Gatti 2018

Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing xxx (2018) xxx–xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ymssp
Some diverse examples of exploiting the beneficial effects

of geometric stiffness nonlinearity
G. Gatti a,⇑, M.J. Brennan b, B. Tang c
a
Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Rende, CS, 87036, Italy
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNESP, Ilha Solteira, SP 15385-000, Brazil
c
Institute of Internal Combustion Engine, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116023, China
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: The effects of nonlinearity, particularly stiffness nonlinearity, has been of concern to struc-
Received 16 December 2017 tural engineers for many years. The main reason for this is because this type of nonlinearity
Received in revised form 13 July 2018 can cause unpredictable dynamics, and considerable effort is necessary to analyse nonlin-
Accepted 8 August 2018
ear structures. However, due to the recent computational advances, and the continuous
Available online xxxx
need to improve the performance and efficiency of structures and mechanical devices,
engineers have recently started to investigate whether nonlinearity can be incorporated
Keywords:
into structures to provide some benefit. This paper presents four case-studies where this
Nonlinear vibration
Vibration isolation
type of nonlinearity can be introduced to good use. The required nonlinear stiffness varies
Vibration neutraliser from case to case, but can be realised in each case with a simple geometric arrangement of
Vibration energy harvesting up to three linear springs. The case-studies involving vibration isolators, vibration neutral-
Snap-through mechanism izers, vibration energy harvesters and micro-air-vehicles are discussed in this context.
Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
For many years, engineers have sought to eliminate stiffness nonlinearity from the point of view of structural dynamics,
mainly because this type of nonlinearity can cause unpredictable effects, and nonlinear structures can be difficult to analyse
[1]. In the most general case, the stiffness of a system or structure can take the form of a softening or hardening stiffness, a
bilinear stiffness, a clearance, or a saturation [1]. In recent years, however, there have been attempts to exploit the beneficial
effects of stiffness nonlinearity, for example [2]. This has been driven, in part, by the need to improve the performance of
structures by making them compact, and without adding weight. Greater understanding of the effects of nonlinearity and
improved prediction and identification methods have facilitated this [3].
In this paper, four systems in which geometric stiffness nonlinearity is deliberately introduced, are discussed. These sys-
tems have been presented individually in the literature by the authors of the current paper, but the aim here is to describe
them as a set of case-studies in the context of a common framework. They all share the exploitation of a simple model for the
nonlinear stiffness, illustrated in Fig. 1(a), which is obtained by combining three linear springs. The force-deflection charac-
teristic of the system is shown in Fig. 1(b), as a function of the control parameter, which is the ratio between the length of the
lateral springs when they are in the horizontal position and their length when unstretched.
As shown in Fig. 1(b), different behaviour can be achieved when changing the control parameter, from hardening to
quasi-zero stiffness, to snap-through. The systems described in this paper exploit (i) quasi-zero stiffness for vibration
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gianluca.gatti@unical.it (G. Gatti).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymssp.2018.08.024
0888-3270/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: G. Gatti et al., Some diverse examples of exploiting the beneficial effects of geometric stiffness nonlin-
earity, Mech. Syst. Signal Process. (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymssp.2018.08.024
2 G. Gatti et al. / Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing xxx (2018) xxx–xxx
Fig. 1. An example of geometrical nonlinear stiffness and how it can be put to good use. (a) Three linear spring arrangement that exhibits geometric
nonlinear stiffness. (b) Corresponding force-deflection characteristic as a function of the unstretched lateral spring length (the control parameter). Three
specific characteristics are highlighted that are utilised for the applications shown.
isolation [4], (ii) hardening nonlinearity for energy harvesting and vibration absorption [5], (iii) snap-through behaviour for
energy harvesting [6] and for micro-air-vehicles [7]. To support the case-studies, some recent advances in the applications of
vibration isolation, vibration neutralizers, energy harvesting and micro-air-vehicles, in the context of stiffness nonlinearity
are summarised below.
1.1. Isolators
A recurrent problem in many engineering applications is that of preventing the transmission of vibrations using a
vibration isolator [4]. Ideally, an isolator should have a high-static stiffness, capable of bearing the load with little static
displacement, and a low-dynamic stiffness, to provide the low natural frequency required for improved vibration isolation
performance. Such a characteristic requires stiffness nonlinearity [8]. The type of stiffness considered in this case, is the
hardening type as this occurs often in practice and it is relatively easy to design a structure with this type of nonlinearity.
Simple models of such isolators, the optimum parameters to maximize the benefits of the nonlinearity and ways to min-
imize undesirable dynamic effects, have been reported in Refs. [8–10]. Further work in this area has involved the use of
magnets [11,12], nonlinear damping [13,14], scissor-like (X-shaped) structures [15–20], including methods to make the
device tunable [21]. Isolators consisting of a parallel combination of a spring with a series combination of a spring and
a damper have been investigated in Refs. [22,23] by using nonlinear stiffness elements. An adjustable high-static-low-
dynamic isolator has been described in Ref. [24], where the overall stiffness can be set to a wide range of values. One
and two degree-of-freedom quasi-zero stiffness isolators have been compared in Ref. [25]. In this paper, simple analytical
expressions related to the force and displacement transmissibility of a nonlinear isolator are given, and the benefits of the
nonlinearity discussed.
G. Gatti et al. / Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing xxx (2018) xxx–xxx 3
1.2. Neutralizers
Vibration absorbers and vibration neutralizers are tuned mass-spring-damper devices that are attached to structures to
reduce vibration in a specific frequency range. A vibration absorber is designed to reduce the resonance response of the host
structure, and a vibration neutralizer is used to reduce the vibration of the host structure at a particular forcing frequency.
