The study of mechanical vibration is a fundamentally important aspect of engineering dynamics. A good understanding of how structures behave when vibrating is what allows engineers to build rotating machinery, to launch sensitive instruments into space, and to safely design buildings in seismic areas, to name just a few of the many applications.

The video below explores how vibrating systems can be modelled, starting with the simplest of models – the lumped parameter single degree of freedom model, where the system is represented by a point mass, representing the total mass of the system, and a spring, representing the stiffness of the system.

The video goes on to look at damping, the dissipation of energy that occurs in all real systems. Viscous damping is captured in the lumped parameter model using a dashpot.

The video covers a few other key topics as well, including forced vibration, resonance and multiple degree of freedom models.