Article 5.1.1 notes that loads can be classified as static or dynamic and that the distinguishing characteristic is the rate of application of load. If a load is applied slowly, it may be considered static. Since dynamic loads may produce stresses and deformations considerably larger than those caused by static loads of the same magnitude, it is important to know reasonably accurately what is meant by slowly.
A useful definition can be given in terms of the natural period of vibration of the structure or member to which the load is applied. If the time in which a load rises from zero to its maximum value is more than double the natural period, the load may be treated as static. Loads applied more rapidly may be dynamic. Structural analysis and design for such loads are considerably different from and more complex than those for static loads.
In general, exact dynamic analysis is possible only for relatively simple structures, and only when both the variation of load and resistance with time are a convenient mathematical function. Therefore, in practice, adoption of approximate methods that permit rapid analysis and design is advisable. And usually, because of uncertainties in loads and structural resistance, computations need not be carried out with more than a few significant figures, to be consistent with known conditions.
Properties of Materials under Dynamic Loading
In general mechanical properties of structural materials improve with increasing rate of load application. For low-carbon steel, for example, yield strength, ultimate strength, and ductility rise with increasing rate of strain. Modulus of elasticity in the elastic range, however, is unchanged. For concrete, the dynamic ultimate strength in compression may be much greater than the static strength.
Since the improvement depends on the material and the rate of strain, values to use in dynamic analysis and design should be determined by tests approximating the loading conditions anticipated.
Under many repetitions of loading, though, a member or connection between members may fail because of fatigue at a stress smaller than the yield point of the material. In general, there is little apparent deformation at the start of a fatigue failure. A crack forms at a point of high stress concentration. As the stress is repeated, the crack slowly spreads, until the member ruptures without measurable yielding. Though the material may be ductile, the fracture looks brittle.
Some materials (generally those with a well-defined yield point) have what is known as an endurance limit. This is the maximum unit stress that can be repeated, through a definite range, an indefinite number of times without causing structural
damage. Generally, when no range is specified, the endurance limit is intended for a cycle in which the stress is varied between tension and compression stresses of equal value.
A range of stress may be resolved into two components a steady, or mean, stress and an alternating stress. The endurance limit sometimes is defined as the maximum value of the alternating stress that can be superimposed on the steady stress an indefinitely large number of times without causing fracture.
Design of members to resist repeated loading cannot be executed with the certainty with which members can be designed to resist static loading. Stress concentrations may be present for a wide variety of reasons, and it is not practicable to calculate their intensities. But sometimes it is possible to improve the fatigue strength of a material or to reduce the magnitude of a stress concentration below the minimum value that will cause fatigue failure.
In general, avoid design details that cause severe stress concentrations or poor stress distribution. Provide gradual changes in section. Eliminate sharp corners and notches. Do not use details that create high localized constraint. Locate unavoidable stress raisers at points where fatigue conditions are the least severe. Place connections at points where stress is low and fatigue conditions are not severe. Provide structures with multiple load paths or redundant members, so that a fatigue crack in any one of the several primary members is not likely to cause collapse of the entire structure.
Fatigue strength of a material may be improved by cold-working the material in the region of stress concentration, by thermal processes, or by prestressing it in such a way as to introduce favorable internal stresses. Where fatigue stresses are unusually severe, special materials may have to be selected with high energy absorption and notch toughness.
Natural Period of Vibration
A preliminary step in dynamic analysis and design is determination of this period.
It can be computed in many ways, including by application of the laws of conservation of energy and momentum or Newtons second law, F M(dv/ dt), where F is force, M mass, v velocity, and t time. But in general, an exact solution is possible only for simple structures. Therefore, it is general practice to seek an approximate but not necessarily inexact solution by analyzing an idealized representation of the actual member or structure. Setting up this model and interpreting the solution require judgment of a high order.
Natural period of vibration is the time required for a structure to go through one cycle of free vibration, that is, vibration after the disturbance causing the motion has ceased.
To compute the natural period, the actual structure may be conveniently represented by a system of masses and massless springs, with additional resistances provided to account for energy losses due to friction, hysteresis, and other forms of damping. In simple cases, the masses may be set equal to the actual masses;
otherwise, equivalent masses may have to be computed (Art. 5.18.6). The spring constants are the ratios of forces to deflections.
