Bifurcation analysis of the motion of an asymmetric double pendulum subjected to a follower force: Codimension three problem

Local and global bifurcations in the motion of a double pendulum subjected to a follower force have been studied when the follower force and the springs at the joints have structural asymmetries. The bifurcations of the system are examined in the neighborhood of double zero eigenvalues. Applying the center manifold and the normal form theorem to a four-dimensional governing equation, we finally obtain a two-dimensional equation with three unfolding parameters. The local bifurcation boundaries can be obtained for the criteria for the pitchfork and the Hopf bifurcation. The Melnikov theorem is used to find the global bifurcation boundaries for appearance of a homoclinic orbit and coalescence of two limit cycles. Numerical simulation was performed using the original four-dimensional equation to confirm the analytical prediction.     

The destabilizing effect of external damping: Singular flutter boundary for the Pflüger column with vanishing external dissipation

Elastic structures loaded by non-conservative positional forces are prone to instabilities induced by dissipation: it is well-known that internal viscous damping destabilizes the marginally stable Ziegler's pendulum and Pflüger column (of which the Beck's column is a special case), two structures loaded by a tangential follower force. The result is the so-called ‘destabilization paradox’, where the critical force for flutter instability decreases by an order of magnitude when the coefficient of internal damping becomes infinitesimally small. Until now external damping, such as that related to air drag, is believed to provide only a stabilizing effect, as one would intuitively expect. Contrary to this belief, it will be shown that the effect of external damping is qualitatively the same as the effect of internal damping, yielding a pronounced destabilization paradox. Previous results relative to destabilization by external damping of the Ziegler's and Pflüger's elastic structures are corrected in a definitive way leading to a new understanding of the destabilizating role played by viscous terms.     

An analytical prediction of sliding motions along discontinuous boundary in non-smooth dynamical systems

This paper presents a method for the analytical prediction of sliding motions along discontinuous boundaries in non-smooth dynamical systems. The methodology is demonstrated through investigation of a periodically forced linear oscillator with dry friction. The switching conditions for sliding motions in non-smooth dynamical systems are given. The generic mappings for the friction-induced oscillator are introduced. From the generic mappings, the corresponding criteria for the sliding motions are presented through the force product conditions. The analytical prediction of the onset and vanishing of the sliding motions is illustrated. Finally, numerical simulations of sliding motions are carried out to verify the analytical prediction. This analytical prediction provides an accurate prediction of sliding motions in non-smooth dynamical systems. The switching conditions developed in this paper are expressed by the total force of the oscillator, and the nonlinearity and linearity of the spring and viscous damping forces in the oscillator cannot change such switching conditions. Therefore, the achieved force criteria can be applied to the other dynamical systems with nonlinear friction forces processing a C ⁰-discontinuity.     

Asynchronous free oscillations of linear mechanical systems: A general appraisal and a digression on a column with a follower force

The concept of asynchronous oscillatory response of mechanical systems in free vibrations is addressed as an introduction to a definition of asynchronous modes of vibration. Connection of the asynchronous modes with the localization and other dynamical phenomena is discussed. Then, conditions for the occurrence of asynchronous modes are investigated in depth. It is seen that a non-conservative system, with an asymmetric stiffness matrix – caused, for instance, by circulatory loads, may have an asynchronous mode. Yet, it is also seen that non-conservativeness is not actually mandatory. Two- to four-degree-of-freedom models of a column with a follower force are addressed, allowing for a mathematical modelling and phenomenological discussion.     

线性变厚度粘弹性矩形板在随从力作用下的动力稳定性

利用粘弹性微分型本构关系和薄板理论,对线性变厚度粘弹性矩形薄板建立了在切向均布随从力作用下的运动微分方程,采用微分求积法研究了在随从力作用下线性变厚度粘弹性矩形薄板的稳定性问题,具体对对边简支对边固支和三边简支一边固支条件下体变为弹性、畸变服从Kelvin-Voigt模型的变厚度粘弹性矩形板在随从力下的广义特征值问题进行了求解,分析了薄板的长宽比、厚度比及材料的无量纲延滞时间的变化对随从力作用下矩形薄板的失稳形式及相应的临界荷载的影响.     

Time series analysis of homoclinic nonlinear systems using a wavelet transform method

Homoclinic (and heteroclinic) trajectories are closed paths in phase space that connect one or more saddle points. They play an important role in the study of dynamical systems and are associated with the creation/destruction of limit cycles as a parameter is varied. Often, this creation/destruction process involves complicated sequences of bifurcations in small regions of parameter space and there is now an established theoretical framework for the study of such systems.

