Vibration analysis of a beam with an internal hinge subjected to a random moving oscillator

In this paper, we investigate the dynamic response of a fixed–fixed beam with an internal hinge on elastic foundation, which is subjected to a moving oscillator with uncertain parameters such as random mass, stiffness, damping, velocity and acceleration. This model can be used to simulate the interaction among the train (vehicle), track and foundation, as well as simulate the bridge–vehicle interaction without considering the elastic foundation. In particular, the distributed parameter system is assumed to be a beam of Bernoulli–Euler type, and the system dynamic response is a random process despite its deterministic characteristics. By utilizing the modal analysis and Galerkin’s method, we can obtain a set of approximate governing equations of motion with time-dependent random coefficients and forcing functions. The improved perturbation technique is adopted to evaluate the statistical characteristics of the deflection of the beam, and the Monte Carlo simulation is used to check the results from the improved perturbation technique. The statistical response of the structure from the proposed approach plays an important role in estimating the structural safety and reliability.