Dynamic interactions of an integrated vehicle–electromagnetic energy harvester–tire system subject to uneven road excitations

An investigation is undertaken of an integrated mechanical-electromagnetic coupling system consisting of a rigid vehicle with heave, roll, and pitch motions, four electro-magnetic energy harvesters and four tires subject to uneven road excitations in order to improve the passengers' riding comfort and harvest the lost engine energy due to uneven roads. Following the derived mathematical formulations and the proposed solution approaches, the numerical simulations of this interaction system subject to a continuous sinusoidal road excitation and a single ramp impact are completed. The simulation results are presented as the dynamic response curves in the forms of the frequency spectrum and the time history, which reveals the complex interaction characteristics of the system for vibration reductions and energy harvesting performance. It has addressed the coupling effects on the dynamic characteristics of the integrated system caused by:(1) the natural modes and frequencies of the vehicle;(2) the vehicle rolling and pitching motions;(3) different road exci-tations on four wheels;(4) the time delay of a road ramp to impact both the front and rear wheels, etc., which cannot be tackled by an often used quarter vehicle model. The guide-lines for engineering applications are given. The developed coupling model and the revealed concept provide a means with analysis idea to investigate the details of four energy harvester motions for electromagnetic suspension designs in order to replace the current passive vehicle isolators and to harvest the lost engine energy. Potential further research directions are suggested for readers to consider in the future.     

Bifurcation of a modified railway wheelset model with nonlinear equivalent conicity and wheel–rail force

This paper presents the bifurcation behaviors of a modified railway wheelset model to explore its instability mechanisms of hunting motion. Equivalent conicity data measured from China high-speed railway vehicle are used to modify the wheelset model. Firstly, the relationships between longitudinal stiffness, lateral stiffness, equivalent conicity and critical speed are taken into account by calculating the real parts of the eigenvalues of the Jacobian matrix and Hurwitz criterion for the corresponding linear model. Secondly, measured equivalent conicity data are fitted by a nonlinear function of the lateral displacement rather than are considered as a constant as usual. Nonlinear wheel–rail force function is used to describe the wheel–rail contact force. Based on these modifications, a modified railway wheelset model with nonlinear equivalent conicity and wheel–rail force is set up, and then, some instability mechanisms of China high-speed train vehicle are investigated based on Hopf bifurcation, fold (limit point) bifurcation of cycles, cusp bifurcation of cycles, Neimark–Sacker bifurcation of cycles and 1:1 resonance. In particular, fold bifurcation of cycles can produce a vast effect on the hunting motion of the modified wheelset model. One of the main reasons leading to hunting motion is due to the fold bifurcation structure of cycles, in which stable limit cycles and unstable limit cycles may coincide, and multiple nested limit cycles appear on a side of fold bifurcation curve of cycles. Unstable hunting motion mainly depends on the coexistence of equilibria and limit cycles and their positions; if the most outward limit cycle is stable, then the motion of high-speed vehicle should be safe in a reasonable range. Otherwise, if the initial values are chosen near the most outward unstable limit cycle or the system is perturbed by noises, the high-speed vehicle will take place unstable hunting motion and even lead to serious train derailment events. Therefore, in order to control hunting motions, it may be the easiest way in theory to guarantee the coexistence of the inner stable equilibrium and the most outward stable limit cycle in a wheelset system.

     

Bifurcations and chaos in a discrete predator–prey model with Crowley–Martin functional response

In this paper, a discrete-time predator–prey model with Crowley–Martin functional response is investigated based on the center manifold theorem and bifurcation theory. It is shown that the system undergoes flip bifurcation and Neimark–Sacker bifurcation. An explicit approximate expression of the invariant curve, caused by Neimark–Sacker bifurcation, is given. The fractal dimension of a strange attractor and Feigenbaum’s constant of the model are calculated. Moreover, numerical simulations using AUTO and MATLAB are presented to support theoretical results, such as a cascade of period doubling with period-2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32 orbits, period-10, 20, 19, 38 orbits, invariant curves, codimension-2 bifurcation and chaotic attractor. Chaos in the sense of Marotto is also proved by both analytical and numerical methods. Analyses are displayed to illustrate the effect of magnitude of interference among predators on dynamic behaviors of this model. Further the chaotic orbit is controlled to be a fixed point by using feedback control method.     

Dynamical analysis of a pest management Leslie–Gower model with ratio-dependent functional response

Nonlinear Dynamics - Agricultural pests are great threat for agricultural production, and the development of effective pest control methods is becoming an interesting topic and attracts great...     

On the response spectrum of Euler–Bernoulli beams with a moving mass and horizontal support excitation

In this study, the response spectrum of a time-varying system such as a beam subjected to moving masses under a harmonic and earthquake support excitations is explored. The excitations are supposed to act on the horizontal directions of the beam axis. The inertial effect of the moving masses on the natural frequencies of the beam for different cases of loading is investigated and a critical value of a so called parameter “mass staying time” is presented to avoid dynamic instability of the system. Finally, some 3D response spectra for different supports excitations as well as the beam natural frequencies are depicted.     

Dynamical behaviors of a trimolecular response model with impulsive input

In the paper, we consider a trimolecular response model with impulsive input. Sufficient conditions for globally stable positive equilibrium point of the trimolecular response model with constant input are obtained. By impulsive differential theory, we obtain conditions for permanence of the trimolecular response model with impulsive input. By numerical analysis, we demonstrate complex phenomena such as limit cycles, periodic solutions, and chaos.     

