Memory in random bouncing ball dynamics

The bouncing of an inelastic ball on a vibrating plate is a popular model used in various fields, from granular gases to nanometer-sized mechanical contacts. For random plate motion, so far, the model has been studied using Poincar{\'e} maps in which the excitation by the plate at successive bounces is assumed to be a discrete Markovian (memoryless) process. Here, we investigate numerically the behaviour of the model for continuous random excitations with tunable correlation time. We show that the system dynamics are controlled by the ratio of the Markovian mean flight time of the ball and the mean time between successive peaks in the motion of the exciting plate. When this ratio, which depends on the bandwidth of the excitation signal, exceeds a certain value, the Markovian approach is appropriate; below, memory of preceding excitations arises, leading to a significant decrease of the jump duration; at the smallest values of the ratio, chattering occurs. Overall, our results open the way for uses of the model in the low excitation regime, which is still poorly understood.Comment: Final published version, 5 pages, 4 figure

Direct numerical simulation of the dynamics of sliding rough surfaces

The noise generated by the friction of two rough surfaces under weak contact pressure is usually called roughness noise. The underlying vibration which produces the noise stems from numerous instantaneous shocks (in the microsecond range) between surface micro-asperities. The numerical simulation of this problem using classical mechanics requires a fine discretization in both space and time. This is why the finite element method takes much CPU time. In this study, we propose an alternative numerical approach which is based on a truncated modal decomposition of the vibration, a central difference integration scheme and two algorithms for contact: The penalty algorithm and the Lagrange multiplier algorithm. Not only does it reproduce the empirical laws of vibration level versus roughness and sliding speed found experimentally but it also provides the statistical properties of local events which are not accessible by experiment. The CPU time reduction is typically a factor of 10.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, accepted versio

Statistics of the separation between sliding rigid rough surfaces: Simulations and extreme value theory approach

When a rigid rough solid slides on a rigid rough surface, it experiences a random motion in the direction normal to the average contact plane. Here, through simulations of the separation at single-point contact between self-affine topographies, we characterize the statistical and spectral properties of this normal motion. In particular, its rms amplitude is much smaller than that of the equivalent roughness of the two topographies, and depends on the ratio of the slider's lateral size over a characteristic wavelength of the topography. In addition, due to the non-linearity of the sliding contact process, the normal motion's spectrum contains wavelengths smaller than the smallest wavelength present in the underlying topographies. We show that the statistical properties of the normal motion's amplitude are well captured by a simple analytic model based on the extreme value theory framework, extending its applicability to sliding-contact-related topics

Experiments and numerical results on nonlinear vibrations of an impacting hertzian contact. Part 1: harmonic excitation

The purpose of this paper is to investigate experimental and numerical dynamic responses of a preloaded vibro-impacting Hertzian contact under sinusoidal excitation. Dynamic response under random excitation is analysed in the second part of this paper. A test rig is built corresponding to a double sphere-plane contact preloaded by the weight of a moving cylinder. Typical response curves are obtained for several input levels. Time traces and spectral contents are explored. Both amplitude and phase of harmonics of the dynamic response are investigated. Linearised resonance frequency and damping ratio are identified from the almost linear behaviour under very small input amplitude. Increasing the external input amplitude, the softening behaviour induced by Hertzian nonlinear stiffness is clearly demonstrated. Resonance peak is confined in a narrow frequency range. Jump discontinuities are identified for both amplitude and phase responses. Forced response spectrum exhibits several harmonics because of nonlinear Hertzian restoring force. Numerical simulations show a very good agreement with experimental results. For higher input amplitude, system exhibits vibro-impacts. Loss of contact non-linearity clearly dominates the dynamic behaviour of the vibroimpacting contact and leads to a wide frequency range softening resonance. Spectral content of the response is dominated by both the first and the second harmonics. Evolution of the experimental downward jump frequency versus input amplitude allows the identification of the nonlinear damping law during intermittent contact. Simulations of the vibroimpacting Hertzian contact are performed using a shooting method and show a very good agreement with experimental results

Response of an impacting hertzian contact to an order-2 subharmonic excitation : theory and experiments

Response of a normally excited preloaded Hertzian contact is investigated in order to analyze the subharmonic resonance of order 2. The nonlinearity associated with contact losses is included. The method of multiple scales is used to obtain the non-trivial steady state solutions, their stability, and the frequency-response curves. To this end, a third order Taylor series of the elastic Hertzian contact force is introduced over the displacement interval where the system remains in contact. A classical time integration method is also used in conjunction with a shooting method to take into account losses of contact. The theoretical results show that the subharmonic resonance constitutes a precursor of dynamic responses characterised by loss of contact, and consequently, the resonance establishes over a wide frequency range. Finally, experimental validations are also presented in this paper. To this end, a specific test rig is used. It corresponds to a double sphere-plane contact preloaded by the weight of a moving mass. Experimental results show good agreements with theoretical ones

Experiments and numerical results on nonlinear vibrations of an impacting hertzian contact. Part 2: random excitation

Non linear dynamic behaviour of a normally excited preloaded Hertzian contact (including possible contact losses) is investigated using an experimental test rig. It consists on a double sphere plane contact loaded by the weight of a rigid moving mass. Contact vibrations are generated by a external Gaussian white noise and exhibit vibroimpact responses when the input level is sufficiently high. Spectral contents and statistics of the stationary transmitted normal force are analysed. A single-degree-of-freedom non linear oscillator including loss of contact and Hertzian non linearities is built for modelling the experimental system. Theoretical responses are obtained by using the stationary Fokker-Planck equation and also Monte Carlo simulations. When contact loss occurrence is very occasional, numerical results shown a very good agreement with experimental ones. When vibroimpacts occur, results remain in reasonable agreement with experimental ones, that justify the modelling and the numerical methods described in this paper. The contact loss non linearity appears to be rather strong compared to the Hertzian non linearity. It actually induces a large broadening of the spectral contents of the response. This result is of great importance in noise generation for a lot of systems such as mechanisms using contacts to transform motions and forces (gears, ball-bearings, cam systems, to name a few). It is also of great importance for tribologists preoccupied to prevent surface dammage