Slow and fast invariant manifolds, and normal modes in a two degree-of-freedom structural dynamical system with multiple equilibrium states (Q1372513)

The authors study the two-degree-of freedom autonomous nonlinear system \(M_1x_1''+ M_1w_1''= K_1x_1- K_2x_1^3\), \(M_1x_1''+ (M_1+M)w_1'' =-Kw\), which is a conservative soft-stiff structural system with three equilibrium states. The soft and stiff substructures consist of a nonlinear oscillator with three equilibrium states, and a linear oscillator, respectively. An analysis is combined with geometry and computations to study the slow and fast dynamics in a region of the phase space that contains all equilibrium states. The fundamental step of the analytic-geometric approach lies in the formulation of the equations of motion as a singularly perturbed set of first-order ordinary differential equations. The singular parameter \(\mu\) is the ratio of two linear natural frequencies. Hence, a soft-stiff dynamic system is considered as a singular perturbation of the soft substructure. From formal asymptotic expressions and numerical investigations, some interesting results are derived for sufficiently small values of \(\mu\), or equivalently for small coupling. Particular attention is devoted to the discussion of nonlinear normal modes of vibration for systems with multiple equilibrium states, and global nonlinear normal modes. Many numerical results are reported.