Special Collection: Analytical methods for nonlinear vibration

Journal of Low Frequency Noise,

Vibration and Active Control
A modification of He’s variational 2019, Vol. 38(3–4) 996–1007
! The Author(s) 2019
approach using the least square method DOI: 10.1177/1461348419828222
journals.sagepub.com/home/lfn
to nonlinear oscillators

Muhammad Shoaib Arif1 , Yasir Nawaz1, Mairaj Bibi2,

Rabia Fayyaz2 and Mehvish Naz2

Abstract
In this paper, we apply the global error minimization method to nonlinear oscillators with fractional terms for deter-
mining the first- and second-order approximate frequencies and solutions. The estimation problem is transformed into a
minimization problem which leads to a simple yet precise scheme for finding the frequency of oscillation and the solution
of the ordinary differential equation.

Keywords
Variational method, global error minimization, nonlinear differential equations, nonlinear oscillators

Introduction
Nonlinear differential equations are fundamental in physics, applied mathematics and engineering. The last two
decades have seen a surge of interest in analytical tools for studying such equations to provide a more accurate
solution. In particular, the nonlinear oscillator has received considerable attention where the aim is to jointly
approximate the frequency of oscillation and the solution of a nonlinear equation.
There are plenty of analytical techniques that could be used to acquire the approximate solution of a nonlinear
system, for example, the parameter-expansion method,1 the harmonic balance method,2–5 the energy balance
method,2,3 the Hamiltonian approach,6,7 the use of special functions,8,9 the amplitude–frequency formulation,10
the max–min approach,11,12 the variational iteration method13–17 and homotopy perturbation.18–24 We refer the
reader to He’s survey25 for a discussion of these methods. In literature,26–28 a modification of the homotopy
perturbation method has been discussed.
Differential equations with boundary or initial conditions and variational principles are two fundamental ways
to describe a physical problem.29–34 The differential model involves strong local differentiability (smoothness) of
the physical field, while variational principles involve weaker local smoothness or only local integrability. Among
the analytical methods, variational methods have two benefits. First, they yield a physically meaningful interpre-
tation of the solution and second, the possible trial functions are optimal. Some approximate variational methods,
including approximate energy method35–37 and variational iteration method15 have received considerable atten-
tion. A modified variational approach called the global error minimization (GEM) method has been developed in
Farzaneh and Akbarzadeh Tootoonchi38 which modifies He’s variational method using the least squares method.
To demonstrate the method, the author developed the first-, third- and fourth-order approximate solution and
frequencies of the Duffing oscillator.

1
Department of Mathematics, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan
2
Department of Mathematics, Comsats University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Corresponding author:
Muhammad Shoaib Arif, Department of Mathematics, Air University, PAF Complex E-9, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
Email: Shoaib.arif@mail.au.edu.pk
Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://www.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission
provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Arif et al. 997

In this paper, the GEM method is applied to oscillators with fractional terms with the use of Fourier series and
linearization. In the proposed method, the nonlinear differential equation is converted to an equivalent minimi-
zation problem. A simple sine or cosine term is chosen as the trial solution in the first step of the GEM method.
The unknown parameters are identified via the minimizing the global error using the least squares criterion. Next,
more sine or cosine terms are added to increase the desired accuracy of the approximated solution. We demon-
strate that by using only a few terms a solution with high accuracy is obtained.
The rest of this article is ordered as follows. In Section ‘The basic idea of GEM method’, the key idea with the
essential definitions and theorems is discussed. The applicability and efficiency of our method are discussed in
Section ‘Numerical experiment’ by solving a nonlinear differential equation with a fractional nonlinear term. In
Section ‘Results and discussions’, the conclusions regarding the overall study are discussed.

The basic idea of GEM method

Let the general form of the nonlinear oscillator can be expressed by

x€ þ Hðx;
_ x; tÞ ¼ 0 (1)

Such that

xð0Þ þ A; x_ ð0Þ ¼ 0 (2)

Definition 14: Define the following global error functional

Z T
~ ðx;
H _ x; tÞ ¼ jj€ _ x; tÞjjdt
x þ Hðx; (3)
0

where T ¼ 2p
x.

Definition 24: The following minimization problem can be established from equations (1) and (2).
Minimize
min H ~ ðx;
_ x; tÞ
(4)
subject to xð0Þ þ A; x_ ð0Þ ¼ 0

RT
Lemma 14: The necessary and sufficient conditions for 0 fdx ¼ 0 is f ¼ 0 on ½0; T where f is a nonlinear contin-
uous function over the domain ½0; T.

