Advances in Nonlinear Dynamics and Vibration Control of Clearance-Containing Flexible Oscillating Mechanisms

Clearance-containing flexible oscillating mechanisms are widely used in aerospace systems, robotic manipulators, precision manufacturing systems, and intelligent machinery, where their nonlinear dynamic behavior directly affects motion accuracy, stability, and operational reliability. The combined effects of joint clearance, structural flexibility, contact–impact, and constraint nonlinearities can induce rigid–flexible coupled vibration, bifurcation, chaos, and nonsmooth responses. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in dynamic modeling, nonlinear dynamic analysis, vibration and chaos control, experimental validation, and engineering applications of such mechanisms. Particular attention is given to contact–impact models, rigid–flexible and clearance–flexibility coupled formulations, bifurcation and chaos analysis, active, passive, and semi-active control, Nonlinear Energy Sinks (NESs), hybrid control, and Digital Twin-enabled validation. Existing studies indicate that continuous contact force models and flexible multibody formulations remain widely adopted, while the bidirectional coupling between joint clearance and structural deformation is a primary source of complex nonlinear behavior. Hybrid active–passive control is receiving increasing attention, and NESs show strong potential for broadband vibration suppression. However, current research is still limited by insufficient multiphysics coupling, incomplete understanding of high-dimensional nonsmooth dynamics, underdeveloped motion-accuracy-oriented control frameworks, and limited long-term experimental validation. Future research should emphasize high-fidelity multiphysics modeling, data-driven dynamic prediction, intelligent vibration control, NES optimization, and Digital Twin-based online validation.