Accurate analytical perturbation approach for large amplitude vibration of functionally graded beams

The present work derives the accurate analytical solutions for large amplitude vibration of thin functionally graded beams. In accordance with the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory and the von Kármán type geometric non-linearity, the second-order ordinary differential equation having odd and even non-linearities can be formulated through Hamilton's principle and Galerkin's procedure. This ordinary differential equation governs the non-linear vibration of functionally graded beams with different boundary constraints. Building on the original non-linear equation, two new non-linear equations with odd non-linearity are to be constructed. Employing a generalised Senator–Bapat perturbation technique as an ingenious tool, two newly formulated non-linear equations can be solved analytically. By selecting the appropriate piecewise approximate solutions from such two new non-linear equations, the analytical approximate solutions of the original non-linear problem are established. The present solutions are directly compared to the exact solutions and the available results in the open literature. Besides, some examples are selected to confirm the accuracy and correctness of the current approach. The effects of boundary conditions and vibration amplitudes on the non-linear frequencies are also discussed.     

Anti-plane shear waves in a fibre-reinforced composite with a non-linear imperfect interface

The propagation of non-linear elastic anti-plane shear waves in a unidirectional fibre-reinforced composite material is studied. A model of structural non-linearity is considered, for which the non-linear behaviour of the composite solid is caused by imperfect bonding at the “fibre–matrix” interface. A macroscopic wave equation accounting for the effects of non-linearity and dispersion is derived using the higher-order asymptotic homogenisation method. Explicit analytical solutions for stationary non-linear strain waves are obtained. This type of non-linearity has a crucial influence on the wave propagation mode: for soft non-linearity, localised shock (kink) waves are developed, while for hard non-linearity localised bell-shaped waves appear. Numerical results are presented and the areas of practical applicability of linear and non-linear, long- and short-wave approaches are discussed.     

Vibrations of rod-rigid element systems with a local non-linearity

The paper deals with vibrations of systems consisting of non-coaxial rods connected by rigid bodies and of a local non-linearity. The motion of the rods is described by classical wave equation and the solution of the d’Alembert type is applied in the study. This leads to solving ordinary differential equations with a retarded argument. The local non-linearity is described through irrational functions and in a special case it includes the polynomial of the third degree. Detailed considerations are given for a system consisting of three rods and two rigid bodies. In numerical analysis non-linear effects are discussed. The results concerning harmonic vibrations are presented for the local non-linearities having characteristics of a soft type as well as of a hard type.     

Elastica type buckling analysis of bars from non-linearly elastic material

The post-buckling response of a simply supported, axially compressed, uniform bar of non-linearly elastic material, is presented. The buckling analysis considers large deflections of the elastica type in which the influence of bar axis shortening is also taken into account. The solution of the strongly non-linear differential equation is obtained analytically by a simple and very efficient approximate technique leading to reliable results. Conditions of stability of the post-buckling path depending on the degree of the material non-linearity are established. Moreover, the individual and coupling effect of the material non-linearity and the bar slenderness ratio on the post-buckling path are thoroughly discussed.Numerical results for both non-linearly and linearly elastic material show the efficiency and reliability of the proposed procedure.     

On the accuracy of the multiple scales method for non-linear vibrations of doubly curved shallow shells

Non-linear free and forced vibrations of doubly curved isotropic shallow shells are investigated via multi-modal Galerkin discretization and the method of multiple scales. Donnell’s non-linear shallow shell theory is used and it is assumed that the shell is simply supported with movable edges. By deriving two different forms of the stress function, the equations of motion are reduced to a system of infinite non-linear ordinary differential equations with quadratic and cubic non-linearities. A quadratic relation between the excitation and the fundamental frequency is considered and it is shown that, although in case of hardening non-linearities the results resemble those found via numerical integration or continuation softwares, in case of softening non-linearity the solution breaks down as the amplitude becomes larger than the thickness. Results reveal that, expressing the relation between the excitation and fundamental frequency in this form, which was considered by many researchers as a useful tool in analyzing strong non-linear oscillators, yields in spurious results when the non-linearity becomes of softening type.     

