- 1School of Mathematics and Physics, Henan University of Urban Construction, Pingdingshan, China
- 2School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- 3Tianjin Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Control, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- 4Basic Course Department, Tianjin Sino-German University of Applied Sciences, Tianjin, China
- 5School of Transportation Engineering, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, China
This study examines the stochastic bifurcation phenomenon in a fractional and multistable Rayleigh–Duffing oscillator subjected to recycling noise excitation. First, using the harmonic balance method and minimizing the mean-square error, an approximate integerorder equivalent system was derived for the original fractional-order system. Subsequently, the steady-state probability density function (sPDF) of the system amplitude was obtained via stochastic averaging. The critical conditions for stochastic P-bifurcation (SPB) were then determined using the singularity theory. The stationary PDF curves of the system amplitude were qualitatively analyzed across regions delineated by transition set curves. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations confirmed the analytical findings, validating the theoretical framework. These results provide insights for improving system response control through fractional-order controller design.
1 Introduction
Fractional calculus extends classical calculus to non-integer orders, enabling the characterization of memory effects in viscoelastic materials more effectively than integer-order derivatives. The fractional derivative, expressed as a convolution, inherently represents memory and cumulative effects over time. Consequently, it has proven to be a superior mathematical tool for modeling memory properties [1–4] and has found applications in various fields, including anomalous diffusion, non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, soft matter physics, and viscoelastic mechanics. Compared to integer-order calculus, fractional derivatives provide a more precise description of diverse reaction processes [5–9]. Given the prevalence of ambient noise in engineering, it is crucial to investigate the dynamic properties of stochastic systems and the influence of fractional-order parameters and noise excitations.
Recent studies have extensively examined the dynamics of nonlinear multistable systems under various noise excitations, yielding significant results [10–14]. For integer-order systems, research on Duffing–Van der Pol oscillators under Lévy noise [12], colored noise [13], and combined harmonic and random excitations [10, 11, 14] has garnered considerable attention. Wu and Hao [15] analyzed the tri-stable stochastic P-bifurcation (SPB) in a generalized Duffing–Van der Pol oscillator subjected to multiplicative colored noise, deriving an analytical expression for the system’s steady-state probability density function (sPDF) and evaluating the effects of noise intensity and system parameters. Qian and Chen [16] investigated the random vibration of a modified single-degree-of-freedom vibro-impact oscillator with a recovery factor under broadband noise and determined the sPDF of the system’s energy and amplitude envelope using the Markov approximation. This approach was validated through numerical examples. He [17] proposed an improved amplitude–frequency formulation for nonlinear oscillators and verified the reliability by considering the solution of a Duffing oscillation. Fan [18] utilized He’s frequency–amplitude formulation to solve the Duffing harmonic oscillator problem. The results indicated that not only is the solution procedure simple, but also, the result obtained is valid for the whole solution domain with high accuracy.
For fractional-order systems, Huang and Jin [19] examined the response and sPDF of a strongly nonlinear single-degree-of-freedom system under Gaussian white noise. Sun and Yang [20] employed the random averaging method and the generalized harmonic function method to assess the stability of a fractional-order energy acquisition system under Gaussian white noise, focusing on the effects of noise intensity, fractional derivative order, and coefficients on the system’s stochastic response. Li et al. [21] explored bistable SPB in a Duffing–Van der Pol system with fractional derivatives under concurrent multiplicative and additive colored noise, demonstrating that variations in linear damping, fractional derivative order, and noise intensity induce SPB.
Nonlinear oscillations [22] have been widely studied because of their relevance in energy harvesting [23], nonlinear controller design [24], and multi-degree-of-freedom systems, including three-degree-of-freedom auto-parametric systems [25] and six-degrees-of-freedom rigid body systems [26]. Li and He [27, 28] proposed a fractional complex transform to convert fractional differential equations into ordinary differential equations so that all analytical methods devoted to advanced calculus can be easily applied to fractional calculus, and some examples were given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. He [29, 30] proposed a new perturbation method that does not require a small parameter in an equation to analyze the nonlinear oscillators, and the effectiveness of the proposed method was verified through examples. Wang and He [31] used the variational iteration method to give an extremely simple and elementary derivation of the temperature distribution of a reaction-diffusion process. It was shown that the method is very effective and convenient compared with the exact solution. He [32] proposed an improved fractional variational iteration method to solve the space and time fractional telegraph equations more effectively. He and his colleagues utilized the fractal variational principle to explore the solutions of numerous fractional equations [33–36].
