Nonlinear Aspects of Shock Response in Isolated Accelerometers

Numerous investigators have studied the potential for chaotic vibrations of nonlinear systems. It has been shown for many simple nonlinear systems that when they are excited severely enough, or with the appropriate parametric combinations, they will execute chaotic vibrations. The present investigation considers the potential for the occurrence of chaos in a practical nonlinear system—the isolated accelerometer. A simple first-order model is proposed for the isolated accelerometer. It is shown that chaos can occur in the isolated accelerometer. A preliminary investigation into the bearing that this chaos potential has on the measurement of shock response is summarized.