Theorem 14: In the minimization problem (4) H ~ ðx; x;

_ t Þ þ 0 is the necessary and sufficient condition for x to be a
solution of the oscillator (1) subject to initial condition (2).

Numerical experiment
This section elucidates the application of GEM method in the following two examples.
Example 1:
Consider the following nonlinear oscillator

x3
x€ þ ¼0 (5)
1 þ x2

with

xð0Þ ¼ A; x_ ð0Þ ¼ 0 (6)

998 Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control 38(3–4)

In order to begin the solution procedure using GEM method, let the first-order approximate solution can be
expressed by

x1 ðtÞ ¼ AcosðxtÞ (7)

The minimization problem corresponding to equation (5) with initial condition (6) is given by
Minimize
 2
  Z T x 3
~ x_ 1 ; x1 ; t ¼
H x€1 þ
1
dt (8)
0 1 þ x1 2

such that x1 ð0Þ ¼ A; x1 ð0Þ ¼ 0 where T ¼ 2p x.

Present work of applying GEM method is concerned with the application of Fourier series to nonlinear term in
equation (5).
Rewrite the minimization problem (8) in the following form
Minimize
  Z T X
1
~ _
H x1 ; x1 ; t ¼ ðx€1 þ ak cosðð2k þ 1ÞxtÞÞ2 dt (9)
0 k¼0

such that x1 ð0Þ ¼ A; x1 ð0Þ ¼ 0 where T ¼ 2p

x and

Z !
p=2
4 x31
ak ¼ 1þ cosðð2k þ 1ÞxtÞdðxtÞ
p 0 1 þ x21

In order to get approximate first-order frequency and solution of equations (5) and (6), the Fourier series is
truncated at k ¼ 1, that is the sum of first two terms of the Fourier series is used.
Truncate the Fourier series and minimization problem (9) can be expressed by
Minimize
  Z T 2
H~ x_ 1 ; x1 ; t ¼ x€1 þ a0 cosðxtÞ þ a1 cosð3xtÞ dt (10)
0

such that x1 ð0Þ ¼ A; x1 ð0Þ ¼ 0.

By using equation (9), the coefficients a0 and a1 can be founded which are given by
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
1 1
a0 ¼ A2  2 þ 2 (11)
A 1 þ A2

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!!
1 1 1
a1 ¼ 3 8  8 þ A2 2  6 (12)
A 1 þ A2 1 þ A2

Substituting the coefficients a and a1 in minimization problem (10) gives

" rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
  1 1 1
~ x_ 1 ; x1 ; t ¼
H p
 128 1 þ  80A 1 þ 2
4
A6 ð1 þ A2 Þx 1 þ A2 1 þ A2
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi !
1 1 2 ð
 64A 3 þ 4
2
 A 3 þ 4
8
x 1 þ x2 Þ (13)
1 þ A2 1 þ A2
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! !#
2 1 1
þ A10 ð1 þ x2 Þ  4A6 1 þ 7 þ 1 þ x2
1 þ A2 1 þ A2
Arif et al. 999

~
By imposing the optimal condition @@x
H
¼ 0, and solving the resulting equation for x gives the following squared
of frequency
 rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 1 1
x1 ¼  4A  2A þ 2A þ 4A
6 8 10 6
þ 4A 8
ð
2 3A þ 3A
8 10 Þ 1 þ A 2 1 þ A2
 rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 1
þ 4 96A þ 240A þ 205A þ 64A  2A þ A  96A
8 10 12 14 18 20 8
 288A 10 (14)
1þA 2 1 þ A2
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  1=2 
A12 2A14 A16
314A 12 1
1þA2
 144A 14 1
1þA2
 18A 16 1
1þA2
þ 4A 1þA2 þ 1þA2 þ 1þA2 þ 1þA2
8 1

To get second-order approximations of frequency and solution using GEM method, consider the following
trivial solution

x2 ðtÞ ¼ ccosðxtÞ þ dcosð3xtÞ (15)

For the satisfaction of constraint in the minimization problem (10) substitute x1 ð0Þ ¼ A; x1 ð0Þ ¼ 0 in
(15) gives

A¼cþd (16)

Thus, the following form of a trivial solution can be achieved

x2 ðtÞ ¼ ccosðxtÞ þ ðA  cÞcosð3xtÞ (17)

By truncating the Fourier series for k ¼ 2 in (9), the following minimization problem can be constructed

