International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735

Theoretical analysis of the dynamic behavior of hysteresis

elements in mechanical systems
F. Al-Bender

, W. Symens, J. Swevers, H. Van Brussel

Mechanical Engineering Department, Division PMA, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 300B, Heverlee 3001, Belgium
Received 26 March 2003; received in revised form 25 November 2003; accepted 7 April 2004
Abstract
Many machine elements in common engineering use exhibit the characteristic of hysteresis springs. Plain and rolling
element bearings that are widely used in motion guidance of machine tools are typical examples. The study of the non-linear
dynamics caused by such elements becomes imperative if we wish to achieve accurate control of such machines.
This paper outlines the properties of rate-independent hysteresis and shows that the calculation of the free response of a
single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) mass-hysteresis-spring system is amenable to an exact solution. The more important issue
of forced response is not so, requiring other methods of treatment. We consider the approximate describing function method
and compare its results with exact numerical simulations. Agreement is good for small excitation amplitudes, where the
system approximates to a linear mass-spring-damper system, and for very large amplitudes, where some sort of mass-line is
approached. Intermediate values however, show high sensitivity to amplitude variations, and no regular solution is obtained
by either approach. This appears thus to be an inherent property of the system pointing to the need for developing further
analysis methods.
? 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Non-linear systems; Numerical simulation; Hysteretic spring; Describing function; Phase plane analysis
1. Introduction
Machine axes that have to performlarge strokes rely
on slides or guideways. The most widely used types of
bearings for such devices are plane or rolling element
bearings, exhibiting highly non-linear friction behav-
ior. The presence of this friction hampers the eective

