Chaotic behavior of a parametrically excited nonlinear mechanical system

The chaotic dynamics of a single-degree-of-freedom nonlinear mechanical system under periodic parametric excitation is investigated. Besides the well known type-I and type-III intermittent transitions to chaos we give numerical evidence that the system can follow an alternative route to chaos via intermittency from an equilibrium state to a chaotic one, which was not found in the previous simulations of the dynamics of the system.     

Global transient dynamics of nonlinear parametrically excited systems

In this paper we examine the response of a typical nonlinear system that is subjected to parametric excitation. Particular attention is paid to how basins of attraction evolve such that the global transient stability of the system may be assessed. We show that at a forcing level that is considerably smaller than that at which the steady-state attractor loses its stability, there may exist a rapid erosion and stratification of the basin, signifying a global loss of engineering integrity of the system.We also show, for a system near its equilibrium state, that the boundaries in parameter space can become fractal. The significance of such an analysis is not only that it corresponds to a failure locus for a system subjected to a sudden pulse of excitation, but since the phase-space basin is often eroded throughout its central region, the determination of basin boundaries in control space can often reflect the characteristics of the phase-space basin structure, and hence on the macroscopic level they provide information regarding the global transient stability of the system.     

Dynamical analysis of two coupled parametrically excited van der Pol oscillators

The dynamical behavior of two coupled parametrically excited van der pol oscillators is investigated in this paper. Based on the averaged equations, the transition boundaries are sought to divide the parameter space into a set of regions, which correspond to different types of solutions. Two types of periodic solutions may bifurcate from the initial equilibrium. The periodic solutions may lose their stabilities via a generalized static bifurcation, which leads to stable quasi-periodic solutions, or via a generalized Hopf bifurcation, which leads to stable 3D tori. The instabilities of both the quasi-periodic solutions and the 3D tori may directly lead to chaos with the variation of the parameters. Two symmetric chaotic attractors are observed and for certain values of the parameters, the two attractors may interact with each other to form another enlarged chaotic attractor.     

Controlling erosion of safe basin in nonlinear parametrically excited systems

This paper considers the dynamical behavior of a Duffing-Mathieu type system with a cubic single-well potential during the principal parametric resonance. Both the cases of constant and time-dependent excitation amplitude are used to observe the variation of the extent and the rate of the erosion in safe basins. It is evident that the appearance of fractal basin boundaries heralds the onset of the losing of structural integrity. The minimum value of control parameter to prevent the basin from erosion is given along with the excitation amplitude varying. The results show the time-dependence of excitation amplitude can be used to control the extent and the rate of the erosion and delay the first occurrence of heteroclinic tangency. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and PSF of China.     

Global nonlinear distributed-parameter model of parametrically excited piezoelectric energy harvesters

A global nonlinear distributed-parameter model for a piezoelectric energy harvester under parametric excitation is developed. The harvester consists of a unimorph piezoelectric cantilever beam with a tip mass. The derived model accounts for geometric, inertia, piezoelectric, and fluid drag nonlinearities. A reduced-order model is derived by using the Euler–Lagrange principle and Gauss law and implementing a Galerkin discretization. The method of multiple scales is used to obtain analytical expressions for the tip deflection, output voltage, and harvested power near the first principal parametric resonance. The effects of the nonlinear piezoelectric coefficients, the quadratic damping, and the excitation amplitude on the output voltage and harvested electrical power are quantified. The results show that a one-mode approximation in the Galerkin approach is not sufficient to evaluate the performance of the harvester. Furthermore, the nonlinear piezoelectric coefficients have an important influence on the harvester’s behavior in terms of softening or hardening. Depending on the excitation frequency, it is determined that, for small values of the quadratic damping, there is an overhang associated with a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation.     

