Periodic and chaotic motions of a harmonically forced piecewise linear system

The dynamics of a harmonically excited single degree-of-freedom linear system with a feedback control, in which the actuator is subjected to dead zone and saturation constraints, is investigated in detail. The controlled system is mathematically modeled by a set of three piecewise linear equations. It is found that the system may exhibit nine types of symmetric and asymmetric period-one motions, which are characterized by a different number of crossing dead zone and saturation region per cycle. A solution for the symmetric period-one motion with a doubly crossing dead zone and saturation region is analytically constructed and its stability characteristics is examined. Other types of dynamic response such as sub-harmonic periodic motions and chaotic motions, found through numerical simulations, are also presented.