Investigating various nonlinear vibration problems using VIBRANT: A tool based on Abaqus and Python

Area of Science:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Computational Mechanics
• Vibration Analysis

Background:

• Nonlinear vibration analysis is crucial for complex mechanical systems.
• Existing tools may lack efficiency or struggle with diverse nonlinearities.
• Accurate prediction of frequency domain behavior under harmonic excitation is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce VIBRANT (VIbration BehaviouR ANalysis Tool), a novel Python-based tool for nonlinear vibration analysis.
• Demonstrate VIBRANT's capability in handling various nonlinearities, including stiffness and damping.
• Validate the accuracy and efficiency of VIBRANT through benchmark examples.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Python and Abaqus for finite element simulations.
• Employed time-marching algorithms for time domain analysis.
• Investigated geometrically nonlinear beams, frictional contact elements, and Coulomb friction for damping nonlinearities.

Main Results:

• VIBRANT accurately captured nonlinear behaviors in benchmark examples involving large displacements and friction.
• The tool demonstrated efficiency in reducing computational time through parallelization.
• Successfully predicted frequency domain behavior from time domain simulations.

Conclusions:

• VIBRANT is a validated, accurate, and efficient tool for analyzing nonlinear vibration problems.
• The tool's ability to model diverse nonlinearities offers significant advantages for industrial applications, especially in aerospace.
• VIBRANT provides a reliable approach for modeling and analyzing dynamic responses in engineering structures.