Vibration of a continuous beam with multiple elastic supports excited by a moving two-axle system with separation

This paper studies the dynamics of a two-axle system travelling along a continuous elastic beam resting on elastic supports modelled as linear springs. During its travel along the vibrating beam, the vibrating two-axle system may separate from the beam for certain time intervals when there is no interaction between the two-axle system and the beam. As a result, the dynamics of the whole system can be very different from the case when separation is ignored. The study is focused on conditions that facilitate the onset of separation between the moving and supporting structures and subsequent possible reattachment. Numerical results show that the occurrence of separation may be influenced to a large extent by the presence of intermediate elastic supports.