JSV · 2026

Predicting Generalized Steady States in Aperiodically Forced Mechanical Systems

Roshan S. Kaundinya1Isabella Thiel2Bálint Kaszás3Shobhit Jain4George Haller1
  1. 1 Institute for Mechanical Systems, ETH Zürich
  2. 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
  3. 3 Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University
  4. 4 Institute of Applied Mathematics, TU Delft
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Abstract

The existence of generalized steady states (GSSs) in nonlinear mechanical systems under moderate temporally aperiodic forcing has only been shown recently. Here we derive systematic expansions for such GSSs and construct a numerical algorithm that yields explicit and arbitrarily refinable approximations for GSSs without the need for an initial convergence period. This is to be contrasted with a direct numerical integration of the system, whose convergence is hard to assess or is even undefined for short, transient forcing. When at least the linear part of the equations of motion is known, our GSS algorithm outperforms available data-driven neural-network-based techniques for predicting forced response in structural dynamics problems. In a fully equation-driven setting, our GSS computations are shown to be faster than a direct numerical integration of forced nonlinear finite-element models of beams and shells.

BibTeX

@article{kaundinya2026,
  title = {Predicting Generalized Steady States in Aperiodically Forced Mechanical Systems},
  journal = {Journal of Sound and Vibration},
  volume = {643},
  pages = {120026},
  year = {2026},
  issn = {0022-460X},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2026.120026},
  url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022460X26003871},
  author = {Roshan S. Kaundinya and Isabella Thiel and Bálint Kaszás and Shobhit Jain and George Haller},
  keywords = {Aperiodic forcing, Generalized steady states, Structural vibrations, Asymptotic expansions},
}