Marian Wiercigroch
University of Aberdeen
Presenting in Track 8: Dynamics, Vibration & Control
Presentation Title: Advances in Non-smooth Dynamics: Theory and Applications
Abstract: "Non-smooth dynamics is the most vibrant area of nonlinear dynamics where new fundamental and applied advances are being made. In this lecture I will introduce the recent advances in the field of nonlinear dynamics with a special focus on non-smooth dynamical systems [1], which is the newest and vastly developing area with new phenomena such as grazing induced bifurcations [2] and a broad range of applications in science and engineering.
In the first part, I will review major advances in non-smooth dynamics over the last three decades with emergence of grazing and grazing induced bifurcations [3]. I will define the fundamental concepts in nonlinear dynamics with their techniques and I will focus on a class so-called non-smooth dynamical systems. Then I will show how such problems can be effectively modelled and analysed by low dimensional but calibrated dynamical systems [3,4]. The generic complexity of non-smooth dynamics will be demonstrated by an elastic impact oscillator – an archetypal model for modelling of high frequency vibro-impact drilling [5].
The second part will be devoted to what we might call Nonlinear Dynamics for Engineering Design where I will present results from my recent projects, where nonlinear dynamic interactions have been used to enhance the performance of real systems and structures. I will put a special emphasis on one large projects from energy industry, where we have developed a revolutionary downhole drilling technology [6] tested in our unique drilling laboratories [7,8]. I will argue that this would not be possible without calibrated low dimensional models.
1. Wiercigroch, M. Modelling of dynamical systems with motion dependent discontinuities. Chaos Soliton Frac 11(15), 2429-2442, 2000.
2. Jiang, H., Chong, A.S.E., Ueda, Y. and Wiercigroch, M. Grazing-induced bifurcations in impact oscillators with elastic and rigid constraints. Int J Mech Scie 127, 204-214, 2017.
3. Wiercigroch, M., Kovacs, S. Zhong, S., Costa, D., Vaziri, V., Kapitaniak, M., Pavlovskaia, E. Versatile mass excited impact oscillator. Nonlinear Dynamics 99(1), 323-339, 2020.
4. Cao, Q. Wiercigroch, M., Pavlovskaia, E.E., Thompson, J.M.T. and Grebogi, C. Piecewise linear approach to an archetypal oscillator for smooth and discontinuous dynamics. Phil T Roy Soc A 366, 635-652, 2008.
5. Pavlovskaia, E.E., Wiercigroch, M. and Grebogi, C. Modelling of an impact system with a drift. Phys Rev E 64, 056224, 2001.
6. Wiercigroch, M. Resonance Enhanced Drilling: Method and Apparatus. Patent No WO2007141550, 2007.
7. Kapitaniak, M., Vaziri, V., Paez, J., Nandakumar, K. and Wiercigroch, M. Unveiling complexities of drill-string vibration: Experiments and modelling, Int J Mech Sci 101-102, 324-337, 2015.
8. Liao, M., Wiercigroch, M., Sayah, M., Ing, J., 2021 Experimental verification of the percussive drilling model. Mech Syst Signal Process 146, 107067.
Biography: "Professor Marian Wiercigroch educated in Poland, US and UK holds a prestigious Sixth Century Chair in Applied Dynamics, and he is a founding director of the internationally renowned Centre for Applied Dynamics Research (CADR) at the University of Aberdeen.
His area of research is theoretical and experimental nonlinear dynamics, which he applies to various engineering problems. Wiercigroch has published extensively (over 600 journal and conference papers) and sits on a dozen editorial boards of peer review journals. He is a frequent keynote and plenary speaker at major international conferences and the Editor-In-Chief of International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, a leading journal in mechanics and mechanical engineering.
At Aberdeen he leads a large research group as the Director of CADR and in his career have supervised over 150 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. He has hosted over 100 long term academic visitors (6 months +) from all over the world. He is the inventor of new patented drilling technology called Resonance Enhanced Drilling and the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of a spinoff company iVDynamics Ltd. He has established in Aberdeen unique experimental laboratories allowing to investigate complex nonlinear dynamic interactions in mechanical systems with the focus on energy generation.
Marian is a Scottish Champion of Knowledge Exchange (2020) and served as a panelist in the Research Excellence Frameworks (2014, 2021), which assess the quality of research in the UK.
He has received many awards and distinctions including a Senior Fulbright Scholarship (1994), Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2009), DSc honoris causa from the Lodz University of Technology (2013), Distinguished Honorary and Guest Professorships from the Perm National Research Polytechnic University (2017), Balseiro Institute (2018), Yanshan University (2021), University of Nottingham Ningbo (2023), Harbin Engineering University (2024) and Zhejiang University (2025).