Corresponding author. Tel.: +32-16-32-25-12; fax: +32-16-

32-29-87.
E-mail addresses: farid.al-bender@mech.kuleuven.ac.be
(F. Al-Bender), wim.symens@mech.kuleuven.ac.be (W. Symens),
jan.swevers@mech.kuleuven.ac.be (J. Swevers),
hendrik.vanbrussel@mech.kuleuven.ac.be (H. Van Brussel).
control of machine axes, especially when accurate and
fast positioning is envisaged.
Much description of friction phenomena can be
found in literature (see, e.g. [1,2]). The force resulting
from friction can be both velocity and displacement
dependent.
The friction force dependency on the displace-
ment manifests itself predominantly in the so-called
pre-sliding/pre-rolling region [2], i.e. the small dis-
placement range just after velocity reversals. In that
region, the friction force vs. displacement relationship
can be described by a rate-independent hysteresis
function [3]. Depending on the nature of the contact,
the pre-sliding/pre-rolling region may range from a
0020-7462/$ - see front matter ? 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijnonlinmec.2004.04.005
1722 F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735
Desired
trajectory
Controller
Feedforward
Hysteresis
compensation
Hysteresis
Linearized system
Measured trajectory
-
+ +
+
-
Fig. 1. Control scheme for position control of mechanical systems with hysteresis. The aim is to design the controller based on the
non-linear system, instead of a nominal linear system as is done nowadays.
few to several tens of microns (after a velocity re-
versal) and is thus very important in accurate motion
systems [4]. The present paper considers the case of
pre-rolling hysteresis in isolation from other (possible
but minor) friction eects, which are described, e.g.,
in [5,6].
The inuence of hysteresis phenomena on the
dynamic behavior of machine elements with mov-
ing parts is not thoroughly examined in literature
yet. In other elds of engineering, where hysteretic
phenomena manifest themselves, more research has
been conducted. In Ref. [7], for example, adap-
tive modeling techniques are proposed for dynamic
systems with hysteretic elements. The methods are
general, but no insight in the inuence of the hys-
teresis on the dynamics is given. Furthermore, no
experimental verication is provided. Seelecke [8]
uses numerical methods to calculate the dynamic
response of shape memory alloys with hysteretic
properties. From a dynamics point of view a more
interesting analysis is made in [9] for a class of
hysteretic oscillators important in earth-quake en-
gineering. Their work is based on the seminal re-
search reported by Iwan [10,11] and the interaction
between hysteretic and non-linear elastic components
of rock properties and its inuence on the dynamical
behavior are analyzed. This analysis is extended to
two-degree-of-freedom systems in [12].
In Ref. [13] a simplied analysis is made of the dy-
namic behavior of the moving parts of a machine tool
where hysteretic friction is present. The frequency re-
sponse function (FRF) of a system with friction is
given for both small and large displacements. Those
results are not analyzed in detail, however, although
hysteretic behavior is present, if not predominant, in
most linear guideways commonly used in machine
tools. This paper thus aims at investigating this behav-
ior more deeply and systematically. In order to obtain
a thorough understanding of the complex, non-linear
behavior arising from the presence of hysteresis, all
other non-linear phenomena that may be present in
friction are neglected in this analysis. This is justied,
at least in the case of rolling element guideways, by
the fact that the velocity-dependent part of the friction
force is considerably smaller than the sliding thresh-
old. This latter is dened as the force needed to cause
gross sliding/rolling motion. Similar methods as the
one used in this paper to analyze hysteresis are used
in [12]. In that paper, the dynamic behavior is how-
ever not interpreted in easy-to-understand mechanical
terms and quantities, a matter which will be attempted
in this paper.
Our underlying motivation is that when this dynam-
ical behavior is thoroughly understood, the knowledge
can be used to design appropriate feedback controllers
for mechanical systems with hysteresis. Up to now the
non-linear behavior of a system containing hysteretic
phenomena is compensated for in the feedforward part
of the control loop [3,14] (see Fig. 1), while the feed-
back controller is designed based on a nominal linear
system. The authors, however, believe that a feedback
design based on the non-linear behavior is the more
logical and eective approach.
The paper rst gives a detailed description of the
rate-independent hysteresis with non-local memory in
Sections 2 and 3 and shows how to model this phe-
nomenon. In Section 4 systems containing hysteretic
elements are analyzed using dierent tools. The free
F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735 1723
response of a system is deduced by an analytic so-
lution and the more dicult problem of forced re-
sponse is discussed and treated by using the approxi-
mate describing function approach. The results of this
approximation are evaluated by comparisons with di-
rect simulation, and the general behavior of the forced
system is discussed. Finally, Section 5 draws some
appropriate conclusions to be taken up for further
experimental validation.
2. Hysteresis in a nutshell
In this paper, we are interested in the rate-
independent hysteresis of the friction behavior be-
tween two bodies which move relative to one another,
(regarding other friction characteristics as secondary).
The Concise Oxford dictionary gives a general deni-
tion of hysteresis as the lagging after of eect when
cause varies in amount etc., especially of magnetic
induction behind magnetizing force. This lagging
behind phenomenon, which occurs in many other
physical phenomena such as surface adsorption, op-
tics, etc., should not be confused with the time lag
that is observed, e.g., in the displacementveloc-
ity relation of a linear mass-damper-spring system.
Verstroni and Noori [15] tersely sum up what is un-
derstood by hysteresis by: ...a system is said to be
endowed with hysteresis if there is a lag in the arrival
of the output with respect to the input, or if output
depends, in a rate-independent way, on the history of
the input. The dependence on the history of the input
manifests itself in the non-local memory charac-
ter of hysteresis [16]. Thus, while rate independence
relatively eases the treatment of the problem, the
dependence on the history makes it very dicult to
obtain analytically tractable formulations.
3. Description and modeling of rate-independent
hysteresis with non-local memory
This section gives a mathematical description of
hysteresis as experienced in the friction force vs. dis-
placement behavior of two bodies moving relative to
each other, for example a mass moving on a ground
plate (see Fig. 2). This last example will be called a
mass on a hysteretic spring in the remainder of this
(A)
(B)
Fig. 2. The hysteretic phenomena in the friction force for a mass
moving on a ground. (A) Shows the mass with the hysteretic
contact, (B) gives the block diagram of a mass with hysteretic
contact.
Fig. 3. Example of a hysteresis trajectory. With a virgin contact,
the motion starts at point (0; 0) along y(x) (or y(x)). If the
motion reverses at point 1, it will follow (125). If underway it
reverses at point 2, it follows (233

