Normal modes of a defected linear system of beaded springs

Abstract: A model of a one-dimensional mass-spring chain with mass or spring defects is investigated. With a mass defect, all oscillators except the central one have the same mass, and with a spring defect, all the springs except those connected to the central oscillator have the same stiffness constant. The motion is assumed to be one-dimensional and frictionless, and both ends of the chain are assumed to be fixed. The system vibrational modes are obtained analytically, and it is shown that if the defective mass is lighter than the others, then a high frequency mode appears in which the amplitudes decrease exponentially with the distance from the defect. In this sense, the mode is localized in space. If the defect mass is greater than the others, then there will be no localized mode and all modes are extended throughout the system. Analogously, for some values of the defective spring constant, there may be one or two localized modes. If the two defected spring constants are less than that of the others, there is no localized mode.

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