Non-linearity in the dynamic world of human movement

Non-linear dynamics,fractals,periodic oscillations,bifurcations,chaos,and other terminologies have been used to describe human biological systems in the literature for a few decades.The eight manuscripts included in this special issue discussed the historical background,

The relationship between intermittent limit cycles and postural instability associated with Parkinson’s disease

Background:Many disease-specific factors such as muscular weakness,increased muscle stiffness,varying postural strategies,and changes in postural reflexes have been shown to lead to postural instability and fall risk in people with Parkinson's disease(PD).Recently,analytical techniques,inspired by the dynamical systems perspective on movement control and coordination,have been used to examine the mechanisms underlying the dynamics of postural declines and the emergence of postural instabilities in people with PD.Methods:A wavelet-based technique was used to identify limit cycle oscillations(LCOs) in the anterior–posterior(AP) postural sway of people with mild PD(n = 10) compared to age-matched controls(n = 10).Participants stood on a foam and on a rigid surface while completing a dual task(speaking).Results:There was no significant difference in the root mean square of center of pressure between groups.Three out of 10 participants with PD demonstrated LCOs on the foam surface,while none in the control group demonstrated LCOs.An inverted pendulum model of bipedal stance was used to demonstrate that LCOs occur due to disease-specific changes associated with PD:time-delay and neuromuscular feedback gain.Conclusion:Overall,the LCO analysis and mathematical model appear to capture the subtle postural instabilities associated with mild PD.In addition,these findings provide insights into the mechanisms that lead to the emergence of unstable posture in patients with PD.

Stationary and Non-stationary Self-Induced Vibrations in Waveguiding Systems

With the use of a wave model, the non-linear problem about realization of the Poincare-Hopf bifurcations in waveguiding systems is stated. The constitutive non-linear differential equations are deduced, the methods for their solution are elaborated. The example of torsion wave propagation in an elongated drill string is considered. Computer simulation of auto-oscillation generation in the examined system is performed for the cases of stationary and non-stationary variations of the perturbation parameter. The diapason of the drilling rotation velocity values corresponding to regimes of stable self-excited periodic motions of the system is found. This domain is shown to be limited by the states of the Poincare-Hopf bifurcations. Owing to the feature that the stated problem is singularly perturbed, the autovibrations are of relaxation type with fast and slow motions. Influence of the length of the uniform and articulated drill strings on the bifurcation values of their angular velocities of generation and accomplishment of the auto-oscillation processes in the drill strings is discussed.

Simulation of shock wave buffet and its suppression on an OAT15A supercritical airfoil by IDDES

In the present paper,extremely unsteady shock wave buffet induced by strong shock wave/boundary-layer interactions (SWBLI) on the upper surface of an OAT15A supercritical airfoil at Mach number of 0.73 and angle of attack of 3.5 degrees is first numerically simulated by IDDES,one of the most advanced RANS/LES hybrid methods.The results imply that conventional URANS methods are unable to effectively predict the buffet phenomenon on the wing surface;IDDES,which involves more flow physics,predicted buffet phenomenon.Some complex flow phenomena are predicted and demonstrated,such as periodical oscillations of shock wave in the streamwise direction,strong shear layer detached from the shock wave due to SWBLI and plenty of small scale structures broken down by the shear layer instability and in the wake.The root mean square (RMS) of fluctuating pressure coefficients and streamwise range of shock wave oscillation reasonably agree with experimental data.Then,two vortex generators (VG) both with an inclination angle of 30 degrees to the main flow directions are mounted in front of the shock wave region on the upper surface to suppress shock wave buffet.The results show that shock wave buffet can be significantly suppressed by VGs,the RMS level of pressure in the buffet region is effectively reduced,and averaged shock wave position is obviously pushed downstream,resulting in increased total lift.

Dynamic cavitations in incompressible hyperelastic pre-strained circular sheets

A class of dynamic cavitations is examined for an isotropic incompressible hyperelastic circular sheet under a pre-strained state caused by an initially applied finite radial tension.The solutions that describe the radially symmetric motion of the pre-strained sheet are obtained.The conditions of cavitated bifurcation that describe cavity formation and motion with time at the axial line of the pre-strained sheet are proposed,that is to say,a circular cavity will form if the suddenly applied radial tensile load exceeds a certain critical value;dynamically,it is proved that the formed cavity will present a nonlinearly periodic oscillation,which is essentially different from the singular periodic oscillation of the formed cavity in an incompressible hyperelastic solid sphere.Numerical simulations show the effects of prescribed radial tension,material parameter and tensile load on critical ten-sile load describing cavity formation and periodic oscillation of the pre-strained circular sheet.