Solution of a system of second-order homogeneous ordinary differential equations with constant Coefficients of the form
where B is a Positive Definite Matrix. To solve the vibration problem,
- 1. Solve the Characteristic Equation of B to get Eigenvalues , ...,
. Define
.
- 2. Compute the corresponding Eigenvectors , ..., .
- 3. The normal modes of oscillation are given by
, ...,
, where , ..., and , ..., are arbitrary
constants.
- 4. The general solution is
.
© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-26