A Modified, Slowly Varying Parameter Approach for Systems With Impulsive Loadings

Abstract

Many oscillating systems in practice are subject to periodic, impulsive loads during their motion. For nonlinear systems traditional methods, such as the slowly varying parameter technique, have been used to study the response of such systems by “smearing“ the effect of the impulse over one cycle of the oscillation. Unfortunately, in many instances this approach violates the basic assumption used in the application of the averaging technique, resulting in limited predictive capability. This paper presents a modification to the standard slowly varying parameter technique for nonlinear systems which addresses this problem by assuming a solution form which admits a discontinuity in velocity at the time the impulse is applied. Examples are given which outline the improvement in accuracy of the new technique.