); if now there is a reversal

at point 3, it follows (34) and follows again the (125) line to
arrive at 5, points 2, and 3 can now be removed from the memory.
text. The description here concerns the hysteresis ele-
ment in the block diagram only, i.e. not the complete
system, which will be treated in the next section.
We recall (see the Introduction) that hysteretic fric-
tion is function of the displacement only. The hys-
teretic friction is moreover not a unique function of
the displacement but depends on the previous history
of the movement. Thus referring to Fig. 3, if there has
never been a relative movement before, the friction
1724 F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735
force follows a virgin curve f(x).
Rule I :
_
F
fric
= f(x) with f(x) =
_
y(x) if x 0;
y(x) if x 60:
Usually y(x) has the following properties: y(0) = 0;
y

(0) 0 and y

(x) 60 (where the primes indicate

derivation of the function with respect to its argu-
ment). The rst two properties are universal, while the
third implies that the hysteretic function is dissipa-
tive for all displacements.
If the motion direction changes at x = x
m
(see
Fig. 3) the friction force becomes:
Rule II :
_

_
F
fric
= F
m
+ 2f
_
x x
m
2
_
F
m
= F
fric
(x
m
) calculated with the formula
for F
fric
before the reversal:
If the movement reverses again, before x = x
m
, the
same reversal Rule II is used for the friction force. If,
on the contrary, the direction of movement at x =x
m
has not reversed, the friction force follows Rule I
again. Thus, when |x| becomes larger than the maxi-
mum of the absolute value of any reversal point, Rule
I describes the friction force. If |x| is smaller than this
value, the friction force is calculated from Rule II us-
ing for (F
m
; x
m
) the values of the last reversal point.
When an internal loop is closed (see for example
the hatched part in Fig. 3) the two last reversal points
are not needed anymore, and are thus forgotten, and
the curve based on the third last reversal point is fol-
lowed. This is called the wiping out eect of hysteretic
behavior [16]. Based on these rules, the resulting fric-
tion force can be calculated for any input motion tra-
jectory of the body. This kind of hysteresis is called
hysteresis with non-local memory, since every ve-
locity reversal has to be remembered until an internal
loop is closed. The rules (I & II) describing this kind
of hysteresis are called Masing Rules [17,18]. The
physics behind this phenomenon can be understood
by imagining friction as asperity adhesion where the
asperities rst deform elastically and then plastically
before slip occurs [2]. Experiments [3,19] conrm the
rate independent, i.e. frequency independent, character
of this type of friction. Similar phenomena are treated
Fig. 4. Maxwell slip model: N massless elasto-slip elements in
parallel approximate the hysteretic friction. Each element is char-
acterized by a stiness k
i
(1 6i 6N) and a certain value for the
force at which slip occurs,
i
.
in fatigue analysis where internal friction lies at the
root of the fatigue. In this case, hysteresis (elastic or
plastic) can be observed in the stressstrain relation
of a periodically loaded structure [20].
This kind of hysteretic behavior can be modeled in
two ways.
(1) Using memory stacks, cf. the Preisach model
in [16]: In this method the position and force
values at every relevant (unclosed loop) velocity
reversal point are remembered and stacked into a
memory. The advantage of this method is that the
movement of the mass is described analytically.
A disadvantage of this method is that the size of
the memory stacks has to be chosen in advance,
resulting in possible over-ow if too many open
reversals are made [5].
(2) Method based on the Maxwell slip model of the
hysteresis force (see Fig. 4) [4,21]: This method
models the hysteresis as N massless elasto-plastic
elements in parallel. Each element is character-
ized by a stiness k
i
(1 6i 6N) and a certain
value for the force at which slip occurs. The input
x is common to all elements. This way only N
reversal points can be remembered and the prob-
lem of overow is solved at the expense of loss
of accuracy.
In subsequent analysis, it will be clear that this
type of hysteretic behavior is characterized com-
pletely by the form of the virgin curve y(x), given
the reversal Rules I and II. This curve depends on the
F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735 1725
properties (area, roughness, etc.) of the contact sur-
faces, the materials used, the temperature, the lubrica-
tion, etc. A theoretical derivation of this curve based
on these properties (which hitherto is practically im-
possible) is out of the scope of this paper and is ma-
terial for detailed tribologic studies. In this paper, the
formulas used for the virgin curves are based either
on experimental measurements (when available) or
on arbitrarily assumed shapes (for general analysis).
4. Dynamic behavior of a mass on a hysteretic
spring
This section discusses the dynamic behavior of a
mass that is connected to a xed reference frame
through a hysteretic spring (see Fig. 2). It is impor-
tant to have a thorough understanding of this dynam-
ics if the mass is to be position controlled to a very
accurate level. Since the hysteretic friction force de-
pends on the position and the past velocity reversals,
the force is described by:
1
F
hysteresis
= (x; his(x
i
m
)): (1)
The equation of motion of the system considered is
then:
m x + (x; his(x
i
m
)) = F(t): (2)
Since is not a polynomial non-linearity, there ap-
pear to be hardly any general tools in the literature
to analyze the behavior of systems described by such
equations. Because of this, we investigate the system
described by Eq. (2) in two separate cases; rst the
excitation force term F(t) is set to zero, giving rise to
the free response of the system. Second, the system is
analyzed under excitation with a harmonic force.
4.1. Free response of the system (F(t) = 0)
The free response of the systemdescribed by Eq. (2)
is considered when it is brought out of its equilibrium.
In that case, the equation of motion becomes
m x + (x; his(x
i
m
)) = 0; (3)
1
In this formula his(x
i
m
) represents whole the history of the
movement that is relevant for the future movement, thus all relevant
reversal points (x
i
m
; F
i
m
).
Fig. 5. Graphical interpretation of Eq. (5): the integral covered
by F(x) ranging from x
1
to x
2
is zero when x
1
to x
2
are reversal
points ( x
1
= 0; x
2
= 0).
(with an initial condition (x; x) that is, therefore,
dierent from (0; 0)).
Rewriting Eq. (3) with x = x d x=dx and rearranging
yields:
m x d x =(x; his(x
i
m
)) dx: (4)
Integration of Eq. (4) between two reversal points x
1
and x
2
( x
1
= 0; x
2
= 0) yields
_
x
2
x
1
(x; his(x
i
m
)) dx = m
_
x
2
2
2

