What Function Models Linear Amplitude Decay?

7 replies · 5K views · last reply
houlahound
Messages
907
Reaction score
223
I collected data on a periodic mechanical motion. The amplitude is damped linearly. What mathematical function models linear amplitude decay. All I can find is exponential decay of a sine wave.
 
hi all. I tried multiplying by a linear function ie;

-0.1x*sin(20x)

to get;

Graph of a damped oscillation, a blue sinusoid on a grid with x-axis ticks at 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, whose amplitude grows as x increases rather than decays.
in comparison an exponential multiplying factor gives this with the envelope of the amplitude decreasing exponentially;
Graph of a damped oscillation with the y-axis labelled Amplitude at the top and -Amplitude at the bottom, zero marked on the axis; the wave's peaks decrease steadily in height along the x-axis.
my data looks like this with a linear envelope;

Red dotted oscillating curve on a grid with black straight lines forming a converging envelope above and below, horizontal green and red reference lines near the right side, amplitude decreasing over time.


the linear multiplier clearly does not work to model this data. this should be a simple model but my math is not working.

any tips to general models to account for the data above appreciated.
 
Your amplitude decreases so you need to multiply by a decreasing linear function, something like (1-x) rather than x.

Actually your decay may be exponential but the time constant is much larger than the period of the periodic function.
So you will have something like
## e^{ \frac{-t}{\tau}} sin(\omega t) ##
If t is much smaller than ## \tau ## this can be approximated by
## (1-\frac{t}{\tau})sin(\omega t) ##
and will look like a linear decay of the sin wave.
 
I might have to calculate by hand but my plotting tool for this input as you suggest;

Screenshot of a plotting tool input box containing (1-.5x)*sin(10x), with the same expression rendered below as (1 − .5x) × sin(10x).


gives the following output;

Graph of a damped oscillation curve plotted on a grid, with y-axis labelled 20, 40, -20, -40 and x-axis labelled 20, 40, 60, 80, 100; the amplitude grows with x rather than decaying.
 
Look at your linear part: It starts at 1, then goes to zero for x=2. You plot it up to x=100 where it is increasing in magnitude again.

Try something like 1-0.01*x if you want an x-range up to 100.

It looks like your sine function takes degrees as input, which is quite odd in the context of those problems.
 
Your data plot has no unit so it is impossible to guess reasonable values of parameters.
You need to adjust the parameters in the function to fit your actual plot.

If you extend the plot beyond 10 s the amplitude it will increase.

Here is an example of parameters showing the desired behavior:
f[t] = (1 - t/10) Sin[2 t]

Plot of a damped oscillation: a blue sine-like wave with decreasing amplitude over x from 0 to 10, bounded by a straight red line decreasing from 1.0 to 0 on the y-axis.
hébergeur d image gratuit
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: houlahound
I wish I could like your post more than once, you nailed it.

will put up some data next chance I get.cheers