An Investigation of Sensitivity to Initial Conditions in an Experimental Structural System

This thesis characterizes the nonlinear behavior of an experimental system that exhibits snap-through buckling behavior. A single-degree-of-freedom snap-through link model is harmonically forced using a Scotch yoke mechanism. In order to establish the sensitivity to initial conditions, experimental basins of attraction are constructed using the stochastic interrogation method. After, frequency sweeps are performed on the system to identify regions of interesting behavior. Then, time series data is collected at specific frequencies of interest to highlight the broad phenomenological behavior of the structural system.

A useful tool when modeling structural systems is numerical analysis. An equation of motion is developed to numerically simulate all experimentally observed results. The numerical results include snap-through boundaries, bifurcation diagrams, full initial condition grid basins of attraction, time-lag embedded basins of attraction, frequency sweeps, and time series of regions of pathological behavior.