x
2
1
2
_
= 0: (5)
From this equation the next reversal point can be
calculated starting from the previous one and so on
(Fig. 5 represents this graphically). Between any two
consecutive reversal points the trajectory is calculated
by integrating Eq. (4)
x x
1
= sgn( x)

2
m
_
x
x
1
(; his(
i
m
)) d
with ( x
1
= 0); (6)
which gives
_
x
x
1
ds
sgn( x)
_
2=m
_
s
x
1
(; his(
i
m
)) d
=
_
t
t
1
d = t t
1
: (7)
1726 F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Fig. 6. Free response of system: A and B show the virgins curves dened by Eq. (8) and Eq. (9), C and D show the corresponding
responses for initial conditions x
0
= 0:5 and x
0
= 0.
This analysis shows that, for the free response, it is
always possible to derive an exact analytical (though
inverse function) solution. This solution is best exam-
ined in a phase-plane graph. A reasonable and ana-
lytically tractable form for the virgin curve, derived
from experiments is (see Fig. 6A):
y = h
0
_
1
_

+ x
_
2
_
with h
0
and being
characteristic scale factors for force and
displacement: (8)
Fig. 6C shows the free response of a unit mass with
initial conditions
2
x
0
=0:5 and x
0
=0 for h
0
=0:8 and
= 0:3. Fig. 6D shows this response for the ctitious
virgin curve (Fig. 6B)
y =

