Principal parametric and three-to-one internal resonances of flexible beams undergoing a large linear motion

Abstract

A set of nonlinear differential equations is established by using Kane's method for the planar oscillation of flexible beams undergoing a large linear motion. In the case of a simply supported slender beam under certain average acceleration of base, the second natural frequency of the beam may approximate the tripled first one so that the condition of 3∶1 internal resonance of the beam holds true. The method of multiple scales is used to solve directly the nonlinear differential equations and to derive a set of nonlinear modulation equations forthe principal parametric resonance of the first mode combined with 3∶1 internal resonance between the first two modes. Then, the modulation equations are numerically solved to obtain the steady-state response and the stability condition of the beam. The abundant nonlinear dynamic behaviors, such as various types of local bifurcations and chaos that do not appear for linear models, can be observed in the case studies. For a Hopf bifurcation, the 4-dimensional modulation equations are reduced onto the central manifold and the type of Hopf bifurcation is determined. As usual, a limit cycle may undergo a series of period-doubling bifurcations and become a chaotic oscillation at last.