Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112

www.elsevier.nl/locate/chaos

Complex-plane approach for the analysis of an externally

excited system with autoparametric resonance
Ales Tondl a, Radoslav Nabergoj b,*
a
Zborovska 41, CZ15000 Praha 5, Czech Republic
b
Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Environmental Engineering, Via Valerio 10, I34127 Trieste, Italy
Accepted 28 September 1999

Abstract

An autoparametric system with external excitation was examined by Nabergoj R, Tondl A, and Virag Z. (Chaos, Solitons &
Fractals 1994;4:263273). For investigating the semi-trivial and the nontrivial solution, a dierent approach in terms of complex-plane
variables is here presented. It is proved that autoparametric resonance is initiated when semi-trivial solution becomes unstable. The
trajectory of the system transforms from a straight line to an elliptic path. Within a certain interval of the excitation frequency, chaotic
motion becomes possible. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

As already known, autoparametric systems are governed by a set of dierential equations where the
equations of the excited subsystems (Oscillator) are coupled with those representing the nonexcited
subsystems (Indirectly Excited System) via nonlinear coupling terms only. Due to this kind of coupling,
the dierential equations of motion admit the so-called semi-trivial solution which is characterized by the
trivial-solution for the coordinates expressing the motion of nonexcited subsystems and the nontrivial
solution for the remaining coordinates. In this case only the excited subsystems vibrate. These particular
vibrations dier from that in autoparametric resonance where both the excited subsystems and the
nonexcited subsystems are oscillating, i.e., the corresponding sets of coordinates admit the nontrivial
solution. The nonlinear coupling terms, especially in the part corresponding to the nonexcited subsystems,
are important for the occurrence of the phenomenon and aect the conditions for initiating the auto-
parametric resonance. A more detailed discussion on autoparametric systems can be found in [3,4].
The possible occurrence of autoparametric resonance in a two degree-of-freedom mechanical system
characterized by a nonlinear coupling term of third order in the dierential equations of motion of both the
excited and the nonexcited subsystem, has been investigated by Nabergoj et al. [1]. In the present paper, a
dierent approach based on complex-plane variables has been used for the analysis of this kind of system.

2. Nonlinear system

The motion of a single-mass system with two degrees-of-freedom, subjected to a nonlinear restoring force
and externally excited in one direction only, will be considered. The governing equations of motion are:

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-040-6763406; fax: +39-040-6763443.
E-mail address: nabergoj@univ.trieste.it (R. Nabergoj).

0960-0779/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 0 7 7 9 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 7 6 - 9
106 A. Tondl, R. Nabergoj / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112

mx b_x kx k0 x2 y 2 x f cos xt; my b_y ky k0 x2 y 2 y 0; 1

where x and y are the displacements from the equilibrium position, m the mass, k the linear and k0 the
nonlinear spring coecients, b the viscous damping coecient, f the excitation amplitude, x the frequency
of the excitation, t the time. The rst equation governs the motion of the excited subsystem while the second
one refers to the nonexcited subsystem.
By introducing the nondimensional time variable s x0 t, Eq. (1) can be written in the following
dimensionless form:
   
x00 jx0 1 cx2 y 2 x e cos gs; y 00 jy 0 1 cx2 y 2 y 0; 2
p
where j b=mx0 , c k0 =mx20 k0 =k, e f =mx20 f =k, g x=x0 , and x0 k=m is the natural fre-
quency of the two oscillatory modes. The prime indicates the derivative with respect to the new time
variable.
System (2), after introducing the complex-plane variable z x iy and its conjugate z x iy, can
easily be transformed into the following dierential equation:


z00 jz0 1 czzz 12e eigs eigs : 3

Let us consider the steady-state solution of (3). To the rst order of approximation, this solution can be
expressed through the linear combination of a forward and a backward precession component
z U eigs V eigs ; 4
where the complex amplitudes are given by:
U UR iUI ; 5

V VR iVI : 6
Inserting (4) into (3) and comparing the coecients at expigs and expigs, the following relations are
obtained:
  1   1
1 g2 ijg cR2 2R2 U e; 1 g2 ijg c2R2 R2 V e; 7
2 2
where R and R are the amplitudes of the forward and backward precession component, i.e.,
R2 U U UR2 UI2 and R2 V V VR2 VI2 . Eq. (7) represent a system of four real nonlinear algebraic
equations in the unknown amplitudes UR , UI , VR , VI . The obtained solutions will be presented in Sections 3
and 4.