For example, a single mass on a spring (Fig. 5.108b) may represent a simply supported beam with mass that may be considered negligible compared with the load W at midspan (Fig. 5.108a). The spring constant k should be set equal to the 
where g is the acceleration due to gravity, 386 in / s2. For greater accuracy, the computation can be repeated with Br1 as the assumed characteristic amplitudes.
When the Rayleigh method is applied to beams, the characteristic shape assumed initially may be chosen conveniently as the deflection curve for static loading.
The Rayleigh method may be extended to determination of higher modes by the Schmidt orthogonalization procedure, which adjusts assumed deflection curves to satisfy Eq. (5.246). The procedure is to assume a shape, remove components associated with lower modes, then use the Rayleigh method for the residual deflection curve. The computation will converge on the next higher mode. The method is shorter than the Stodola-Vianello procedure when only a few modes are needed.
For example, suppose the characteristic amplitudes Ar1 for the fundamental mode have been obtained and the natural frequency for the second mode is to be computed.
Assume a value for the relative deflection of the rth mass Ar2. Then, the shape with the fundamental mode removed will be defined by the displacements
Vibrations of Distributed Masses. For some structures with mass distributed throughout, it sometimes is easier to solve the dynamic equations based on distributed mass than the equations based on equivalent lumped masses. A distributed mass has an infinite number of degrees of freedom and normal modes. Every particle in it can be considered a lumped mass on springs connected to other particles.
Usually, however, only the fundamental mode is significant, though sometimes the second and third modes must be taken into account.
For example, suppose a beam weighs w lb / lin ft and has a modulus of elasticity E, psi, and moment of inertia I, in^4. Let y be the deflection at a distance x from one end. Then, the equation of motion is
span of beam, ft. To get T, divide the appropriate constant by EI /wL4.
To determine the characteristic shapes and natural periods for beams with variable cross section and mass, use the Rayleigh method. Convert the beam into a lumped-mass system by dividing the span into elements and assuming the mass of each element to be concentrated at its center. Also, compute all quantities, such as deflection and bending moment, at the center of each element. Start with an assumed characteristic shape and apply Eq. (5.255).
Impact and Sudden Loads
Under impact, there is an abrupt exchange or absorption of energy and drastic change in velocity. Stresses caused in the colliding members may be several times larger than stresses produced by the same weights applied statically.
An approximation of impact stresses in the elastic range can be made by neglecting the inertia of the body struck and the effect of wave propagation and assuming that the kinetic energy is converted completely into strain energy in that body. Consider a prismatic bar subjected to an axial impact load in tension. The energy absorbed per unit of volume when the bar is stressed to the proportional limit is called the modulus of resilience. It is given by Æ’ /2E, where Æ’y is the yield 2y stress and E the modulus of elasticity, both in psi.
Below the proportional limit, the unit stress, psi, due to an axial load U, in-lb, is
where A is the cross-sectional area, in2, and L the length of bar, in. This equation indicates that, for a given unit stress, energy absorption of a member may be improved by increasing its length or area. Sharp changes in cross section should be avoided, however, because of associated high stress concentrations. Also, uneven distribution of stress in a member due to changes in section should be avoided. For example, if part of a member is given twice the diameter of another part, the stress under axial load in the larger portion is one-fourth that in the smaller. Since the energy absorbed is proportional to the square of the stress, the energy taken per unit of volume by the larger portion is therefore only one-sixteenth that absorbed by the smaller. So despite the increase in volume caused by doubling of the diameter, the larger portion absorbs much less energy than the smaller. Thus, energy absorption would be larger with a uniform stress distribution throughout the length of the member.
Impact on Short Members. If a static axial load W would produce a tensile stress Æ’ in the bar and an elongation e’ , in, then the axial stress produced in a short member when W falls a distance h, in, is
These equations indicate that the stress and deformation due to an energy load may be considerably larger than those produced by the same weight applied gradually.
