Transient Global Behavior in Experimental Nonlinear Oscillators

Lawrie Virgin

This talk is concerned with the determination of basin boundaries in experimental nonlinear
oscillators. Global transient behavior has received considerable attention in numerical studies but is
relatively unexplored from an experimental perspective, despite the fact that a global view of transient
behavior provides a much more complete description of the dynamics of a system than a traditional
concentration on steady-state behavior. Five different experimental systems are considered: four mechanical
and one electrical.