Nonlinear vibration absorbers have been applied to reduce aeroelastic instabilities in Refs. [26,27]. It has been shown in Refs.
[28,29] that, in the case of a nonlinear primary structure, the mathematical form of the restoring force of the absorber should
be tailored according to the nonlinear restoring force of the primary system to achieve superior performance. Hence, in the
case of a linear host structure, there is no significant advantage in using a nonlinear vibration absorber compared to the use
of a linear absorber [30,31]. Furthermore, nonlinear dynamic effects, such as detached resonance curves and quasi-periodic
motion may appear [32–34]. There are, however, some advantages in using a nonlinear vibration neutralizer, provided that
the forcing frequency is much higher than the natural frequency of the linear host structure [35,36]. This case is specifically
described in this paper.
1.3. Energy harvesters
Harvesting energy from ambient sources [37] has become an area of increasing interest within the last decade or so, par-
ticularly with the increase in the use of wireless sensors, which often require autonomous power supplies. Ambient vibration
has the potential to power these sensors in remote and hostile environments, and mechanical resonators have been used to
harvest energy from this source [38,39]. Many of these devices are linear mass-spring-damper systems which are tuned so
that their natural frequencies coincide with specific forcing frequencies, allowing maximum energy to be harvested [40].
Examples of recent applications span from train-induced vibrations [41–44], rain-induced vibrations [45,46], vehicle-
induced vibrations [47,48], and human-induced vibrations [49,50]. However, the ambient frequency may not be tonal and
could vary with time, which can degrade the performance of the device drastically. To overcome this limitation, nonlinear
energy harvesters have been proposed [51–55]. In this paper, a vibration energy harvester which can operate in either hard-
ening or snap-through mode is illustrated. This latter configuration has recently attracted considerable attention in the lit-
erature [56–59].
1.4. Micro-air-vehicles (MAV)
These devices have fascinated engineers in recent years, and several biomimetic mechanisms have been proposed, mainly
inspired by insect-like flapping flight [60–64]. One of the fundamental strategies based on these devices is the so called click
or snap-through mechanism, which was first proposed by Boettiger and Furshpan [65], and discussed later by Pringle [66].
Based on the flight mechanism described in Ref. [67], Brennan et al. [68] and Tang and Brennan [69] analysed a simple
mechanical model of the snap-through mechanism with both linear and quadratic damping, to investigate its mechanical
advantage. Harne and Wang [70] used a compressed beam in a snap-through mechanism for a MAV, and Kok et al. [71] dis-
cussed the aerodynamic efficiency of a MAV with a snap-through mechanism and observed greater lift generation when the
wing was excited below the natural frequency of the system. In this paper, a prototype of a snap-through mechanism for a
MAV is presented and its fundamental dynamics are discussed.
2. Geometrical stiffness nonlinearity
As mentioned in the Introduction the core element of all the examples described in this paper is the stiffness configura-
tion shown in Fig. 1(a), and its characteristics are briefly described in this section. The force-deflection relationship is given
by
!
d0
f spring ¼ kv z þ 2kz 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð1aÞ
2
z2 þ d
where f spring is the applied force, and z is the relative displacement from the position in which the lateral springs of stiffness,
k, are orthogonal to the vertical spring, with stiffness, kv, (an equilibrium position). The length of the lateral springs in such a
configuration is denoted by d, and d0 is the length of the unstretched springs. If the displacement from the equilibrium posi-
tion is sufficiently small, the force deflection characteristic can be approximated by
f spring ¼ k1 z þ k3 z3 ð1bÞ
3
where k1 ¼ kv 2kðd0 =d 1Þ and k3 ¼ kd0 =d .
Referring to Fig. 1(b), if k1 > 0 then the system behaves as a hardening stiffness, if k1 ¼ 0 the system has a QZS charac-
teristic, and if k1 < 0 the system has a snap-through characteristic. As mentioned in the introduction, the application case-
studies discussed in the paper are each designed to operate in one of these three stiffness regimes, and are indicated in Fig. 1
(b). They are described in the following sections.
3. Nonlinear vibration isolators
The first case-study involves the use of a nonlinear isolator to isolate against vibration and shock. It draws principally on
Ref. [8] for vibration isolation, and Ref. [72] for shock isolation. Referring to Fig. 1(b), the ideal stiffness characteristic is quasi-
zero.
3.1. Vibration isolation
An example of an isolator and its force-deflection characteristic for several different models of the isolator (a bubble
mount) are given in Fig. 2. The static equilibrium position is marked in the figure. It can be noted that the slopes of the
graphs (the local or dynamic stiffness) are small at this position, similar to the QZS behaviour. The asymmetry of isolators
about the static equilibrium position can also be noted. This characteristic is often found in such isolators, and is dis-
cussed in Ref. [73]. Fig. 3 shows a simple low frequency model of a nonlinear vibration isolation system, which consists
of a mass m suspended on the geometrically nonlinear stiffness shown in Fig. 1(a) and a linear damper c. The mass can
either represent a machine suspended on an isolator attached to a rigid base, so that y ¼ 0, and f ¼ Fcosxt is a harmonic
excitation force at frequency x, or as an item of equipment isolated from a harmonically excited base excitation
y ¼ Ycosxt, so that f ¼ 0. The force-deflection curve of the isolator spring is given by Eq. (1a), or for small relative dis-
placements across the isolator by Eq. (1b). It can be seen that the horizontal springs have two effects: they reduce the
linear stiffness so that k1 < kv , and they introduce the cubic stiffness term k3. The first effect is desirable, as it decreases
the linear natural frequency with a consequential increase in the vibration isolation region. In the limit, the linear stiff-
ness can, in principle, be set to zero to form a QZS system, which offers the best characteristic for low frequency vibration
isolation. The second effect is undesirable, as it causes a hardening nonlinearity in the isolator, which results in the
resonance peak bending to higher frequencies, potentially reducing the frequency range over which there is vibration
isolation.
Fig. 2. A typical nonlinear vibration isolator: (a) bubble mount isolator, and (b) corresponding force–deflection characteristic. Courtesy of Tech Products
Corporation, Ohio, US (www.novibes.com).
Fig. 3. Simple model of a non-linear isolator.
When single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system in Fig. 3 is excited by the force with y ¼ 0, then x ¼ z, and the equation of
motion is given by
m€z þ cz_ þ k1 z þ k3 z3 ¼ f ðtÞ ð2aÞ

