This paper investigates model-order reduction methods for geometrically nonlinear structures. The parametrisation method of invariant manifolds is used and adapted to the case of mechanical systems in oscillatory form expressed in the physical basis, so that the technique is directly applicable to mechanical problems discretised by the finite element method. Two nonlinear mappings, respectively related to displacement and velocity, are introduced, and the link between the two is made explicit at arbitrary order of expansion, under the assumption that the damping matrix is diagonalised by the conservative linear eigenvectors. The same development is performed on the reduced-order dynamics which is computed at generic order following different styles of parametrisation. More specifically, three different styles are introduced and commented: the graph style, the complex normal form style and the real normal form style. These developments allow making better connections with earlier works using these parametrisation methods. The technique is then applied to three different examples. A clamped-clamped arch with increasing curvature is first used to show an example of a system with a softening behaviour turning to hardening at larger amplitudes, which can be replicated with a single mode reduction. Secondly, the case of a cantilever beam is investigated. It is shown that invariant manifold of the first mode shows a folding point at large amplitudes. This exemplifies the failure of the graph style due to the folding point on a real structure, whereas the normal form style is able to pass over the folding. Finally, a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) micromirror undergoing large rotations is used to show the importance of using high-order expansions on an industrial example.

Dimensionality reduction in mechanical vibratory systems poses challenges for distributed structures including geometric nonlinearities, mainly because of the lack of invariance of the linear subspaces. A reduction method based on direct normal form computation for large finite element (FE) models is here detailed. The main advantage resides in operating directly from the physical space, hence avoiding the computation of the complete eigenfunctions spectrum. Explicit solutions are given, thus enabling a fully non-intrusive version of the reduction method. The reduced dynamics is obtained from the normal form of the geometrically nonlinear mechanical problem, free of non-resonant monomials, and truncated to the selected master coordinates, thus making a direct link with the parametrisation of invariant manifolds. The method is fully expressed with a complex-valued formalism by detailing the homological equations in a systematic manner, and the link with real-valued expressions is established. A special emphasis is put on the treatment of second-order internal resonances and the specific case of a 1:2 resonance is made explicit. Finally, applications to large-scale models of micro-electro-mechanical structures featuring 1:2 and 1:3 resonances are reported, along with considerations on computational efficiency.

Non-intrusive methods have been used since two decades to derive reduced-order models for geometrically nonlinear structures, with a particular emphasis on the so-called STiffness Evaluation Procedure (STEP), relying on the static application of prescribed displacements in a finite-element context. We show that a particularly slow convergence of the modal expansion is observed when applying the method with 3D elements, because of nonlinear couplings occurring with very high frequency modes involving 3D thickness deformations. Focusing on the case of flat structures, we first show by computing all the modes of the structure that a converged solution can be exhibited by using either static condensation or normal form theory. We then show that static modal derivatives provide the same solution with fewer calculations. Finally, we propose a modified STEP, where the prescribed displacements are imposed solely on specific degrees of freedom of the structure, and show that this adjustment also provides efficiently a converged solution.

The objective of this contribution is to compare two methods proposed recently in order to build efficient reduced-order models for geometrically nonlinear structures. The first method relies on the normal form theory that allows one to obtain a nonlinear change of coordinates for expressing the reduced-order dynamics in an invariant-based span of the phase space. The second method is the modal derivative approach, and more specifically, the quadratic manifold defined in order to derive a second-order nonlinear change of coordinates. Both methods share a common point of view, willing to introduce a nonlinear mapping to better define a reduced-order model that could take more properly into account the nonlinear restoring forces. However, the calculation methods are different and the quadratic manifold approach has not the invariance property embedded in its definition. Modal derivatives and static modal derivatives are investigated, and their distinctive features in the treatment of the quadratic nonlinearity are underlined. Assuming a slow/fast decomposition allows understanding how the three methods tend to share equivalent properties. While they give proper estimations for flat symmetric structures having a specific shape of nonlinearities and a clear slow/fast decomposition between flexural and in-plane modes, the treatment of the quadratic nonlinearity makes the predictions different in the case of curved structures such as arches and shells. In the more general case, normal form approach appears preferable since it allows correct predictions of a number of important nonlinear features, including the hardening/softening behaviour, whatever the relationships between slave and master coordinates are.

The aim of this contribution is to present numerical comparisons of model-order reduction methods for geometrically nonlinear structures in the general framework of finite element (FE) procedures. Three different methods are compared: the implicit condensation and expansion (ICE), the quadratic manifold computed from modal derivatives (MD), and the direct normal form (DNF) procedure, the latter expressing the reduced dynamics in an invariant-based span of the phase space. The methods are first presented in order to underline their common points and differences, highlighting in particular that ICE and MD use reduction subspaces that are not invariant. A simple analytical example is then used in order to analyze how the different treatments of quadratic nonlinearities by the three methods can affect the predictions. Finally, three beam examples are used to emphasize the ability of the methods to handle curvature (on a curved beam), 1:1 internal resonance (on a clamped-clamped beam with two polarizations), and inertia nonlinearity (on a cantilever beam).