A new numerical technique for the analysis of parametrically excited nonlinear systems

A new computational scheme using Chebyshev polynomials is proposed for the numerical solution of parametrically excited nonlinear systems. The state vector and the periodic coefficients are expanded in Chebyshev polynomials and an integral equation suitable for a Picard-type iteration is formulated. A Chebyshev collocation is applied to the integral with the nonlinearities reducing the problem to the solution of a set of linear algebraic equations in each iteration. The method is equally applicable for nonlinear systems which are represented in state-space form or by a set of second-order differential equations. The proposed technique is found to duplicate the periodic, multi-periodic and chaotic solutions of a parametrically excited system obtained previously using the conventional numerical integration schemes with comparable CPU times. The technique does not require the inversion of the mass matrix in the case of multi degree-of-freedom systems. The present method is also shown to offer significant computational conveniences over the conventional numerical integration routines when used in a scheme for the direct determination of periodic solutions. Of course, the technique is also applicable to non-parametrically excited nonlinear systems as well.     

On stability of parametrically excited linear stochastic systems

The dynamic stability of a coupled two-degrees-of-freedom system subjected to parametric excitation by a harmonic action superimposed by an ergodic stochastic process is investigated. For the stability analysis, the method of moment functions is used. Explicit expressions for the stability of the second moments are obtained when the frequency of the harmonic excitation lies in the vicinity of the combination sum of the natural frequencies. Good agreement between the analytical and numerical results is obtained. As an application, the example of the flexural-torsional instability of a thin elastic beam under dynamic loading is considered     

Performance analysis of parametrically and directly excited nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester

Archive of Applied Mechanics - The performance of bimorph cantilever energy harvester subjected to horizontal and vertical excitations is investigated. The energy harvester is simulated as an...     

On the response of purely nonlinear oscillators: An Ateb-type solution for motion and an Ateb-type external excitation

This study is concerned with free and forced undamped purely nonlinear oscillators. First, the exact closed-form solution for free vibrations given in terms of the Ateb function is discussed. An insight is provided with respect to the period of vibrations and the harmonic content of the response. Then, forced purely nonlinear oscillators with an Ateb-type external excitation are considered. The exact solution for the forced response is obtained, the amplitude-frequency equation derived and frequency-response curves investigated. It is also shown how one can adjust the system parameters to cause a constant frequency/period of the forced response.     

On some performance characteristics of base excited vibration isolation systems with a purely nonlinear restoring force

Base excited vibration isolation systems with a purely nonlinear restoring force and a velocity nth power damper are considered. The restoring force has a single-term power form with the exponent that can be any non-negative real number. Approximations for the steady-state response at the frequency of excitation are obtained by using the Jacobi elliptic function with a changeable elliptic parameter and by applying an elliptic averaging method. The relative and absolute displacement transmissibility of this system are analysed. These performance characteristics are expressed in terms of the damping parameters, but they are also determined for an arbitrary non-negative real power of geometric nonlinearity, which represent new and so far unknown results. Some examples illustrating the effect of the system parameters on these performance characteristics are also presented.     

Chaos and bifurcation analysis of stochastically excited discontinuous nonlinear oscillators

Nonlinear Dynamics - Dynamics of discontinuous nonlinear systems subjected to random excitation is studied. Such systems occur in many mechanical and aerospace applications involving impact,...     

Nonzero mean response of nonlinear oscillators excited by additive Poisson impulses

This paper investigates the nonzero mean probability density function (PDF) of nonlinear oscillators under additive Poisson impulses. The PDF is governed by the generalized Fokker?CPlanck?CKolmogorov (FPK) equation which is also called the Kolmogorov?CFeller (KF) equation. An exponential-polynomial closure (EPC) method is adopted to solve the equation. Five examples are considered in numerical analysis to show the effectiveness of the EPC method. The nonzero mean response of nonlinear oscillators is formulated due to either nonlinearity type or nonzero mean amplitude of Poisson impulses. The analysis shows that the PDFs obtained with the EPC method agree with the simulated results when the polynomial order is 4 or 6. This agreement is also observed in the tail regions of the obtained PDFs. The comparison further shows that the nonzero mean PDF of displacement is nonsymmetrically distributed. Comparatively, the PDF of velocity still has a symmetrical distribution pattern when the nonlinearity only exists in displacement.     