For harmonic excitation, f ðtÞ ¼ Fcosðx tÞ. Eq. (2a) can be written in non-dimensional form as
^
^z00 þ 2f^z0 þ a^z þ c^z3 ¼ Fcosð X sÞ ð2bÞ
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where ^z ¼ z=zs , in which zs ¼ d0 d is the static deflection of the mass m, such that the two springs k are horizontal in
2 2
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
the static equilibrium position as depicted in Fig. 3; f ¼ c=2mxn is the damping ratio, xn ¼ kv =m is the natural fre-
quency of the isolator without the horizontal springs attached, a ¼ k1 =kv and c ¼ k3 z2s =kv are the non-dimensional linear
and nonlinear stiffness coefficients respectively; X ¼ x=xn is the non-dimensional frequency, s ¼ xn t is the non-
dimensional time, F^ ¼ F=kv zs is the non-dimensional force amplitude and ðÞ0 ¼ dðÞ=ds. Applying the harmonic balance
^ cosðXs þ / Þ, leads to the amplitude-frequency
method up to the first order and assuming a solution of the form ^z ¼ Z F
equation
2
3 ^2 F^2
cZ þ a X2 þ ð2fXÞ2 ¼ ^2 ð3Þ
4 Z
2
^ 2 þ a þ ð2fXÞ2 ¼ F^2 =Z
The non-dimensional amplitude of the force transmitted to the base is then given by 3=4cZ ^ 2 and
t
the force transmissibility is defined as TRF ¼ F^t =F.

