MULTI-PULSE CHAOTIC MOTION FOR A NON-AUTONOMOUS BUCKLED PLATE BY USING THE EXTENDED MELNIKOV METHOD

ABSTRACT The multi-pulse Shilnikov orbits and chaotic dynamics for a parametrically excited, simply supported rectangular buckled thin plate are studied by using the extended Melnikov method. Based on von Karman type equation and the Galerkin's approach, two-degree-of-freedom nonlinear system is obtained for the rectangular thin plate. The extended Melnikov method is directly applied to the non-autonomous governing equations of the thin plate. The results obtained here show that the multipulse chaotic motions can occur in the thin plate