Journal Article

Integral and Numerical Formulations for Seeking the Period of Non-Conservative Nonlinear Oscillator With/Without the First Integral

Chang, Chih-Wen, Liu, Chein-Shan, Tsai, Chia-Cheng

2025

Overview

For a non-conservative nonlinear oscillator (NCNO) having a periodic solution, the existence of the first integral is a certain symmetry of the nonlinear dynamical system, which signifies the balance of kinetic energy and potential energy. A first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) is used to derive the first integral, which, equipped with a right-end boundary condition, can determine an implicit potential function for computing the period by an exact integral formula. However, the integrand is singular, which renders a less accurate value of the period. A generalized integral conservation law endowed with a weight function is constructed, which is proved to be equivalent to the exact integral formula. Minimizing the error to satisfy the periodicity conditions, the optimal initial value of the weight function is determined. Two non-iterative methods are developed by integrating three first-order ODEs or two first-order ODEs to compute the period. Very accurate value of the period can be observed upon testing five examples. For the NCNO without having the first integral, the integral-type period formula is derived. Four examples belong to the Liénard equation, involving the van der Pol equation, are evaluated by the proposed iterative method to determine the oscillatory amplitude and period. For the case with one or more limit cycles, the amplitude and period can be estimated very accurately. For the NCNO of a broad type with or without having the first integral, the present paper features a solid theoretical foundation and contributes integral-type formulations for the determination of the oscillatory period. The development of new numerical algorithms and extensive validation across a diverse set of examples is given.

• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Subject: Accuracy / Amplitudes / Boundary conditions / Conservation laws / Differential equations / Dynamical systems / Environmental law / Force and energy / Formulations / Iterative methods / Kinetic energy / Methods / Nonlinear differential equations / Numerical analysis / Orbits / Oscillators / Potential energy / Weighting functions