Nonlinear dynamic responses of an inclined beam to harmonic excitation in temperature field

Abstract

Abstract Using both analytical and numerical methods, nonlinear dynamic behaviours including chaotic motions and subharmonic bifurcations of an inclined beam subjected to harmonic excitation in temperature field are investigated in this paper. Based on the Galerkin method, the mathematical model of motion is derived. Melnikov method is adopted to give an analytical expression of conditions for chaotic motions of the inclined beam. The chaotic feature on the inclined angle is studied in detail. It is presented that there exists a unique excitation frequency $\omega ^*$, such that the critical value of chaos is the monotone decreasing function of the inclination angle when the excitation frequency $\omega <\omega ^*$; whereas $\omega>\omega ^*$, it is the monotone increasing function of the inclination angle. The subharmonic bifurcations are also studied. It is obtained that subharmonic bifurcations of even orders or odd orders may occur for this system. With the techniques of elliptic functions, it is proved rigorously that this system may undergo chaos through finite subharmonic bifurcations. Numerical simulations are given to verify the chaos threshold obtained by the analytical method.