Abstract
We have applied the Melnikov criterion to examine a global homoclinic bifurcation and transition to chaos in a case of the Duffing system with nonlinear fractional damping and external excitation. Using perturbation methods we have found a critical forcing amplitude above which the system may behave chaotically. The results have been verified by numerical simulations using standard nonlinear tools as Poincare maps and a Lyapunov exponent. Above the critical Melnikov amplitude μ_c, which a sufficient condition of a global homoclinic bifurcation, we have observed the region with a transient chaotic motion.