Component Mode Synthesis Using Nonlinear Normal Modes

This paper describes a methodology for developing reduced-order dynamic models of structural systems that are composed of an assembly of nonlinear component structures. The approach is a nonlinear extension of the fixed-interface component mode synthesis (CMS) technique developed for linear structures by Hurty and modified by Craig and Bampton. Specifically, the case of nonlinear substructures is handled by using fixed-interface nonlinear normal modes (NNMs). These normal modes are constructed for the various substructures using an invariant manifold approach, and are then coupled through the traditional linear constraint modes (i.e., the static deformation shapes produced by unit interface displacements). A class of systems is used to demonstrate the concept and show the effectiveness of the proposed procedure. Simulation results show that the reduced-order model (ROM) obtained from the proposed procedure outperforms the ROM obtained from the classical fixed-interface linear CMS approach as applied to a nonlinear structure. The proposed method is readily applicable to large-scale nonlinear structural systems that are based on finite-element models.