Energy localization in weakly dissipative resonant chains.

Abstract

Localization of energy in oscillator arrays has been of interest for a number of years, with special attention paid to the role of nonlinearity and discreteness in the formation of localized structures. This work examines a different type of energy localization arising due to the presence of dissipation in nonlinear resonance arrays. As a basic model, we consider a Klein-Gordon chain of finite length subjected to a harmonic excitation applied at an edge of the chain. It is shown that weak dissipation may be a key factor preventing the emergence of resonance in the entire chain, even if its nondissipative analog is entirely captured into resonance. The resulting process in the dissipative oscillator array represents large-amplitude resonant oscillations in a part of the chain adjacent to the actuator and small-amplitude oscillations in the distant part of the chain. The conditions of the emergence of resonance as well as the conditions of energy localization are derived. An agreement between the obtained analytical results and numerical simulations is demonstrated.