Dynamic Behavior of Multilink Pendulums under Follower Forces

The results from studies of the dynamic behavior of a double pendulum under the action of a follower force are analyzed. It is pointed out that bifurcations and catastrophes of equilibrium states may occur at some values of the parameters. Differential equations are presented which describe the plane-parallel motion of a pendulum with an arbitrary number of links and angular and linear eccentricities of the follower force whose orientation depends on one parameter. The basic problems of dynamics of pendulums with different number of links are formulated __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 41, No. 6, pp. 3–35, June 2005.