The eigenvalues of saddle points in the phase space determine the behaviour of the system. In this article we present a new eigenvalue estimation technique based on a wavelet transformation of a time series under study and compare it with an existing method based on phase space reconstruction. We find that the two methods give good agreement with theory using clean model data, but where noisy data are analysed the wavelet technique is both more robust and easier to implement.     

Slow Eigenvalues of Self-similar Solutions of the Dafermos Regularization of a System of Conservation Laws: an Analytic Approach

The Dafermos regularization of a system of n hyperbolic conservation laws in one space dimension has, near a Riemann solution consisting of n Lax shock waves, a self-similar solution u = u _ε(X/T). In Lin and Schecter (2003, SIAM J. Math. Anal. 35, 884–921) it is shown that the linearized Dafermos operator at such a solution may have two kinds of eigenvalues: fast eigenvalues of order 1/ε and slow eigenvalues of order one. The fast eigenvalues represent motion in an initial time layer, where near the shock waves solutions quickly converge to traveling-wave-like motion. The slow eigenvalues represent motion after the initial time layer, where motion between the shock waves is dominant. In this paper we use tools from dynamical systems and singular perturbation theory to study the slow eigenvalues. We show how to construct asymptotic expansions of eigenvalue-eigenfunction pairs to any order in ε. We also prove the existence of true eigenvalue-eigenfunction pairs near the asymptotic expansions.     

Experimental evidence of flutter and divergence instabilities induced by dry friction

Flutter and divergence instabilities have been advocated to be possible in elastic structures with Coulomb friction, but no direct experimental evidence has ever been provided. Moreover, the same types of instability can be induced by tangential follower forces, but these are commonly thought to be of extremely difficult, if not impossible, practical realization. Therefore, a clear experimental basis for flutter and divergence induced by friction or follower-loading is still lacking. This is provided for the first time in the present article, showing how a follower force of tangential type can be realized via Coulomb friction and how this, in full agreement with the theory, can induce a blowing-up vibrational motion of increasing amplitude (flutter) or an exponentially growing motion (divergence). In addition, our results show the limits of a treatment based on the linearized equations, so that nonlinearities yield the initial blowing-up vibration of flutter to reach eventually a steady state. The presented results give full evidence to potential problems in the design of mechanical systems subject to friction, open a new perspective in the realization of follower-loading systems and of innovative structures exhibiting ‘unusual’ dynamical behaviors.     

Spectra and pseudospectra of neutral delay differential equations with application to real-time substructuring

This paper deals with the computation of pseudospectra of neutral delay differential equations (NDDEs) with fixed finite delays. This method provides information on the sensitivity of eigenvalues of the system under perturbations of a given size, allowing one to analyse uncertainties in, for example, structural dynamical systems. Furthermore, pseudospectra computations are a fast and efficient method by which to identify the spectra of NDDEs in any chosen part of the complex plane. This is of particular advantage as the spectra of NDDEs consists of infinitely many eigenvalues. We illustrate these methods by considering a scalar second-order NDDE with one or more fixed delays. Such systems are used to model real-time substructuring experiments, where the delay arises from the response time of actuator(s) forming a coupling between a numerical model and the substructure being tested. We identify changes in the stability and sensitivity to perturbation of this system both as the delay time and as the mass of the substructure are varied. In particular, the latter reveals an essential instability in which infinitely many eigenvalues move to the right-half plane. Finally, we investigate the relationship between pseudospectra and the effect of periodic forcing on the substructured system.     

Experimental and numerical verification of bifurcations and chaos in cam-follower impacting systems

In this paper, we present the design, modelling and experimental validation of a novel experimental cam-follower rig for the analysis of bifurcations and chaos in piecewise-smooth dynamical systems with impacts. Experimental results are presented for a cam-follower system characterized by a radial cam and a flat-faced follower. Under variation of the cam rotational speed, the follower is observed to detach from the cam and then show the emergence of periodic impacting behaviour characterized by many impacts and chattering. Further variations of the cam speed cause the sudden transition to seemingly aperiodic behaviour. These results are compared with the numerical simulation of a mathematical model of the system which shows the same qualitative behaviour. Excellent quantitative agreement is found between the numerical and experimental results.     

