Vibration analysis of nonlinear systems poses great challenges in both physics and engineering. This innovative book takes a completely new approach to the subject, focusing on nonlinear normal modes (NNMs) and nonlinear mode localization, and demonstrates that these concepts provide an excellent analytical tool for the study of nonlinear phenomena that cannot be analyzed by conventional techniques based on linear or quasi-linear theory.

Written by professor Alexander F. Vakakis and four colleagues from Russia and the Ukraine, the book employs the similarity of NNMs to the normal modes of classical vibration theory to create a new perspective on this highly specialized, yet steadily growing field.

Providing a solid foundation in theory, the authors explain, for example, the design of systems with passive or active motion confinement properties and examine applications of essentially nonlinear phenomena to the vibration and shock isolation of flexible, large-scale structures.