The same equations hold for a beam with constant cross section struck by a weight at midspan, except that Æ’ and Æ’ represent stresses at midspan and e and e , midspan deflections.=
According to Eqs. (5.261) and (5.262), a sudden load (h = 0) causes twice the stress and twice the deflection as the same load applied gradually.
Impact on Long Members. For very long members, the effect of wave propagation should be taken into account. Impact is not transmitted instantly to all parts of the struck body. At first, remote parts remain undisturbed, while particles struck accelerate rapidly to the velocity of the colliding body. The deformations produced move through the struck body in the form of elastic waves. The waves travel with a constant velocity, ft / s,
if Æ’ is in the elastic range. In a compression wave, the velocity of the particles is in the direction of the wave. In a tension wave, the velocity of the particles is in the direction opposite the wave.
In the plastic range, Eqs. (6.263) and (5.264) hold, but with E as the tangent modulus of elasticity. Hence, c is not a constant and the shape of the stress wave changes as it moves. The elastic portion of the stress wave moves faster than the wave in the plastic range. Where they overlap, the stress and irrecoverable strain are constant.
(The impact theory is based on an assumption difficult to realize in practice that contact takes place simultaneously over the entire end of the bar.)
At the free end of a bar, a compressive stress wave is reflected as an equal tension wave, and a tension wave as an equal compression wave. The velocity of the particles there equals 2v.
At a fixed end of a bar, a stress wave is reflected unchanged. The velocity of the particles there is zero, but the stress is doubled, because of the superposition of the two equal stresses on reflection.
For a bar with a fixed end struck at the other end by a moving mass weighing Wm lb, the initial compressive stress, psi, is
Dynamic Analysis of Simple Structures
Articles 5.181 to 5.18.3 present a theoretic basis for analysis of structures under dynamic loads. As noted in Art. 5.18.2, an approximate solution based on an idealized representation of an actual member of structure is advisable for dynamic analysis and design. Generally, the actual structure may be conveniently represented by a system of masses and massless springs, with additional resistances to account for damping. In simple cases, the masses may be set equal to the actual masses;
otherwise, equivalent masses may be substituted for the actual masses (Art. 5.18.6).
The spring constants are the ratios of forces to deflections (see Art. 5.18.2).
Usually, for structural purposes the data sought are the maximum stresses in the springs and their maximum displacements and the time of occurrence of the max imums. This time is generally computed in terms of the natural period of vibration of the member or structure, or in terms of the duration of the load. Maximum displacement may be calculated in terms of the deflection that would result if the load were applied gradually.
The term D by which the static deflection e , spring forces, and stresses are multiplied to obtain the dynamic effects is called the dynamic load factor. Thus, the dynamic displacement is
Multidegree Systems. A multidegree lumped-mass system may be analyzed by the modal method after the natural frequencies of the normal modes have been determined (Art. 5.18.2). This method is restricted to linearly elastic systems in which the forces applied to the masses have the same variation with time. For other cases, numerical analysis must be used.
In the modal method, each normal mode is treated as an independent one-degree system. For each degree of the system, there is one normal mode. A natural frequency and a characteristic shape are associated with each mode. In each mode, the ratio of the displacements of any two masses is constant with time. These ratios define the characteristic shape. The modal equation of motion for each mode is
Nonlinear Responses. When the structure does not react linearly to loads, the equations of motion can be solved by numerical analysis if resistance is a unique function of displacement. Sometimes, the behavior of the structure can be represented by an idealized resistance-displacement diagram that makes possible a solution in closed form. Figure 5.112a shows such a diagram.
Elastic-Plastic Responses. Resistance is assumed linear (R = ky) in Fig. 5.112a until a maximum Rm is reached. After that, R remains equal to Rm for increases in y substantially larger than the displacement ye at the elastic limit. Thus, some portions of the structure deform into the plastic range. Figure 5.112a, therefore, may be used for ductile structures only rarely subjected to severe dynamic loads. When
this diagram can be used for designing such structures, more economical designs can be produced than for structures limited to the elastic range, because of the high energy-absorption capacity of structures in the plastic range.
For a one-degree system, Eq. (5.273) can be used as the equation of motion for the initial sloping part of the diagram (elastic range). For the second stage, ye < y < ym, where ym is the maximum displacement, the equation is
