Transient responses of beams and plates subject to travelling load. Miscellaneous results

The steady-state response of a free and infinite Timoshenko beam is specified analytically in terms of non-dimensional displacements and stresses. The beam is supposed loaded by a travelling concentrated force or a moving step load. By a validated explicit numerical calculation, it is shown how a load travelling on a beam at constant velocity, from defined time and abscissa, generates a response which evolves towards the steady-state solution for a part, and towards a quantified transient solution for another part. Asymptotic values are given for the transient displacements and stresses according to the time and the speed of the loading. The solution is also found for a plate subject to a pressure, which spreads respecting the cylindrical symmetry. It is possible to identify in the response a part which follows the pressure front, and which is comparable with the steady-state response of a beam, and another transient part, which generates displacements and stresses with a much less oscillating character. An asymptotic solution is also presented for the plate. The whole series of the results makes it possible to better understand qualitatively the beginning of the transient response of a beam or of a plate to a moving load, and also makes it possible to estimate the stresses and displacements without needing specialised. numerical codes. (C) 2002 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.