x: (9)
2
Since the values for most parameters in the paper are not
based on physical measurements and only qualitative dierences
between the dierent results are examined, no units are assigned
to the numerical values of the dierent variables.
The free response of the system has the same behavior
as the response of a system to step excitation.
Fig. 6C and D show that the amplitude attenuation in
both cases diers signicantly from that of a linear
system or that of a non-linear system with polynomial
non-linearity. In particular, the system never returns
to its initial equilibrium state. Comparison of the two
gures shows that the system described by Eq. (9) is
much more damped than the system described by
Eq. (8). This is related to the equivalent damping
ratio of each system as will be explained in the next
section.
4.2. Harmonic excitation (F(t) = F
0
sin !t)
The equation of motion analyzed in this section is
given by
m x + (x; his(x
i
m
)) = F
0
sin !t: (10)
This non-linear equation cannot be solved analytically
even for the simplest forms of the virgin curve in Rule
I (e.g. elastic-plastic). An exact (numerical) solution
on the other hand, e.g. with Matlab, is possible in
certain regions of excitation amplitude and frequency
but gives no insight in the problem [8]. It is exactly
F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735 1727
Fig. 7. The describing function method applied to a hysteresis loop
with average displacement amplitude. The fundamental frequency
of the output to a sinusoidal input is shown on top of the actual
output.
this insight that is aimed at in the present analysis.
A primary application of the results of the analysis
is for example to use them for appropriate feedback
control design of mechanical systems with hysteresis.
Numerical simulations on their own are quite useless
in this regard. In the literature however, a variety of
approaches can be found to linearize the system, in
the sense of making it amenable to frequency domain
analysis [2224], and so allowing us to gain a bet-
ter understanding about the possible solutions to the
problem.
4.2.1. Describing function approximation
Aclassical approach to linearize Eq. (10) is by using
describing functions, see e.g. [24]. In this method
the non-linear element is replaced by an element that
gives as output the fundamental component, in Fourier
terms, of the output of the non-linear element for a si-
nusoidal input (see Fig. 7). In general, the amplitude
and phase of this fundamental component will be a
function of the amplitude and frequency of the input
signal. Except for this amplitude and frequency de-
pendence, the describing function element behaves as
a linear element in the sense that a sinusoidal input is
made to yield a sinusoidal output with a dierent am-
plitude and phase. It is therefore possible to retrieve
an analytic (algebraic) relation between the amplitude
of the applied force and the amplitude and phase of
the resulting displacement (in the frequency domain).
The describing function method provides accurate ap-
proximations to the non-linear behavior if the follow-
ing two basic assumptions are fullled:
(1) The input to the non-linear element has to be a
pure sine wave.
(2) The higher harmonics in the output of the
non-linear device may be neglected.
Since the system under consideration is damped and
due to the inertial eects of the mass the high fre-
quencies are less amplied than the low ones, it is
customary to assume that during forced motion, the
higher harmonics are largely suppressed and only the
fundamental motion survives. We shall nd out later,
however, that this result is not always guaranteed.
A justication to use the describing function method
to analyze the system is given in [23], where it is
proven that the linear approximation of a system that
minimizes the mean square value of the error for a
sinusoidal input is exactly the describing function
approximation. Moreover, the describing function
technique has been used to analyze other friction phe-
nomena that are outside the scope of this paper e.g.
the existence of limit cycles caused by the Stribeck
eect [2].
The non-linear element in Eq. (10) is represented
by (x; his(x
i
m
)) on a given loop with two xed
reversal points. In order to calculate the describ-
ing function, the fundamental Fourier components
of (x) need to be evaluated. Therefore, assuming
x = Acos with 0 6 62, that is A6x 6A;
will then describe a closed hysteresis loop
given by:
3
(x) =
_

_
y(A)+2y
_
A+x
2
_
=
+
6 60;
y(A) 2y
_
A + x
2
_
=

0 6 6:
(11)
3
Note that in this formulation of the friction force, the depen-
dency of f on the sign of the velocity is made explicit.
1728 F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735
This yields the fundamental components of the
friction force for a cosinusoidal
4
displacement input
a
0
= 0
a
1
=
4

