Bifurcations and Chaotic Motions of a Class of Mechanical System With Parametric Excitations

Abstract

Bifurcations and chaotic motions of a class of mechanical system subjected to a superharmonic parametric excitation or a nonlinear periodic parametric excitation are studied, respectively, in this paper. Chaos arising from the transverse intersections of the stable and unstable manifolds of the homoclinic and heteroclincic orbits is analyzed by Melnikov's method. The critical curves separating the chaotic and nonchaotic regions are plotted. Chaotic dynamics are compared for these systems with a periodic parametric excitation or a superharmonic parametric excitation, or a nonlinear periodic parametric excitation. Especially, some new dynamical phenomena are presented for the system with a nonlinear periodic parametric excitation.