Stability in a case of motion of a paraboloid over a plane

We solve a nonlinear orbital stability problem for a periodic motion of a homogeneous paraboloid of revolution over an immovable horizontal plane in a homogeneous gravity field. The plane is assumed to be absolutely smooth, and the body–plane collisions are assumed to be absolutely elastic. In the unperturbed motion, the symmetry axis of the body is vertical, and the body itself is in translational motion with periodic collisions with the plane.The Poincare´ section surfacemethod is used to reduce the problemto studying the stability of a fixed point of an area-preserving mapping of the plane into itself. The stability and instability conditions are obtained for all admissible values of the problem parameters.     

Stability of high-frequency periodic motions of a heavy rigid body with a horizontally vibrating suspension point

The motion of a heavy rigid body one of whose points (the suspension point) executes horizontal harmonic high-frequency vibrations with small amplitude is considered. The problem of existence of high-frequency periodic motions with period equal to the period of the suspension point vibrations is considered. The stability conditions for the revealed motions are obtained in the linear approximation. The following three special cases of mass distribution in the body are considered; a body whose center of mass lies on the principal axis of inertia, a body whose center of mass lies in the principal plane of inertia, and a dynamically symmetric body.     

Stability of spatial motion of a body with flow separation and rotation about the symmetry axis

A model describing the spatial motion (without separation and with nonsymmetric separation of the flow in the medium) of a body rotating about its symmetry axis in a resisting medium is constructed. Several criteria for stability of the body rectilinear motion are obtained in the case of frozen axial velocity. The influence of retardation on the stability of rectilinear motion of a cone is considered.     

Features of Movement of a Rotational Body

Vertical motion of a rotational body in an air environment as a mechanical model of a rotochute is considered. It is assumed that, in the process of motion, the symmetry axis of the rotational body remains vertical and the rotational body itself rotates relative to this axis. The aerodynamic impact model is based on a quasistatic approach. Steady regimes of motion are identified, their stability is analyzed, and certain features of transition regimes are explored, including those related to the exchange between the energy of rotational motion and the energy of translational motion.     

Stability problem for pendulum-type motions of a rigid body in the Goryachev-Chaplygin case

We consider the motion of a rigid body with a single fixed point in a homogeneous gravity field. The body mass geometry and the initial conditions for its motion correspond to the case of Goryachev—Chaplygin integrability. We study the orbital stability problem for periodic motions corresponding to vibrations and rotations of the rigid body rotating about the equatorial axis of the inertia ellipsoid.In [1], it was proved that these periodic motions are orbitally unstable in the linear approximation. It was also shown that, to solve the stability problem in the nonlinear setting, it does not suffice to analyze terms up to the fourth order in the expansion of the Hamiltonian function in the canonical variables.The present paper shows that in this problem one deals with a special case where standard methods for stability analysis based on the coefficients in the normal form of the Hamiltonian of the perturbed equations of motion do not apply. We use Chetaev’s theorem to prove the orbital instability of these periodic motions in the rigorous nonlinear statement of the problem. The proof uses the additional first integral of the Goryachev—Chaplygin problem in an essential way.     

On the motions of a double pendulum with vibrating suspension point

We consider the motions of a system consisting of two pivotally connected physical pendulums rotating about horizontal axes. We assume that the system suspension point, which coincides with the suspension point of one of the pendulums, performs harmonic vibrations of high frequency and small amplitude along the vertical. We also assume that the system has four relative equilibrium positions in which the suspension points and the pendulum centers of mass lie on one vertical line. We study the stability of these relative equilibria. For arbitrary physical pendulums, we obtain stability conditions in the linear approximation. For a system consisting of two identical rods, we solve the stability problem the in nonlinear setting. For the same system, we study the existence, bifurcations, and stability of high-frequency periodic motions of small amplitude other than the relative equilibria on the vertical line. The studies of dynamic stability augmentation in mechanical systems under the action of high-frequency perturbations was initiated in the paper [1], where it was shown that the unstable inverted equilibrium of a pendulum may become stable if the suspension point vibrates rapidly. This idea was developed in [2–10] and other papers, where several aspects of motion of a mathematical pendulum in the case of rapid small-amplitude vibrations of the suspension point were studied in the linear setting and also (without full mathematical rigor) in the nonlinear setting. The motions of the suspension point along an arbitrary oblique straight line [2, 4, 7, 8], along the vertical [3, 5, 6], along the horizontal [9], and in the case of damping [8] were considered. The monograph [10] deals with the stabilization of a pendulum or a system of pendulums under periodic and conditionally periodic vibrations of the suspension point along the vertical, along an oblique straight line, and along an ellipse. A rigorous nonlinear analysis of the existence and stability of periodic motions of the mathematical pendulum under horizontal and oblique vibrations of the suspension point at arbitrary frequencies and amplitudes can be found in [11, 12]. For the case of vertical vibrations of the suspension point at an arbitrary frequency and amplitude, a rigorous stability analysis of the relative equilibria of the pendulum on the vertical was carried out in [13].     

