• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.167-174
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• 1997

Engineers must be aware of possible sources of chaotic behavior. They may render conventional design predictions untrustworthy and potentially unsafe because of the sensitivity to initial conditions. Dynamic responses of a spherical shell subjected to impulsive loading which act on the center are analyzed using the finite element method. The chaotic responses are identified by the standard methods, such as displacement-time histories, Poincare maps, and phase diagrams. The responses are chaotic, but, not so sensitive to the initial conditions, and the characteristics of responses are not changed with time, in contrast to the case of the responses of beam. The Poincare points scattered in the limited area represent that the responses are chaotic, but do not show the geometric structures. The snap-through phenomena of the shell to the side of the direction of the load or of the opposite direction, is analysed by using the energy diagram.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.439-447
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• 1997

In this study, the dynamic instabilities of a nonlinear elastic system subjected to follower forces are investigated. The two-degree-of-freedom double pendulum model with nonlinear geometry, cubic spring, and linear viscous damping is used for the study. The constant, the initial impact forces acting at the end of the model are considered. The chaotic nature of the system is identified using the standard methods, such as time histories, power density spectrum, and Poincare maps. The responses are chaotic and unpredictable due to the sensitivity to initial conditions. The sensitivities to parameters, such as geometric initial imperfections, magnitude of follower force, direction control constant, and viscous damping, etc., are analysed. Dynamic buckling loads are computed for various parameters, where the loads are changed drastically for the small change of parameters.