Large deflections of cantilever beams of non-linear materials of the Ludwick type subjected to an end moment

This paper deals with the large deflections (finite) of thin cantilever beams of non-linear materials of the Ludwick type. The beam is subjected to an end constant moment. Large deflections of beams induce geometrical non-linearity. Therefore, in formulating the analysis, the exact expression of the curvature is used in the Euler-Bernoulli law. A closed-form solution is presented for the resulting second-order non-linear differential equation. This solution is compared to previous results assuming linear elastic materials. Deflections at the free end of beams of aluminum alloy and annealed copper are obtained.     

Effect of the geometry on the non-linear vibration of circular cylindrical shells

The non-linear vibration of simply supported, circular cylindrical shells is analysed. Geometric non-linearities due to finite-amplitude shell motion are considered by using Donnell's non-linear shallow-shell theory; the effect of viscous structural damping is taken into account. A discretization method based on a series expansion of an unlimited number of linear modes, including axisymmetric and asymmetric modes, following the Galerkin procedure, is developed. Both driven and companion modes are included, allowing for travelling-wave response of the shell. Axisymmetric modes are included because they are essential in simulating the inward mean deflection of the oscillation with respect to the equilibrium position. The fundamental role of the axisymmetric modes is confirmed and the role of higher order asymmetric modes is clarified in order to obtain the correct character of the circular cylindrical shell non-linearity. The effect of the geometric shell characteristics, i.e., radius, length and thickness, on the non-linear behaviour is analysed: very short or thick shells display a hardening non-linearity; conversely, a softening type non-linearity is found in a wide range of shell geometries.     

Non-linear wave propagation solutions by Fourier transform perturbation

A Fourier transform perturbation method is developed and used to obtain uniformly valid asymptotic approximations of the solution of a class of one-dimensional second order wave equations with small non-linearities. Multiple time scales are used and the initial-value problem on the infinite line is solved by Fourier transforming the wave equation and expanding the Fourier transform in powers of the small parameter. The non-linearity involves only the first partial derivatives of the dependent variable and the determination of the leading approximation is reduced to the solution of a pair of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations in Fourier space. Examples are given involving a convolution non-linearity and a Van-der-Pol non-linearity.     

Non-linear oscillations of a third-order differential equation

An investigation is conducted into the behavior of the solutions of a third-order non-linear differential equation which is characterized by a non-linearity depending solely upon the Euclidean norm of the associated phase space. The non-linearity represents a central restoring force, which has important applications in modern control theory. For small non-linearities, the existence of a limit cycle is established by a fixed point technique, the approach to the limit cycle is approximated by averaging methods, and the periodic solution is harmonically represented by perturbation. Computer solutions of the differential equation are provided in order to reinforce the analysis. Some related differential equations are discussed including one in which the periodic solution is explicitly prescribed.     

Vibration control of a cantilever beam of varying orientation

We investigate the problem of suppressing the vibrations of a non-linear system with a cantilever beam of varying orientation subject to parametric and direct excitation. It is known that the growth of the response is limited by non-linearity. Therefore, vibration control and high-amplitude response suppressions of the first mode of a cantilever beam can be performed using a simple non-linear feedback law. This control law is based on cubic velocity feedback. The method of multiples scales is used to construct first-order non-linear ordinary differential equations governing the modulation of the amplitudes and phases. The stability and effects of different system parameters are studied numerically.     

Non-linear response of a beam to periodic loading

The steady state response of a non-linear beam under periodic excitation is investigated. The non-linearity is attributed to the membrane tension effect which is induced in the beam when the deflection is not small in comparison to its thickness. The effects of multimode participation are investigated for simply supported and clamped boundary conditions. The finite element technique is used to formulate the non-linear differential equations of the straight beam and the method of averaging is used to obtain an approximate solution to the non-linear equations under harmonic loading. An analog computer was used to simulate the non-linear beam equation which was subjected to harmonic excitation. The agreement between theoretical and experimental values is reasonably good.     

