The dynamics of a symmetric impact oscillator between two rigid stops (Q611301)

A single-degree-of freedom symmetric impact oscillator between two rigid stops is considered. The system is strongly nonlinear due to the existence of impacts, but the explicit solution is known between two consecutive impacts. This allows the explicit computation of the Poincaré map and the analytical formula for the symmetric periodic motion. It is shown that the symmetry of the Poincaré map implies that only pitchfork bifurcation is possible. The explicit expression of the Poincaré map is used also to examine the stability of the periodic motion through the Jacobian matrix and to compute the Lyapunov exponent of the system. This study is complemented with some numerical simulations illustrating the transition to chaos.