Asymptotic dynamics of nonlinear coupled suspension bridge equations

Abstract

In this paper we study the long-term dynamics of a doubly nonlinear abstract system which involves a single differential operator to different powers. For a special choice of the nonlinear terms, the system describes the motion of a suspension bridge where the road bed and the main cable are modeled as a nonlinear beam and a vibrating string, respectively, and their coupling is carried out by nonlinear springs. The set of stationary solutions turns out to be nonempty and bounded. As the external loads vanish, the null solution of the system is proved to be exponentially stable provided that the axial load does not exceed some critical value. Finally, we prove the existence of a bounded global attractor of optimal regularity in connection with an arbitrary axial load and quite general nonlinear terms.