New integrable problems of motion of a rigid body with a particle oscillating or bouncing in it

Some qualitative aspects of the problem of motion about a fixed point of a rigid body with a particle moving in it in a prescibed (sinusoidal) way was treated in [1–3]. The mechanical system comprised of a rigid body containing an internal mass that moves along a fixed line in the body was considered in several works [4–5]. Recently, an integrable case of this system was found, in which the body is dynamically axisymmetric and moves under no external forces while the particle moves on the axis of dynamical symmetry under the action of Hooke's force to the fixed point [5].In the present note we introduce a more general integrable case in which the particle moves on the axis of dynamical symmetry and is subject to an arbitary conservative force that depends only on the distance from the fixed point. Separation of variables is accomplished and the solution is reduced to quadratures. As a special version of this problem, the case when the particle bounces elastically between two points is briefly discussed.     

Dynamics of a satellite carrying a point mass moving about it

We study the dynamics of a complex system consisting of a solid and a mass point moving according to a prescribed law along a curve rigidly fixed to the body. The motion occurs in a central Newtonian gravitational field. It is assumed that the orbit of the system center of mass is an ellipse of arbitrary eccentricity.We obtain equations that describe the motion of the carrier (satellite) about its center of mass. In the case of a circular orbit, we present conditions that should be imposed on the law of the relative motion of the mass point carried by the satellite so that the latter preserves a constant attitude with respect to the orbital coordinate system. In the case of a dynamically symmetric satellite, we consider the problem of existence of stationary and nearly stationary rotations for the case in which the carried point moves along the satellite symmetry axis.We consider several problems of dynamics of the satellite plane motion about its center of mass in an elliptic orbit of arbitrary eccentricity. In particular, we present the law of motion of the carried point in the case without eccentricity oscillations and study the stability of the satellite permanent attitude with respect to the orbital coordinate system.     

Steady and periodic modes in the problem of motion of a heavy material point on a rotating sphere (the viscous friction case)

The problem of motion of a heavy material point on a sphere uniformly rotating about a fixed axis is considered in the case of viscous friction. The angle of inclination between the axis and the horizon is constant. The existence, bifurcation, and stability of the equilibrium positions are discussed for such a mechanical system. The existence of periodic motions is also studied. An approach is proposed to find such motions in the case of low viscosity.     

Oscillations of a body filled with a viscous fluid

The oscillations of a physical pendulum containing a spherical cavity filled with an incompressible viscous liquid were discussed in [1]. In this paper we consider the mote general problem of the motion of an axially symmetric solid with a spherical cavity filled with an incompressible viscous fluid and moving about a fixed point. It is assumed that the center of the cavity and the fixed point lie on the axis of symmetry of the body.     

Periodic Solutions of Symmetric Perturbations of Gravitational Potentials

It is shown that for certain symmetric perturbations of gravitational potentials in the space, which admit two first integrals of motion, a circular solution of the unperturbed system with inclination different from 0 and π gives rise to a periodic solution of the reduced dynamics which is defined in the quotient space of the action by the subgroup that fixes the symmetry axis. In the planar case, if we assume that the system admits a first integral of motion which is also symmetric with respect to the origin, then it is shown that each circular solution of the unperturbed problem gives rise to a periodic solution of the perturbed system.     

Chaotic streamlines in the flow of knotted and unknotted vortices

This paper describes the motion and the flow induced by a thin tubular vortex coiled on a torus. The vortex is defined by the number of turns, p, that it makes round the torus symmetry axis and the number of turns, q, that it makes round the torus centerline. All toroidal filamentary vortices are found to progress along and to rotate round the torus symmetry axis in an almost steady manner while approximately preserving their shape. The flow, observed in a frame moving with the vortex, possesses two stagnation points. The stream tube emanating from the forward stagnation point and the stream tube ending at the backward stagnation point transversely intersect along a finite number of streamlines. This produces a three-dimensional chaotic tangle whose geometry depends primarily on the value of p. Inside this chaotic shell there are two major stability tubes: the first one envelopes the vortex whereas the second one runs parallel to it and possesses the same topology. When p > 2 there is an additional stability tube enveloping the torus centerline.     

Stability analysis of steady rotations of a rigid body bearing two-degree-of-freedom control moment gyros with dissipation in gimbal suspension axes

To study the stability of steady rotations of a control moment gyro system with internal dissipation, we use the Barbashin-Krasovskii theorem and the relation, established in [1], between the Lyapunov function and steady motions. Taking into account the special properties of the original problem, we reduce it to a lower-dimensional problem.We give a detailed presentation of an algorithm for analyzing the stability of steady motions of a gyrostat and use this algorithm to perform a complete study for two systems consisting, respectively, of one and two gyros whose gimbal axes are parallel to the principal axis of inertia of the system. Each steady motion is identified as either asymptotically stable or unstable. We find periodic motions that exist only in the presence of dynamic symmetry and which are regular precessions. For the system with two gyros, we prove the asymptotic stability of quiescent states and prove that in the angular momentum range where these states are defined the system does not have any other stable motions.     

