Abstract
The main contribution of this paper is its account of the use of an electronic differential analyzer for solving the exact differential equations of certain two-degree-of-freedom nonlinear vibrating systems, and the comparison of the differential-analyzer solutions with the approximate analytical solutions obtained from a single-term harmonic approximation (Ritz approximation). The results of these two methods for solving nonlinear differential equations compare favorably over much of the ranges of variables. Where discrepancies arise between the results of the two methods the value of the differential-analyzer approach can be practically appreciated. For example, in the region where superharmonics might be expected, the single-term harmonic approximation ignores them, while the analyzer solutions contain the superharmonic components of the exact solution. A secondary contribution of the paper is the account of the use of the differential analyzer for verification of suspected stability criteria for two-degree-of-freedom nonlinear vibrating systems. Analytical solutions that were reproducible on the analyzer were considered stable; those that were not reproducible were considered unstable. This paper also can be considered as a call for further application of modern computer techniques to the problems of nonlinear mechanics. Since the computer solves the exact or complete differential equations, the results are the complete solutions including transient phenomena, steady state, subharmonics, super-harmonics, and so on. These exact solutions are produced as functions of time which are analogous to the actual vibrations of the physical system studied.
