Abstract
The objective of this study is to investigate the dynamic behavior of elastic beams subjected to moving loads. Although analytical methods are available, they have limitations with respect to complicated structures. The use of computer technology in recent years is an effective way to solve the problem; thus using the latest technology this study establishes a finite-element solution procedure to investigate dynamic behaviors of a typical elastic beam having a set of constant geometric properties and various span lengths. Both the dead load of the beam and traffic load are applied in which the traffic load is considered a concentrated moving force with various traveling passage speeds on the beam. Dynamic behaviors including deflection, shear, and bending moment due to moving loads are obtained by both analytical and finite element methods; for simple structures, they have an excellent agreement. The numerical results show that based on analytical methods the fundamental mode is good enough to estimate the dynamic deflection along the beam, but is not sufficient to simulate the total response of the shear force or the bending moment. The linear dynamic behavior of the elastic beams subjected to multiple exciting loads can easily be found by linear superposition, and the geometric nonlinear results caused by large deformation and axial force of the beam are always underestimated with only a few exceptions which are indicated. In order to make the results useful, they have been nondimensionalized and presented in graphical form.