Van der Pol type self-excited micro-cantilever probe of atomic force microscopy

A technique for dimensional reduction of nonlinear delay differential equations (DDEs) with time-periodic coefficients is presented. The DDEs considered here have a canonical form with at most cubic nonlinearities and periodic coefficients. The nonlinear terms are multiplied by a perturbation parameter. Perturbation expansion converts the nonlinear response problem into solutions of a series of nonhomogeneous linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with time-periodic coefficients. One set of linear nonhomogeneous ODEs is solved for each power of the perturbation parameter. Each ODE is solved by a Chebyshev spectral collocation method. Thus we compute a finite approximation to the nonlinear infinite-dimensional map for the DDE. The linear part of the map is the monodromy operator whose eigenvalues characterize stability. Dimensional reduction on the map is then carried out. In the case of critical eigenvalues, this corresponds to center manifold reduction, while for the noncritical case resonance conditions are derived. The accuracy of the nonlinear Chebyshev collocation map is demonstrated by finding the solution of a nonlinear delayed Mathieu equation and then a milling model via the method of steps. Center manifold reduction is illustrated via a single inverted pendulum including both a periodic retarded follower force and a nonlinear restoring force. In this example, the amplitude of the limit cycle associated with a flip bifurcation is found analytically and compared to that obtained from direct numerical simulation. The method of this paper is shown by example to be applicable to systems with strong parametric excitations.     

The influence of thermal relaxation on the oscillatory properties of two-gradient convection in a vertical slot

We study the effects of the Maxwell–Cattaneo (MC) law of heat conduction on the flow of a Newtonian fluid in a vertical slot subject to both vertical and horizontal temperature gradients. Working in one spatial dimension (1D), we employ a spectral expansion involving Rayleigh’s beam functions as the basis set, which are especially well-suited to the fourth order boundary value problem (b.v.p.) considered here, and the stability of the resulting dynamical system for the Galerkin coefficients is investigated. It is shown that the absolute value of the (negative) real parts of the eigenvalues are reduced, while the absolute values of the imaginary parts are somewhat increased, under the MC law. This means that the presence of the time derivative of the heat flux increases the order of the system, thus leading to more oscillatory regimes in comparison with the usual Fourier case. Moreover, no eigenvalues with positive real parts were found, which means that in this particular situation, the inclusion of thermal relaxation does not lead to destabilization of the motion.     

Non-conservative stability of multi-step non-uniform columns

The non-conservative stability of non-uniform columns under the combined action of concentrated and variably distributed forces is solved analytically. Two types of follower force system are considered: (i) concentrated follower forces and variably distributed follower forces, (ii) concentrated follower forces and variably distributed conservative forces. The exact solutions for stability of four kinds of one-step non-uniform columns subjected to the two types of follower force system are derived for the first time. Then a new exact approach, which combines the exact solutions of one-step columns and the transfer matrix method, is presented for the non-conservative stability analysis of multi-step non-uniform columns. The advantage of the proposed method is that the resulting eigenvalue equation for a multi-step non-uniform column with any kinds of two end support configurations, an arbitrary number of spring supports and concentrated masses can be conveniently determined from a second order determinant. The decrease in the determinant order, as compared with previously developed procedures, leads to significant savings in the computational effort. A numerical example shows that the results obtained from the proposed method are in good agreement with those determined from the finite element method (FEM), but the proposed method takes less computational time than FEM.     

Entropy of Dynamical Systems with Repetition Property

The repetition property of a dynamical system, a notion introduced in Boshernitzan and Damanik (Commun Math Phys 283:647–662, 2008), plays an importance role in analyzing spectral properties of ergodic Schrödinger operators. In this paper, entropy of dynamical systems with repetition property is investigated. It is shown that the topological entropy of dynamical systems with the global repetition property is zero. Minimal dynamical systems having both topological repetition property and positive topological entropy are constructed. This provides a class of ergodic Schrödinger operators with potentials generated by positive entropy minimal dynamical systems that, in contrast to common beliefs, admit no eigenvalues.     

Identifying Multidimensional Damage in a Hierarchical Dynamical System

In this paper, we present a novel method for multidimensional damage identification based on a dynamical systems approach to damage evolution. This approach does not depend on the knowledge of particular damage physics, and is appropriate for systems where damage evolves on much slower time scale than the directly observable dynamics. In an experimental context, the phase space reconstruction and locally linear models are used to quantify small distortions occurring in a dynamical system's phase space due to damage accumulation. These measurements are then related to the drifts in damage variables. A mathematical model of a harmonically driven cantilever beam in a force field of two battery-powered electromagnets is used to demonstrate validity of the method. It is explicitly demonstrated that an affine projection of the described feature vector accurately tracks the two competing damage processes. For practical damage identification purposes, the tracking data is analyzed using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and smooth orthogonal decomposition (SOD) methods. Both methods correctly identify the two dominant damage modes. However, the SOD is more impervious to changes in fast-time dynamics and provides a significantly better signal-to-noise ratio. The damage modes identified using SOD are demonstrated to be within a linear transformation from the actual damage states and can be used to reconstruct the corresponding phase space trajectory.     

