Nonlinear Dynamics of a Beam on Elastic Foundation

The nonlinear dynamics of a simply supported beam resting on a nonlinear spring bed with cubic stiffness is analyzed. The continuous differential operator describing the mathematical model of the system is discretized through the classical Galerkin procedure and its nonlinear dynamic behavior is investigated using the method of Normal Forms. This model can be regarded as a simple system describing the oscillations of flexural structures vibrating on nonlinear supports and then it can be considered as a simple investigation for the analysis of more complex systems of the same type. Indeed, the possibility of the model to exhibit actually interesting nonlinear phenomena (primary, superharmonic, subharmonic and internal resonances) has been shown in a range of feasibility of the physical parameters. The singular perturbation approach is used to study both the free and the forced oscillations; specifically two parameter families of stationary solutions are obtained for the forced oscillations.     

Nonlinear Dynamics of a Cantilever Beam Carrying an Attached Mass with 1:3:9 Internal Resonances

In this paper the nonlinear response of a base-excited slender beam carrying an attached mass is investigated with 1:3:9 internal resonances for principal and combinationparametric resonances. Here the method of normal forms is used to reduce the second order nonlinear temporal differential equation of motion of the system to a set offirst order nonlinear differential equations which are used to find the fixed-point, periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic responses of the system.Stability and bifurcation analysis of the responses are carried out and bifurcation sets are plotted. Many chaotic phenomena are reported in this paper.     

Nonlinear Normal Modes of Buckled Beams: Three-to-One and One-to-One Internal Resonances

Nonlinear normal modes of a fixed-fixed buckled beam about its first post-buckling configuration are investigated. The cases of three-to-one and one-to-one internal resonances are analyzed. Approximate solutions for the nonlinear normal modes are computed by applying the method of multiple scales directly to the governing integral-partial-differential equation and associated boundary conditions. Curves displaying variation of the amplitude of one of the modes with the internal-resonance-detuning parameter are generated. It is shown that, for a three-to-one internal resonance between the first and third modes, the beam may possess one stable uncoupled mode (high-frequency mode) and either (a) one stable coupled mode, (b) three stable coupled modes, or (c) two stable and one unstable coupled modes. For the same resonance, the beam possesses one degenerate mode (with a multiplicity of two) and two stable and one unstable coupled modes. On the other hand, for a one-to-one internal resonance between the first and second modes, the beam possesses (a) two stable uncoupled modes and two stable and two unstable coupled modes; (b) one stable and one unstable uncoupled modes and two stable and two unstable coupled modes; and (c) two stable uncoupled and two unstable coupled modes (with a multiplicity of two). For a one-to-one internal resonance between the third and fourth modes, the beam possesses (a) two stable uncoupled modes and four stable coupled modes; (b) one stable and one unstable uncoupled modes and four stable coupled modes; (c) two unstable uncoupled modes and four stable coupled modes; and (d) two stable uncoupled modes and two stable coupled modes (each with a multiplicity of two).     

Properties of Chaotic and Regular Boundary Crisis in Dissipative Driven Nonlinear Oscillators

The phenomenon of the chaotic boundary crisis and the related concept of the chaotic destroyer saddle has become recently a new problem in the studies of the destruction of chaotic attractors in nonlinear oscillators. As it is known, in the case of regular boundary crisis, the homoclinic bifurcation of the destroyer saddle defines the parameters of the annihilation of the chaotic attractor. In contrast, at the chaotic boundary crisis, the outset of the destroyer saddle which branches away from the chaotic attractor is tangled prior to the crisis. In our paper, the main point of interest is the problem of a relation, if any, between the homoclinic tangling of the destroyer saddle and the other properties of the system which may accompany the chaotic as well as the regular boundary crisis. In particular, the question if the phenomena of fractal basin boundary, indeterminate outcome, and a period of the destroyer saddle, are directly implied by the structure of the destroyer saddle invariant manifolds, is examined for some examples of the boundary crisis that occur in the mathematical models of the twin-well and the single-well potential nonlinear oscillators.     

Global Bifurcations and Chaotic Dynamics in Nonlinear Nonplanar Oscillations of a Parametrically Excited Cantilever Beam

This paper presents the analysis of the global bifurcations and chaotic dynamics for the nonlinear nonplanar oscillations of a cantilever beam subjected to a harmonic axial excitation and transverse excitations at the free end. The governing nonlinear equations of nonplanar motion with parametric and external excitations are obtained. The Galerkin procedure is applied to the partial differential governing equation to obtain a two-degree-of-freedom nonlinear system with parametric and forcing excitations. The resonant case considered here is 2:1 internal resonance, principal parametric resonance-1/2 subharmonic resonance for the in-plane mode and fundamental parametric resonance–primary resonance for the out-of-plane mode. The parametrically and externally excited system is transformed to the averaged equations by using the method of multiple scales. From the averaged equation obtained here, the theory of normal form is applied to find the explicit formulas of normal forms associated with a double zero and a pair of pure imaginary eigenvalues. Based on the normal form obtained above, a global perturbation method is utilized to analyze the global bifurcations and chaotic dynamics in the nonlinear nonplanar oscillations of the cantilever beam. The global bifurcation analysis indicates that there exist the heteroclinic bifurcations and the Silnikov type single-pulse homoclinic orbit in the averaged equation for the nonlinear nonplanar oscillations of the cantilever beam. These results show that the chaotic motions can occur in the nonlinear nonplanar oscillations of the cantilever beam. Numerical simulations verify the analytical predictions.     

Stability and Bifurcation Analysis of a Modified Geometrically Nonlinear Orthotropic Jeffcott Model with Internal Damping

In this paper, a modified Jeffcott model is proposed and studied in order to shed light into the dynamics of a complex system, the Short Electrodynamic Tether (SET), which is similar to an unbalanced rotor. Due to the internal damping, a geometrically linear SET model appears to be unstable as predicted by the linear rotordynamics theory. Some studies in the field of rotordynamics suggest that this instability caused by internal damping do not appear if geometric nonlinearities are taken into account in the system equations of motion. Stability and bifurcation analysis have been carried out on the modified Jeffcott model, which accounts for geometric nonlinearities, orthotropy in the shaft's cross section, and a viscous damping-based internal damping model. The stability results analytically obtained have been compared with a nonlinear multibody model by means of time simulations and good agreement has been found.