Global search of non-linear systems periodic solutions: A rotordynamics application

Introducing non-linearities into models contributes towards a better reality description but leads to systems having multiple solutions. It is then legitimate to look for all the solutions of such systems, that is to have a global analysis approach. However no effective method can be found in literature for systems described by more than two or three degrees of freedom. We propose in this paper a way to find all T-periodic solutions—where T is known—of a non-linear dynamical system. This method is compared to three other approaches and is shown to be the most efficient on a Duffing oscillator. As a more complex example, a rotor model including a squeeze-film damper is studied and a second branch of solutions is exhibited.