On the chaotic behavior of a compressed beam (Q2474796)

The authors consider a PDE modelling a compressed beam with friction subject to small periodic forcing, namely \[ u_{tt}+u_{xxxx}+\gamma u_{xx}-\kappa u_{xx}f\biggl(\int_0^\pi u_x^2(\xi,t) \,d\xi\biggr) = \varepsilon(\nu h(x,\sqrt{\varepsilon}t)-\delta u_t), \] equipped with the boundary conditions \[ u(0,t)=u(\pi,t)=0=u_{xx}(0,t)=u_{xx}(\pi,t), \] parameters \(\gamma\geq 0\), \(\kappa,\delta>0\) and a \(1\)-periodic forcing function \(h\in L^\infty({\mathbb R},L^2[0,\pi])\). Differing from earlier work, this interesting paper is devoted to the situation where the external load \(\gamma\) is resonant. Precisely, it is assumed that \(\gamma\) is slightly larger than the \(i\)th eigenvalue of the unperturbed problem: \(\gamma=i^2+ \varepsilon\sigma^2\), where \(i\in{\mathbb N}\) is fixed, \(\varepsilon>0\) and \(\sigma\in(0,1]\). After establishing a weak formulation for the above equation, the authors prove the existence of chaotic solutions. Using a Galerkin method, the weak formulation is rewritten as infinite system of ODEs and a Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction for this system yields a Melnikov function. Finally, the existence of simple roots predicts chaotic behavior for sufficiently small forcing and damping \(\delta\).