Owing to the complexity of fractional derivatives, it is generally only possible to qualitatively analyze their parametric effects on the vibration characteristics of fractional-order systems, making it difficult to determine critical parameter values [37–39]. However, identifying critical parameter conditions is essential for the analysis and design of fractional-order systems. Fractals are self-similar structures with repeating patterns across scales, and the fractal oscillators always show that the oscillator components exhibit fractal geometry and multi-band resonance or hierarchical frequency responses due to self-similar structures, such as the fractal micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). He et al. [40] mainly study the vibration system in a fractal space. Unlike fractals, fractional calculus introduces memory effects and power-law dynamics, often modeling complex materials or non-local interactions. Furthermore, fractional oscillators always indicate the dynamical systems governed by fractional-order differential equations that contain the fractional-order derivative element
In this study, we have mainly investigated the nonlinear vibration of fractional-order stochastic systems by examining the effects of fractional derivatives and noise excitations. A generalized multistable Rayleigh–Duffing system with a fractional element excited by additive recycling noise is used as the dynamic model. Using singularity theory and stochastic averaging, critical parametric conditions for SPB are derived, followed by an analysis of sPDF across different regions in the parametric plane.
2 Derivation for the isovalent system
There are many definitions of fractional derivatives. The following definitions are introduced:
The Caputo derivative of the function
where
The Riemann–Liouville derivative of the function
where
The two-scale fractal derivatives with respect to
where
He’s fractal derivative of the function
where
Comparing with the fractional derivatives mentioned in Equations 1–5, the initial conditions of the Caputo fractional derivative have a clear physical interpretation and align with those of integer-order differential equations. Therefore, it is employed in this study and expressed as
where
Slightly differing from the fractional derivative’s definition in Equation 6 and for a deterministic physical system, the initial motion time of the oscillators is
where
This study explores the generalized Rayleigh-Duffing oscillator system with the fractional-order damping element described in Equation 7 and driven by recycling noise as
where
and the power spectral density for
The recycling noise is strongly correlated at time
The fractional derivative incorporates both damping and stiffness forces [45–47]. He and Liu [48] further emphasized that the fractal–fractional derivative combines damping and inertial forces. Based on this, the isovalent system in this study can be denoted as
where
The discrepancy between the systems (Equation 8) and (Equation 11) is
By following the isovalent principle [49] and minimizing the mean-square error given in Equation 12, the undetermined coefficients
The substitution of Equation 12 into Equation 13 yields
Assuming that the original system (Equation 8) exhibits a stationary solution in the periodic form, as described below
where
The substitution of Equations 15, 16 into Equation 14 yields
To further simplify Equations 17, 18 , asymptotic integrals are introduced as follows:
By inserting Equations 15, 16, and 19 into Equations 17, 18 and executing the integral averaging of
Combining the detailed expression of Equation 20 and thus, the equivalent oscillator corresponding to the system (Equation 11) could be rewritten as
where
3 Stationary PDF for the system amplitude
To derive the sPDF of the system amplitude, we assume that the system (Equation 21) possesses the solution with periodic form, and following the methodology outlined in [50], we implement the transformation as follows:
where
By inserting Equation 23 into Equation 21 and utilizing the deterministic averaging approach, we can obtain
in which
The stochastic differential equation in Equation 24 is interpreted within the Stratonovich framework [51]. By incorporating the requisite Wong–Zakai correction [52], the resulting Itô representation can be formulated as follows:
where
Combining the expression of Equations 9, 10 and employing the stochastic averaging approach [53], and further applying the period averaging to Equation 26 over
The accurate expression for the averaged diffusion and drift coefficients can be determined as:
where
Equations 28, 29 show that the averaged Itô equation for the amplitude
The conditions for boundary fulfillment of ρ(a) in Equation 30 are
According to the boundary conditions (Equation 31), the system amplitude’s sPDF is expressed as:
where C is the constant after normalization.
By inserting Equation 29 into Equation 32, the detailed equation for the system amplitude’s sPDF is expressed as:
in which
4 SPB for the system amplitude
The SPB phenomenon refers to the variation in the number of peaks observed in the sPDF curves. In this section, we utilize the singularity theory to discuss the parametric impacts on the SPB behaviors of the system and to determine the crucial parametric conditions.
For simplicity,
where
Based on the singularity theory [54], the system amplitude’s sPDF must fulfill the requirements
Inserting Equations 33, 34 into Equation 36, we can derive the conditions as follows [15, 21]:
where
Equations 34, 35, and 37 show that the fractional derivative’s order
4.1 Taking ( ) as unfolding parameters
Taking the parameters as