Nonlinear vibration analysis of micro-plates based on strain gradient elasticity theory

In this study, non-linear free vibration of micro-plates based on strain gradient elasticity theory is investigated. A general form of Mindlin’s first-strain gradient elasticity theory is employed to obtain a general Kirchhoff micro-plate formulation. The von Karman strain tensor is used to capture the geometric non-linearity. The governing equations of motion and boundary conditions are obtained in a variational framework. The Homotopy analysis method is employed to obtain an accurate analytical expression for the non-linear natural frequency of vibration. For some specific values of the gradient-based material parameters, the general plate formulation can be reduced to those based on some special forms of strain gradient elasticity theory. Accordingly, three different micro-plate formulations are introduced, which are based on three special strain gradient elasticity theories. It is found that both geometric non-linearity and size effect increase the natural frequency of vibration. In a micro-plate having a thickness comparable with the material length scale parameter, the strain gradient effect on increasing the non-linear natural frequency is higher than that of the geometric non-linearity. By increasing the plate thickness, the strain gradient effect decreases or even diminishes. In this case, geometric non-linearity plays the main role on increasing the natural frequency of vibration. In addition, it is shown that for micro-plates with some specific thickness to length scale parameter ratios, both geometric non-linearity and size effect have significant role on increasing the frequency of non-linear vibration.     

Effects of excitation probability distribution on system responses

For a system subjected to a random excitation, the probability distribution of the excitation may affect behaviors of the system responses. Such effects are investigated for a variety of dynamical systems, including a linear oscillator, an oscillator of cubic non-linearity in both damping and stiffness, and a non-linear oscillator of the van der Pol type. The random excitations are assumed to be stationary stochastic processes, sharing the same spectral density, but with different probability distributions. Each excitation process is generated by passing a Brownian motion process through a non-linear filter, which is governed by an Ito stochastic differential equation. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out to obtain the transient and stationary properties of the system response in each case. It is shown that, under different excitations, the transient behaviors of the system response can be markedly different. The differences tend to reduce, however, as time of exposure to the excitations increases and the system reaches the stationary state.     

Non-local effects on the non-linear modes of vibration of carbon nanotubes under electrostatic actuation

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based NEMS with electrostatic sensing/actuation may be employed as sensors, in situations where it is fundamental to understand their dynamic behaviour. Due to displacements that are large in comparison with the thickness and to the non-linearity of the electrostatic force, these CNT based NEMS operate in the non-linear regime. The knowledge of the modes of vibration of a CNT provides a picture of what one may expect from its dynamic behaviour not only in free, but also in forced vibrations. In this paper, the non-linear modes of vibration of CNTs actuated by electrostatic forces are investigated. For that purpose, a p-version finite element type formulation is implemented, leading to ordinary differential equations of motion in the time domain. The formulation takes into account non-local effects, which influence the inertia and the stiffness of CNTs, as well as the electrostatic actuation. The ordinary differential equations of motion are transformed into algebraic equations of motion via the harmonic balance method (HBM) and then solved by an arc-length continuation method. Several harmonics are considered in the HBM. The importance of non-local effects, combined with the geometrical non-linearity and with the action of the electrostatic force, is analysed. It is found that different combinations of these effects can result in alterations of the natural frequencies, variations in the degrees of softening or hardening, changes in the frequency content of the free vibrations, and alterations in the mode shapes of vibration. It is furthermore found that the small scale, here represented by the non-local theory, has an effect on interactions between the first and higher order modes which are induced by the geometrical and material non-linearities of the system.     

Non-linear vibration analysis of an elastic plate subjected to heavy fluid loading in magnetic field

In the present study, the non-linear vibration of an elastic plate subjected to heavy fluid loading in an inclined magnetic field is investigated. The structural non-linearity, fluid non-linearity, and the effects of magnetic field are all incorporated in the formulations to derive the governing equation of the plate. The method of multiple scales is adopted to determine the eigenvalues and mode shapes of the linear vibration, and then the amplitude of the non-linear vibration response of the plate is calculated. Based on the assumptions of ordering and formulations of multiple scales, it can be concluded that the linear dynamic behavior of the plate under heavy fluid loading but weak near-resonant loading is influenced by the effects of the fluid loading, linear structural rigidity and linear magnetic field, furthermore, the non-linear dynamic behavior of the plate under heavy fluid loading but weak near-resonant loading is dominated and controlled by the effects of the fluid loading, non-linear structural rigidity and non-linear magnetic field. Both thick and thin plates are investigated; the contributions due to the structural non-linearity and acoustic linear radiation damping are of the same order for a rather thick plate. For a thin plate, the structural non-linearity completely controls the behavior of the plate, which implies that in this case the effect of fluid loading is considerably negligible. In general, it can be concluded that both the effects of magnetic field and structural non-linearity play important roles only on the first few modes of the plate.     