^
If the system is subject to harmonic base excitation, with f = 0, the equation of motion is given by
m€z þ cz_ þ k1 z þ k3 z3 ¼ my

€ðtÞ ð4aÞ
€ðt Þ ¼ x2 Y cosðx tÞ, in which Y is the amplitude of the base displacement. Eq. (4a) can be written in non-
where y
dimensional form as
^z00 þ 2f^z0 þ a^z þ cY^ ^z3 ¼ X2 cosðX sÞ

2
ð4bÞ
where now ^z ¼ z=Y and Y ^ ¼ Y=zs . Applying the harmonic balance method and assuming a solution of the form
^
^z ¼ Zcos ðXs þ /D Þ, leads to the amplitude-frequency equation given by
2
3 ^ 2 ^2 X4
cY Z þ a X2 þ ð2fXÞ2 ¼ ^ 2 ð5Þ
4 Z
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
and the absolute displacement transmissibility is determined as TRD ¼ jxj=Y ¼ 1 þ 2Zcos/ ^ ^2
D þZ .

To compare the force and displacement transmissibility, the amplitude of the base excitation is chosen to be 0:9Y^ max
^
d¼2=3
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
^
in which Y max ¼ 4f ð1 aÞ=3c for 0 < a < 1 [8], and the amplitude of the force excitation is chosen such that the displace-
Fig. 4. Comparison of the force and displacement transmissibilities for different values of d ^ and for f = 0.01. In each case, the base displacement is set to be
constant with frequency. The thin lines are for TRD , and the thicher lines for TRF . The dash-dotted line is the linear case. Solid (dashed) lines denote stable
(unstable) solutions. The squares and circles are the results of the numerical validation.
Fig. 5. Shock input: non-dimensional versed sine displacement for different values of b.
ment is the same as this at zero frequency. The force and displacement transmissibilities are plotted in Fig. 4 for different
^ ¼ d=d . Numerical results (the amplitude of the first harmonic) obtained by directly integrating the equations
values of d 0
of motion are also plotted as circles and squares. A number of points can be made about this figure:
^ and hence k1 , the natural frequency of the system is reduced. Thus, the
As the nonlinearity is increased, by reducing d
frequency range over which isolation occurs, is increased. Note that for k ¼ kv , then the system becomes QZS when
^ ¼ 2=3, which is the ideal situation.
d
^ is reduced the nonlinear effect increases, which means that the transmissibilty curves bend more to higher frequen-
As d
cies, which is undesirable. Note that this can be counteracted to some extent by increasing damping.
The differences between the force and displacement transmissibilities are clear. Note that they would only be the same if
the force applied to the mass is the same as the product of the mass and the acceleration of the base. It is also noted that
^ decreases the nonlinearity affects the displacement transmissibility more than the force transmissibility. Animation 1
as d
illustrates this effect as a sequence of frames.
Animation 1. Nonlinear vibration isolator: force and displacement transmissibility.
3.2. Shock isolation
Shock isolators using nonlinear elements have been discussed recently in Refs. [74–76]. To investigate the performance of
the nonlinear isolator to absorb a shock, base-excitation is considered, and a versed sine function is assumed as the displace-
ment input. The equation of motion of the system is given by Eq. (4a), but now yðt Þ ¼ 1=2Y ½1 cosð2pt=T v Þ for 0 6 t 6 T v in
which Tv is the period of the versed sine pulse, and Y is the maximum displacement. The non-dimensional form of the equa-
tion of motion is then given by
^z00 þ 2f^z0 þ a^z þ cY^ ^z3 ¼ 2b2 cosð2b sÞ

