Bifurcations on a spring-pendulum oscillator

In this paper we study experimentally the dynamics of a non linear system: a spring pendulum coupled to an oscillator. The system was tested using a hybrid technique called Real Time Dynamic Substructuring (RTDS)1, 2]. RTDS is a testing technique that involves splitting the system under study into two subsystems: one will be physically tested (physical substructure) and the other will be simulated in the computer (numerical model). These substructures interact in real time through a set of transfer systems. RTDS is a very powerful experimental methodology that not only allows full scale and real time testing but also real-time bifurcation tracking in complex engineering systems 3, 4]. In our hybrid experiment the spring pendulum is taken to be the physical substructure while oscillator is the simulated numerical model. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)