Dynamic behavior of a stochastic SIQS epidemic model with Lévy jumps

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this paper, we propose a stochastic SIQS epidemic model with Lévy jumps and investigate sufficient conditions of the extinction and persistence of the disease. Then, we...     

Dynamic flight stability of hovering model insects: theory versus simulation using equations of motion coupled with Navier–Stokes equations

In the present paper, the longitudinal dynamic flight stability properties of two model insects are predicted by an approximate theory and computed by numerical sim- ulation. The theory is based on the averaged model （which assumes that the frequency of wingbeat is sufficiently higher than that of the body motion, so that the flapping wings＇ degrees of freedom relative to the body can be dropped and the wings can be replaced by wingbeat-cycle-average forces and moments）; the simulation solves the complete equations of motion coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations. Comparison between the theory and the simulation provides a test to the validity of the assumptions in the theory. One of the insects is a model dronefly which has relatively high wingbeat frequency （164 Hz） and the other is a model hawkmoth which has relatively low wingbeat frequency （26 Hz）. The results show that the averaged model is valid for the hawkmoth as well as for the dronefly. Since the wingbeat frequency of the hawkmoth is relatively low （the characteristic times of the natural modes of motion of the body divided by wingbeat period are relatively large） compared with many other insects, that the theory based on the averaged model is valid for the hawkmoth means that it could be valid for many insects.     

Simulations of vertical jet penetration using a filtered two-fluid model in a gas–solid fluidized bed

The influence of a vertical jet located at the distributor in a cylindrical fluidized bed on the flow behavior of gas and particles was predicted using a filtered two-fluid model proposed by Sundaresan and coworkers. The distributions of volume fraction and the velocity of particles along the lateral direction were investigated for different jet velocities by analyzing the simulated results. The vertical jet penetration lengths at the different gas jet velocities have been obtained and compared with predictions derived from empirical correlations; the predicted air jet penetration length is discussed. Agreement between the numerical simulations and experimental results has been achieved.     

Bifurcation of a predator–prey model with disease in the prey

In this paper, a predator–prey model with disease in the prey is considered. Assume that the predator eats only the infected prey, and the incidence rate is nonlinear. We study the dynamics of the model in terms of local analysis of equilibria and bifurcation analysis of a boundary equilibrium and a positive equilibrium. We discuss the Bogdanov–Takens bifurcation near the boundary equilibrium and the Hopf bifurcation near the positive equilibrium; numerical simulation results are given to support the theoretical predictions.     

Visualization of deflagration-to-detonation transitions in a channel with repeated obstacles using a hydrogen–oxygen mixture

The deflagration-to-detonation transition in a 100 mm square cross-section channel was investigated for a highly reactive stoichiometric hydrogen oxygen mixture at 70 kPa. Obstacles of 5 mm width and 5, 10, and 15 mm heights were equally spaced 60 mm apart at the bottom of the channel. The phenomenon was investigated primarily by time-resolved schlieren visualization from two orthogonal directions using a high-speed video camera. The detonation transition occurred over a remarkably short distance within only three or four repeated obstacles. The global flame speed just before the detonation transition was well below the sound speed of the combustion products and did not reach the sound speed of the initial unreacted gas for tests with an obstacle height of 5 and 10 mm. These results indicate that a detonation transition does not always require global flame acceleration beyond the speed of sound for highly reactive combustible mixtures. A possible mechanism for this detonation initiation was the mixing of the unreacted and reacted gas in the vicinity of the flame front convoluted by the vortex present behind each obstacle, and the formation of a hot spot by the shock wave. The final onset of the detonation originated from the unreacted gas pocket, which was surrounded by the obstacle downstream face and the channel wall.     

Properties of the Eulerian–Lagrangian method using linear interpolators in a three-dimensional shallow water model using z-level coordinates

We investigate the impact of the inexact interpolation on the Eulerian–Lagrangian solution of the advection equation by combining numerical experiments and formal analysis. The simulations, respectively, using the Eulerian–Lagrangian method (ELM) and the upwind scheme are compared. The artificial resistance of the ELM is observed which is characterised by the higher free-surface elevation and the distorted turbulent properties at a smaller time step. Through analysis, we find that the abnormalities are caused by the fact the conventional linear interpolation does not adapt well to the nonlinear velocity distribution, which produces an advection computation error that increases with a decreasing time step. The phenomena are explained and an improved method ELM is proposed based on the illustrations and analysis. The new method combines the face-controlled interpolation and the adjustable sub time steps to skip the large computation error domain in the backtracking, and it is validated by the original test case.     

Singularity analysis of response bifurcation for a coupled pitch–roll ship model with quadratic and cubic nonlinearity

Nonlinear Dynamics - Based on the coupling of roll and pitch motion of ships, a mathematical model with quadratic and cubic nonlinear terms is presented. Primary resonance is discussed by the...     

Pattern dynamics of a spatial predator–prey model with noise

A spatial predator–prey model with colored noise is investigated in this paper. We find that the number of the spotted pattern is increased as the noise intensity is increased. When the noise intensity and temporal correlation are in appropriate levels, the model exhibits phase transition from spotted to stripe pattern. Moreover, we show the number of the spotted and stripe pattern, with respect to both noise intensity and temporal correlation. These studies raise important questions on the role of noise in the pattern formation of the populations, which may well explain some data obtained in the ecosystems.