Experimental investigation of a rotating parametric pendulum

The parametrically excited pendulum has been attracting significant interest with recently being involved in the development of a wave energy converter. The capability of establishing rotational motion is however restricted by the quite low frequency of ocean waves. Introducing a design of a tri-pendulum instead of a simple pendulum could provide a solution to that obstacle. In this paper, an experimental investigation of the response of a tri-pendulum to parametric excitation is presented. The target is to achieve rotational response of the tri-pendulum and highlight some of the particularly useful characteristics of this design such as the configurability and flexibility of its size without affecting its functionality. Experimental demonstrations of previous observations regarding the rotational response under not vertical, but tilted rectilinear, excitation are sought as well.