Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT Modeling the dynamics of systems with many interacting components, such as robots, wind turbines, and trusses, remains challenging today. These systems often display complex oscillatory responses to external inputs, and harmful vibrations might be excited along with the desired motion. Understanding the relative importance of individual components or systems aspects to the overall system dynamics could be a vital step towards focused design and maintenance efforts. This work proposes a network‐based approach to studying the dynamics of a mechanical system by representing the system as a network of coupled oscillators, where each node corresponds to a machine component and each link denotes a physical connection, such as a weld or bolt. Inspired by studies of dynamics in biological and social networks, we show how network measures can be used to predict the importance of a single oscillator, or component, for shaping the overall dynamics. We further demonstrate under which conditions these conclusions are possible, and where the metrics fail. This study hopes to contribute to the broader field of network‐based methods in engineering and yield insights that help focus design and maintenance efforts in the future.
Source: PAMM
DOI: 10.1002/pamm.70048
Authors: Charlotte Geier, Norbert Hoffmann
Institutions: Hamburg University of Technology, Imperial College London
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,090
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
OpenAlex ID: W7117460822