3. Undamped system

For j 0, one has UI VI 0 and UR R , VR R . Thus, system (7) can be simplied into the form:
  1   1
1 g2 cR2 2R2 R e; 1 g2 c2R2 R2 R e: 8
2 2

It follows from Eq. (8) that amplitudes R and R are mutually commutable. The case when R > R diers
from the case R < R only by the direction of motion on the trajectory, which changes from counter-clock
wise to clock wise direction. For R 6 R the motion occurs on an elliptic path having the axes coincident
with the coordinate axes, which corresponds to the nontrivial solution (x 6 0, y 6 0) of Eq. (2). The length
of the semi-axes is equal to a R R and b jR R j. For R  R or R  R the resulting motion
is close to a circular one. When R is approaching R or viceversa, the ellipse degenerates into a straight line
on the abscissa axis. This particular case will be considered separately.
 A. Tondl, R. Nabergoj / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112 107

To solve system (8), dierent approaches can be used. Thus, by subtracting the rst Eq. (8) from the
second one, the following relation is obtained:
eR R
cR2 R2 ; 9
2R R
which, after simplifying the common factor R R , gives:
s
1 1 2 e
R R R : 10
2 4 2cR

Moreover, the second equation (8) can be written as

 
1 e
R2 g2 1 cR2 : 11
2c 2R
The intersection points of the curve R R according to (10) and the curve R R ; g according to (11)
determine the values of R and R which correspond to a given value of g.
Referring to the dierential equations of motion (3) and the solution in complex form (4), the case when
R R corresponds to the semi-trivial solution (x 6 0, y 0), i.e., the ellipse degenerates to a straight line.
Then it holds that a R0 R R 2R 2R and b 0. In this case, from Eq. (11), one obtains for
the amplitude of the semi-trivial solution
3 2 e
g2 1;2 1 cR0  : 12
4 R0

4. Damped system

For j 6 0, after multiplying Eq. (7) with the corresponding complex-conjugate equations, the following
relations are obtained:
 2 e2
1 g2 cR2 2R2 j2 g2 2 ;
4R
 2 e2
1 g2 c2R2 R2 j2 g2 2 : 13
4R
Also in this case R and R are mutually commutable.
Subtracting the rst equation (13) from the second one, the following relation is obtained:
 
4 2 2 2 2 e2
R R R 1 g 0 14
3c 12c2 R2

from which it follows:

s 2
1 1 1 2 1 e2
R2 R2 1 g2 R 1 g 2 : 15
2 3c 2 3c 12c2 R2

From the second equation (13) it results:

s!
1 e2
R2 1;2 g2 1 cR2  j2 g 2 : 16
2c 4R2

The intersection points of (15) and (16), expressing the dependence R R ; g; determine the amplitudes R
and R for a given value of g. From (16) it follows that the necessary condition for R to be real is:
108 A. Tondl, R. Nabergoj / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112

e
R < 17
2jg
and, due to the commutability of R and R , also the following condition must simultaneously be met:
e
R < : 18
2jg
The elliptic trajectory described by the system is rotated with respect to the coordinate axes by the angle
u arctanUI =UR arctanVI =VR , and has the semi-axes of length a R R and b jR R j. For
R R the ellipse degenerates into a straight line on the abscissa axis (u 0) and the system exhibits the
semi-trivial solution (a R0 R R 2R 2R and b 0). Thus, from Eq. (16), one obtains:
s
 
2 3 2 1 2 e2 3 2 2 1 4
g 1;2 1 cR0 j  1 cR0 j j : 19
4 2 R20 4 4

5. Results

Both analytical and numerical results are here presented, the latter obtained by direct solution of the
dierential equations of motion (2). In all alternatives the values j 0:1 and e 1:0 are common, while
three values of nonlinearity coecient have been considered, i.e., c 0:02, 0.04 and 0.08.
Firstly a set of analytical results for c 0:02 is presented. In Fig. 1 we show the oscillation amplitude R0
of the semi-trivial solution (19) in dependence on excitation frequency g, where the stability boundaries are
explicitly marked (light solid line). Fig. 2 shows the diagrams of R0 g, R g, and R g, while Fig. 3 the
maximum and minimum values of the radial displacement vector z x iy denoted as Rmax and Rmin , i.e.,
the semi-axes of the elliptic trajectory in the x; y plane. We can see that Rmax only slightly diers from the
semi-trivial solution obtained analytically. In Fig. 4 we show Rx g and Ry g, i.e., the oscillation amplitudes
along x and y directions. The results of the numerical solutions of dierential equation (2) are presented in

Fig. 1. Oscillation amplitude R0 of semi-trivial solution versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:02. Heavy
solid line stable solution, dotted line unstable solution.
Fig. 2. Oscillation amplitudes R and R of forward and backward precession components versus excitation frequency g in case
j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:02.
 A. Tondl, R. Nabergoj / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112 109

3 4

Fig. 3. Oscillation amplitudes Rmax and Rmin of radial displacement versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:02.
Fig. 4. Oscillation amplitudes Rx and Ry along x and y directions versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:02.

Fig. 5. Extreme values R of radial oscillation amplitudes versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:02.
Comparison between analytical predictions and numerical computations.
Fig. 6. Oscillation amplitudes R and R of forward and backward precession components versus excitation frequency g in case
j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:04.