Model reference adaptive control of a nonsmooth dynamical system

In this paper a modified model reference adaptive control (MRAC) technique is presented which can be used to control systems with nonsmooth characteristics. Using unmodified MRAC on (noisy) nonsmooth systems leads to destabilization of the controller. A localized analysis is presented which shows that the mechanism behind this behavior is the presence of a time invariant zero eigenvalue in the system. The modified algorithm is designed to eliminate this zero eigenvalue, making all the system eigenvalues stable. Both the modified and unmodified strategies are applied to an experimental system with a nonsmooth deadzone characteristic. As expected the unmodified algorithm cannot control the system, whereas the modified algorithm gives stable robust control, which has significantly improved performance over linear fixed gain control.     

Nonlinear chatter with large amplitude in a cylindrical plunge grinding process

The phenomenon that the stable smooth grinding process coexists with chatter vibrations with large amplitudes in a cylindrical plunge grinding process is investigated in this paper. In the analyzed dynamic model, the workpiece and the grinding wheel involved in the grinding process are regarded as a slender hinged-hinged Euler?CBernoulli beam and a damped spring mass system, respectively, and the contact force between the two is treated as the main factor that affects the dynamic behaviors of the process. Called regenerative force, the contact force represents the interaction with regenerative effects between the workpiece and the wheel. To clarify the relation between the force and the dynamical behaviors in the grinding process, all the effects of the system parameters related to the interaction, such as the grinding stiffness, the rotation speeds of the workpiece and the wheel, on the dynamic motions of the process are studied. To this end, the eigenvalues analysis is firstly carried out to find the chatter-free-region, in which the smooth grinding process is stable and the chatter vibration may be absent. And then the nonlinear chatter vibrations when the values of concerned parameter leave the chatter-free region are predicted numerically. It is interesting that both the supercritical and subcritical Hopf bifurcations are found on the same boundary of the chatter-free region. As we know, there must be a zone in the chatter-free region where the stable smooth grinding process coexists with the chatter vibration when the subcritical one arises and the switching point between the supercritical and the subcritical ones is a Bautin bifurcation point mathematically. Thus, the Bautin bifurcation analysis is performed to scan the subregion in which the smooth grinding process is not unconditional stable anymore.     

Application of new dynamical spectra of orbits in Hamiltonian systems

In the present article, we investigate the properties of motion in Hamiltonian systems of two and three degrees of freedom, using the distribution of the values of two new dynamical parameters. The distribution functions of the new parameters define the S(g) and the S(w) dynamical spectra. The first spectrum definition that is the S(g) spectrum will be applied in a Hamiltonian system of two degrees of freedom (2D), while the S(w) dynamical spectrum will be deployed in a Hamiltonian system of three degrees of freedom (3D). Both Hamiltonian systems, describe a very interesting dynamical system which displays a large variety of resonant orbits, different chaotic components, and also several sticky regions. We test and prove the efficiency and the reliability of these new dynamical spectra, in detecting tiny ordered domains embedded in the chaotic sea, corresponding to complicated resonant orbits of higher multiplicity. The results of our extensive numerical calculations suggest that both dynamical spectra are fast and reliable discriminants between different types of orbits in Hamiltonian systems, while requiring very short computation time in order to provide solid and conclusive evidence regarding the nature of an orbit. Furthermore, we establish numerical criteria in order to quantify the results obtained from our new dynamical spectra. A?comparison to other previously used dynamical indicators, reveals the leading role of the new spectra.     

Limit cycles of a double pendulum subject to a follower force

It is shown that there is a magnitude of the follower force at which two limit cycles, stable and unstable, are born in the phase space of a double simple pendulum     

Bifurcation characteristics analysis of a class of nonlinear dynamical systems based on singularity theory

A method for seeking main bifurcation parameters of a class of nonlinear dynamical systems is proposed. The method is based on the effects of parametric variation of dynamical systems on eigenvalues of the Frechet matrix. The singularity theory is used to study the engineering unfolding(EU) and the universal unfolding(UU) of an arch structure model, respectively. Unfolding parameters of EU are combination of concerned physical parameters in actual engineering, and equivalence of unfolding parameters and physical parameters is verified. Transient sets and bifurcation behaviors of EU and UU are compared to illustrate that EU can reflect main bifurcation characteristics of nonlinear systems in engineering. The results improve the understanding and the scope of applicability of EU in actual engineering systems when UU is difficult to be obtained.