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8.5: Damping

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It is instructive, at this point, to consider waves in systems with frictional forces. We have postponed this until now because it will be easier to understand what is happening in systems with damping now that we have discussed traveling waves.

The key observation is that in a translation invariant system, even in the presence of damping, the normal modes of the infinite system are exactly the same as they were without damping, because they are still determined by translation invariance. The normal modes are still of the form, e±ikx, characterized by the angular wave number k. Only the dispersion relation is different. To see how this goes in detail, let us recapitulate the arguments of chapter 5.

The dispersion relation for a system without damping is determined by the solution to the eigenvalue equation [ω2+M1K]Ak=0

where Ak is the normal mode with wave number k, Akjeijka,

with time dependence eiωt.5 We already know that Ak is a normal mode, because of translation invariance. This implies that it is an eigenvector of M1K. The eigenvalue is some function of k. We will call it ω20(k), so that M1KAk=ω20(k)Ak

This function ω20(k) determines the dispersion relation for the system without damping, because the eigenvalue equation, (8.75) now implies ω2=ω20(k).

We can now modify the discussion above to include damping in the infinite translation invariant system. In the presence of damping, the equation of motion looks like Md2dt2ψ(t)=MΓddtψ(t)Kψ(t),

where MΓ is the matrix that describes the velocity dependent damping. Then for a normal mode, ψ(t)=Akeiωt,

the eigenvalue equation now looks like [ω2iΓω+M1K]Ak=0.

Now, just as in (8.77) above, because of translation invariance, we know that Ak is an eigenvector of both M1K and Γ, M1KAk=ω20(k)Ak,ΓAk=γ(k)Ak.

Then, as above, the eigenvalue equation becomes the dispersion relation ω2=ω20(k)iγ(k)ω.

For all k, γ(k)0, because as we will see in (8.84) below, the force is a frictional force. If γ(k) were negative for any k, then the “frictional” force would be feeding energy into the system instead of damping it. Note also that if Γ=γI, then γ(k)=γ, independent of k. However, in general, the damping will depend on k. Modes with different k may get damped differently.

In (8.83), we see the new feature of translation invariant systems with damping. The only difference is that the dispersion relation becomes complex. Both ω20(k) and γ(k) are real for real k. Because of the explicit i in (8.83), either ω or k (or both) must be complex to satisfy the equation of motion.

Free Oscillations

For free oscillations, the angular wave numbers, k, of the allowed modes are determined by the boundary conditions. Typically, the allowed k values are real and ω20(k) is positive (corresponding to a stable equilibrium in the absence of damping). Then the modes of free oscillation are analogous to the free oscillations of a damped oscillator discussed in chapter 2. In fact, if we substitute αiω and Γγ(k) in (2.5), we get precisely (8.83). Thus we can take over the solution from (2.6), iω=γ(k)2±γ(k)24ω20(k).

This describes a solution that dies out exponentially in time. Whether it oscillates or dies out smoothly depends on the ratio of γ(k) to ω0(k), as discussed in chapter 2.

Forced Oscillation

clipboard_e05b8a71c51e5ed00284b6daa7ff9eca7.png8-3 – 8-5
Now consider a forced oscillation, in which we drive one end of a translation invariant system with angular frequency ω. After the free oscillations have died away, we are left with oscillation at the single, real angular frequency ω. As always, in forced oscillation problems, we think of the real displacement of the end of the system as the real part of a complex displacement, proportional to eiωt. Then the dispersion relation, (8.83), applies. Now the dispersion relation determines k, and k must be complex.

You may have noticed that none of the dispersion relations that we have studied so far depend on the sign of k. This is not an accident. The reason is that all the systems that we have studied have the property of reflection symmetry. We could change xx without affecting the physics. In fact, a translation invariant system that did not have this symmetry would be a little peculiar. As long as the system is invariant under reflections, xx, the dispersion relation cannot depend on the sign of k. The reason is that when xx, the mode eikx goes to eikx. If xx is a symmetry, these two modes with angular wave numbers k and k must be physically equivalent, and therefore must have the same frequency. Thus the two solutions for fixed ω must have the form: k=±(kr+iki)

Because of the ± sign, we can choose kr>0 in (8.85).

In systems with frictional forces, we always find ki0 for kr>0.

The reason for this is easy to see if you consider the traveling waves, which have the form eiωte±i(kr+iki)x

or ei(±krxωt)ekix.

From (8.88), it should be obvious what is going on. When the ± is +, the wave is going in the +x direction, so the sign of the real exponential is such that the amplitude of the wave decreases as x increases. The wave peters out as it travels! This is what must happen with a frictional force. The other sign would require a source of energy in the medium, so that the wave amplitude would grow exponentially as the wave travels. A part of an infinite damped traveling wave is animated in program 8-3.

The form, (8.88) has some interesting consequences for forced oscillation problems in the presence of damping. In damped, discrete systems, even in a normal mode, the parts of the system do not all oscillate in phase. In damped, continuous systems, the distinction between traveling and standing waves gets blurred.

Consider a forced oscillation problem for the transverse oscillation of a string with one end, at x=0 fixed, and the other end, x=L driven at frequency ω. It will not matter until the end of our analysis whether the string is continuous, or has beads with separation a such that na=L for integer n. The boundary conditions are ψ(L,t)=Acosωt,ψ(0,t)=0.

As usual, we regard ψ(x,t) as the real part of a complex displacement, ˜ψ(x,t), satisfying ˜ψ(L,t)=Aeiωt,˜ψ(0,t)=0.

If k, for the given angular frequency ω, is given by (8.85), then the relevant modes of the infinite system are those in (8.87), and we must find a linear combination of these two that satisfies (8.89). The answer is ˜ψ(x,t)=A[(ei(kr+iki)xei(kr+iki)xei(kr+iki)Lei(kr+iki)L)eiωt].

The factor in parentheses is constructed to vanish at x=0 and to equal 1 at x=L.

For a continuous string, the solution, (8.91), is animated in program 8-4. The interesting thing to notice about this is that near the x=L end, the solution looks like a traveling wave. The reason is that here, the real exponential factors in (8.91) enhance the left-moving wave and suppress the right-moving wave, so that the solution is very nearly a traveling wave moving to the left. On the other hand, near x=0, the real exponential factors are comparable, and the solution is very nearly a standing wave. We will discuss the more complicated behavior in the middle in the next chapter.

The same solution works for a beaded string (although the dispersion relation will be different). An example is shown in the animation in program 8-5. Here you can see very clearly that the parts of the system are not all in phase.

______________________
5In the presence of damping, the sign of i matters. The relations below would look different if we had used eiωt, and we could not use cos ωt or sin ωt.


This page titled 8.5: Damping is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Howard Georgi via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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