Effects of axisymmetric loads on inflated non-linear membranes

This paper describes the effects of various external axisymmetric loads on pressurized hinged spherical membranes taking into account changes in internal pressure, volume, and temperature. “Exact” geometrical non-linearity along with generalized constitutive relations for a highly non-linearly clastic, isotropic, homogeneous, incompressible material are used in the analysis. The specialized case of a Hookean material is also treated.The non-linear equations of membrane equilibrium are derived in terms of additional finite displacements for the case of nonorthogonal curvilinear midsurface coordinates and are then specialized for the problem of an inflated hinged spherical membrane. The resulting two highly non-linear coupled second order differential equations are solved by means of a finite difference and Newton-Raphson iterative procedure. All results are presented in nondimensionalized graphical form.     

Circumferentially traveling radial loads on rings and cylinders

The problem of circumferentially traveling radial loads on rings and infinitely long cylindrical shells will be considered in this paper. Since strong transitional excitations are considered, the response involves moderately large rotations. Hence the governing shell equations are non-linear. To facilitate their solution, a modified version of the Linstedt-Poincaré perturbation procedure is employed. Based on this solution, several numerical results are presented. In addition to considering the effects of displacement induced non-linearity, special emphasis is given to the response behavior in load speed zones which mark transitions from sub- to supercritical waveforms.     

Non-linear normal modes and their bifurcation of a two DOF system with quadratic and cubic non-linearity

The non-linear normal modes (NNMs) and their bifurcation of a complex two DOF system are investigated systematically in this paper. The coupling and ground springs have both quadratic and cubic non-linearity simultaneously. The cases of ω₁:ω₂=1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 are discussed, respectively, as well as the case of no internal resonance. Approximate solutions for NNMs are computed by applying the method of multiple scales, which ensures that NNM solutions can asymtote to linear normal modes as the non-linearity disappears. According to the procedure, NNMs can be classified into coupled and uncoupled modes. It is found that coupled NNMs exist for systems with any kind of internal resonance, but uncoupled modes may appear or not appear, depending on the type of internal resonance. For systems with 1:1 internal resonance, uncoupled NNMs exist only when coefficients of cubic non-linear terms describing the ground springs are identical. For systems with 1:2 or 1:3 internal resonance, in additional to one uncoupled NNM, there exists one more uncoupled NNM when the coefficients of quadratic or cubic non-linear terms describing the ground springs are identical. The results for the case of internal resonance are consistent with ones for no internal resonance. For the case of 1:2 internal resonance, the bifurcation of the coupled NNM is not only affected by cubic but also by quadratic non-linearity besides detuning parameter although for the cases of 1:1 and 1:3 internal resonance, only cubic non-linearity operate. As a check of the analytical results, direct numerical integrations of the equations of motion are carried out.     

On time-dependent,two-layer flow over topography: II. Evolution and propagation of solitary waves

The evolution of topographically generated interfacial motion is considered in a two-layer model. A system of two non-linear equations, similar to the Boussinesq equations for shallow water waves, is derived. The consequences of the cubic non-linearity of these equations on the nature of the solitary wave solutions are explored. A dispersion relation for solitary waves implies the existence of maxima for speed and displacement in a wave. The limiting values are shown to agree with other studies. The growth of solitary and/or cnoidal waves is studied for finite pulses of displacement and for internal bores.     

Conservation laws of two coupled non-linear oscillators

This paper presents a novel approach to obtaining a complete set of time-dependent expressions for approximate conservation laws of two weakly non-linear coupled oscillators. The procedure developed for a non-resonant case is based on the field method concept of deriving a conservation law from an incomplete solution of a partial differential equation. Due to the non-linearity of the system being considered, this concept is combined with the multiple variable expansion procedure.