2
ð6Þ
where b ¼ p=xn T v . The non-dimensional shock input y ^ðsÞ ¼ y=Y ¼ 1=2½1 cosð2bsÞ is plotted in Fig. 5 for some represen-
tative values of b.
To illustrate the shock performance of the nonlinear isolator, it is assumed that the maximum shock displacement is
^ 1. In this case, the nonlinear term
much smaller than the static deflection of the mass of the isolator, which means that Y
in Eq. (6) has a negligibly small effect, so the dominant effect of the horizontal springs is to reduce the linear stiffness and
hence the natural frequency. The value of a compared to f is crucial to the shock response of the system. If a < f2 , the system
behaves as if it were over-damped, and if a > f2 the system behaves as if it were under-damped. The way in which a, f and d ^
affect the behaviour of the isolator is illustrated in Fig. 6(a), where the shaded region corresponds to a system behaviour
which is over-damped. It can be noted that, when d ^ decreases from 1 to 0.7, the system will be under-damped for the major-
^ decreases further, the under-damped region becomes smaller and
ity of the damping values considered. However, when d
^ ¼ 2=3), the behaviour becomes predominately over-damped
smaller. When the system tends towards a QZS isolator (i.e. d
for the majority of damping values. In Fig. 6(b) the maximum shock displacement transmissibility, TRS ¼ j^z þ y ^jmax , of the
^ ^
linear and nonlinear systems for Y ¼ 0:1 and f ¼ 0:2 are shown for different values of d. It can be seen that the general effect
of the horizontal springs is beneficial. It is evident that the peak in the response decreases and occurs at smaller values of b,
as d^ increases. For small values of input displacement, the QZS isolation system outperforms the linear system, which is
^ ¼ 0:1, is
when the horizontal springs are removed. The non-dimensional time response of the isolator with f ¼ 0:2 for Y
^ ^
shown in Animation 2 for d ¼ 0:67 and in Animation 3 for d ¼ 0:8 as the input duration b is varied.
Animation 2. Nonlinear shock isolator: time response for a soft spring.
Animation 3. Nonlinear shock isolator: time response for a hard spring.
^ (a) Different damped cases for the isolator: the shaded (white) region denotes an over-(under-)
Fig. 6. Performance of the shock isolator for small Y.
^ solid lines are by numerical integration of the nonlinear equation of
damped behaviour. (b) Shock displacement transimssibility for different vaules of d:
motion in Eq. (6) with no cubic approximation for the restoring force; squares are by integrating Eq. (6) neglecting the nonlinear term.
4. Nonlinear vibration neutralizers
The second case-study involves a nonlinear vibration neutralizer, which is described primarily in Ref. [35]. The stiffness
characteristic used is hardening, as shown in Fig. 1(b). A nonlinear model of a neutralizer attached to a vibrating structure is
illustrated in Fig. 7(a), and an experimental rig is shown in Fig. 7(b). In the experiment, the host structure is emulated by an
electro-dynamic shaker, and the geometric nonlinearity is obtained by suspending the neutralizer mass by nylon wires. The
stiffness arrangement for the neutraliser is thus similar to that shown in Fig. 1(a), but with the stiffness kv removed. Assum-
ing the approximate model for the stiffness given in Eq. (1b), with kv ¼ 0, the equation of motion of the shaker mass is given
by
€ þ cs y_ ks y cz_ k1 z k3 z3 ¼ f ðt Þ
ms y ð7Þ
where ms, cs and ks are the mass, damping and stiffness of the host machine (shaker), f ðt Þ ¼ Fcosðx tÞ, and now
k1 ¼ 2kð1 d0 =dÞ. The equation of motion for the neutralizer mass is the same as Eq. (4a).
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
If it is assumed that the excitation frequency x is much higher than the natural frequency of the host structure, ks =ms ,
then the host structure behaves as a simple mass, at the frequency of excitation. For this reason, the machine suspension
stiffness and damping can be neglected, and the equations of motion can be written (in non-dimensional form) as
^00 ð1 þ lÞ þ l^z00 ¼ lcosðXsÞ
y ð8aÞ
Fig. 7. Simple model of a nonlinear neutralizer attached to a SDOF linear oscillating machine. (a) Schematic diagram and (b) photograph, using a shaker as
the host machine.
^z00 þ 2f^z0 þ ^z þ c^z3 ¼ y

^00 ð8bÞ
where y^ ¼ y=x0 and ^z ¼ z=x0 are the non-dimensional displacement of the host machine and the relative displacement
respectively, in which x0 ¼ F=k1 ; l ¼ m=ms is the mass ratio; c ¼ k3 =k1 x20 is the nonlinear coefficient; and the frequency used
for non-dimensionalization is now xn ¼ k1 =m.

Applying the harmonic balance method and assuming solutions of the form y ^¼Y ^ cos Xs þ u and ^z ¼ Z ^ cosðXs þ u Þ,
y z
the amplitude-frequency equations are given by

