Experimental unfolding of the nonlinear dynamics of a cable-mass suspended system around a divergence-Hopf bifurcation

Systematic experimental investigation of the finite amplitude dynamics of a multiple internally resonant suspended cable-mass, subjected to anti-phase support motion at primary resonance, is accomplished. Upon getting hints from a basic system configuration assumed as reference setup about the multiple bifurcation event possibly governing transition to complex dynamics, an improved experimental apparatus is used to make it technically accessible. Results obtained by varying three control parameters, namely the frequency and amplitude of excitation and the temperature of a thermostatic chamber embedding the experimental system, allow us to characterize in-depth various occurring classes of motion in terms of time and spatial complexity, to describe peculiar and/or persistent features of transition to nonregular dynamics, and to trace them back to a canonical scenario from bifurcation theory. Variable response paths are detected via bifurcation diagrams and spectra of singular values of measurement results, and overall behaviour charts are built in the excitation parameter space. Considering the temperature as a controllable parameter shows to be fundamental for: (i) indirectly setting cable material properties to values for which the conjectured codimension 2 bifurcation becomes apparent, (ii) qualitatively referring the experimental unfolding of regular and nonregular cable dynamics to the theoretical unfolding of the divergence-Hopf bifurcation normal form, and (iii) determining system response not only in the strict neighbourhood of the organizing divergence-Hopf bifurcation but also in the ensuing postcritical regions where the dependence of material damping on temperature affects secondary bifurcations to low-dimensional homoclinic chaos.