Bifurcation of Periodic Orbits Crossing Switching Manifolds Multiple Times in Planar Piecewise Smooth Systems

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the bifurcation of periodic orbits in planar piecewise smooth systems with discontinuities on finitely many smooth curves intersecting at the origin. We assume that the unperturbed system has either a limit cycle or a periodic annulus such that the limit cycle or each periodic orbit in the periodic annulus crosses every switching curve transversally multiple times. When the unperturbed system has a limit cycle, we give the conditions for its stability and persistence. When the unperturbed system has a periodic annulus, we obtain the expression of the first order Melnikov function and establish sufficient conditions under which limit cycles can bifurcate from the annulus. As an example, we construct a concrete nonlinear planar piecewise smooth system with three zones with 11 limit cycles bifurcated from the periodic annulus.