D-4767 1 Properties of Damped Oscillations Systems Prepared for the MIT System Dynamics in Education Project Under the Supervision of Prof. Jay W. Forrester by Helen Zhu June 3, 1998 Copyright © 1998 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Permission granted to distribute for non-commercial educational purposes.D-4767 3 Table of Contents 1. ABSTRACT 5 2. INTRODUCTION 3. THE GENERIC STRUCTURE 4. PROPERTIES OF DAMPED OSCILLATIONS SYSTEMS 4.1 AMPLITUDE 12 4.2 DEGREE OF DAMPING 15 4.2.1 UNDER-DAMPED SYSTEM 16 4.2.2 CRITICALLY-DAMPED SYSTEM 18 4.2.3 OVER-DAMPED SYSTEM 19 4.2.4 UNDERSTANDING DAMPING 20 4.3 PERIOD 21 5. CONCLUSION 22 6. APPENDIX: ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE MODEL EQUATIONS 5 6 8 22D-4767 5 1. ABSTRACT Properties of Damped Oscillations Systems is the fourth paper in a series dedicated to understanding oscillations. Please read Generic Structures in Oscillating Systems I1 , Oscillating Systems II: Sustained Oscillation2, and Generic Structures: Damped Oscillations3, before continuing with this paper. This paper assumes knowledge of STELLA software, as well as simple system dynamics structures such as positive and negative feedback, exponential growth, S-shaped growth, and sustained oscillations. This paper will examine the structural features of a damped oscillations system that lead to underdamped. overdamped, and critically damped behavior. System analysis will be conducted with a damped version of the Academic Performance Model from the Oscillating Systems II: Sustained Oscillation paper. Exercises will follow based on the and the Cleanliness of a College Dorm Room Model from the same paper. 2. INTRODUCTION Previously in Road Maps, readers were introduced to the generic structure of damped oscillations systems, as well as the process to transform a sustained oscillations system into a damped oscillations system by adding a negative feedback loop. This paper will explore the properties of the damped oscillations structure and the behaviors that can result from it. The reader will gain a better understanding of the leverage points in a damped oscillations system and how policy changes can affect the system behavior. 1 Celeste V. Chung, 1994. Generic Structures in Oscillating Systems I (D-4426-1), System Dynamics in Education Project, System Dynamics Group, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 17, 25 p. 2 Kevin A. Agatstein, 1997. Oscillating Systems II: Sustained Oscillation (D-4602), System Dynamics in Education Project, System Dynamics Group, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 15, 31 p. 3 Todd B. Kamin and Kevin M. Stange, 1999. Generic Structures: Damped Oscillations (D-4690), System Dynamics in Education Project, System Dynamics Group, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Work in progress.6 D-4767 3. THE GENERIC STRUCTURE Figure 1 shows the generic structure of damped oscillations systems: PARAMETER ONE Stock Two Stock One change in stock one change in stock two outflow PARAMETER TWO PARAMETER THREE Figure 1: Generic Structure of Damped Oscillations Systems A damped oscillations generic structure is simply a sustained oscillations generic structure with an additional negative feedback loop. In Figure 1, for example, the negative feedback loop between “Stock Two” and “outflow” gradually drains “Stock Two.” As “Stock Two” decreases, “change in stock one” decreases, so “Stock One” does not quite grow as much as it would in a sustained oscillations structure. The damped growth of “Stock One” hinders positive “change in stock two.” A reduced flow limits the growth of “Stock Two,” and the effect propagates in the system until the two stocks approach equilibrium. The graph in Figure 2 illustrates the behavior of a damped oscillations generic structure (simulated with arbitrary parameter values and initial values) :D-4767 7 1: Stock One 2: Stock Two 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 Time Figure 2: Behavior of Damped Oscillations System Depending on the parameter values and initial values of the system, a damped oscillations generic structure can produce behavior of varying amplitude, degree of damping, and period of oscillations. This paper will use a damped Academic Performance Model to illustrate the following properties of damped oscillations systems. Amplitude of Oscillations • The maximum amplitude of the damped system depends on the initial imbalance in the system, that is, the gap between the equilibrium and initial stock values. • The maximum amplitude of the damped system is lower than that of the undamped system. • Altering parameter values other than desired stock values does not change the equilibrium point. Degree of Damping • The amplitude of each successive peak in the damped oscillations system is determined by the strength of the additional negative feedback loop.8 D-4767 • Changing the strength of the negative feedback loop produces under-damped, critically-damped, or over-damped oscillations. A system is critically-damped when the value of its damping factor (“parameter three” in Figure 1) is the square root of four times the product of “parameter one” and “parameter two.” • A system is under-damped when “parameter three” is smaller than the critically-damped value and over-damped when “parameter three” is larger than the critically-damped value. Period of Oscillations • The period of oscillations in a damped oscillations system is greater than the period in the corresponding sustained oscillations system. Finally, this paper will present two more damped oscillations models to demonstrate the transferability of the generic structure. 4. PROPERTIES OF DAMPED OSCILLATIONS SYSTEMS EFFECT OF GRADE GAP ON STUDYING Hours of Weekly Studying change in hours of studying to attain GPA Current Grades net improvement in grades EFFECT OF EXTRA STUDYING ON GRADES amount of extra studying NORMAL AMOUNT OF STUDYING grade gap DESIRED GPAD-4767 9 Figure 3: Undamped Academic Performance Model4 Figure 3 shows an Academic Performance Model capturing the dynamics of a student’s struggle to achieve a desired Grade Point Average, also known as GPA (GPA is measured on a scale of 0 to 4.0). The model follows the generic structure for sustained oscillations. Nan, a high school student, starts out with a GPA of 3.0, represented by the stock “Current Grades.” She, however,