Piecewise-linearized methods for oscillators with limit cycles (Q813706)

A piecewise linearization method based on the linearization of nonlinear ordinary differential equations in small intervals is developed for the study of the limit cycles of smooth and non-smooth, conservative and nonconservative nonlinear oscillators. It is shown that this method provides nonlinear maps for the displacement and velocity which depend on the previous values through the nonlinearity and its partial derivatives with respect to time, displacement and velocity, and yields nonstandard finite difference formulae. Examples are given to show that the piecewise linearization method presented here is more robust and yields more accurate solutions than the harmonic balance procedure.