Nonlinear vibration localisation in a symmetric system of two coupled beams

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates nonlinear vibration localisation in a symmetric coupled-beam system through a theoretical model and experimental validation, revealing bifurcations to localized vibrations at large amplitudes.

Contribution

It introduces a two-degree-of-freedom model with piecewise linear stiffness and experimentally confirms nonlinear localisation in coupled beams.

Findings

Bifurcations lead to localized solutions.

Experimental results confirm theoretical predictions.

Nonlinear localisation occurs at large vibration amplitudes.

Abstract

We report nonlinear vibration localisation in a system of two symmetric weakly coupled nonlinear oscillators. A two degree-of-freedom model with piecewise linear stiffness shows bifurcations to localised solutions. An experimental investigation employing two weakly coupled beams touching against stoppers for large vibration amplitudes confirms the nonlinear localisation.