!2 ! 2 !2 ! 3

1 1 4 3c 1 1 1 1 5
Y^ ¼
2
Z^ ^ 2
1 1 2 Z 4 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 ð9aÞ
X2R X4
2X 2
XR XR XR X
! 2 !2 3 !2
9 2 ^6 3 X2 ^ 4 4 X2 2 2 5^2 1
c Z þ c 1 2 Z þ 1 2 þ 4f X Z 1 2 ¼ 0 ð9bÞ
16 2 XR XR XR
where XR ¼ 1 þ l.
Fig. 8. Effect of the nonlinear neutralizer: FRC of the machine displacement amplitude for (a) F = 0.53 N and (b) F = 2.12 N. Linear model (thin dashed line);
nonlinear model for stable (solid line) and unstable (dashed line) solution; experimental results for the increasing (right-pointing triangles) and decreasing
(left-pointing triangles) frequency test.
The effect of nonlinearity is illustrated on the mechanical prototype shown in Fig. 7(b), whose parameters are
ms = 0.117 kg, m = 0.0026 kg, c = 0.027 N s/m, k1 = 915 N/m and k3 = 3.7 107 N/m3 [35]. The results of two stepped-sine
tests with excitation force amplitudes of 0.53 N and 2.12 N are shown in Fig. 8(a) and (b), respectively. The frequency
response curve (FRC) calculated from Eq. (9a) is also superimposed for comparison.
In Fig. 8(a), it can be seen that the general effect of the nonlinearity is to shift both the anti-resonance frequency and the
resonance frequency to higher frequencies, but the anti-resonance is shifted much less than the resonance frequency. In a
linear neutralizer, where c = 0, this effect can only be achieved by adding mass to the neutralizer, and thus the inclusion
of nonlinearity in this case, has the benefit of saving weight. If the nonlinearity is increased further, as shown in Fig. 8(b),
the maximum amplitude in the FRC occurs at a higher frequency, but a region of multi-valued solution appears, which could
limit the neutralizer performance. For light damping, the limiting value for c to have a single-valued solution, and the cor-
responding frequency of the peak, are given in Ref. [35] as
256 f3 X7R
c ¼ pffiffiffi 2 ð10aÞ
9 3 X2 1
R
pffiffiffi
X ¼ XR 1 þ 3fXR ð10bÞ
For l ¼ 0:022 and f ¼ 0:0084, which are the non-dimensional parameters of the experimental rig, Animation 4 shows the
effect of increasing the nonlinearity from about zero (linear case) to 10 times the limiting value of c ¼ 0:0217.
Animation 4. Nonlinear vibration neutralizer: effect of nonlinearity on the frequency response.
5. Nonlinear energy harvesters
The nonlinear energy harvester used in the case-study considered here is shown in Fig. 9, which is described in detail in
Ref. [77]. It can be modelled in the same way as the base-excited vibration isolator shown in Fig. 3 [51] and described using
Eq. (4a). Two different systems, one with a hardening stiffness and one with a snap-through stiffness, can be achieved by
adjusting the gap b between the magnets and the iron core shown in Fig. 9. This is the same as the control parameter shown
^ If the gap is small then the device exhibits snap-through behaviour, and if
in Fig. 1(b), and has the same effect as reducing d.
the gap is large then the device has a hardening stiffness. The positive stiffness in the system is provided by the steel beam
and the magnets provide negative stiffness.
5.1. Exploitation of hardening stiffness
If the energy harvester has a hardening stiffness, the FRC will bend to higher frequencies. This can achieve a wider band-
width of operation compared to a linear energy harvester, although there are possible issues in achieving this in practice [78].
The bandwidth is defined as having the upper limit at the jump-down frequency where the peak amplitude occurs, and the
lower limit defined as the frequency at which the amplitude is 3 dB below the peak. The bandwidth is given by [51] as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
xn pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Dx ¼ 2 þ 2d 3 þ d 4f 1 þ 3d ð11Þ
2
Fig. 9. Two-mode electro-dynamic energy harvester: (a) photograph and (b) schematic model.
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

