Dynamic response of plate to moving loads: Structural impedance method

An algorithm based on a structural impedance approach has been developed to study the transient response of plates with arbitrary boundary conditions and subjected to moving loads. Thin plate theory is assumed for the plate model and the algorithm places no restrictions on the loading conditions. The algorithm accounts for the complete dynamic interactions between the moving loads and the plate. Therefore, the method can be applied to the general moving mass problems and to the simplified moving force and static problems. The accuracy of the algorithm is verified by comparing the results obtained from the structural impedance method (SIM), in the case of moving force solutions, with the available exact solutions and with other numerical results. The dynamic deflections obtained from the moving mass solutions are compared with available experimental results. Parametric analyses over a wide spectrum of velocities and mass ratios indicate that the inertial effect on dynamic deflections is pronounced when the vehicle is traveling at high speed.