Long-term dynamics of non-linear MDOF engineering systems

In this paper it is shown how the finite element technique has been integrated with numerical tools for the analysis of non-linear dynamical systems to obtain a tool for efficient dynamic analysis of multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical systems with local non-linearities. The influence of hard discontinuities like elastic stops can be taken into account. The developed methodology is applied to a number of mechanical engineering systems, i.e. a beam system with various discontinuous supports, a rotor model with a non-linear fluid-film bearing and a model of a portable CD player. It is shown that generally models with more than one degree of freedom are required for a sufficiently accurate representation of the system behaviour.