_

0
y
_
A
2
(1 cos )
_
d
b
1
=
1
A
_
8
_
A
0
_
y(x)
y(A)
2
_
dx
_
: (12)
The derivation of these formulas can be found in
Appendix A.
Physical interpretation of the fundamental Fourier
terms is as follows:
(1) The fact that a
0
=0 indicates that there is no DC
shift.
(2) The term between {: : :} is equal to the area en-
closed by the hysteresis loop of amplitude A.
(3) Since the describing function linearizes the sys-
tem in the way described above, it is possible to
extract an equivalent stiness and damping from
the fundamental Fourier terms. The equivalent
stiness of the hysteresis is given by k
e
= a
1
=A.
The value of k
e
can be directly calculated from
Eq. (12).
(4) The equivalent damping is given by: c
e
! =
b
1
=A = loop area=A
2
i.e. the damping force =
c
e
!A = loop area=A. This amount of energy
dissipation per cycle does not depend on the
velocity, as in the case of viscous damping, but
depends on the amplitude of the motion. The
loop area per cycle is indeed independent of the
velocity at which the cycle is traversed. In the
literature, this kind of energy dissipation is called
hysteretic damping, solid damping, or structural
damping. Sometimes this damping is incorpo-
rated in the stiness term, which is also amplitude
dependent. This gives rise to the complex stiness
(k
e
+jc
e
) hence our choice of the term hysteretic
spring.
(5) Moreover it is expedient to dene the equiva-
lent damping ratio at resonance
r
= c
e
!=2k
e
=
function(A), which gives a measure of the
damping capacity of the system. As examples,
for the virgin curve of Eq. (8) considered in
the previous section,
r
0 as A 0; and for
4
This choice makes calculations somewhat easier.
Fig. 8. Excitation cases: Case I, in which a sinusoidal force is
applied to the system and the resulting displacement is analyzed
and Case II, in which the requested force to obtain a sinusoidal
displacement is examined.
the virgin curve of Eq. (9),
r
= constant A,
thus explaining the qualitative dierence in the
free response behavior in Fig. 6.
Using these notations, Eq. (10) can be approximated
by
m x + c
e
x + k
e
x = F
0
sin !t: (13)
Further analysis of Eq. (13) has been performed
for dierent forms of the virgin curve. Since the
behavior of the results is qualitatively similar in all
cases with saturating hysteresis, only the results for
the virgin curve described by Eq. (8) are presented.
For this curve it is possible to derive an analytic
formulation of c
e
; this is however not possible for
k
e
. Therefore, the integral in the expression of a
1
(Eq. (12)) has to be approximated, or calculated nu-
merically. A very rough approximation of a
1
is given
by f(A) for small A. In Appendix B the derivation
of this approximation and a scheme to get more ac-
curate approximations can be found. Calculations
however show that the results based on these approxi-
mations can deviate signicantly from those obtained
when more accurate numerical integration is used.
Since classical describing function analysis, and ap-
proximate non-linear harmonic analysis in general,
hinges on the derivation of analytical expressions
for the fundamental harmonic response, we have
to warn the reader to be more cautious with such
derivations.
F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735 1729
(A)
(B)
Fig. 9. AFRFs for Case I using numerical integration: an approximate solution predicting multiple values for a range of amplitudes at
some frequencies (A) and an accurate calculation which only predicts one value in the same parameter range (B).
Using the describing function approximation, two
analysis cases are considered (see Fig. 8): Case I,
in which a sinusoidal force is applied to the system
and the resulting displacement is analyzed and Case
II, in which the required force to obtain a sinusoidal
displacement is examined (see Fig. 8, Case II). Fig. 9
1730 F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735
Fig. 10. AFRFs for Case II using accurate numerical integration.
shows for Case I the absolute frequency
response functions (AFRF)
5
obtained with the rough
approximation (A) and accurate numerical integra-
tion (B).
6
From these gures it can be seen that the
approximate calculation predicts multiple values for
a range of amplitudes at some frequencies,
7
whereas
only one value is possible with the accurate numeri-
cal integration. These results show that the analysis
is very sensitive to the accuracy of the approxima-
tion of the exact result in the numerical calculations.
It is the opinion of the authors that this sensitivity
is caused by the very close interaction between the
integrals to calculate k
e
and c
e
. These integrals have
a very similar form, although one of them can be
calculated analytically while the other cannot. By
5
AFRFs show the frequency content of the respective output
signals without dividing them by the amplitude of the input signal,
only the phase information of the input signal is used. The reason
for using the AFRF in this paper instead of the commonly used
FRFs, where the output is divided by the input, is that the AFRFs
give more clear gures for the analysis considered here.
6
The excitation amplitudes for all Case I AFRFs considered in
the paper are: 0:4; 0:6; 0:8; 0:9; 0:99; 0:8 4; 1.2 and 1.4.
7
This well-known behavior in non-linear analysis is called
folding.
making a rough approximation in calculating one of
the integrals, the strong coupling between both in Eq.
(13) is lost giving rise to the faulty behavior in the
hatched zone of Fig. 9B. That is why in the rest of
this of the paper, all calculations are performed with
accurate numerical integration. This rather intuitive
idea can be formulated in a mathematical way, which
is however too elaborate to include in this paper. Fig.
10 shows the AFRFs for Case II using accurate nu-
merical integration.
8
The results obtained by using
the rough approximation scheme are not given for
Case II as they do not introduce any new or relevant
information.
4.2.2. Evaluation of the describing function
approximation and discussion of the obtained
behavior
To evaluate the results obtained with the describ-
ing function approximation simulations are performed
on a Matlab/Simulink model. In this model, the hys-
teretic friction is implemented in an S-function with
memory stacks as described above (since the motion
8
The excitation amplitudes for all Case II AFRFs considered
in the paper are: 0.05; 0.1; 0.5; 2 and 10.
F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735 1731
(A)
(B)
Fig. 11. AFRFs obtained from Matlab/Simulink simulation for excitation Case I (A) and excitation Case II (B).
settles eventually to a periodic one, there is no danger