Fig. 5, showing the extreme value of radius vector amplitude R, denoted as R. Here the excitation fre-
quency g has been slowly increased by very small steps during time integration to achieve a steady-state
solution when possible. By comparing the results in Figs. 3 and 5 we can see that R is practically equal to
Rmax .
For the alternative c 0:04 only the graphs of R g, R g (see Fig. 6), Rmax , Rmin (see Fig. 7), and Rg
(see Fig. 8) are presented. The latter diagram shows that the vibration is nonperiodic in the interval
1:30 < g < 1:48.
110 A. Tondl, R. Nabergoj / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112

Fig. 7. Oscillation amplitudes Rmax and Rmin of radial displacement versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:04.
Fig. 8. Extreme values R of radial oscillation amplitudes versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:04.
Comparison between analytical predictions and numerical computations.

The most interesting results have been obtained for alternative c 0:08. The analytical predictions are
presented in Fig. 9 showing the diagrams of R g, R g and in Fig. 10 the dependencies Rmax , Rmin . In
Fig. 11 the maximum radial displacement amplitude R is considered for the step-wise increased frequency
g. We can see that up to g 1:425 the vibration character corresponds practically to the analytical results,
but the further increase of g leads to a nonperiodic vibration in a relatively narrow frequency interval.
Then, above g 1:453, the vibration changes to a periodic one corresponding to the semi-trivial solution.
In comparison with the two previous alternatives, here the extreme deections do not reach the peak

Fig. 9. Oscillation amplitudes R and R of forward and backward precession components versus excitation frequency g in case
j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:08.
Fig. 10. Oscillation amplitudes Rmax and Rmin of radial displacement versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and
c 0:08.
 A. Tondl, R. Nabergoj / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112 111

Fig. 11. Extreme values R of radial oscillation amplitudes versus excitation frequency g in case j 0:1, e 1:0, and c 0:08.
Comparison between analytical predictions and numerical computations.
Fig. 12. Time domain simulation of the system response along x-direction in case j 0:1, e 1:0, c 0:08, and g 1:435.

amplitude predicted by the analytical approach. Thus, for the highest value of the nonlinearity coecient
c smaller extreme deections have been obtained in the autoparametric resonance. But it is necessary to
note that this result holds also for the semi-trivial solution R0 g, as clearly seen in Figs. 2, 6 and 9. This
fact can easily be explained by using the so-called limit envelopes and by considering the linear viscous
damping and the excitation with constant amplitude. In this case the limit envelope is a rectangular
hyperbola, see [2].
Vibration records along x and y directions and radial direction R for g 1:435 are shown in Figs. 1214,
respectively. Fig. 15 presents the motion trajectory in the x; y plane and Fig. 16 the corresponding Po-
incare mapping. This diagram has not been obtained by the usual approach based on excitation period
control but through the method of extreme values detection for the radial displacement amplitude in the
time series R Rt [5]. We can see that the character of the vibrations is chaotic.

Fig. 13. Time domain simulation of the system response along y direction in case j 0:1, e 1:0, c 0:08, and g 1:435.
Fig. 14. Time domain simulation of the system response R along radial direction in case j 0:1, e 1:0, c 0:08, and g 1:435.
112 A. Tondl, R. Nabergoj / Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 12 (2001) 105112

Fig. 15. System trajectory in x; y plane in case j 0:1, e 1:0, c 0:08, and g 1:435.
Fig. 16. Poincare mapping in x; y plane in case j 0:1, e 1:0, c 0:08, and g 1:435.

6. Conclusions

The presented approach using complex plane variables can be useful for autoparametric systems where
the mass or masses move in a plane, the restoring force eld is nonlinear and both motions are appro-
priately coupled by nonlinear terms in the dierential equations of motion. Due to this particular coupling,
the system mass can vibrate not only in the direction of the excitation but also in the direction perpen-
dicular to it. In case that a chaotic vibration does not occur, the trajectory follows an elliptic path having
the axes rotated with respect to coordinate axes. The chaotic motion occurs in a certain, relatively narrow,
frequency interval and for higher values of the coecients at nonlinear terms.
The vibration along the elliptic trajectory need not mean a smaller loading of the elastic elements because
the extreme deection of the radius vector does practically not dier from the amplitude of the semi-trivial
solution, i.e., from the amplitude of the vibration occurring only in the direction of the excitation. For higher
values of the nonlinearity coecient, when the excitation frequency is increased, the nonperiodic vibration is
followed by the extinction of the plane motion and by the transient to a periodic nonresonant vibration in the
direction of the excitation only. This occurs earlier than it would be predicted by analytic analysis.

Acknowledgements

This work has been partly supported by contract no. 101/98/0972 of the Grant Agency of the Czech
Republic.

References

[1] Nabergoj R, Tondl A, Virag Z. Autoparametric resonance in an externally excited system. Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 1994;4:263
73.
[2] Schmidt G, Tondl A. Nonlinear vibrations. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press; 1986.
[3] Tondl A. To the analysis of autoparametric systems. ZAMM 1997;77:40718.
[4] Tondl A, Nabergoj R. Autoparametric systems, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Navale, del Mare e per l'Ambiente, Quaderno N.16,
Trieste, 1993.

[5] Tondl A. Method of deection extremes mapping. Acta Technica CSAV 1995;40:35772.