On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysis

In this article, the conditions for the asymmetric nonlinear vibrations of an unforced Watt governor were investigated and the exact analytical solutions for its time period and displacement were derived naturally from the first integral of the governing dynamic model. It was demonstrated that the u...

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Main Author: Akuro Big-Alabo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-06-01
Series:Advances in Mechanical Engineering
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/16878132251349038
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author Akuro Big-Alabo
author_facet Akuro Big-Alabo
author_sort Akuro Big-Alabo
collection DOAJ
description In this article, the conditions for the asymmetric nonlinear vibrations of an unforced Watt governor were investigated and the exact analytical solutions for its time period and displacement were derived naturally from the first integral of the governing dynamic model. It was demonstrated that the unforced Watt governor can undergo asymmetric vibrations due to bifurcation and the conditions for this to happen were derived based on the dimensionless rotational speed of its spindle and the initial conditions. In contrast to previously published exact solutions that are limited in their scope of application, the present exact solutions are applicable to all conditions of asymmetric vibrations. Simulation results revealed that the unforced Watt governor produces strong nonlinear asymmetric response even for small initial amplitudes and that the expression of the nonlinear effects depended strongly on the initial conditions. The present exact solutions provide benchmark solutions that are useful for calibrating the accuracy of other approximate analytical methods especially under highly stiff nonlinear conditions. The analytical framework develop in this study can be extended to other symmetric oscillators capable of bi-stable and tri-stable vibrations.
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issn 1687-8140
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series Advances in Mechanical Engineering
spelling doaj-art-c513babe82d74ec99b05fa9eec263b672025-08-20T03:29:48ZengSAGE PublishingAdvances in Mechanical Engineering1687-81402025-06-011710.1177/16878132251349038On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysisAkuro Big-Alabo0Applied Mechanics & Design (AMD) Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers, NigeriaIn this article, the conditions for the asymmetric nonlinear vibrations of an unforced Watt governor were investigated and the exact analytical solutions for its time period and displacement were derived naturally from the first integral of the governing dynamic model. It was demonstrated that the unforced Watt governor can undergo asymmetric vibrations due to bifurcation and the conditions for this to happen were derived based on the dimensionless rotational speed of its spindle and the initial conditions. In contrast to previously published exact solutions that are limited in their scope of application, the present exact solutions are applicable to all conditions of asymmetric vibrations. Simulation results revealed that the unforced Watt governor produces strong nonlinear asymmetric response even for small initial amplitudes and that the expression of the nonlinear effects depended strongly on the initial conditions. The present exact solutions provide benchmark solutions that are useful for calibrating the accuracy of other approximate analytical methods especially under highly stiff nonlinear conditions. The analytical framework develop in this study can be extended to other symmetric oscillators capable of bi-stable and tri-stable vibrations.https://doi.org/10.1177/16878132251349038
spellingShingle Akuro Big-Alabo
On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysis
Advances in Mechanical Engineering
title On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysis
title_full On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysis
title_fullStr On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysis
title_full_unstemmed On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysis
title_short On the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced Watt governor: An exact analysis
title_sort on the nonlinear asymmetric vibrations of the unforced watt governor an exact analysis
url https://doi.org/10.1177/16878132251349038
work_keys_str_mv AT akurobigalabo onthenonlinearasymmetricvibrationsoftheunforcedwattgovernoranexactanalysis