of stack overow). Both Cases I and II are simulated.
Fig. 11 shows the AFRFs in both cases. Comparison
with Fig. 9B and Fig. 10, respectively, shows that for
Case II the describing function analysis gives very ac-
curate predictions. For Case I the results are less ac-
curate and there is even a region where the qualitative
behavior is anomalous.
The observation that the results of the describ-
ing function analysis are better for Case II can be
1732 F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735
Fig. 12. Quasi-square wave force: the output of a hysteresis func-
tion for a sinusoidal input displacement with a large amplitude
approximates more and more a square wave force.
explained by the fact that the output of the non-linear
hysteresis element is used in a feedback loop in Case
I: the output of the hysteresis element is subtracted
from the applied force to give the force that acts
on the mass as can be seen in Fig. 8. If the friction
force is not able to compensate the applied force, the
displacement amplitude of the mass will tend to in-
nity as the frequency tends to zero. The force level
for which the friction force cannot compensate the
applied force diers for the describing function ap-
proximation and the true solution, as is shown next.
This explains the quantitative values of the anomalous
results in the hatched part of Fig. 9B.
For low-excitation amplitudes there is no problem
to use the describing function since the approximation
of the real output of the hysteresis element is good. If
the excitation amplitude, however approaches the sat-
uration of the hysteresis element, the output force of
this element approaches, more closely, a square wave
with as amplitude the saturation force of the hysteresis
element, as can be seen in Fig. 12. Since the funda-
mental Fourier component of a square wave equals 4=
times the amplitude of the square wave, the describing
function output of the hysteresis force will increase
to 4= times the saturation level of this element. Be-
cause of this, the displacement amplitude of the mass
will tend to innity, as the frequency tends to zero,
only for an excitation amplitude that is equal or larger
than 4= times the saturation level, as can be seen in
Fig. 9B. In reality however, which is supported by the
Matlab/Simulink simulation, the displacement ampli-
tude will tend to innity as the frequency goes to zero
for an excitation amplitude equal or larger than the sat-
uration level as can be seen in Fig. 11A. This explains
why the results obtained from the describing function
analysis dier from those of the Matlab/Simulink sim-
ulation for an excitation amplitude between the satu-
ration level and 4= times the saturation level of the
hysteresis element. In Case II there is no feedback loop
and therefore the results of the describing function ap-
proximation and the Matlab/Simulink simulation are
the same. This analysis shows that using the describ-
ing function, as an approximation of a non-linear el-
ement, can not only result in qualitative deviations
from the real result but also in quantitative errors if
the non-linear element is used in a closed loop sys-
tem or, more generally, if the output of the element is
used as input for some other system. Essentially only
Case I is of practical interest, since in all practical ma-
chines a force is applied as the input to generate a mo-
tion. For this case, detailed examination of Fig. 11A
shows that for small excitation the system behaves as
a mass-spring-damper system with dierent values of
c and k for each amplitude. The stiness decreases and
damping increases with rising excitation amplitude un-
til the saturation level is reached. From this level on,
the system follows a kind of mass line. Only for in-
nite excitation amplitude a true mass line is achieved.
Thus, for low frequencies the inuence of the hys-
teresis can only be neglected for very large excitation
amplitudes (in comparison with the saturation level of
the hysteresis); for high frequencies the mass charac-
teristic is already dominant for low excitation ampli-
tudes as in linear systems. This makes the results of
an ad hoc identication, as is common in engineering
practice, erroneous and misleading. In particular, the
use of white noise or multisine excitation cannot give
a correct picture of the AFRF except for small, lim-
ited range amplitude values. Not only is stepped-sine
excitation necessary for correct identication, but also
the force amplitude has to be carefully controlled.
5. Conclusion and future work
This paper has considered the dynamic behavior
of single-degree-of-freedom systems consisting of a
F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735 1733
mass on a non-linear hysteretic spring. After an ap-
propriate description and formulation of the hystere-
sis phenomenon, it is shown that an analytic solution
can be found for the free response problem and that
a phase-plane analysis is a suitable tool to investigate
the behavior of such a system. For forced motions,
however, an analytic solution is not possible. It is fur-
ther shown that the describing function analysis well
approximates the direct-simulation solution in most
of the amplitude and frequency ranges of harmonic
excitation. However, for some values of the excita-
tion amplitude, near saturation, anomalous results are
obtained. Therefore, other analysis tools have to be
developed. The dierences in the results obtained by
dierent analysis methods, for the forced system, indi-
cate that care has to be taken when analyzing or iden-
tifying highly non-linear systems with approximation
methods. This analysis is of extreme relevance to the
problem of designing appropriate feedback controllers
for mechanical systems with hysteretic friction.
Finally, the theoretical analysis of the behavior of
hysteretic friction considered in this paper has been
veried experimentally. Results of that investigation
will be presented in another communication, where the
predominance of the hysteretic behavior in pre-rolling
friction becomes clear.
Acknowledgements
This research is sponsored by the Belgian pro-
gram of Interuniversity Poles of Attraction by the
Belgian State, Prime Ministers Oce, Science Policy
Programming (IUAP). The rst author would like to
acknowledge the partial support of the VW-foundation
under Grant no. I/76938. W. Symens was a Research
Assistant of the Fund for Scientic ResearchFlan-
ders (Belgium) (F.W.O.) during the period this re-
search was conducted. The scientic responsibility is
assumed by its authors.
Appendix A. Calculations to obtain Eq. (12)
The Fourier series of a function f(x) is given by
f(x) =

