ON OSCILLATORY MOTION OF SPRING MASS SYSTEMS SUBJECTED TO PIECEWISE-CONSTANT FORCES

Oscillatory motion of a spring -mass system subjected to a piecewise constant force of the form f(x([t])) or f([t]) is studied. Solutions of a damped spring-mass system subjected to linear, sinusoidal or non-linear piecewise constant forces are derived. Results are graphically presented and compared with those of the corresponding systems subjected to continuous forces. Oscillatory properties of an undamped spring-mass system subjected to a piecewise constant force are studied in detail. When in a non-linear system the non-linear function is treated as a piecewise constant force in a small enough time interval, the resulting response agrees with the solution of the original non-linear equation. To this effect, examples of linear, non-linear and chaotic systems have been treated in the text. © 1994 Academic Press Limited.