Simulating the transient behaviour of a simple pendulum using MATLAB

AIM: To simulate the transient behaviour of a simple pendulum using MATLAB

OBJECTIVE:

• To generate a plot describing the transient behaviour of the simple pendulum
• To create a GIF describing the animated motion of the simple pendulum

INTRODUCTION

A simple pendulum is defined to have an object that has a small mass, also known as the pendulum bob, which is suspended from a light wire or string.

It is an idealized mathematical model of a pendulum. This is a weight (or bob) on the end of a massless cord suspended from a pivot, without friction. When given an initial push, it will swing back and forth at a constant amplitude. Real pendulums are subject to friction and air drag, so the amplitude of their swing’s declines.

APPLICATIONS

• Clock
• Car Shock Absorbers
• Musical Instruments
• Bungee Jumping
• Diving Board
• The Process of Hearing
• Earthquake-proof buildings
• Metronome

FORMULA

`[(d^2theta)/dt^2] + [b/m][(d theta)/dt]+[g/L]sintheta = 0`

where

• b - damping coefficient
• l - Length of the string
• g - acceleration due to gravity
• m - the mass of the bob

The above equation is a second-order differential equation(ODE). So, it must be divided into two first-order differential equations.

They are as follows:-

• `(d theta_1)/dt = theta_2`
• `(d theta_2)/dt = -[b/m]theta_2 - (g/l)sin theta_1`

The following conditions are assumed during the conversion:-

• `theta = theta_1`
• `(d theta)/dt = (d theta_1)/dt = theta_2`
• `(d^2 theta)/dt^2 = d/dt[(d theta_1)/dt] = (d theta_2)/dt`

PROGRAM CODE

User-defined function

%A user defined function to generate the solution vector.

function[dtheta_dt]=ode_func(t,theta,b,g,l,m)
 theta1=theta(1);
 theta2=theta(2);
 dtheta1_dt=theta2;
 dtheta2_dt=-(b/m)*theta2-(g/l)*sin(theta1);
 [dtheta_dt]=[dtheta1_dt;dtheta2_dt];
 end

Main program code

%Program for simulating the transient behaviour of a simple pendulum
%using a second order ODE solver


clear all
close all
clc

%Input Parameters
l=1;
m=1;
b=0.05;
g=9.81;

%Initial condition
theta_0=[0;2.5];

%Time array
T_span=linspace(0,20,300);

%Solving the ODE
[t,results]=ode45(@(t,theta) ode_func(t,theta,b,g,l,m),T_span,theta_0);
plot(t,results(:,1),'black')
grid on;
hold on;
title('Transient behaviour of a simple pendulum')
plot(t,results(:,2),'red')
legend({'Displacement','Velocity'},'Location','southeast')
xlabel('Time')
ylabel('Plot')


%Animation depicting motion of the pendulum
ct=1;
figure(2)
for i=1:length(t)
    x0=0;
    y0=0;
    x(i)=l*sin(results(i,1));
    y(i)=-l*cos(results(i,1));
    plot([-2 2],[0 0],'linewidth',1)
    line([x0 x(i)],[y0 y(i)],'linewidth',1)
    hold on
    plot(x(i),y(i),'-O','markers',15,'markerfacecolor','r')
    title('Animation depicting motion of the pendulum')
    hold off
    grid on
    axis([-2 2 -2 2])
    pause(0.04)
    M(ct)=getframe(gcf);
    ct=ct+1;
    
end
movie(M)
Videofile=VideoWriter('Simple Pendulum.avi');
open(Videofile)
writeVideo(Videofile,M)
close(Videofile)

Procedure

1. Import neccesary modules for using built in callable functions for solving the ODE and plotting the graph.
2. Divide higher-order ODE into the first-order ODE and define in the function.
3. Define the initial conditions and angular velocity and displacement. The simulation time is taken in the range of 0-20 seconds.
4. The ODE is solved and the graph is plotted.
5. An animated video depicting the motion of the simple pendulum is generated.

RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS

CONCLUSION

Using the code above, we were able to succesfully generate a plot depicting the transient nature of the simple pendulum and also able to generate an animated video depicting the motion of the pendulum