n=0
a
n
cos (!
n
x) +

n=1
b
n
sin (!
n
x); (A.1)
with
_

_
!
n
= n!
0
; !
0
=
2
P
;
a
0
=
1
2P
_
P
P
(x) dx;
a
n
=
1
P
_
P
P
(x) cos(!
n
x) dx;
b
n
=
1
P
_
P
P
(x) sin(!
n
x) dx:
Thus, for the cosinusoidal excitation the fundamental
components of the Fourier series for the friction force
are:
9
a
0
=
1
2
_

(Acos ) d
=
1
2
_
_
0

+
(Acos ) d +
_

0

(Acos ) d
_
=
1
2
__

0

+
(Acos ) d
+
_

0

(Acos ) d=
_
= 0;
a
1
=
1

(Acos ) cos d
=
1
2
_
_
0

+
(Acos ) cos d
+
_

0

(Acos ) cos d
_
=
1
2
__

0

+
(Acos )(cos ) d
+
_

0

(Acos ) cos d
_
=
4

_

0
f
_
A
2
(1 cos )
_
d ;
9
In all the calculations the following change of variable is used:
= + on 6 60.
1734 F. Al-Bender et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 39 (2004) 17211735
b
1
=
1

(Acos ) sin d
=
1
2
_
_
0

+
(Acos ) sin d
+
_

0

(Acos ) sin d
_
=
1
2
__

0

+
(Acos )(sin ) d
+
_

0

(Acos ) sin d
_
=
2

_
1
1
_
f(A) + 2f
_
A
2
(1 cos )
__
d(cos )
=
1
A
_
8
_
A
0
_
f(x)
f(A)
2
_
dx
_
:
Appendix B. Dierent approximation formulas
for a
1
Table 1 gives some approximations of a
1
in Eq. (12) based on well-known integration rules.
Table 1
Approximations of a
1
based on the well-known trapezoidal integration rules and the rules of Simpson
a
1
=
4

0
F() d with F() = f

A
2
(1 cos

cos
0 =3 =2 2=3
F() 0
1
2
f

A
4

0
1
2
f

3A
4

f(A)
Method Approximation of a
1
Trapezoidal rule with 3 points f(A)
Trapezoidal rule with 6 points
1
3

2f(A) +
3
2
f

3A
4

3
2
f

A
4

Simpsons rule with 3 points

2
3
f(A)
Simpsons rule with 6 points
1
3

f(A) +
3
2
f

3A
4

3
2
f

A
4

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