The Initial Value Problem for Fractional Order Differential Equations with Constant Coefficients. 2nd Edition

Systems of fractional order differential equations are constructed to solve for viscoelastically damped structural motion. To reduce computational effort the equations of motion are cast as an initial value problem where the history dependence is approximated by retaining events only from the recent past. Several strong parallels arise with ordinary, linear differential equations. These parallels plus the well-posed nature of the fractional order differential equations leads one to view the fractional order initial value problem as an extension of the theory of ordinary, linear differential equations with constant coefficients. Keywords: Structural response; Vibration control; Damping. (KR)