Scaling behavior of coupled conservative weakly nonlinear oscillators

The scaling of the solution of coupled conservative weakly nonlinear oscillators is demonstrated and analyzed through evaluating the normal modes and their bifurcation with an equivalent linearization technique and calculating the general solutions with a method of multiple seales. The scaling law for coupled Duffing oscillators is that the coupling intensity should be proportional to the total energy of the system.Present address: Department of Chemistry and Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, U.S.A.     

On the transient response of forced nonlinear oscillators

We consider the transient response of a prototypical nonlinear oscillator modeled by the Duffing equation subjected to near resonant harmonic excitation. Of interest here is the overshoot problem that arises when the system is undergoing free motion and is suddenly subjected to harmonic excitation with a near resonant frequency, which leads to a beating type of transient response during the transition to steady state. In some design applications, it is valuable to know the peak value of this response and the manner in which it depends on system parameters, input parameters, and initial conditions. This nonlinear overshoot problem is addressed by considering the well-known averaged equations that describe the slowly varying amplitude and phase for both transient and steady state responses. For the undamped system, we show how the problem can be reduced to a single parameter χ that combines the frequency detuning, force amplitude, and strength of nonlinearity. We derive an explicit expression for the overshoot in terms of χ, describe how one can estimate corrections for light damping, and verify the results by simulations. For zero damping, the overshoot approximation is given by a root of a quartic equation that depends solely on χ, yielding a simple bound for the overshoot of lightly damped systems.     

Stochastic stability of parametrically excited random systems

Multidegree-of-freedom dynamic systems subjected to parametric excitation are analyzed for stochastic stability. The variation of excitation intensity with time is described by the sum of a harmonic function and a stationary random process. The stability boundaries are determined by the stochastic averaging method. The effect of random parametric excitation on the stability of trivial solutions of systems of differential equations for the moments of phase variables is studied. It is assumed that the frequency of harmonic component falls within the region of combination resonances. Stability conditions for the first and second moments are obtained. It turns out that additional parametric excitation may have a stabilizing or destabilizing effect, depending on the values of certain parameters of random excitation. As an example, the stability of a beam in plane bending is analyzed.Published in Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 40, No. 10, pp. 135–144, October 2004.     

Model simulation of parametrically excited ship rolling

Two different models for simulating the ship motion in longitudinal or oblique seas are presented and studied in detail. Particular attention is devoted to the parametrically induced rolling which may be established by means of the nonlinear coupling between both heave-roll and/or pitch-roll motions. It is proved that the phenomenon is likely to occur with this mechanism when the roll frequency is subharmonic of the encounter wave frequency and when the vertical motions become resonant.     

Coupled purely nonlinear oscillators: normal modes and exact solutions for free and forced responses

Nonlinear Dynamics - This article is concerned first with free vibrations in a chain of two-mass oscillators with purely nonlinear springs whose power of nonlinearity can be any real number higher...     

Non-smooth stability analysis of the parametrically excited impact oscillator

The aim of this paper is to give a Lyapunov stability analysis of a parametrically excited impact oscillator, i.e. a vertically driven pendulum which can collide with a support. The impact oscillator with parametric excitation is described by Hill's equation with a unilateral constraint. The unilaterally constrained Hill's equation is an archetype of a parametrically excited non-smooth dynamical system with state jumps. The exact stability criteria of the unilaterally constrained Hill's equation are rigorously derived using Lyapunov techniques and are expressed in the properties of the fundamental solutions of the unconstrained Hill's equation. Furthermore, an asymptotic approximation method for the critical restitution coefficient is presented based on Hill's infinite determinant and this approximation can be made arbitrarily accurate. A comparison of numerical and theoretical results is presented for the unilaterally constrained Mathieu equation.