Nonlinear Dynamics and Stability of a Two D.O.F. Elastic/Elasto-Plastic Model System

The local and global nonlinear dynamics of a two-degree-of-freedom model system is studied. The undeflected model consists of an inverted T formed by three rigid bars, with the tips of the two horizontal bars supported on springs. The springs exhibit an elasto-plastic response, including the Bauschinger effect. The vertical rigid bar is subjected to a conservative (dead) or non-conservative (follower) force having static and periodic components. First, the method of multiple scales is used for the analysis of the local dynamics of the system with elastic springs. The attention is focused at modal interaction phenomena in weak excitation at primary resonance and in hard sub-harmonic excitation. Three different asymptotic expansions are utilised to get a structural response for typical ranges of excitation parameters. Numerical integration of the governing equations is then performed to validate results of asymptotic analysis in each case. A full global nonlinear dynamics analysis of the elasto-plastic system is performed to reveal the role of plastic deformations in the stability of this system. Static 'force-displacement' curves are plotted and the role of plastic deformations in the destabilisation of the system is discussed. Large-amplitude non-linear oscillations of the elasto-plastic system are studied, including the influence of material hardening and of static and sinusoidal components of the applied force. A practical method is proposed for the study of a non-conservative elasto-plastic system as a non-conservative elastic system with an 'equivalent' viscous damping. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.