Nonlinear resonances of a semi-infinite cable on a nonlinear elastic foundation

► Multiple-Time-Scale analysis of a semi-infinite cable resting on a nonlinear substrate. ► Approximate analytical solution obtained in an unbounded domain. ► The cubic nonlinearity is retained at the lowest order and is not supposed to be small. ► The nonlinear frequency response curves are obtained. ► Hardening or softening behavior is observed depending upon order of resonance. The Multiple Time Scale (MTS) method is applied to the study of nonlinear resonances of a semi-infinite cable resting on a nonlinear elastic foundation, subject to a constant uniformly distributed load and to a linear viscous damping force. The zero order solution provides the static displacement, which is governed by a nonlinear equation which has been solved in closed form. The first order solution provides the linear resonances, which are seen to be functions of the nonlinearity parameter and of the static displacement at the finite boundary only. Although the first-order governing equation is linear, it has non constant coefficients and cannot be solved in closed form, so that a numerical solution is considered; the eigenfrequencies obtained in this way are also compared with the approximate eigenvalues obtained by the WKB method. At the second order of the MTS expansion, we see that the solution is independent of the intermediate time scale; some additional terms are present, including a time-independent shift of the average position of the oscillations. Finally, the nonlinear frequency–amplitude response curves, which are investigated in detail and which represent the main result of this work, are obtained from the solvability condition at the third order.