Vibrations of linear structures with spatial local nonlinearities

Classical Modal Analysis can be applied to linear systems if the corresponding damping matrix is proportional to the mass or/and stiffness matrices. Otherwise, e.g., in case of structures with single external damping devices, an alternative or approximate solution procedure for determining the dynamic response has to be chosen, compare 1]–3]. Vibration problems of linear structures with spatially localized nonlinearities are related to those non-classically damped systems. Such systems are characterized by the fact that their nonlinear behavior is largely restricted to a limited number of single points in the structure. The objective of this paper is to present an approximate semi-analytical procedure for analyzing the steady-state harmonic response of those locally nonlinear structures, where special emphasis is laid on beams with single nonlinear devices. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)