Dynamics of a Single Degree of Freedom Clutch Damper System with Multiple Discontinuous Nonlinearities

In this work, the dynamics of a clutch damper system with multiple nonlinearities modeled as a single degree freedom system is investigated numerically. The experimentally obtained torque displacement diagram shows the presence of preload, hysteresis and piecewise nonlinearities in the system. All the above said nonlinearities are discontinuous in nature and special solution techniques are required to solve the same. In this paper, the discontinuous functions are replaced by smooth functions to avoid the computational difficulties. The dynamics is investigated by plotting bifurcation diagrams with excitation frequency as the parameter. In the presence of multiple nonlinearities, it is found that the system exhibits complex dynamics in the form of periodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic solutions for different parameter values. It is found that the addition of mean load changes the symmetry associated with the system. The study provides better understanding on the dynamics of the system which is essential for a safe design.