analysis for the design of structure
subjected to dynamic loading is reduced to a very simple calculation of the natural
frequency of the system and the use of response spectrum to calculate the maximum
response.

These response spectrum plots are created for specific areas of regions and different for
different regions. The study of geographic areas combined with an assessment of
historical earthquakes allows geologists to determine seismic risk and to create seismic
hazard maps for respective areas, which show the likely maximum response values to be
experienced in a region during an earthquake. 

An example of how we can get a response spectrum plot for a specific area of the region.

 Step 1: First, take the random measured ground motion from previous earthquake
records in that area. (Fig a)
 Step 2: Then sequence of tuned SDOF oscillators with some fixed damping values
attached to a shaker table and measured motion used to shake the table. (Fig b)
 Step 3: Response of all the SDOF oscillators are recorded and plotted for an individual
oscillator. (Fig c)
 Step 4: Maximum response for all individual oscillators are extracted to plot the
combined response. (Fig d)
Calculating the maximum response for a range of values of frequency and damping and
then plotting results graphically to get spectrum chart that shows the maximum response
for all possible single degree of freedom system to that component of earthquake. This
maximum response can be maximum displacements, maximum velocity or maximum
acceleration.
Seismic engineers and government planning departments use these values from the
spectrum chart to determine the appropriate earthquake loading for buildings in the
respective zone. Earthquake load impact calculations for any structure in that area of the
region are simplified to few steps to (a) calculating the natural frequency of the system,
(b) and then maximum response found from the respective spectrum chart for calculated
natural frequency. 

Pseudo-acceleration and Pseudo-velocity

Response spectrum plots can be plotted as maximum relative displacement, maximum

velocity or maximum acceleration. These three quantities are also known as spectral
displacement (SD), Spectral velocity (SV) and Spectral acceleration (SA) and also
proportional to each other.

The spectral displacement i.e. maximum relative displacement is proportional to spectral

acceleration i.e. maximum absolute acceleration. This can be demonstrated with simple
numerical iterations on the dynamic equation of motion.
Here, spectral acceleration is exactly equal to natural frequency square times
the spectral displacement when damping is zero.
Similarly spectral velocity is proportional to spectral displacement.

The acceleration and velocity so defined are called pseudo-acceleration and pseudo-
velocity, respectively. Pseudo-acceleration is very close to absolute acceleration and is the
same as absolute acceleration when there is no damping. Pseudo-velocity is the fictitious
velocity associated with the apparent harmonic motion for convenience.

Tripartite Response Spectra

It is possible to plot all three responses in a single chart using a logarithmic scale and it is
called the Tripartite plot.

A tripartite plot (also known as "four coordinate paper") consists of a logarithmic scale on
both the X and Y axes and two additional logarithmic scales that are derived from the X
and Y axes by some fixed relationship. It is typically used in vibration analyses to
determine the peak responses (acceleration, velocity, and displacement) of many different
frequency damped, single degree of freedom systems exposed to support motions. Those
support motions might be due to earthquakes, explosions, vehicle collisions, etc.
Generally a tripartite plot used in this manner will consist of frequency in Hertz on the X
axis, psuedo velocity (maximum relative displacement times frequency in radians) on the
Y axis, displacement lines at 45 degrees to the X axis, and acceleration lines at 135 degrees
to the Xaxis.
 

……….

First law: If there are no forces acting upon a particle, then the particle will move in a
straight line with constant velocity.
Second law: A particle particle acted upon by a force moves so that the force vector is
equal to the time rate of change of the linear momentum vector.
Third law: When two particles exert forces upon one another, the forces lie along the line
joining joining the particles particles and the corresponding corresponding force vectors
vectors are the negative of each other.

Single Degree of Freedom System

A vertical cantilever with the mass concentrated at its tip can be idealised as a single
degree of freedom (SDOF) system. The degree of freedom is represented by the lateral
displacement u of the mass.
Degree of Freedom
The minimum number of independent coordinates required to determine completely the
positions of all parts of a system at any instant of time defines the degree of freedom of
the system. A single degree of freedom system requires only one coordinate to describe
its position at any instant of time.

A vertical cantilever with the mass concentrated at its tip can be idealised as a single
degree of freedom (SDOF) system. The degree of freedom is represented by the lateral
displacement u of the mass.

FUNDAMENTALS OF THEORY OF VIBRATIONS

Free Vibration- If a system, after an initial disturbance, is left to vibrate on its own, the
ensuing vibration is known as free vibration. No external force acts on the system. The
oscillation of a simple pendulum is an example of free vibration.
Forced Vibration- If a system is subjected to an external force (often, a repeating type of
force), the resulting vibration is known as forced vibration. The oscillation that arises in
machines such as diesel engines is an example of forced vibration. If the frequency of the
external force coincides with one of the natural frequencies of the system, a condition
known as resonance occurs, and the system undergoes dangerously large oscillations.
Failures of such structures as buildings, bridges, turbines, and airplane wings have been
associated with the occurrence of resonance.
Damped Vibration
If no energy is lost or dissipated in friction or other resistance during oscillation, the
vibration is known as undamped vibration. If any energy is lost in this way, however, it is
called damped vibration.
In many physical systems, the amount of damping is so small that it can be disregarded
for most engineering purposes. However, consideration of damping becomes extremely
important in analysing vibratory systems near resonance.