where xn ¼ k1 =m, f ¼ c=ð2mxn Þ, and d ¼ 1 þ 3k3 x4 Y 2 = 4k1 x4n f2 . It can be noted that the bandwidth of the harden-
ing system is dependent on the damping ratio f, the nonlinear stiffness and the amplitude of the input acceleration x2 Y. Eq.
(11) can be compared with the bandwidth of the linear system which is equal to 2f [79]. For a given input acceleration and
damping ratio, the bandwidth of the system increases with the degree of nonlinearity. An example of the displacement
response of the harvester shown in Fig. 9 configured so that it has hardening stiffness is shown in Fig. 10(a). Two different
levels of damping are applied to the system by changing the load resistance, and system responses are shown for increasing
and decreasing frequency. It can be noted that the jump-up frequency depends strongly on the nonlinearity and not on the
damping, and that the jump-down frequency depends on both the damping and the nonlinearity.
Using Eq. (11) an estimate of the bandwidths achievable for the linear system, and for the hardening system with low
and high amplitudes of excitation for different load resistances are given in Fig. 10(b). It can be noted that the bandwidth
of the hardening system is greater than that of the linear system even when the nonlinearity is relatively small. It can
also be noted that the bandwidth is greater when the damping in the system is small (i.e. large resistance). The band-
width of the hardening system also depends strongly on the nonlinearity, increasing as the nonlinear effect increases.
Thus, this device could be useful over a wide frequency range by having a large nonlinearity and low damping. The
performance of the hardening mechanism may be reduced due to the response not being on the upper branch in the
region between the jump-up and jump-down frequencies, if inappropriate initial conditions are applied to the system
[51]. However, very recent advances on the control of the amplitude of excitation in such nonlinear oscillators offer
new practical opportunities for exploitation [80].
Fig. 10. Harvester working in hardening mode with a gap b = 1.50 mm (adapted from Ref. [56]). (a) Measured RMS displacement of the inertia mass for a
base displacement amplitude Y = 0.1 mm: sweep-up (solid line with circles) and sweep-down (dashed line) for open-circuit; sweep-up (solid line with
diamonds) and sweep-down (dotted line) for a 200 Ohm load. (b) Estimate of the bandwidth of the linear (solid line with circles) and hardening system, for
Y = 0.1 mm (dashed line with diamonds) and Y = 0.2 mm (dotted line with squares).
5.2. Exploitation of snap-through stiffness
Energy harvesting using a bi-stable stiffness characteristic has been recently investigated in Refs. [81–85]. The system in
Fig. 9 with a snap-through would be useful when the excitation frequency is low and it may be difficult to design a system
with a natural frequency to match that frequency. The device has the advantage that once a strong enough level of excitation
causes it to vibrate in its snap-through mode, then it will continue to vibrate in this way over a wide range of frequencies.
Thus, it does not suffer from tuning issues that affect many energy harvesters. An example of the vibration output for two
levels of base displacement for the device in Fig. 9 is shown in Fig. 11.
A small gap b results in a high nonlinearity, and the larger the nonlinearity, the more difficult it is to snap the mass from one
stable position to another. In the experimental results shown, the gap was 0.6 mm. When the mass oscillates between the two
stable equilibrium configurations as in Fig. 11, the response can be either chaotic or periodic. Due to possible chaotic beha-
viour, the root mean square (RMS) values of the response are measured over 20 excitation periods for two base displacement
levels of 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm. It can be noted that the response is initially very small at low frequencies, which means that the
Fig. 11. Harvester working in snap-through mode with a gap b = 0.6 mm (adapted from Ref. [56]): Measured RMS acceleration of the inertia mass with a
200 Ohm load, for Y = 0.4 mm (dashed line with diamonds) and Y = 0.5 mm (dotted line with squares).
Fig. 12. Flight motor structure with snap-through mechanism: (a) photograph and (b) virtual model.
mass oscillates in a potential well [51,57]. When the frequency is increased, the amplitude of the response increases so that
the mass oscillates between two potential wells. The frequency when the mass starts to oscillate in this way depends on the
level of input, the amount of damping and the gap, i.e. the nonlinearity. It can be seen in Fig. 11 that the cross-well motion is
initiated in the system with a larger input at a slightly lower frequency than the one with a smaller input since the one with
the larger input can overcome the potential barrier at lower frequencies.
6. Micro-air-vehicles
The micro-air-vehicle discussed in this case-study involves the snap-through characteristic shown in Fig. 1(b). An exam-
ple of a bio-inspired flight motor structure with a snap-through mechanism is depicted in Fig. 12: a photograph is shown in
Fig. 12(a) and a virtual model in Fig. 12(b). This system was not intended to fly, but it was a first attempt to study the prac-
tical design and testing of a structure incorporating the snap-through mechanism, therefore it was much larger than a prac-
tical flapping wing MAV.
The force-deflection characteristic of the flight motor structure, obtained by experimental testing is given as a solid line in
Fig. 13 [86]. Despite the evident hysteretic behaviour, it can be clearly noted that the force-deflection curve is nonlinear with
a region of negative stiffness. This is similar to the snap-through characteristic shown in Fig. 1(b). Also, a clear asymmetric
behaviour is evident. Because of this asymmetry, the equation of motion is still given by Eq. (2a), but additional nonlinear
stiffness terms need to be added, so that
X
N
m€z þ cz_ þ k n zn ¼ f ð t Þ ð12Þ
n¼0
To determine the stiffness coefficients kn, the polynomial stiffness model can be curve-fitted to the experimental force-
deflection characteristic in Fig. 13. For a 6th order polynomial approximation, the stiffness coefficients were found to be
k0 = 0.0033 N, k1 = 27.7 N/m, k2 = 4.1 103 N/m2, k3 = 5.9 105 N/m3, k4 = 3.1 108 N/m4, k5 = 5.1 109 N/m5,
k6 = 3.7 1012 N/m6, and the corresponding curve is plotted as a dashed line in Fig. 13. Note that the force-deflection char-
acteristic obtained from the curve-fitting agrees reasonably well with the experimental result. The main difference between
the two is the hysteretic behaviour (due to structural damping in the hinges) which is not incorporated in the approximated
model. Some pictures of the flight motor structure at several positions along the curve are also shown in Fig. 13, and Ani-
mation 5 illustrates a sequence of the snap-through mechanism in the MAV.
Animation 5. The snap-through mechanism in a micro-air-vehicle.
Fig. 13. Spring restoring force of the snap-through mechanism: measured (solid line) and curve-fitted (dashed line). Video-stills show the mechanism
configuration at several positions.
Fig. 14. Energy ratio for different models at x = 1.25 Hz: simplified model given in Eq. (12) (solid line), simplified symmetric model (dotted line), and linear
system (dashed line).
Of particular interest is the ratio between the peak kinetic energy of the wings and the work input per cycle [87]. The peak
kinetic energy can be obtained by taking the product of the lumped mass and the square of the maximum velocity of the
mass, and the work input per cycle can be obtained by integrating the product of the excitation force and velocity [61]. This
ratio is given by
mz_ peak =2
2
^¼R
E ð13Þ
2p=x
0
FcosðxtÞz_ dt
and it is used as a metric to characterize the effectiveness of the structure.