  Z T X
2
~ x_ 2 ; x2 ; t ¼
H ðAx2 cosðxtÞ þ bk cosðð2k þ 1ÞxtÞÞ2 dt (18)
0 k¼0

where
Z p=2
4 x32
b ¼ cosðxtÞdðxtÞ (19)
p 0 1 þ x22

Z p=2
4 x32
b1 ¼ cosð3xtÞdðxtÞ (20)
p 0 1 þ x22

Z p=2
4 x32
b2 ¼ cosð5xtÞdðxtÞ (21)
p 0 1 þ x22

x 3
By using linearization of the term 1þ2x 2 in equations (19) to (21) and applying the integration yields the
coefficients b0 ; b1 and b2 .
2

~2 ~2
Imposing the optimality conditions @c ¼ 0 and @@x
@H H
¼ 0, and solving the resulting equations gives the values of
the constant c and second-order approximate frequency.
The exact amplitude of the problem (5) and (6) is given by1

Z 0 11=2
p=2
A2 cos2 ðhÞ
Texact ¼4 @  2 cos2 ðhÞ
A dh
0 A2 cos2 ðhÞ þ ln 1  A 1þA 2
1000 Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control 38(3–4)

Let A ¼ 1 the relative error in first- and second-order approximate frequencies using GEM method with
Fourier series is given by

x1  xexact
 100%  1:80%
xexact

x2  xexact
 100%  0:19%
xexact

Consider the following equation which can be obtained by using equation (5) with the same initial conditions as
in (6)
x€ð1 þ x2 Þ þ x3 ¼ 0

The relative error in approximate frequencies using first- and second-order GEM method is given by

x1  xexact
 100%  4:60%
xexact

x2  xexact
 100%  0:013%
xexact

The relative error using the standard GEM method for second-order approximate frequency is more accurate
than the modified GEM method or variational approach using the least square. Comparisons are shown in Table 1.
Example 2:
Consider the following oscillator,

x
x€ þ ¼0 (22)
1 þ x2
With the following initial conditions

xð0Þ ¼ A; x_ ð0Þ ¼ 0 (23)

In order to apply GEM method or variational approach using the least square, construct the following min-
imization problem corresponding to equations (22) and (23),

  Z T 
x1
2
~ _
Minimize H x1 ; x1 ; t ¼ x€1 þ dt (24)
0 1 þ x1 2

Table 1. Percentage relative errors in first- and second-order GEM frequencies and values of the parameter ‘d’ with some chosen
values of the amplitudes for Example 1.

% relative error

Present modified method Standard method

A x1 x2 d x1 x2 d

0.1 0.24 9.199 –0.00004 3.64 0.3482 0.0042

1 1.15 0.1900 0.0323 4.60 0.0132 0.0310
5 0.059 0.0057 0.0294 1.01 0.4583 0.0139
10 0.0066 0.0015 0.0189 0.316 0.1742 0.0071
100 0.000003 0.000002 0.0024 0.0039 0.0025 0.0007
GEM: global error minimization.
Arif et al. 1001

such that x1 ð0Þ ¼ A; x_ 1 ð0Þ ¼ 0:

Assume that the following first-order approximate solution

x1 ðtÞ ¼ AcosðxtÞ (25)

The minimization problem corresponds to equations (22) and (23) can be constructed as;
Since the present work is dealt with the modified form of GEM method, so the rational term in minimization
problem (24) can be expressed by the Fourier series and the new minimization problem corresponding to equa-
tions (22) and (23) is given by
!2
  Z T X
1
~ _
H x1 ; x1 ; t ¼ €
x1 þ an cosðð2n þ 1ÞxtÞ dt (26)
0 n¼0

such that x1 ð0Þ ¼ A; x_ 1 ð0Þ ¼ 0, where;

For n ¼ 0,
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
1 1
¼ 22 (27)
A 1 þ A2

In this example, only the first term of the Fourier series is used for finding the first-order approximate solution
and frequency of equation (22) with initial condition (23).
Since the first-order trial solution already satisfies the constraint in minimization problem (26), so the following
minimization problem can be constructed;
Minimize

  Z T  2
~ x_ 1 ; x1 ; t ¼
H Ax2 cosðxtÞ þ a0 cosðxtÞ dt (28)
0

By evaluating the integral, the following equation can be obtained

rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!2
  p 1
~ x_ 1 ; x1 ; t ¼
H 2 þ A2 x2 þ 2 (29)
A x
2 2 1 þ A2

~
By applying the optimality condition @ H=@x ¼ 0 and solving the resulting equation for x gives the following
expression for first-order approximate frequency

pffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 1
x1 ¼ pffiffi 1  (30)
A  1 þ A2

In order to get second-order approximate frequency using modified GEM method, assume the following trial
solution of equation (22) with initial conditions (23)

x2 ðtÞ ¼ ðA  dÞcosðxtÞ þ dcosð3xtÞ (31)

