Multi-scaled analysis of the damped dynamics of an elastic rod with an essentially nonlinear end attachment

We study multi-frequency transitions in the transient dynamics of a viscously damped dispersive finite rod with an essentially nonlinear end attachment. The attachment consists of a small mass connected to the rod by means of an essentially nonlinear stiffness in parallel to a viscous damper. First, the periodic orbits of the underlying hamiltonian system with no damping are computed, and depicted in a frequency–energy plot (FEP). This representation enables one to clearly distinguish between the different types of periodic motions, forming back bone curves and subharmonic tongues. Then the damped dynamics of the system is computed; the rod and attachment responses are initially analyzed by the numerical Morlet wavelet transform (WT), and then by the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) or Hilbert–Huang transform (HTT), whereby, the time series are decomposed in terms of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) at different characteristic time scales (or, equivalently, frequency scales). Comparisons of the evolutions of the instantaneous frequencies of the IMFs to the WT spectra of the time series enables one to identify the dominant IMFs of the signals, as well as, the time scales at which the dominant dynamics evolve at different time windows of the responses; hence, it is possible to reconstruct complex transient responses as superposition of the dominant IMFs involving different time scales of the dynamical response. Moreover, by superimposing the WT spectra and the instantaneous frequencies of the IMFs to the FEPs of the underlying hamiltonian system, one is able to clearly identify the multi-scaled transitions that occur in the transient damped dynamics, and to interpret them as ‘jumps’ between different branches of periodic orbits of the underlying hamiltonian system. As a result, this work develops a physics-based, multi-scaled framework and provides the necessary computational tools for multi-scaled analysis of complex multi-frequency transitions of essentially nonlinear dynamical systems

Multi-frequency passive non-linear targeted energy transfers in systems of couples oscillators

peer reviewedWe study the dynamics of a system of coupled linear oscillators with a multi-DOF end attachment with essential (nonlinearizable) stiffness nonlinearities. We show numerically that the multi-DOF attachment with damping can passively absorb broadband energy from the linear system in a one-way, irreversible fashion, acting in essence as nonlinear energy sink (NES). Strong passive targeted energy transfer from the linear to the nonlinear subsystem is possible, over wide frequency and energy ranges. We numerically demonstrate that the topological structure of the periodic orbits in the frequency – energy plane of the underlying hamiltonian system greatly influences the strength of targeted energy transfer in the damped system, and governs to a great extent the overall transient damped dynamics. This work may be regarded as a contribution towards proving the efficacy the utilizing essentially nonlinear attachments as passive broadband boundary controllers

Multi-frequency nonlinear energy transfer from linear oscillators to mdof essentially nonlinear attachments

We report on multi-frequency energy transfer from a two-mode, initially excited linear system to a multi-degree-of-freedom (mdof) essentially nonlinear attachment. This occurs through simultaneous resonance interactions of both linear modes with a set of nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) of the attachment, and is studied utilizing numerical wavelet transforms. The multi-frequency nonlinear energy transfer discussed herein differs from multi-frequency energy transfer caused by resonance capture cascading where sequential energy transfer from a set of linear modes to single-dof nonlinear attachments takes place. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Complex dynamics and targeted energy transfer in linear oscillators coupled to multi-degree-of-freedom essentially nonlinear attachments

peer reviewedWe study the dynamics of a system of coupled linear oscillators with a multi-DOF end attachment with essential (nonlinearizable) stiffness nonlinearities. We show numerically that the multi-DOF attachment can passively absorb broadband energy from the linear system in a one-way, irreversible fashion, acting in essence as nonlinear energy sink (NES). Strong passive targeted energy transfer from the linear to the nonlinear subsystem is possible over wide frequency and energy ranges. In an effort to study the dynamics of the coupled system of oscillators, we study numerically and analytically the periodic orbits of the corresponding undamped and unforced hamiltonian system with asymptotics and reduction. We prove the existence of a family of countable infinity of periodic orbits that result from combined parametric and external resonance interactions of the masses of the NES. We numerically demonstrate that the topological structure of the periodic orbits in the frequency-energy plane of the hamiltonian system greatly influences the strength of targeted energy transfer in the damped system and, to a great extent, governs the overall transient damped dynamics. This work may be regarded as a contribution towards proving the efficacy the utilizing essentially nonlinear attachments as passive broadband boundary controllers