The damping coefficient was set to c = 1.5 N s/m, the mass was set m = 0.01 kg [86] and the excitation frequency was set
to 1.25 Hz, which is 10 times smaller than the natural frequency of the linear system (see below). Three models are consid-
ered for comparison: the approximate asymmetric SDOF model described by Eq. (12), the symmetric approximate SDOF
model and the linear system. The symmetric model is obtained by retaining only the odd order terms in the expression
for the restoring force in Eq. (12), and the linear system has a natural frequency of 12.5 Hz, which corresponds to the fre-
quency of oscillation of the system at one of its stable equilibrium configuration.
Eq. (13) is plotted in Fig. 14, for the three cases mentioned above. The input work was calculated for a harmonic excitation
force with an amplitude ranging from 0.01 to 0.3 N.
It can be seen from Fig. 14 that the systems incorporating the snap-through mechanism perform better than the linear
system. It can also be seen that the symmetric and asymmetric systems behave in a qualitatively similar way, but the asym-
metry offers a marginal improvement. The asymmetry has the effect of inducing a larger peak velocity during the down-
stroke, and this is considered advantageous as it may generate a larger lift force. Asymmetry is indeed observed in the wing
motion of insects, and it is hard to avoid in a practical flight motor design.
7. Conclusions
This paper has presented four diverse case-studies that use geometrically nonlinear stiffness to improve their perfor-
mance. The required nonlinear stiffness varies from case to case, but can be realised in each case with a simple geometric
arrangement of up to three linear springs. The various examples have been discussed in this context. The four case-
studies involve vibration isolators, vibration neutralizers, vibrations energy harvesters and micro-air-vehicles. A simple
lumped-parameter single-degree-of-freedom mechanical oscillator has been adopted in all cases to illustrate the fundamen-
tal dynamic behaviour of the systems. In the model for each system, the springs could be adjusted so that the overall stiffness
could be either hardening, quasi-zero or snap-through, depending on the application. In all four cases described, the nonlin-
earity has a beneficial effect. However, it potentially can also have undesirable dynamic effects, and so it must be imple-
mented carefully to minimize or avoid these effects. If this is done correctly, then nonlinearity can be put to good use
and can be embraced rather than eliminated.
8. Declarations of interest
None.
9. Funding
M.J. Brennan would like to acknowledge the financial support of CNPq Process No. 312093/2014-4. B. Tang would like to
acknowledge the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11672058) and the Fundamental
Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Grant No. DUT18LAB15).
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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing

Some diverse examples of exploiting the beneficial effects

1.3. Energy harvesters

1.4. Micro-air-vehicles (MAV)

2. Geometrical stiffness nonlinearity

3. Nonlinear vibration isolators

3.1. Vibration isolation

Fig. 3. Simple model of a non-linear isolator.

m€z þ cz_ þ k1 z þ k3 z3 ¼ f ðtÞ ð2aÞ

the force transmissibility is defined as TRF ¼ F^t =F.

m€z þ cz_ þ k1 z þ k3 z3 ¼ my

^z00 þ 2f^z0 þ a^z þ cY^ ^z3 ¼ X2 cosðX sÞ

Animation 1. Nonlinear vibration isolator: force and displacement transmissibility.

3.2. Shock isolation

^z00 þ 2f^z0 þ a^z þ cY^ ^z3 ¼ 2b2 cosð2b sÞ

Animation 2. Nonlinear shock isolator: time response for a soft spring.

Animation 3. Nonlinear shock isolator: time response for a hard spring.

4. Nonlinear vibration neutralizers

^z00 þ 2f^z0 þ ^z þ c^z3 ¼ y

the amplitude-frequency equations are given by

Animation 4. Nonlinear vibration neutralizer: effect of nonlinearity on the frequency response.

5. Nonlinear energy harvesters

5.1. Exploitation of hardening stiffness

5.2. Exploitation of snap-through stiffness

Animation 5. The snap-through mechanism in a micro-air-vehicle.

and it is used as a metric to characterize the effectiveness of the structure.

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