The solution procedure for second-order will be preceded by considering the first two terms of the Fourier
series in the minimization problem (26). To get the first two components of the Fourier series, linearize the
rational term in equation (22) in the following manner.
Let

x
fðxÞ ¼
1 þ x2
1002 Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control 38(3–4)

Then using Taylor series with first two terms gives

x1
fðx2 Þ  þ f 0 ð x 2  x1 Þ
x 1 Þð
1 þ x12

where x1 and x2 are the first- and second-order trial solutions, respectively.
The following minimization problem can be constructed by using first-two components of the Fourier series

Z !2
  T X
1
~ x_ 2 ; x2 ; t ¼
H x€2 þ bn cosðð2n þ 1ÞxtÞ dt (32)
0 n¼0

such that x2 ð0Þ ¼ A; x2 ð0Þ ¼ 0.

The coefficients b0 and b1 in minimization problem (32) can be computed as
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi !!
2 1 1 1
¼  2 4 A3 1 þ þ 2d 6 1 þ þ A ð1 þ 4
2
Þ (33)
A 1 þ A2 1 þ A2 1 þ A2

and
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
2 1 1 1
¼  3 6 A3 4 1 þ þ A2 1 þ 3 þ 4d 20 1 þ
 A 1 þ A 2 1 þ A 2 1 þ A2
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ! rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ! !! (34)
1 1
þ 5A 3 þ 5
2
þ  A 1 þ 6
2 4
1 þ A2 1 þ A2

Now minimization problem (32) can be expressed by

  Z T  2
~ x_ 2 ; x2 ; t ¼
H ðd  AÞx2 cosðxtÞ þ 9dx2 cosð3xtÞ þ b cosðxtÞ þ b1 cosð3xtÞ dðxtÞ
0

~ ~
By applying the optimality conditions @@d
H2
¼ 0 and @@x
H2
¼ 0 and solve the resulting equations numerically for x
and d for a fixed value of  and A gives the numerical values of ; d and x.
The problem in Example 2 can be solved by GEM method in a different way if the equation (22) can be
written as

x€ð1 þ x2 Þ þ x ¼ 0

The minimization problem of the above equation can be constructed and its first- and second-order approx-
imate frequencies can be found and some of the approximate frequencies are given in Table 2 with fixed values of
the  and A.

Results and discussions

Tables 1 and 2 show the percentage of relative errors in first- and second-order GEM frequencies in Examples 1
and 2, which shows that the percentage relative error in first-order GEM frequencies has dual behavior with the
increase of the amplitude. But after one increase it decreases when the amplitude is enhanced. The percentage
relative error in second-order approximate frequencies decreases with the increase in amplitude. Table 2 shows
that first-order GEM frequencies also decreases with the increasing values of the amplitudes at fixed values of the
parameter ‘’ used in the problem of Example 2 and the same decreasing variation of the percentage relative error
can be seen for second-order GEM frequencies.
Arif et al. 1003

Table 2. Percentage relative errors in first- and second-order GEM frequencies and values of the parameter ‘d’ with some chosen
values of the amplitudes and  for Example 2.

Numerical values of frequencies

Present modified method Standard method

 A x1 x2 d x1 x2 d

1 1 0.7654 0.7612 –0.0213 0.7503 0.7604 –0.0195

5 0.2536 0.2352 –0.3735 0.2172 0.2287 –0.1978
10 0.1342 0.1206 –0.8515 0.1104 0.1166 –0.4057
100 0.0141 0.0122 –9.2865 0.0111 0.0117 –4.0905
5 1 0.4865 0.4716 –0.0504 0.4475 0.4655 –0.0345
5 0.1207 0.1080 –0.4309 0.0989 0.1044 –0.2032
10 0.0618 0.0544 –0.9020 0.0496 0.0524 –0.4084
100 0.0063 0.0055 –9.3245 0.0050 0.0052 –4.0908
100 1 0.1342 0.1206 –0.0851 0.1104 0.1166 –0.0406
5 0.0280 0.0244 –0.4607 0.0222 0.0235 –0.2045
10 0.0141 0.0122 –0.9287 0.0111 0.0117 –0.4091
100 0.0014 0.0012 –9.3476 0.0011 0.0011 –4.0908
GEM: global error minimization.

1
Numerical solution
2nd order GEM solution
0.8 1st order GEM solution

0.6
A=1
0.4

0.2

0
x{t)

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
t

Figure 1. Comparison of the numerical solution with first- and second-order GEM solutions of Example 1.
GEM: global error minimization.

