Out-of-unison resonance in weakly nonlinear coupled oscillators

Existence and location of internal resonance of two-mode nonlinear conservative oscillators

Internal resonances can be widely observed in nonlinear systems; even a simple nonlinear system can exhibit intricate internal resonances when vibrating at large amplitudes. In this study, the existence and locations of internal resonances of a general two-mode system with an arbitrary eigenfrequency ratio are considered. This is achieved by first considering the symmetric case, where the internal resonances are found to be approximately captured by the Mathieu equation. It is shown that the bifurcations can exist in pairs; and, for each pair, the bifurcated solution branches capture modal interactions with the same commensurate frequency relationship but different phase relationships. To determine the existence and locations of internal resonances, the divergence and convergence for correlated bifurcation pairs are then considered. Lastly, the internal resonances in asymmetric cases are analytically derived, where the asymmetry induced bifurcation splitting is captured by a non-homogeneous extended Mathieu equation. This work explores the mechanism underpinning internal resonances, and explains their topological features, such as which internal resonances are observed as amplitude increases. A graphical method is also proposed for efficient determination of the existence and locations of internal resonances.

Identifying phase-varying periodic behaviour in conservative nonlinear systems

Nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) are a widely used tool for studying nonlinear mechanical systems. The most commonly observed NNMs are synchronous (i.e. single-mode, in-phase and anti-phase NNMs). Additionally, asynchronous NNMs in the form of out-of-unison motion, where the underlying linear modes have a phase difference of 90°, have also been observed. This paper extends these concepts to consider general asynchronous NNMs, where the modes exhibit a phase difference that is not necessarily equal to 90°. A single-mass, 2 d.f. model is firstly used to demonstrate that the out-of-unison NNMs evolve to general asynchronous NNMs with the breaking of the geometrically orthogonal structure of the system. Analytical analysis further reveals that, along with the breaking of the orthogonality, the out-of-unison NNM branches evolve into branches which exhibit amplitude-dependent phase relationships. These NNM branches are introduced here and termed phase-varying backbone curves. To explore this further, a model of a cable, with a support near one end, is used to demonstrate the existence of phase-varying backbone curves (and corresponding general asynchronous NNMs) in a common engineering structure.

Conditions for the existence of isolated backbone curves

Isolated backbone curves represent significant dynamic responses of nonlinear systems; however, as they are disconnected from the primary responses, they are challenging to predict and compute. To explore the conditions for the existence of isolated backbone curves, a generalized two-mode system, which is representative of two extensively studied examples, is used. A symmetric two-mass oscillator is initially studied and, as has been previously observed, this exhibits a perfect bifurcation between its backbone curves. As this symmetry is broken, the bifurcation splits to form an isolated backbone curve. Here, it is demonstrated that this perfect bifurcation, indicative of a symmetric structure, may be preserved when the symmetry is broken under certain conditions; these are derived analytically. With the symmetry broken, the second example—a single-mode nonlinear structure with a nonlinear tuned mass damper—is considered. The evolution of the system's backbone curves is investigated in nonlinear parameter space. It is found that this space can be divided into several regions, within which the backbone curves share similar topological features, defining the conditions for the existence of isolated backbone curves. This allows these features to be more easily accounted for, or eliminated, when designing nonlinear systems.

Simultaneous normal form transformation and model-order reduction for systems of coupled nonlinear oscillators

In this paper, we describe a direct normal form decomposition for systems of coupled nonlinear oscillators. We demonstrate how the order of the system can be reduced during this type of normal form transformation process. Two specific examples are considered to demonstrate particular challenges that can occur in this type of analysis. The first is a 2 d.f. system with both quadratic and cubic nonlinearities, where there is no internal resonance, but the nonlinear terms are not necessarily ε ¹-order small. To obtain an accurate solution, the direct normal form expansion is extended to ε ²-order to capture the nonlinear dynamic behaviour, while simultaneously reducing the order of the system from 2 to 1 d.f. The second example is a thin plate with nonlinearities that are ε ¹-order small, but with an internal resonance in the set of ordinary differential equations used to model the low-frequency vibration response of the system. In this case, we show how a direct normal form transformation can be applied to further reduce the order of the system while simultaneously obtaining the normal form, which is used as a model for the internal resonance. The results are verified by comparison with numerically computed results using a continuation software.

Comparing the direct normal form and multiple scales methods through frequency detuning

Approximate analytical methods, such as the multiple scales (MS) and direct normal form (DNF) techniques, have been used extensively for investigating nonlinear mechanical structures, due to their ability to offer insight into the system dynamics. A comparison of their accuracy has not previously been undertaken, so is addressed in this paper. This is achieved by computing the backbone curves of two systems: the single-degree-of-freedom Duffing oscillator and a non-symmetric, two-degree-of-freedom oscillator. The DNF method includes an inherent detuning, which can be physically interpreted as a series expansion about the natural frequencies of the underlying linear system and has previously been shown to increase its accuracy. In contrast, there is no such inbuilt detuning for MS, although one may be, and usually is, included. This paper investigates the use of the DNF detuning as the chosen detuning in the MS method as a way of equating the two techniques, demonstrating that the two can be made to give identical results up to ε 2 order. For the examples considered here, the resulting predictions are more accurate than those provided by the standard MS technique. Wolfram Mathematica scripts implementing these methods have been provided to be used in conjunction with this paper to illustrate their practicality.

Identifying the significance of nonlinear normal modes

Nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) are widely used as a tool for understanding the forced responses of nonlinear systems. However, the contemporary definition of an NNM also encompasses a large number of dynamic behaviours which are not observed when a system is forced and damped. As such, only a few NNMs are required to understand the forced dynamics. This paper firstly demonstrates the complexity that may arise from the NNMs of a simple nonlinear system—highlighting the need for a method for identifying the significance of NNMs. An analytical investigation is used, alongside energy arguments, to develop an understanding of the mechanisms that relate the NNMs to the forced responses. This provides insight into which NNMs are pertinent to understanding the forced dynamics, and which may be disregarded. The NNMs are compared with simulated forced responses to verify these findings.

The use of normal forms for analysing nonlinear mechanical vibrations

A historical introduction is given of the theory of normal forms for simplifying nonlinear dynamical systems close to resonances or bifurcation points. The specific focus is on mechanical vibration problems, described by finite degree-of-freedom second-order-in-time differential equations. A recent variant of the normal form method, that respects the specific structure of such models, is recalled. It is shown how this method can be placed within the context of the general theory of normal forms provided the damping and forcing terms are treated as unfolding parameters. The approach is contrasted to the alternative theory of nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) which is argued to be problematic in the presence of damping. The efficacy of the normal form method is illustrated on a model of the vibration of a taut cable, which is geometrically nonlinear. It is shown how the method is able to accurately predict NNM shapes and their bifurcations.