A numerical-analytical combined method for vibration of a beam excited by a moving flexible body

The vibration of a beam excited by a moving simple oscillator has been extensively studied. However, the vibration of a beam excited by an elastic body with conformal contact has attracted much less attention. This is the subject of the present paper. The established model is more complicated but has a much wider range of applications than the moving-oscillator model. Because the moving body is flexible, the moving loads at the contact interface are not known a priori and must be determined together with the dynamics of the whole system. In this paper, the equation of motion of the beam and the moving body are established separately using a numerical–analytical combined approach. It is found from the numerical results of the simulated example that the vibrations of the moving body and the beam excited by the moving body are significantly influenced by the travelling speed. At very low or very high speeds the dynamic effect is small and the beam deforms to take the shape of its static deflection. Vibrations tend to be greater in the intermediate speed range and the total moving force at the interface of the beam and the moving body can be compressive and tensile. Copyright q 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd