First Return Time to the contact hyperplane for $ N $-degree-of-freedom vibro-impact systems

Abstract

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>The paper deals with the dynamics of conservative <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$ N $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>-degree-of-freedom vibro-impact systems involving one unilateral contact condition and a linear free flow. Among all possible trajectories, grazing orbits exhibit a contact occurrence with vanishing incoming velocity which generates mathematical difficulties. Such problems are commonly tackled through the definition of a Poincaré section and the attendant First Return Map. It is known that the First Return Time to the Poincaré section features a square-root singularity near grazing. In this work, a non-orthodox yet natural and intrinsic Poincaré section is chosen to revisit the square-root singularity. It is based on the unilateral condition but is not transverse to the grazing orbits. A detailed investigation of the proposed Poincaré section is provided. Higher-order singularities in the First Return Time are exhibited. Also, activation coefficients of the square-root singularity for the First Return Map are defined. For the linear and periodic grazing orbits from which bifurcate nonlinear modes, one of these coefficients is necessarily non-vanishing. The present work is a step towards the stability analysis of grazing orbits, which still stands as an open problem.</p>