Dynamics of a periodically driven chain of coupled nonlinear oscillators

A 1D chain of coupled oscillators is considered, including the Duffing-type nonlinearity, viscous damping, and kinematic harmonic excitation. The equations of motion are presented in a non-dimensional form. The approximate equations for the vibrational amplitudes and phases are derived by means of the classical averaging method. A simple analysis of the resulting equations allows one to determine the conditions for the two basic synchronous steady-states of the system: the in-phase and anti-phase motions. The relations between the required excitation frequency and the natural frequencies of the abbreviated (linear) system are discussed. The validity of these predictions is examined by a series of numerical experiments. The effect of the model parameters on the rate of synchronization is analyzed. For the purpose of systematic numerical studies, the cross-correlation of time-series is used as a measure of the phase adjustment between particular oscillators. Finally, some essential issues that arise in case of the mechanical system with dry friction are indicated.