On the motion of a gyrostat similar to Lagrange’s gyroscope under the influence of a gyrostatic moment vector

In this paper, the problem of the motion of a gyrostat fixed at one point under the action of a gyrostatic moment vector whose components are ℓ _i (i=1,2,3) about the axes of rotation, similar to a Lagrange gyroscope is investigated. We assume that the center of mass G of this gyrostat is displaced by a small quantity relative to the axis of symmetry, and that quantity is used to obtain the small parameter ε (Elfimov in PMM, 42(2):251–258, [1978]). The equations of motion will be studied under certain initial conditions of motion. The Poincaré small parameter method (Malkin in USAEC, Technical Information Service, ABC. Tr-3766, [1959]; Nayfeh in Perturbation methods, Wiley-Interscience, New York, [1973]) is applied to obtain the periodic solutions of motion. The periodic solutions for the case of irrational frequencies ratio are given. The periodic solutions are analyzed geometrically using Euler’s angles to describe the orientation of the body at any instant t of time. These solutions are performed by our computer programs to get their graphical representations.     

From the Kovalevskaya to the Lagrange case in rigid body motion

We study the motion of a family of symmetric tops in which the center of mass is located between the symmety plane and the symmetry axis of the inertia matrix. We analyze the transition from the Kovalevskaya to the Lagrange integrable cases using Poincaré sections and symmetry lines. The fate of periodic orbits as a function of the location of the top's center of mass is analyzed. The critical points of the Kovalevskaya constant are calculated in terms of the energy, of the angular momentum about the vertical, and of the Kovalevskaya constant itself.     

Vibrational dynamics of a light body in a liquid-filled rotating cylinder

The behavior of a light free cylindrical body in a rapidly rotating horizontal cylinder containing a liquid under vibrational action (the vibration direction is perpendicular to the rotation axis) is investigated. An intense rotation of the body relative to the cavity is detected. Depending on the vibration frequency, the body rotation velocity in the laboratory reference system may be higher or lower than the cavity rotation velocity and in the resonance region they may differ by several times. The mechanism of motion generation is theoretically described. It is shown that the motion is related with the excitation of inertial oscillations of the body: the cause of the motion is an average vibrational force generated due to nonlinear effects in the Stokes boundary layer near the oscillating body. The formation of large-scale axisymmetric vortex structures periodic along the rotation axis, which appear under conditions of inertial oscillation of the body during its motion, both leading and lagging, is detected.     

An extension of the Levi-Weckesser method to the stabilization of the inverted pendulum under gravity

Sufficient conditions are given for the stability of the upper equilibrium of the mathematical pendulum (inverted pendulum) when the suspension point is vibrating vertically with high frequency. The equation of the motion is of the form $$ \ddot{\theta}-\frac{1}{l}\bigl(g+a(t)\bigr) \theta=0, $$ where l,g are constants and a is a periodic step function. M. Levi and W. Weckesser gave a simple geometrical explanation for the stability effect provided that the frequency is so high that the gravity g can be neglected. They also obtained a lower estimate for the stabilizing frequency. This method is improved and extended to the arbitrary inverted pendulum not assuming even symmetricity between the upward and downward phases in the vibration of the suspension point.     

Scalar wave analysis of distributed and moving sources by means of Huygens construction

The present paper presents several applications of wave front construction associated with stationary distributed and moving point sources. The scalar wave equation which is used models both isotropic and anisotropic media, in which the displacement is parallel to an axis of symmetry and is independent of distance along the axis. The stationary sources are distributed along parabolic and hyperbolic curves, while the point source is subjected to both uniform and accelerating motion along a straight line, uniform motion around a circular path and back and forth motion along a straight line. The wave fronts are constructed explicitly by the method of envelopes and special attention is paid to the formation of cusps on the wave front. If the method presented here for wave front analysis is carried out in advance, then one can gain a better insight into expected motion behind the wave front.     

Quasi-optimal deceleration of rotational motion of a dynamically symmetric rigid body in a resisting medium

We study the problem of quasi-optimal (with respect to the response time) deceleration of rotational motion of a free rigid body which experiences a small retarding torque generated by a linearly resisting medium. We assume that the undeformed body is dynamically symmetric and its mass is concentrated on the symmetry axis. A system of nonlinear differential equations describing the evolution of rotation of the rigid body is obtained and studied.     

Symmetry, cusp bifurcation and chaos of an impact oscillator between two rigid sides

Both the symmetric period n-2 motion and asymmetric one of a one-degree- of-freedom impact oscillator are considered.The theory of bifurcations of the fixed point is applied to such model,and it is proved that the symmetric periodic motion has only pitchfork bifurcation by the analysis of the symmetry of the Poincarémap.The numerical simulation shows that one symmetric periodic orbit could bifurcate into two antisymmet- ric ones via pitchfork bifurcation.While the control parameter changes continuously, the two antisymmetric periodic orbits will give birth to two synchronous antisymmetric period-doubling sequences,and bring about two antisymmetric chaotic attractors subse- quently.If the symmetric system is transformed into asymmetric one,bifurcations of the asymmetric period n-2 motion can be described by a two-parameter unfolding of cusp, and the pitchfork changes into one unbifurcated branch and one fold branch.