Leung, Andrew Yee TakAndrew Yee TakLeungKuang, J. L.Meehan, P. A.2022-03-222022-03-222006https://repository.sfu.edu.hk/handle/sfu/2643Chaotic orientations of a top containing a fluid filled cavity are investigated analytically and numerically under small perturbations. The top spins and rolls in nonsliding contact with a rough horizontal plane and the fluid in the ellipsoidal shaped cavity is considered to be ideal and describable by finite degrees of freedom. A Hamiltonian structure is established to facilitate the application of Melnikov-Holmes-Marsden (MHM) integrals. In particular, chaotic motion of the liquid-filled top is identified to be arisen from the transversal intersections between the stable and unstable manifolds of an approximated, disturbed flow of the liquid-filled top via the MHM integrals. The developed analytical criteria are crosschecked with numerical simulations via the 4th Runge-Kutta algorithms with adaptive time steps.enjournal article10.1007/s11071-006-9019-y