  Combinig the harmonic balance method (HBM) and a continuation method is a
well-known technique to follow the periodic solutions of dynamical systems when
a control parameter is varied. However, since deriving the algebraic system
containing the Fourier coefficients can be a highly cumbersome procedure, the
classical HBM is often limited to polynomial (quadratic and cubic)
nonlinearities and/or a few harmonics. Several variations on the classical HBM,
such as the incremental HBM or the alternating frequency/time domain HBM, have
been presented in the literature to overcome this shortcoming. Here, we present
an alternative approach that can be applied to a very large class of dynamical
systems (autonomous or forced) with smooth equations. The main idea is to
systematically recast the dynamical system in quadratic polynomial form before
applying the HBM. Once the equations have been rendered quadratic, it becomes
obvious to derive the algebraic system and solve it by the so-called ANM
continuation technique. Several classical examples are presented to illustrate
the use of this numerical approach.
