Frequency analysis of nonlinear oscillations via the global error minimization

Abstract

The capacity and effectiveness of a modified variational approach, namely global error minimization (GEM) is illustrated in this study. For this purpose, the free oscillations of a rod rocking on a cylindrical surface and the Duffing-harmonic oscillator are treated. In order to validate and exhibit the merit of the method, the obtained result is compared with both of the exact frequency and the outcome of other well-known analytical methods. The corollary reveals that the first order approximation leads to an acceptable relative error, specially for large initial conditions. The procedure can be promisingly exerted to the conservative nonlinear problems.

Keywords

• analytical approximate solution
• nonlinear oscillation
• frequency–amplitude relation
• global error minimization