Introduction to Nonlinear Vibration

Introduction
Consider the pendulum shown in Fig. 1.

q
l

mgsinq
mgcosq
mg
Figure 1. Simple pendulum.

The equation of motion is determined by summing moments about the center of rotation:
mgl sin q ml 2q (1)
This can be written as:
g
q sin q 0 (2)
l
For small angles, we have sin q q which leads to the linear equation:
g
q q 0 (3)
l
A better approximation of the angle is given by:
1 1
sin q q q 3 q 5 (4)
3! 5!
Retaining only the first two terms in Eq. (4) and combining with Eq. (2) gives:
g 1
q q q 3 0 (5)
l 6
or
q 02 q 16 q 3 0 (6)
which is a nonlinear equation because of the term involving q3.

1
Nonlinear behavior can be exhibited by material nonlinearity, as indicated in Fig. 2.
f(x)
Hard spring

Soft spring

x
Figure 2. Material nonlinearity.

In this case the equation of motion for an undamped SDOF oscillator is given by:
mx f ( x) 0 (7)

Harmonic balance
This is an approximate method which is similar to the Fourier series method we used for
the linear oscillator. We can use it to investigate periodic solutions. The steps are:
1. Assume the solution can be represented as a truncated Fourier series.
1. Substitute the assumed solution into the equation of motion, and expand each
term as a Fourier series.
2. Throw out any higher-frequency harmonics which are not included in the original
assumed solution.
3. Balance coefficients for each Fourier term (harmonic). This leads to a set of
algebraic equations.
4. Solve the algebraic equations.

2
Example. Let us try this method to a problem where the equation of motion is given by:
x 02 x 16 x3 F cos t (8)
Assume a solution in the form:
x(t ) a cos t (9)

It follows that:
x a2 cos t
x3 a3 cos3 t
a3 34 cos t 14 cos3t
Substitute these equations into the equation of motion and throw out the higher harmonic
term cos3t. The resulting equation becomes:
02 2 a 18 02a3 F
which can be solved for the unknown amplitude a.
As an example, take 0 = 5 and F = 1. Figure 3 shows the behavior.
2

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2
Amplitude

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 3. Softening response.

Figure 4 shows the response if the system equation of motion is:

x 02 x 16 x3 F cos t
Inspection of the resonse reveals a hardening behavior.

3
 3

2.5

Amplitude
1.5

0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 4. Hardeing response.

Jump phenomenon. Nonlinear systems exhibit phenomena that cannot exist in linear
systems. The amplitude of vibration can increase or decrease abruptly as the excitation
frequency is increased or decreased as shown in Fig. 5. This is known as the jump
phenomenon. It is evident that two amplitudes of vibration exist for a given forcing
frequency, as shown in the shaded regions below. These regions can be unstable in some
sense.

Figure 5. Jump phenomenon.