Elastic response of a free half-space to random force excitations applied on the boundary

A response of an elastic half-space to random forces applied normally to the free boundary is studied. This paper is the second part of the study we presented in [I.A. Shalimova, K.K. Sabelfeld, The response of an elastic three-dimensional half-space to random correlated displacement perturbations on the boundary, Physica A 389 (21) (2010) 4436–4449] where the case of random displacements on the boundary was considered. We analyze the white noise excitations in detail, and derive explicitly the mean of the elastic energy, the strain and displacement correlation tensors. Simulation algorithms are constructed both for displacement and strain random fields, which enables us to calculate any desired statistical characteristics.     

Dynamic response of linear structures to correlated random impulses

A systematic analysis of the dynamic response of linear continuous structures to randomly arriving impulses is presented. A counting (or point) process characterizing the considered stream of impulses is described by the product density functions of degree one and two. By making use of a normal mode approach and assuming specific forms for the product densities (characterizing the expected arrival rate of the impulses and their correlation) the formulae for the variances and cross-covariances of modal responses are derived. The variance of the plate response is obtained and discussed for different practical situations and the results are shown graphically.     

The covariance response of linear systems to locally stationary random excitation

A simple method is given for calculating the covariance response of linear, time-invariant systems to random excitation processes which are locally stationary, or approximately so. As an illustration, the method is used to estimate the response of an idealized model of a ten-storey building to non-stationary ground acceleration; the accuracy of the estimated response is assessed by a comparison with the results of a less approximate, but lengthier, general calculation method, previously published.     

Stationary response of combined linear dynamic systems to stationary excitation

The stationary response of a broad class of combined linear systems to stationary random excitation is determined by the normal mode method. The systems are characterized by a viscously damped simple beam (or string, membrane, thin plate or shell, etc.) connected at discrete points to a multiplicity of viscously damped linear oscillators and/or masses. The solution of the free vibration problem by way of Green functions and the deterministic forced vibration problem by modal analysis for both proportional and non-proportional damping is reviewed. The orthogonality relation for the natural modes of vibration is used to derive a unique relationship between the cross-spectral density functions of the applied forces and the cross-spectral density functions of the generalized forces. Finally, the response spectral density functions and the mean square responses of the beam and oscillators are derived in closed form, exact for the proportionally damped system and approximate for the non-proportionally damped system.     

Response of uni-modal duffing-type harvesters to random forced excitations

Linear energy harvesters have a narrow frequency bandwidth and hence operate efficiently only when the excitation frequency is very close to the fundamental frequency of the harvester. Consequently, small variations of the excitation frequency around the harvester's fundamental frequency drops its small energy output even further making the energy harvesting process inefficient. To extend the harvester's bandwidth, some recent solutions call for utilizing energy harvesters with stiffness-type nonlinearities. From a steady-state perspective, this hardening-type nonlinearity can extend the coupling between the excitation and the harvester to a wider range of frequencies. In this effort, we investigate the response of such harvesters, which can be modeled as a uni-modal duffing-type oscillator, to White Gaussian and Colored excitations. For White excitations, we solve the Fokker-Plank-Kolmogorov equation for the exact joint probability density function of the response. We show that the expected value of the output power is not even a function of the nonlinearity. As such, under White excitations, nonlinearities in the stiffness do not provide any enhancement over the typical linear harvesters. We also demonstrate that nonlinearities in the damping and inertia may be used to enhance the expected value of the output power. For Colored excitations, we use the Van Kampen expansion and long-time numerical integration to investigate the influence of the nonlinearity on the expected value of the output power. We demonstrate that, regardless of the bandwidth or the center frequency of the excitation, the expected value of the output power decreases with the nonlinearity. With such findings, we conclude that energy harvesters modeled as uni-modal duffing-type oscillators are not good candidates for harvesting energy under forced random excitations. Using a linear transformation, results can be extended to the base excitation case.     

A new approach to the random field problem

A new approach to quenched random problems, based on constructing an equivalent annealed system, is presented. The difficulties with the existing solutions of the random field problem are discussed. The new approach is applied to the random field problem yielding a different new result for the dimensionality shift. A by-product of this result is that the lower critical dimension is 2 for the Ising model.     

