Nonlinear dynamic response of a simply-supported Kelvin–Voigt viscoelastic beam, additionally supported by a nonlinear spring

The free and forced vibrations of a Kelvin–Voigt viscoelastic beam, supported by a nonlinear spring are analytically investigated in this paper. The governing equations of motion along with the compatibility conditions are obtained employing Newton’s second law of motion and constitutive relations. The viscoelastic beam material is constituted by the Kelvin–Voigt rheological model, which is a two-parameter energy dissipation model. The method of multiple timescales, a perturbation technique, is employed which ultimately leads to approximate analytical expressions for vibration response, and provides better insight into how the system parameters influence the vibration response. Finally, the effect of system parameters on the linear and nonlinear natural frequencies, vibration responses and frequency-response curves of the system is characterized.