Noise Influenced Energy Localization in Oscillator Arrays

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

Machinery with rotating blades is used in aircraft engines, power generation turbomachinery, and several other commercial and industrial systems. The performance and reliability of these systems depends very much, on how individual components such as the blades respond to different conditions. Apart from being detrimental to system performance and reliability, undesirable blade dynamics may result in catastrophic damage to the engine or the machinery. One type of undesirable response is where a motion that can cause catastrophic failure is concentrated at a specific component of the system, such as blade of a turbine. A measure used for quantifying this response concentration is the energy of the system. Higher the energy concentrated or localized, higher the rate and/or level of undesirable motions. While a high level of concentration of energy can be detrimental to the health or performance of a system, an appropriate level of concentration or localization can be beneficial for applications, such as measurements of system response. This research will innovate methods and tools to take advantage of such controlled localization of system response for the benefit of measurements and health monitoring of systems. The success of this research will promote the progress of science in the areas of energy harvesting, rotary systems, and reflector arrays. This work will usher in a new generation of researchers trained to use tools suited for study of noise-enabled dynamics. Building on prior efforts on noise-influenced responses of nonlinear oscillators, the research team will pursue the principal goal of understanding the physical foundations of energy localization in a variety of coupled nonlinear oscillators and examining ways to create, move, or suppress this energy localization with the influence of noise. Fundamental studies will be pursued to develop and extend the knowledge base for the use of combined deterministic and noise inputs to realize desired energy formations in nonlinear systems. The project team will conduct original experiments with different oscillator arrays to explore the possibilities for control of energy localization. Informed by the experimental findings, analytical and numerical studies will be initiated to uncover mechanisms underlying the nonlinear phenomena and examine the effects of cyclic symmetry in certain mechanical systems. The findings are expected to open the doors to the combined use of noise and deterministic inputs for control of nonlinear phenomena in systems with and without cyclic symmetry. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.