Figure 1. Transition set curves under additive recycling noise (taking
As shown in Figure 1, the transition set curve’s intercepts at
Initially, we investigated the sPDF

Figure 2. PDF

Figure 3. Joint PDF
As shown in Figure 2, the parametric region (
Considering (
4.2 Taking ( ) as unfolding parameters
Taking the folding parameters as

Figure 4. Transition set curves under additive recycling noise (taking
As shown in Figure 4, the unfolding parametric plane is segmented into three geometrically separated zones by the transition set curve. Based on the singularity analysis theory discussed above, the sPDF curves
Here, we discuss the steady-state PDF

Figure 5. PDF

Figure 6. Joint PDF
In Figure 4, when the folding parameters (
The results obtained above indicate that the sPDF curve of the system amplitude can arise in various types depending on the values of the order
5 Conclusion
This study investigated the SPB behavior of a fractional bistable Rayleigh–Duffing system subjected to additive recycling noise. Using the isovalent principle, the original fractional-order system was transformed into an equivalent integer-order system of comparable significance. The sPDF of the system amplitude was derived by applying the stochastic averaging method. Furthermore, employing the singularity theory, critical parametric conditions for SPB were established. The results indicate that the fractional derivative order
However, the system studied in the article is the single-degree-of-freedom system, and the complexity and the abstraction of the state space increase the difficulty of analyzing the high-dimensional dynamic system. The investigation of two-degrees-of-freedom systems or even higher dimensional and coupled systems driven by other noises, such as Lévy noise or Poisson noise, should be the next focus of research .
Data availability statement
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
Author contributions
Y-JL: formal analysis and writing – original draft. Z-QW: formal analysis, methodology, and writing – original draft. Y-TS: writing – review and editing. X-YZ: data curation and writing – review and editing. S-LC: data curation and writing – review and editing.
Funding
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This work in this paper was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12002120, 12072222, 11672349, and 11902287), the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (Grant No. 252300420315), the Youth Backbone Teacher Training Project, and the Academic and Technical Leader of Henan University of Urban Construction (Grant Nos. YCJQNGGJS202-111 and YCJXSJSDTR202308).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Generative AI statement
The author(s) declare that no Generative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.
Publisher’s note
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Keywords: stochastic P-bifurcation, fractional damping, stochastic averaging method, transition set curves, Monte Carlo simulation
Citation: Li Y-J, Wu Z-Q, Sun Y-T, Zhang X-Y and Chen S-L (2025) Stochastic bifurcation phenomenon and multistable behaviors in a fractional Rayleigh–Duffing oscillator under recycling noise. Front. Phys. 13:1567842. doi: 10.3389/fphy.2025.1567842
Received: 28 January 2025; Accepted: 19 March 2025;
Published: 25 April 2025.
Edited by:
Ji-Huan He, Soochow University, ChinaReviewed by:
Lei Zhao, Yancheng Polytechnic College, ChinaGuangqing Feng, Henan Polytechnic University, China
Copyright © 2025 Li, Wu, Sun, Zhang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Zhi-Qiang Wu, MTAxNDIwMTAzM0B0anUuZWR1LmNu; Yong-Tao Sun, eXRzdW5AdGp1LmVkdS5jbg==