Periodic and chaotic dynamics of a sliding driven oscillator with dry friction

We have performed a numerical study of the dynamics of a harmonically forced sliding oscillator with two degrees of freedom and dry friction. The study of the four-dimensional dynamical system corresponding to the two non-linear motion equations can be reduced, in this case, to the study of a three-dimensional Poincaré map. The behaviour of the system has been investigated calculating bifurcation diagrams, time series, periodic and chaotic attractors and basins of attraction. Furthermore, a systematic study of the stability of periodic solutions and their bifurcations has been carried out applying the Floquet theory. The results show rich dynamics being very sensitive to the changes in forcing amplitudes (control parameter), where periodic and chaotic states alternatively appear. It is shown how the system exhibits different types of bifurcational phenomena (saddle-node, symmetry-breaking, period-doubling cascades and intermittent transitions to chaos) into relatively narrow intervals of the control parameter. Moreover, a collection of chaotic attractors was computed to show the evolution of the chaotic regime. Finally, basins of attraction were calculated. In all the cases studied, the basins exhibit fractal structure boundaries and, when more of two attractors are coexisting, we have found Wada basin boundaries.