Response of a strongly non-linear oscillator to narrowband random excitations

The principal resonance of a van der Pol-Duffing oscillator subject to narrowband random excitations has been studied. By introducing a new expansion parameter the method of multiple scales is adapted for the strongly non-linear system. The behavior of steady state responses, together with their stability, and the effects of system damping and the detuning, and magnitude of the random excitation on steady state responses are analyzed in detail. Theoretical analyses are verified by some numerical results. It is found that when the random noise intensity increases, the steady state solution may change form a limit cycle to a diffused limit cycle, and the system may have two different stable steady state solutions for the same excitation under certain conditions. The results obtained for the strongly non-linear oscillator complement previous results in the literature for weakly non-linear systems.     

A method of moments for calculating dynamic responses beyond linear response theory

A method of moments for calculating the dynamic response of periodically driven overdamped nonlinear stochastic systems in the general response sense is proposed, which is a modification of the method of moments confined within linear response theory. The calculating experience suggests that the proposed technique is simple and efficient in implementation, and the comparison with stochastic simulation shows that the first three orders of susceptibilities calculated by the proposed technique have high accuracy. The dependence of the spectral amplification parameters at the first three harmonics on the noise intensity is also investigated, and another observed phenomenon of stochastic resonance in the systems induced by the location of a single periodic orbit is disclosed and explained.     

Responses of discretized systems under narrow band nonstationary random excitations. Part 1: linear problems

The extended stochastic central difference (ESCD) method is proposed as a viable alternative for computing linear responses of discretized multi-degrees-of-freedom (mdof) systems under narrow band stationary and nonstationary random disturbances. The method provides a means of controlling the center frequencies and bandwidths of narrow band stationary and nonstationary random excitation processes. It is suitable for larger-scale random response analysis of complicated structures idealized by the finite element method. Its additional important feature is that application of normal mode or complex normal mode analysis or direct numerical integration algorithms such as the fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme is not required. Examples, including one of flow-induced vibration of a pipe containing a moving fluid are included to demonstrate: (1) the capability of the proposed method and difference between responses of discretized systems under narrow band and wide band random excitations, and (2) its accuracy and efficiency by way of comparison to the Monte Carlo simulation data. Generalization of the ESCD method for computation of responses of nonlinear mdof systems is presented in a companion paper.     

A new formulation for the bethe approach to lattice statistics

An improved mathematical treatment is given for the approximate statistics of the Ising problem based on configurations of local Bethe clusters. The essential step in the development is to write the configuration probability for the Bethe cluster in terms of the probabilities for subclusters. Exact statistical mechanical results are used to interrelate the probabilities. The technique is illustrated first for a simple ferromagnetic lattice and then applied to the order-disorder problems of binary and ternary alloys on the face centered cubic lattice. In each ease the final equations which need solution are derived by strictly algebraic means. The improvement in mathematical treatment is such that these equations are identical with high order approximations of the very different cluster variation method.     

A new formulation of the Hartree method

A new form of the Hartree equations containing variational potentials is presented. These equations are linear and not coupled. Additive “one-particle” energies are defined. Advantages of the new formulation are discussed.     

Time-dependent variance and covariance of responses of structures to non-stationary random excitations

In this paper techniques for the analysis of non-stationary random responses of linear structures, discretized by the finite element method so that they can be analyzed as multi-degree of freedom systems, subjected to non-stationary random excitation are developed. The non-stationary random excitation is represented as a product of (a) an exponentially decaying function and a white noise process, and (b) a modulating function in the form of an exponential envelope and a white noise process. Closed form expressions for the time-dependent variance and covariance of response of structures are presented. Application of these expressions is made for the analysis of non-stationary random responses of a physical model of a class of mast antenna structures subjected to base excitation. It is concluded that (a) the coupling terms do have a definite influence on the response; the magnitude of the influence is proportional to the amount of damping in the structure and proximity of the modes excited; (b) the non-stationary random excitations considered are general in that the modulating functions are not necessarily identical, and therefore the influence of various modulating functions of the excitations applied to different locations of the structure on responses can be examined quantivatively; and (c) for a given damping parameter the magnitudes of the modulating function parameters cannot be chosen arbitrarily though the shapes of normalized modulating functions can be selected to best fit the excitation realizations.