Subharmonic and Superharmonic Oscillations (Rao)

We noted in Chapter 3 that for a linear system, when the applied force has a certain frequency of oscillation, the steady-state response will have the same frequency of oscillation. However, a nonlinear system will exhibit subharmonic and superharmonic oscillations. Subharmonic response involves oscillations whose frequencies ( ) are related to the forcing frequency ( ) as
(13.65)

where n is an integer (n = 2. 3,4,...). Similarly, superharmonic response involves oscillations whose frequencies ( ) are related to the forcing frequency ( ) as
(13.66)

where n = 2, 3,4 In this section, we consider the subharmonic oscillations of order of an undamped pendulum whose equation of motion is given by (undamped Duffing's equation):
(13.67)

where is assumed to be small. We find the response using the perturbation method [13.4,13.6]. Accordingly, we seek a solution of the form
(13.68)

or

(13.69)

where denotes the fundamental frequency of the solution (equal to the third subharmonic frequency of the forcing frequency). Substitution of Eqs. (13.68) and (13.69) into Eq. (13.67) gives
(13.70)

If terms involving

and

are neglected, Eq. (13.70) reduces to

= 0):
(13.72)

(13.71)

We first consider the linear equation (by setting The solution of Eq. (13.72) can be expressed as

(13.73)

If the initial conditions are assumed as x(t = 0) = A and (t = 0) = 0, we obtain and so that Eq. (13.73) reduces to
(13.74)

where C denotes the amplitude of the forced vibration. The value of C can be determined by substituting Eq. (13.74) into Eq. (13.72) and equating the coeffieient of on both sides of the resulting equation, which yields
(13.75)

Now we consider the terms involving in Eq. (13.71) and set them equal to zero or The substitution of Eq. (13.74) into Eq. (13.76) results in
(13.77) (13.76)

By using the trigonometric relations

(13.78)

Eq. (13.77) can be expressed as

(13.79)

The condition to avoid a secular term in the solution is that the coefficient of in Eq. (13.79) must be zero. Since in order to have a subharmonic response
(13.80)
A (Amplitude)

stable

frequency

unstable

Equations (13.80) and (13.75) give

(13.81)

Substituting Eq. (13.81) into Eq. (13.69) and rearranging the terms, we obtain the equation to be satisfied by A and in order to have subharmonic oscillation as
(13.82)

Equation (13.82) can be seen to be a cubic equation in and a quadratic in A. The relationship between the amplitude (A) and the subharmonic frequency (), given by Eq. (13.82), is shown graphically in Fig. 13.7. It has been observed that the curve PQ, where the slope is positive, represents stable solutions while the curve QR, where the slope is negative, denotes unstable solutions [13.4,13.6]. The minimum value of amplitude for the existence of stable subharmonic oscillations can be found by setting as Consider the undamped Duffing's equation The solution of this equation is assumed as
(13.84) (13.83)

where the amplitudes of the harmonic and superharmonic eomponeni.s. A and C are to be determined. The substitution of Eq. (13.84) into Eq. (13.83) gives, with the use of the trigonometric relations of Eq. (13.78),

[ * +

]
(13.85)

Neglecting the terms involving coefficients of and

, and , and equating the on both sides of Eq. (13.85), we obtain

(13.86) (13.87)

Equations (13.86) and (13.87) represent a set of simultaneous nonlinear equations that can be solved numerically for A and C. As a particular case, if C is assumed to be small compared to A, the terms involving and can be neglected and Eq. (13.87) gives
( )

(13.88)

and Eq. (13.86) gives

(13.89)

Equating C from Eqs. (13.88) and (13.89) leads to ( )( ) ( )( )

(13.90)

which can be rewritten as ( ) ( ) ( )

(13.91)

Equation (13.88), in conjunction with Eq. (13.91), gives the relationship between the amplitude of superharmonic oscillations (C) and the corresponding frequency .