Figures 1 and 2 show the comparison of first- and second-order GEM solutions with the numerical solution
obtained from the Matlab solver ‘ode45’ for different amplitudes of Example 1. In these figures, it can be con-
cluded that the first-order GEM solution is improved by increasing the value of the amplitude. So the error of the
first-order GEM solution can be reduced by choosing the larger value of the amplitude but second-order is more
accurate for small and large amplitudes. Figures 3 and 4 show the phase portraits of first- and second-order GEM
solutions and numerical solutions. These figures can be used to observe the difference between the phase plots of
numerical solutions and GEM solutions. The phase portraits show that whether the limit cycle is present for
particular chosen values of the amplitudes. So limit cycles are present for the mentioned values of the amplitudes.
Similarly, phase portraits can be drawn for different finite values of the amplitudes and comparison of the
1004 Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control 38(3–4)

10
Numerical solution
2nd order GEM solution
8 1st order GEM solution

6 A = 10

2
x(t)

-2

-4

-6

-8

-10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
t

Figure 2. Comparison of the numerical solution with first- and second-order GEM solutions of Example 1.
GEM: global error minimization.

0.8
A=1 Numerical solution and its 1st derivative
2nd order GEM solution and its 1st derivative
0.6 1st order GEM solution and its 1st derivative

0.4

0.2
dx/dt

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x(t)

Figure 3. Comparison of the phase portraits from numerical solution with phase portraits obtained from first- and second-order
GEM solutions of Example 1.
GEM: global error minimization.

GEM first-order and second-order solutions with the numerical solutions can be seen for those values of
the amplitudes.
Figures 5 and 6 show the comparison of numerical solutions and comparison of phase portraits obtained from
Matlab solver ‘ode45’ with GEM first and second-order solutions and phase portraits for the mentioned values of
the amplitudes of Example 2.
It can also be noted from the solution procedures of both solved problems above that linearization of the
nonlinear term is performed instead of adopting the whole nonlinear term to carry out the integration which is
Arif et al. 1005

10

8 numerical solution and its derivative

2nd order GEM solution and its derivative
6 1st order GEM solution and its derivative

A = 10
4

2
dx/dt

-2

-4

-6

-8

-10
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
x(t)

Figure 4. Comparison of the phase portraits from numerical solution with phase portraits obtained from first- and second-order
GEM solutions of Example 1.
GEM: global error minimization.

1
Numerical solution
0.8 2nd order GEM solution
1st order GEM solution

0.6
A=1, ε = 4
0.4

0.2
x(t)

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
t

Figure 5. Comparison of the numerical solution with first- and second-order GEM solutions of Example 2.
GEM: global error minimization.

performed during the procedures of determining the coefficients of Fourier series. So, the first step of the present
solution procedure is to approximate any rational, fractional and discontinuous term of the oscillator to Fourier
series and coefficients of the Fourier series are found by performing the integration for the same rationale,
fractional and discontinuous term and linearized form of the rational, fractional and discontinuous term which
is evaluated at the trial solution chosen, i.e. if the first-order solution is needed to find then no need to linearize the
rational term and in order to get second order or high order of the solutions then linearization of the rational term
will be performed and linearized form of the rational term can be used to carry out the integration which would be
needed for determining the coefficients of the Fourier series.
1006 Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control 38(3–4)

0.8
N u m e ri ca l s o l u ti o n
2 n d o rd e r GEM s o l u ti o n
1 s t o rd e r GEM s o l u ti o n
0.6

0.4

0.2
dx/dt

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x(t)

Figure 6. Comparison of the phase portraits from numerical solution with phase portraits obtained from first- and second-order
GEM solutions of Example 2.

Conclusion
The GEM method is extended using Fourier series for oscillators with fractional terms. In our proposed extension
of the GEM method, Fourier series has been adopted to approximate the fractional term. Also, in order to get the
second-order approximate frequencies and approximate solutions, linearization of the fractional term in the
variational principle is performed. The linearization leads to a computationally efficient integration. Two exam-
ples have been presented to demonstrate our proposed method. The proposed approach generalizes to nonlinear
oscillators with discontinuity and fractional power.

Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Vice Chancellor, Air vice Marshal Faaiz Amir (Retd.), Air University, Islamabad and Dr Raheel
Qamar, Rector Comsats University, Islamabad, Pakistan for providing excellent research environment and facilities.
Exclusively I would like to thank Dr Syed Pasha Ahmed, Electrical Department, Air University for his guidance to improve
the language of the paper.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD
Muhammad Shoaib Arif http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6009-5609

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