An investigation on effects of traveling mass with variable velocity on nonlinear dynamic response of an inclined Timoshenko beam with different boundary conditions

In this paper, the nonlinear dynamic response of an inclined Timoshenko beam with different boundary conditions subjected to a traveling mass with variable velocity is investigated. The nonlinear coupled partial differential equations of motion for the bending rotation of cross-section, longitudinal and transverse displacements are derived using Hamilton's principle. These nonlinear coupled PDEs are solved by applying Galerkin's method to obtain dynamic response of the beam under the act of a moving mass. The appropriate parametric studies by taking into account the effects of the magnitude of the traveling mass, the velocity of the traveling mass with a constant acceleration/deceleration and effect of different beam's boundary conditions are carried out. The beams' large deflection has been captured by including the stretching effect of its mid-surface. It was seen that the existence of quadratic-cubic nonlinear terms in the governing coupled PDEs of motion renders hardening/stiffening behavior on the dynamic responses of the beam when traversed by a moving mass. In addition, the obtained nonlinear results are compared with those from the linear analysis. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.